1

I have a Dell G7 laptop with Window 10. I am trying to install 18.04 LTS for dual boot. I have been generally following the approaches in these guides: Ubuntu Alongside Window with UEFI How to Install Ubuntu Alongside Windows 10

I have done the following:

  • Made a live USB (64 bit 18.04 Desktop)
  • Shrunk the Windows partition to make space
  • Disabled fast start up and secure boot
  • Booted the live USB and selected "Try Ubuntu"
  • Started the installation process

When I get to the "Installation Type" screen, I can't see the HDD. The only device that appears is the USB drive (as /dev/sda). The Disks tool, GParted and fdisk show the same thing.

I tried rebooting the USB and selecting "Install Ubuntu". Same results.

Based on some of the threads, I thought that perhaps the HDD is in hibernate mode. I've tried:

  • logging off when shutting down
  • powercfg.exe -h off
  • shutdown /s /t 0

All of these yield the same results as before.

I appreciate any suggestions or thoughts.

Kulfy
  • 17,696
grommit
  • 19
  • Almost all Dell need UEFI update & SSD firmware update. Drives may be in RAID or Intel SRT, they need to be AHCI mode. If nVidia you may need nomodeset, although some now work without, but once installed you will want nVidia driver from Ubuntu repository. https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln151664/how-to-install-ubuntu-linux-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en Your link is a good link. Also: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI Dell issues common across models: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1042414/trying-to-install-ubuntu-on-dell-xps-15-9570 – oldfred Aug 06 '19 at 03:38
  • Thanks for these suggestions. After further efforts and reading, it sounds llike RAID / AHCI may be the problem but I haven't solved it yet. – grommit Aug 08 '19 at 16:12
  • @grommit Yes, it's very likely indeed and the way to solve it is 1. install AHCI drivers in Windows, just in case (if not present, after #2 Windows will not boot) and then 2. open UEFI settings and change to AHCI. –  Aug 12 '19 at 02:11

1 Answers1

1

The issue was that the HDD was set for RAID (even though it is just a single disk) rather than AHCI. The Ubuntu installer cannot read a RAID disk and wasn't able to view the partitions.

I was able to change from RAID to AHCI following these instructions here

  1. Right-click the Windows Start Menu. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).

    a. If you don’t see Command Prompt listed, it’s because you have already been updated to a later version of Windows. If so, use this method instead to get to the Command Prompt:

    • Click the Start Button and type cmd
    • Right-click the result and select Run as administrator

  2. Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal a. If this command does not work for you, try bcdedit /set safeboot minimal

  3. Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup (the key to press varies between systems).

  4. Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID (again, the language varies).
  5. Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
  6. Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).
  7. Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot a. If you had to try the alternate command above, you will likely need to do so here also: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot
  8. Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

After switching to the AHCI controller I rebooted into Windows to confirm that everything was working properly before continuing.

I next rebooted with a live USB and voila the HDD and proper partitions were visible to the installer.

Kulfy
  • 17,696
grommit
  • 19