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I have an SSD (Samsung MZVL....) and an HDD (WDC WD10S.....) on my computer (Lenovo ideapad). Mostly, I use Windows, which is installed on the SSD, but sometimes I need Ubuntu too. My scheme until recently was, the computer boots by default to to SSD and Windows starts up seamlessly. If I need to run Ubuntu, I press F12 repeatedly and select the HDD from the boot source menu.

Recently, I updated to Ubuntu 22.04.1 from my existing 20.04 and somehow it installed its bootloader on the SSD and Grub shows up every time I start my computer. This is particularly annoying for me, because I use Windows for almost 95% of the time. I know I can always set the priority of Windows over Ubuntu in the Grub order, but I want my Windows to be untouched in my primary disk (SSD) and not Grub booting it for me.

I removed Ubuntu using a combination of OS Uninstaller and efibootmgr, and tried to install it again (downloaded from here) while trying it not to touch my SSD. The images 1 and 2 show the settings I selected while installing Ubuntu. Image 3 shows the result, with Ubuntu still sticking itself to the SSD.

How can I install Ubuntu in such a way that it has its bootloader on the HDD, not the SSD?

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2 Answers 2

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Solution is very simple: Detach the SSD before you install Ubuntu to the HDD.

Ubuntu (and the GRUB) will be installed to the HDD.

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  • Thanks very much. I wouldn't follow that route because I am not very comfortable with trying to opening up my computer yet. There's some risk that I will damage it physically, and I don't want to take that risk at this time.
    – paki eng
    Commented Sep 29, 2022 at 14:33
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I encountered a similar situation as you did. One of the following three solutions solved my problem, but I am not sure which one.

  1. I can't see the full list of partitions that you have. But from your screenshot #2, /dev/sda5 is your EFI partition on your HDD. In that case you should select it in the drop-down menu "Device for boot loader installation", instead of simply /dev/sda. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think its size is typically 650MB instead of 537MB. But it should be fine.

  2. Alternatively, start a Ubuntu Live USB, and then use Boot-Repair to write the EFI to the correct partition.

  3. My Ubuntu was installed on an external drive. The EFI partition was created successfully. It was only that the external drive started "too slow" that UEFI ignored checking it for boot loaders. I moved it from a Type-C to a normal USB port, and it worked.

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  • Thanks very much. I will try these and update about the results when I get a chance.
    – paki eng
    Commented Nov 27, 2022 at 5:41

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