Unable to install GRUB when installing Linux

[WebAvenger]

Hello,

I am a bit of a Linux Newbie and have already had Linux Ubuntu installed on my laptop. After Running a life CD of Linux Mint, I realised I would prefer Mint as all my laptop hardware (Speakers, Microphone etc) seemed to work on it and not Ubuntu. I wanted to delete Ubuntu. Having never performed this task before I booted in to my Windows 7 OS and accessed the Disk Management utility where I just deleted the Linux volumes. This act broke my current GRUB and so I could not boot into any OS. I then inserted my windows 7 CD and conducted a repair. Now I am able to boot straight into windows 7.

Now when I come to install Linux Mint everything is fine. But I get this error near the end of the installation:

Screenshot-Unable to install GRUB in -dev-mapper.png

Which then leads to this dialogue box:

Screenshot-Bootloader install failed.jpg

Now when I boot up, everything just resumes as normal to windows 7. I have no idea how to fix this. The reason being is that my system complicated and the people who installed Ubuntu on it before had some problems because of it. Here are my laptop specifications.

Dell Alienware M17x R3
16 GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM
Two 256 GB SSD in RAID 0 configuration
1.5 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
2nd Gen Intel Core i7-2860QM 2.5 GHz (3.6 GHz with Turbo Boost, 8 MB Cache)

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit


This is what it looks like when I am in the Linux installation partition manager (after I deleted Linux. So Windows 7 only). Maybe someone can see a problem.


partitions1.jpg

Then when you scroll down to the end:

partitions2scrolleddown.jpg


Any help is much appreciated.

[Bitzoid]

I would actually say it's probably something to do with the layout of your partitioning in DiskDruid. Make sure there is a seperate partition created for /boot. I'm, seeing grub-install to /dev/mapper which doesn't sound right to me, but I'm new to linux as well.

[yancek]

In the second image you posted, what else do you see for options besides /dev/mapper when you click the down arrow to the right of that box?
I'm not familiar with RAID so the partition info you posted doesn't mean anything to me. When you repaired windows, it overwrote the master boot record with its own code which is expected. I don't see any Linux partitions in your last two partition images but again, I don't know what to expect with RAID?

[Bitzoid]

I'm not familiar with RAID so the partition info you posted doesn't mean anything to me.

Me as well, however I have the following quote from a fedora linux book "Setting up a RAID device: To set up a RAID array, you must first create two or more partitions of the same size. Usually these partitions will be on different hard disks. You create RAID partitions by pressing the button labeled Create to display the Create Storage window, selecting Create Software RAID/RAID Partition, and specifying the partition. Typically a RAID device comprises partitions of the same size. Once you have created two or more RAID partitions, click Create, select Create Software RAID/RAID Device from the Create Storage window, and specify the RAID partitions that make up the RAID device and the mount point for the RAID device." - A practical guide to Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux / Mark G. Sobell. -- 6th ed. p.77 paragraph 5

This tells me installing linux on a Redundant Array of Inexpensive/Indepdent Disks (RAID), differs from normal installation and you should probably expand on the subject by doing some secondary research through the internet. Try googling "Install Linux Mint on RAID"

[WebAvenger]

Other options in the drop down look like those in my 3rd and 4th screenshot but I don't know what to click on because I really don't want to risk damaging my windows partition. RAID 0 just means my 2 SSD's act as one drive. But I heard the problem might be that linux is installing the boot loader or something on my second drive which is not used to boot of or something ???? trigger any ideas ??? Those screenshots show my partitions without Linux (I deleted the Linux partitions to try show a cleaner state, start fresh). I have already searched, raid installations but I cannot understand much of what I am reading.

[Bitzoid]

Only other advice I have, short of researching the subject via google or waiting for another reponse, is to install Linux on a partition formatted as ext4. You have to make the installer format the partition that windows is not on, to ext4 format before installing. See where it says under type, FAT16? That has to be ext4 for linux to install.

[WebAvenger]

ok, what ill do is install linux and show the the partition manager after that .

[WebAvenger]

ok I installed Linux Mint 13 64 bit an here are some screenshots which might trigger some ideas as to what the problem is. FYI, I am now trying to manually install GRUB 2 in the terminal from the live CD with no success.

Screenshot-Install-1.jpg

Screenshot--dev-mapper-isw_eaajiabbia_M17X_RAID0 - GParted.jpg

Screenshot-Install.jpg

any ideas as to why I am getting a GRUB install error ?

[yancek]

Are you seeing the same errors you showed in your first post?
The third image in your last post shows Device for bootloader installation as /dev/sdb. That would be your second hard drive. Is that what you selected during the installation? If so, you need to select the second drive (sdb) in the BIOS to boot. If you selected something else, what was it?

[WebAvenger]

yes, same errors. Umm but the grub doesn't install so it wont boot anyways.