If I set the file system at FAT32, will install of Kubuntu be UEFI compatible?

[Shabakthanai]

I have a UEFI motherboard and Windows 7 Pro N installed on my new build. I want to install Kubuntu 13.04 as a dual-boot. When I install Kubuntu, if I set the file system as FAT32, will the install be compatible with the UEFI installed Windows 7? The more I read, the more I get confused. Each time I think I have found a solution for Win 7 the cure conversation switches to Win 8. Does anyone know how to install the dual-boot Win 7/Kubuntu 13.04 with UEFI? Thanks!

[SteveRiley]

The requirements for UEFI dual boot are the same, regardless of whether the Windows version is 7 or 8.

• The EFI system partition must be FAT-32. It holds all the boot loaders for every operating system on the computer.
• Windows, whether 7 or 8, will require at least one NTFS partition. Usually Windows will create two (a small 100 MB one and then the much larger C: partition) unless you change the defaults during install.
• Linux will require at least one EXT4 partition to hold the root (/) file system.

A computer that comes from the manufacturer with Windows installed will typically already have:

• An EFI system partition formatted as FAT-32
• The small 100 MB (usually) unlabeled NTFS partition
• A manufacturer recovery partition at the very end of the drive's space
• The remainder of the space as one single NTFS partition, labeled C:

To configure dual-boot, you will need to:

• Shrink the large C: partition
• Create a new partition in the now unallocated space
• Format that as EXT4
• Install Kubuntu

You do not need to create any additional EFI (FAT-32) partitions because the installer will detect the existing one and use it accordingly.

[Shabakthanai]

My partitions are as follows:
Disk 0:
238.47 GB SSD III
Partition 1: 100 MB NTFS Healthy
Partition 2: 79.56 GB NTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File,...)

Partition 3: 20.51 GB ext4 Healthy (Primary Partition) /
Partition 4: 15.63 GB Linux-Swap
Partition 5: 122.68 GB ext4 Healthy (Primary Partition) /home

Disk 1

931.51 GB ext4 Healthy (Active Primary Partition) 3 GB/s HDD /storage (/when I labeled this partition, I chose G:, however when it was set by the Windows 7 OS, it was identified as G: F: .)

Disk 2

G: F: 488.28 GB NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition) Windows 7 storage
443.23 GB ext4 Healthy (Primary Partition) /svpersonal

The ext4 partitions have been formatted and are empty and ready for the Kubuntu 13.04 operating system. When I attempt to install, the installation pauses in the prepare portion of the Install and will not continue. Just prior to the install, the partitions are made active and set with the ext4 file system and named / for the boot partition, Linux-Swap for the swap area, and /home for the storage area of the Linux system. I attempted to provide a screen print of the above configuration, but the file would not upload.

My motherboard is an AsRock 990FX Extreme 4 AM3+ with a UEFI Bios
My processor is an AMD 8 core FX 8350 Vishera 32nm Technology
My memory is 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 700MHz (9-9-9-24)
My video card is 2048MB DDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7850 (XFX Pine Group)
My SSD is 238GB OCZ-AGILITY4 ATA Device
Disk #1 is 932GB Western Digital WDC WD10 EADS-00L5B1 SATA Disk Device (SATA) 3 GB/s
Disk #2 is 932GB Seagate ST1000DM 003-9YN162 SATA Disk Device (SATA) 6 GB/s
My optical Drive is HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22LS30 SATA CdRom Device DVDRW

Steve, I have a 128 GB SSD with Kubuntu 12.10 installed in it. What would happen if I just installed it in the computer? Would it be recognized? I haven't tried this because I feared it would mess up the current installation of Windows 7 Professional N.

Since I have had so much trouble, do you recommend that I just wait for Kubuntu 13.04 to iron out the wrinkles created by the new UEFI Bios system? Kubuntu is such a robust system compared to the Microsoft product, I am anxious to get the new Kubuntu OS installed. You are the only Administrator who seems to understand the problem, and you don't have a clear method for success. Thanks for your ongoing patience.

[SteveRiley]

My partitions are as follows:
Disk 0:
238.47 GB SSD III
Partition 1: 100 MB NTFS Healthy
Partition 2: 79.56 GB NTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File,...)

