First of all, thank you for your time and help in this forum and in particular in helping with my problem.
Context
I bought an Alienware Area 51 R4 for work. The hardware specifications are as follows:
- 237.37 [GB] NVMe KXG50ZNV256G (Windows 10 is here)
- 2 [TB] ST2000DM001-1ER164 (Ubuntu is here)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
- Intel Core i7-7820X
It was a nightmare to install Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS Bionic Beaver in it, everything failed. I have an Alienware laptop back from 2015 and the process of dual-booting Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.04 was really easy, everything works smoothly.
The way I finally managed to install Ubuntu in my Area 51 is to install it in the secondary HDD and let Windows 10 alone in the SSD.
The Ubuntu partitions were created following this guide:
Dual Boot with separate hard drives
GRUB doesn't recognize my windows SSD so the way I switch between both OS is through the BIOS. I believe this has to do with the Intel RST enabled, I have read that I should have switched to AHCI but in that moment that seemed too risky for me.
Just to remark:
- Secure Boot is OFF
- Fast Boot is OFF.
- Hibernation is OFF.
Problem
I am trying to install CUDA 9.0, with:
sudo dpkg -i cuda-repo-ubuntu1704-9-0-local_9.0.176-1_amd64.deb
sudo apt-key add /var/cuda-repo-9-0-local/7fa2af80.pub
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cuda
Note: Naturally, I have already installed the GPU drivers before.
When I enter the last command, the system completely freezes and restarts.
Picture of last report before computer freezes
As you can see, the reported problem is:
head: cannot open 'etc/ssl/certs/java/cacerts' for reading: No such file or directory
After that, the computer freezes and restarts.
I have tried:
sudo update-ca-certificates
It creates the missing cacerts file, but when I try to install CUDA again, it freezes. The cacerts file looks almost empty in comparison with the existing one in my laptop.
I have also tried (as suggested by missing cacerts file):
sudo dpkg --purge --force-depends ca-certificates-java
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates-java
The second command freezes the computer.
I have been dealing all day with this problem and have started to fall into despair.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Update (10.04.2019): I decided to wipe Ubuntu off from the secondary HDD because I suspected that it wasn't installed properly. Also, I decided to disable Intel RST and enable AHCI, taking of course the appropriate measures to be able to access Windows 10. The HDD was completely erased, formatted and the UEFI entry list was edited to erase Ubuntu from it. It was like starting with a brand new computer again.
With this context I proceed to install Ubuntu once again, this time it was much more easier. My primary SSD was detected with a Windows partition in it, I was so happy. However, I proceed to install it in the HDD because I prefer to have them in separate drives. Until that point, everything was smooth.
System and software updates started and before ending, the system froze and restarted, such a shame. I managed to solve that problem and proceed to install the drivers and CUDA. And once again, during CUDA installation it crashed once again in the same step as before.
This morning, I tried @Turtle10000 suggestion but once more, it tried to install the CA certificates and crashed.
I have some ideas to try, I will be updating. Thanks for your time.
Update and Solution (12.04.2018):
I finally managed to solve my problem.
I am not going to tell you about all the tests I did, but if you have an Alienware Area 51 R4 and you want to use Ubuntu 18.04 along with CUDA, be sure that it can be done. You need to follow this recipe that took me 2 weeks to figure out:
First order of the day is to install Ubuntu and you need to comply with the following requirements:
- Secure Boot must be OFF
- Fast Boot must be OFF.
- Hibernation must be OFF.
- In order for Ubuntu to see both storage drives, Intel RST must be disabled and AHCI must be enabled, you have to take the appropriate measures to be able to access Windows 10 again. This little guide (RAID to AHCI) is, in my opinion, the easiest way to do it.
Note: None of the steps can be skipped.
If you check your UEFI/BIOS version, you will note that is terribly outdated, it will be version 1.5.x and back from 2017. So, from Windows, enter to 'Alienware Updates' and update everything, one of the critical updates should be the UEFI/BIOS. It will be updated to version 2.x.x from march 2019. This is maybe the most critical step.
After that you can proceed to install Ubuntu, you should see both storage drives and be able to choose where and how you want to install it. In my case, I chose the secondary drive (2 [TB] - HDD) and partitioned the drive with the help of the guide I cited above.
Once Ubuntu is installed, log in and if any suggestion of updating packages appears, click on 'Remind me later'. After that, I proceed to install the appropriate NVIDIA driver for my GPU to avoid any kind of issue. Here NVIDIA driver for GeForce GTX 1080, Luis tested the driver for a 1080 with Vulkan, so I followed his instructions.
After this last step, you can proceed to update Ubuntu packages through Software Updater or through the terminal with no problems at all. Finally, download CUDA, in my case, I downloaded CUDA 10.1 and installed it according to the instructions. The installation should be completed without problems.
Note that if you go for CUDA 10.1, the driver will be automatically updated to the 418.56 version.
I have not experienced any kind of freezing or hanging from Ubuntu. I think that updating the BIOS/UEFI and installing from the beginning the appropriate driver was what solved my problem.
Thanks for reading and good luck.
