Installations: Add a part about Bitlocker in Ubuntu/Windows Dual-Boot

[tamziy]

Describe your suggestion

When choosing the Ubuntu/Windows Dual-Boot route, newcomers may not know about Bitlocker (as they may need to turn it off in order to install Ubunto alongside Windows OS). There was no mention of Bitlocker in the curriculum or linked guides, and people might attempt to install Ubunto before turning it off. I suggest adding some information about Bitlocker into the curriculum.

Path

Foundations

Lesson Url

https://www.theodinproject.com/lessons/foundations-installations

Checks

• [X] I have thoroughly read and understand The Odin Project Contributing Guide
• [X] Would you like to work on this issue?

(Optional) Discord Name

tamziy

(Optional) Additional Comments

No response

[xandora]

Yes, this is something we are seeing more and more requests for support with in the Discord server. It should probably be included somewhere in the dual boot section.

@tamziy You indicated you would like to work on this issue, what do you have in mind?

[tamziy]

Hello @xandora! I didn't expect a response, so I apologize for the late response on my end.

I was thinking of adding another section on Bitlocker in the Ubuntu/Windows Dual-Boot route? Either before Step 3 (where the user would install Ubuntu, or after the Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology) warning section.

If the user tries to install Ubuntu without turning off Bitlocker, they will encounter errors that can be avoidable. When I was installing Ubuntu for myself, I didn't know about Bitlocker so I had to get my Microsoft Recovery Key to recover my laptop when Ubuntu coudn't install properly. I was worried I made a grave mistake since I usually just install Ubuntu on a flash drive.

[xandora]

Dual booting is really becoming a pain to easily walk someone through these days... 😭

@tamziy I think we'd need this to be upfront in the lesson, as it really should be done before thinking about partitions being created/modified. What do you reckon?

[tamziy]

Hi @xandora , I know it can be a pain, especially for people don't have a lot of experience troubleshooting and fixing computer problems by themselves.

I believe that we should explain how partitions work and what Bitlocker is if a person will choose a dual boot route. It will also stop people from experiencing installation issues as they will not be able to install Ubuntu to their main drive if Bitlocker isn't turned off beforehand.

[tamziy]

I accidentally closed this issue, but I am still willing to work on it as it will prevent people from facing unnecessary issues on a dual boot installation of Ubuntu.

[byyten]

If I may add my sixpence worth - so another option/s can be added to this proposed solution because disabling bitlocker/secure boot has it's own non-trivial risks. I started out this course on Linux, having blown away the windows installation (failing SSD), but my new SSD just didn't agree with Linux at all, it would freeze/crash unpredictably so reluctantly I put Windows back on. Its a poor substitute for a real Linux OS but I installed windows subsystem for Linux (WSL) and made that my default shell in the VSCode terminal. There are significant downsides to not having Linux although WSL is a workable and light weight problem avoidance solution, Downsides are duplicating installs of Node/Git, etc if you wanted to use them both in Windows and in the subsystem. Of course Virtual Box and a guest VM is another simple simple, clean and reasonably efficient solution but rather resource hungry/greedy, but get this, it'll conflict with the subsystem for linux (I'm looking for a solution as I write this)

[ManonLef]

@byyten thanks for your input. There's already work being done on including WSL as an option.

This issue remains something that needs to be addressed for the dual-boot route. I will assign you @tamziy so you can propose change through a PR!

[byyten]

Hi @tamziy I've written a preliminary draft at https://github.com/byyten/rewriteDualBoot/blob/main/rewrite_dualboot.md so would like your inputs, critique and comments (as to whether this is what you envisaged/wanted). I get too wordy in my reporting and documentation, so previous employers have told me, so this really does need work but I've tried to be brief, it's just a rather complicated process to describe I added you as a collaborator on the repo which is private at the moment

[tamziy]

Hello @byyten , I was busy with the start of a new school year, but I have free time right now to continue to work on this issue. If you can reinvite me as a collaborator, that would be great! I would love to see what you wrote up and suggest any changes.

[tamziy]

Hi @byyten ,

I read your preliminary draft and it was quite lengthy. I believe the issue was that there wasn't a warning about disabling Bitlocker on the dual boot route. That is it, you didn't have to rewrite the whole section.

