Doing things with stuff
Install Ubuntu Linux on a samsung series 5 ultrabook with SSD
To install Ubuntu Linux on your samsung series 5 ultrabook with SSD you should change some stuff in your BIOS as well as change some things in your Ubuntu Linux install.
I used Ubuntu 12.10 as that’s the most current version at this moment.
[UPDATE] It turns out that booting through UEFI can brick some Samsung netbooks. Ubuntu bugreport
You must first disable ‘secure boot’ as it’s a Microsoft thing we don’t need it and would make things a lot more complicated.
Start the laptop and keep pressing the F2 button.
Your now in the BIOS setup.
‘Advanced’ -> ‘Fast Biosmode’ > Disabled
‘Security’ -> ‘Secure boot configuration’ > Customized signatures
‘Boot’ -> Move USB HDD to the top
-> ‘Secure Boot’ > Disabled
-> ‘OS mode selection’ > CSM OS
‘Exit’ > Save and exit
That’s it, no more secure boot crap.
Connect your usb-stick.
Boot the laptop.
When installing Ubuntu remove all the partitions on sda (HDD) and sdb (SSD).
Make one new partition on sdb (SSD) with mount point ‘/’ (root)
Make on sda (HD) the following (extended) partitons:
(Size is a personal issue but you get the idea)
sda5 swap 6GB
sda6 /var 20GB
sda7 /home remaining space
Install Ubuntu.
When the install is finished no want to set some mount options in to keep the write actions to the SSD to a minimum.
Open you /etc/fstab file and make sure you have the following mount options for your SSD:
noatime,nodiratime,discard,errors=remount-ro
So your fstab line for SSD would look something like this:
(This is actually one line in fstab)
UUID=c1526b35-193f-4573-9817-b0fa06100b93 / ext4 noatime,nodiratime,discard,errors=remount-ro 0 1
(Of course your UUID would be different.)
You should also move the /tmp directory to a ramdisk so that the directory would no longer be on SSD but lives in RAM.
Again it’s something you do in fstab:
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0
You could also set a different scheduler for the SSD to get the most out of it.
Edit /etc/rc.local and add the following line ABOVE the line ‘exit 0′.
echo deadline >/sys/block/sda/queue/scheduler
Your done, reboot and enjoy your 3 seconds boot time 
Great tutorial… it’s not necessary to change from U/EFI to CMOS, and in fact you shouldn’t if you want to keep Windows
Your right but I find it much easier to have a windows7 system running in virtualbox or vmware instead of a dual boot.
3sec? how? I’ve set up my root fs on the SSD sdb drive (encrypted LVM though) and this thing is so slow, my 2 yr old USB 2.0 flash drive performs faster. Copying from the SSD to anywhere peaks at 12 MB/s, I gave up on the SSD altogether and have all partitions on the hard drive. If you have any pointers on how to make it work, please lmk.
Yes 3 seconds
You can’t compare a lvm encrypted disk with a optimised for SDD setup one.
Just wondering why people want to encrypt a entire linux root filesystem, just encrypt the /home or use a encrypted Private directory or whatever.
Your data should be encrypted not the free-software parts
hdparm:
/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 8290 MB in 2.00 seconds = 4149.45 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 1042 MB in 3.00 seconds = 347.32 MB/sec
/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 8246 MB in 2.00 seconds = 4126.63 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 306 MB in 3.01 seconds = 101.65 MB/sec
There are a number of issues that require a fully encrypted hard drive, but that’s another topic. Encrypted LVM does add some overhead but no way does the laptop boot in close to two minutes because of it, firefox takes over 15 seconds to launch, etc. I have other laptops with SSDs with lower specs that are blazing fast, this thing performs like a 2005 laptop. None of the other laptops have this 16 GB integrated disk though, they’re all upgraded with aftermarket SSD replacements. If I can’t get this integrated disk to perform, I’ll upgrade the HDD to SSD. So, no pointers for me?
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 260 MB in 3.00 seconds = 86.58 MB/sec
/dev/sdb:
Timing buffered disk reads: 24 MB in 3.13 seconds = 7.67 MB/sec
sdb isn’t in use atm
Did you try without encryption and lvm ? It might be a hardware issue as your speed is ridiculous slow indeed.
Upgraded the HDD with SSD, everything flies, as it’s supposed to. Encrypted LVM, passkey to desktop 4 secs.
The internal is still a no go. Encrypted, non-encrypted, ext2, ext4, no difference. When I do the automated install, the results are abysmal. But when I create the partition manually in Gparted and run hdparm, I get normal results. When the install on this partition is complete, the results go back to useless.
/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 6382 MB in 2.00 seconds = 3193.09 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 388 MB in 3.10 seconds = 125.11 MB/sec
as soon as the install is done, before restart i ran it again:
/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 6254 MB in 2.00 seconds = 3128.78 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 20 MB in 3.24 seconds = 6.16 MB/sec
I’ll try askubuntu and then definitely give up. Sorry for spamming your blog.
Hi, you know something about battery life, fan issues etc ? I’m thinking of buying 5 series ultrabook, but if it doesn’t get along with linux i have to reconsider, I guess…
I’m sorry I can’t give you advice what to buy.
Followed instructions and bricked my laptop…
BIOS finds no bootable devices
Hi, i did what the tutorial says, and everything went well, but now I am trying to boot from a usb key with windows and the ultrabook dont boot more, even the bios settings back to normal. You know what to do to be able to install windows again?
Thank you.
I don’t know much about installing windows but are you sure the usb stick is properly setup? Booting a usb stick has nothing todo with the OS installed. Try booting the stick from another computer making sure the stick is ok.
I followed the tutorial but my laptop doesn’t boot now: I get a window with the enlighted name of the HD (SATA HDD etc) and nothing happens when I hit the return key…