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I have a Dell 13 7000 (7386) which is running Windows 10 and I would like to replace it with Ubuntu 18.4 (just Ubuntu, no dual boot).

I created a bootable USB to test it and everything looks fine, but I have problems when I try to actually install it (following this guide): instead of getting to the "Allocate drive space" step, I get to a step in which I have to select the device/partition where to install it, but I can only select what looks like the USB drive itself.

I googled around and it found something that looked like a solution (e.g. here, here) but it didn't actually work: after changing the BIOS "Sata Operation" from "RAID On" to "AHCI" I couldn't even start the laptop, so I had to switch back.

Has anyone found a working solution for a system like mine? Is there a reliable step-by-step guide?

Thanks!

FrancescoLS
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  • You have to have AHCI on. If still Windows installed, you need Windows fast start up off. Dell similar across many models: Dell 7791 UEFI update & some settings https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2431450&page=3 Ubuntu 19.10 Provides Good Out-Of-The-Box Support For The Dell XPS 7390 Icelake Laptop https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=dell-xps7390-ubuntu1910&num=1 & Dell XPS 15 Series 7590 (2019) https://askubuntu.com/questions/1161456/how-to-run-ubuntu-on-new-dell-xps-15-7000-series-7590 & https://github.com/TillmannBerg/Ubuntu-Dell-XPS-15-2019 – oldfred Feb 01 '20 at 17:22

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This was solved combining all the pieces from the links I posted in the questions and others (e.g. this and the comment from @oldfred)

In particular I had to:
1) disable fast start up from the Control Panel (here)
2) enter the BIOS settings and change the "SATA Operations" from "RAID On" to "AHCI"

Windows was indeed unable to boot, but I could boot Ubuntu live from the USB drive by pressing F12 at the startup (which didn't work before step 1, as I could only boot it from inside Windows)

The above made it possible to install Ubuntu the right way, i.e. I had access to the hard drive in order to overwrite it when installing.

FrancescoLS
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