Partition 3: 20.51 GB ext4 Healthy (Primary Partition) /
Partition 4: 15.63 GB Linux-Swap
Partition 5: 122.68 GB ext4 Healthy (Primary Partition) /home

Disk 1

931.51 GB ext4 Healthy (Active Primary Partition) 3 GB/s HDD /storage (/when I labeled this partition, I chose G:, however when it was set by the Windows 7 OS, it was identified as G: F: .)

Disk 2

G: F: 488.28 GB NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition) Windows 7 storage
443.23 GB ext4 Healthy (Primary Partition) /svpersonal

Based on this list, you don't have an EFI system partition. Thus, your computer is running in BIOS emulation mode, and Windows is booting in BIOS mode. I would advise against any attempt to convert the existing installation to UEFI -- it's a complicated process and any mistake made along the way will render the installation unusable.

The ext4 partitions have been formatted and are empty and ready for the Kubuntu 13.04 operating system. When I attempt to install, the installation pauses in the prepare portion of the Install and will not continue. Just prior to the install, the partitions are made active and set with the ext4 file system and named / for the boot partition, Linux-Swap for the swap area, and /home for the storage area of the Linux system.

I am really beginning to question the quality of Ubiquity, the graphical installer. You are definitely not alone here -- quite a number of folks have been reporting problems, especially on systems with non-simple storage configurations (and yours qualifies as non-simple).

I attempted to provide a screen print of the above configuration, but the file would not upload.

I would like to see that screenshot. Post it to http://www.imgur.com/ and reply here with the URL.

I would also like to see the output of some Linux commands. Boot the Kubuntu DVD/USB (whatever you're using) and choose "Try Kubuntu." Open a console window. Run this first:

sudo apt-get install gdisk

Then run each of the following, and reply here with the output:

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdb

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdc

Even though gdisk is for GPT disks in UEFI systems, I want to see what your machine might happen to display. Maybe you do have an EFI partition, and you forgot to list it. If so, these commands will let me know.

Steve, I have a 128 GB SSD with Kubuntu 12.10 installed in it. What would happen if I just installed it in the computer? Would it be recognized? I haven't tried this because I feared it would mess up the current installation of Windows 7 Professional N.

Let's hold off on this for now.

[Shabakthanai]

Based on this list, you don't have an EFI system partition. Thus, your computer is running in BIOS emulation mode, and Windows is booting in BIOS mode. I would advise against any attempt to convert the existing installation to UEFI -- it's a complicated process and any mistake made along the way will render the installation unusable.

I am really beginning to question the quality of Ubiquity, the graphical installer. You are definitely not alone here -- quite a number of folks have been reporting problems, especially on systems with non-simple storage configurations (and yours qualifies as non-simple).

I would like to see that screenshot. Post it to http://www.imgur.com/ and reply here with the URL.

Under the name 'Shabakthanai' I uploaded the screen-print.

I would also like to see the output of some Linux commands. Boot the Kubuntu DVD/USB (whatever you're using) and choose "Try Kubuntu." Open a console window. Run this first:

sudo apt-get install gdisk

Then run each of the following, and reply here with the output:

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdb

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdc

Command outputs:

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda[/B]

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000f3568

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          63  1953520064   976760001   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb[/B]

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000705b4

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  1024002047   512000000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2      1024002048  1953523711   464760832   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb[/B]

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000705b4

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  1024002047   512000000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2      1024002048  1953523711   464760832   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda[/B]

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000f3568

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          63  1953520064   976760001   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda[/B]

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000f3568

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          63  1953520064   976760001   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb[/B]

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000705b4

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  1024002047   512000000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2      1024002048  1953523711   464760832   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc[/B]

Disk /dev/sdc: 256.1 GB, 256060514304 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 31130 cylinders, total 500118192 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00043b4f

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1   *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdc2          206848   167051263    83422208    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdc4       167053310   500117503   166532097    5  Extended
/dev/sdc5       167055360   210063359    21504000   83  Linux
/dev/sdc6       210065408   242833407    16384000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc7       242835456   500117503   128641024   83  Linux

In my Boot order in the BIOS, the first to boot is the following:
UEFI: Built-in EFI shell

[SteveRiley]

Under the name 'Shabakthanai' I uploaded the screen-print.

I need the URL of the image, not your user name.

Command outputs:
{...results snipped from quote...}

I think you misunderstood my instructions. I asked you to run fdisk three times: once for each of /dev/sda. /dev/sdb. and /dev/sdc. Then to run gdisk three times, again once for each of /dev/sda. /dev/sdb. and /dev/sdc. From what you supplied in your response, you ran fdisk three times on /dev/sda, three times on /dev/sdb, and once on /dev/sdc. You didn't run gdisk at all.