However, it was a lot of details that you definitely knew more on than me. This is a problem as newer people who are new to Ubuntu would just want to understand how to install it, and not want to be overwhelmed by all the details. I will make a PR on what changes I think would be best for newcomers who never installed a new operating system before and the proper info so that they won't get stuck on the installation process because they aren't aware of Bitlocker.

You can look it over too and make any comments or remarks you think fit best since you are obviously more knowledgeable in this than I am.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has had no activity for the last 30 days.

[ManonLef]

@tamziy just checking in if this is still something you're willing to work on. If you've come across an article introducing and explaining this well enough for you, that could be an option to add a note on in this lesson as well. There's probably no need to write a whole new resource on it.

[tamziy]

@ManonLef Sorry schoolwork got me busy and I totally forgot about this! Will work on it in the next couple days!

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has had no activity for the last 30 days.

[scheals]

I got reminded of this issue because of a chat in #ubuntu-help. There's a guide from a site that we already use for setting up an installation medium: itsfoss' tutorial to dual booting with bitlocker. I have only skimmed it and won't be able to test it but I was satisfied with other guides from there and planned to use them for #25026

[byyten]

Hi

I had a read through, checked a few things and the article is coherent and easy to follow so I would think it's OK to incorporate this as a reference article into a revision of the Odin Project dual boot instructions. The only comments I would make is some images quite probably won't be exactly equivalent depending on the windows revision level and Windows 11 users would certainly see differences. This doesn't mean the process is different, the article captured the essential steps. I don't have resources to test it for real but given my experiences of Windows device recovery the article looked OK. The author had a super large drive (1TB) on a brand new machine, so could conveniently avoid issues of having to resize partitions where Windows had lots of user data and insufficient space for Ubuntu. To say that more concisely, if a user were to attempt a dual boot install on drive that was already mostly full, they would have to do some serious file management and backup to free sufficient space for the Ubuntu partition. I believe 20-25Gb is the current recommended partition for an Ubuntu (around 6GB is O/S and core apps, the rest is a comfortable minimum for user installed apps and data)  - hope that's clear. To be sure, this could be an advisory in any write-up.

Nice find

C

On 21/12/2023 7:14 am, Antoni Sobolewski wrote:

I got reminded of this issue because of a chat in |#ubuntu-help|. There's a guide from a site that we already use for setting up an installation medium: itsfoss' tutorial to dual booting with bitlocker https://itsfoss.com/dual-boot-ubuntu-windows-bitlocker/. I have only skimmed it and won't be able to test it but I was satisfied with other guides from there and planned to use them for #25026 https://github.com/TheOdinProject/curriculum/issues/25026

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Hi

I had a read through, checked a few things and the article is coherent and easy to follow so I would think it's OK to incorporate this as a reference article into a revision of the Odin Project dual boot instructions. The only comments I would make is some images quite probably won't be exactly equivalent depending on the windows revision level and Windows 11 users would certainly see differences. This doesn't mean the process is different, the article captured the essential steps. I don't have resources to test it for real but given my experiences of Windows device recovery the article looked OK. The author had a super large drive (1TB) on a brand new machine, so could conveniently avoid issues of having to resize partitions where Windows had lots of user data and insufficient space for Ubuntu. To say that more concisely, if a user were to attempt a dual boot install on drive that was already mostly full, they would have to do some serious file management and backup to free sufficient space for the Ubuntu partition. I believe 20-25Gb is the current recommended partition for an Ubuntu (around 6GB is O/S and core apps, the rest is a comfortable minimum for user installed apps and data)  - hope that's clear. To be sure, this could be an advisory in any write-up. 

Nice find

C

On 21/12/2023 7:14 am, Antoni Sobolewski wrote:

I got reminded of this issue because of a chat in #ubuntu-help. There's a guide from a site that we already use for setting up an installation medium: itsfoss' tutorial to dual booting with bitlocker. I have only skimmed it and won't be able to test it but I was satisfied with other guides from there and planned to use them for #25026

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Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.
You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: <TheOdinProject/curriculum/issues/25812/1864921258@github.com>

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[github-actions[bot]]

This issue is stale because it has had no activity for the last 30 days.