Nevertheless, it's apparent that you have no EFI system partition. All your disks contain MBR, not GPT, partition tables. Your copy of Windows is installed in BIOS mode. So when Windows starts, your computer's firmware is running in BIOS emulation mode.

In my Boot order in the BIOS, the first to boot is the following:
UEFI: Built-in EFI shell

Some UEFI firmwares can be enabled to run in both UEFI mode and BIOS emulation mode. The computer will boot into whichever mode the installed operating system has been configured for. Your motherboard apparently has a built-in EFI shell -- that's interesting and convenient, and something I haven't seen before.

[Shabakthanai]

http://www.imgur.com/ This is the address you gave me in the previous reply. I do not understand this procedure yet, so I filled out the registration and posted the screen-print there. I am confused about the other instruction, but I will try again. If you read your previous reply containing the command line instructions, you may understand why I sent what I did. My gratitude is enormous for the help you are giving me. You are so faithful to continue to help so many. I wish I had your gift, so that I could do the same. Thanks again, my friend.

[SteveRiley]

Oh yeah, there is a typo in my instructions, heh...for the three fdisk commands, I indicated /dev/sdb twice. Sorry. The second one should be /dev/sdc. I'll fix that.

You don't need to register at Imgur. Once you get a screen shot using the utility that comes up when you press PrtSc, save it to a file on your computer. Then open a browser to www.imgur.com. Then:

1. Click the Computer button under "Upload Images":




2. When the file picker window opens, navigate to the image and select it


3. Click the Start Upload button:




4. When the upload finishes, find the link under "BBCode," right-click it, and choose Copy from the fly-out menu:




5. Your clipboard now contains the link plus the BBcodes. On a blank line in the forum editor, right-click and choose Paste from the fly-out menu:




6. The contents of the clipboard will appear in the forum editor. Now you're done.

[Shabakthanai]

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda[/B]
 
Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes 
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors 
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes 
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes 
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes 
Disk identifier: 0x000f3568 
 
   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System 
/dev/sda1   *          63  1953520064   976760001   83  Linux 

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb[/B]
 
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors 
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes 
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes 
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes 
Disk identifier: 0x000705b4 
 
   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  1024002047   512000000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2      1024002048  1953523711   464760832   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc[/B]

Disk /dev/sdc: 256.1 GB, 256060514304 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 31130 cylinders, total 500118192 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00043b4f

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1   *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdc2          206848   167051263    83422208    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdc4       167053310   500117503   166532097    5  Extended
/dev/sdc5       167055360   210063359    21504000   83  Linux
/dev/sdc6       210065408   242833407    16384000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc7       242835456   500117503   128641024   83  Linux

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda[/B]
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.5

Partition table scan:
  MBR: MBR only
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: not present


***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format.
***************************************************************

Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 2B4B9F07-0E07-4AC8-A32C-20419894B9A4
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
Total free space is 5099 sectors (2.5 MiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1              63      1953520064   931.5 GiB   8300  Linux filesystem

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdb[/B]
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.5

Partition table scan:
  MBR: MBR only
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: not present


***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format.
***************************************************************

Disk /dev/sdb: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 4754936C-3E5C-423D-8EA0-333E996C9B5D
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 3437 sectors (1.7 MiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048      1024002047   488.3 GiB   0700  Microsoft basic data
   2      1024002048      1953523711   443.2 GiB   8300  Linux filesystem

kubuntu@kubuntu:~/Documents$ [B]sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdc[/B]
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.5

Partition table scan:
  MBR: MBR only
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: not present


***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format.
***************************************************************

Disk /dev/sdc: 500118192 sectors, 238.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 178A36EE-54E8-493A-BF87-6D5EBEA28093
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 500118158
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 10861 sectors (5.3 MiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048          206847   100.0 MiB   0700  Microsoft basic data
   2          206848       167051263   79.6 GiB    0700  Microsoft basic data
   5       167055360       210063359   20.5 GiB    8300  Linux filesystem
   6       210065408       242833407   15.6 GiB    8200  Linux swap
   7       242835456       500117503   122.7 GiB   8300  Linux filesystem

I apologize for my last entry. I thought gdisk installed gave the ability to read fdisk. I am so very stupid sometimes. Nevertheless, I still seem to be learning. I will have to read a bit on BSD, APM, and GPT now. Thanks for your patience.

[SteveRiley]

gdisk can read MBR partition tables just fine. You can ignore the scary warning about "converting MBR to GPT" because the command format I gave you doesn't actually write anything to disk.

The reason I had you run both fdisk and gdisk is because fdisk can't read GPT partition tables. Because your fdisk output showed real partitions, running gdisk is superfluous. But because I didn't know ahead of time, I asked you to run both.

Let's say that you actually did have GPT disks. Remember that fdisk doesn't understand these. You would have seen something like this:

steve@t520:~$ [B]sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda[/B]

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.

Disk /dev/sda: 256.1 GB, 256060514304 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 31130 cylinders, total 500118192 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1   500118191   250059095+  ee  GPT

fdisk throws up its hands and says, "I don't understand!" But it knows at least enough to tell us that the disk has a GPT partition table.

But in your case, since all of your disks are MBR, fdisk can display what we need to know.

[Shabakthanai]

How did you apply the red ovals to identify your recommendation? Is that an application? That was fun and interesting; a little complicated for a beginner, but I will save this post and use it again. Thanks friend.

[SteveRiley]

How did you apply the red ovals to identify your recommendation? Is that an application?

KDE provides a basic image editing tool called KolourPaint; however, it isn't part of the default Kubuntu install. It's one of the first things I add when I build a PC. The package to install is kolourpaint4.

To apply the red oval, I load the image into KolourPaint, click the oval tool in the left panel, click the line width that I want (also in the left panel), and click the red color box in the bottom panel. Then I place the mouse pointer in the upper left area where I want the oval, click and hold the left button, and drag the oval to include whatever is interesting. Finally, I save the image.

[Shabakthanai]

**

KDE provides a basic image editing tool called KolourPaint; however, it isn't part of the default Kubuntu install. It's one of the first things I add when I build a PC. The package to install is kolourpaint4.

To apply the red oval, I load the image into KolourPaint, click the oval tool in the left panel, click the line width that I want (also in the left panel), and click the red color box in the bottom panel. Then I place the mouse pointer in the upper left area where I want the oval, click and hold the left button, and drag the oval to include whatever is interesting. Finally, I save the image.

Thanks, that is a great tool. Did seeing my partitions reveal anything new? Is it a good setup. I wanted the boot to be fast as possible, and I want to retain Win 7, just as a backup for use when Microsoft screws with Linux and other Open Source distributions.

What do you recommend now. I am intent on installing some later version of Kubuntu in dual-boot configuration. Every time I try, I fail. I have downloaded 12.10 and 13.04 about half dozen times and each either fail during the making of the ISO or during the installation process. I have never run into anything like this before. I will not quit until success, but should I back off for a while, waiting for developers to fix the problem? And, wouldn't have things gone better if I had installed Win 7 in a UEFI boot? I noticed in the most recent download of Kubuntu 13.04 there were two text files one relating to UEFI, and one referring to UEFI and Linux. Neither would open for me due to some kind of problem with Kate. I checked and Kate is installed on my computer, so I don't understand that either. One problem after another without a seeming end.

I am currently concerned about how much of your and the forums time I am taking to resolve this matter. It doesn't seem fair for me to use the experts time so much. Like I said, what do you recommend I do now? I will take your advice if you think I should put the problem on a back-burner for a while. You are most appreciated.

I thought I would never play any video games, however a couple of free games cane with my video card, Bioshock and Tomb Raider. I have found them to be fun, and the graphics and audio are outstanding. I guess I am regressing a bit. But they play on the Win 7 OS just fine.

[SteveRiley]

You have a somewhat complex storage setup, with three internal drives and several partitions. Given the abnormally high number of reports of the installer crashing under such circumstances, I'd suggest you wait. I know you're eager to get started, but I'm concerned you might run into more problems at the moment. I wish I could give you better advice, but right now, this feels like the best I can do.

[Shabakthanai]

**

You have a somewhat complex storage setup, with three internal drives and several partitions. Given the abnormally high number of reports of the installer crashing under such circumstances, I'd suggest you wait. I know you're eager to get started, but I'm concerned you might run into more problems at the moment. I wish I could give you better advice, but right now, this feels like the best I can do.

Thanks my friend. I can use the rest anyway.