Ubuntu – Ubuntu 18.04 can’t recognize the SSD

dmraiddual-bootpartitioningraid

I got a new Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5, recently. Previously, I had been using a 10-year-old system. A lot of things have changed since then and I wasn't up-to-date with the latest tech.

So this new system has a single 500GB NVMe SSD and had Windows 10 pre-installed on it. Now I want to install Ubuntu as well (dual boot). For this, I shrunk my Windows partition to half (originally, there was only a single partition with Windows 10 installed on it).

Now I started the Ubuntu 18.04 setup (from a USB) and proceeded with installing it. But it couldn't recognize my SSD šŸ™

So, I started digging in for a solution. I found that there's an option in the BIOS namely, SATA Controller Mode which was set to "Intel RST Premium" (the other option is AHCI).

A little bit lookup on the Internet tells me that Intel RST premium technology is an application for managing RAID arrays. So I am not sure what this BIOS option is.

I decided to just switch to AHCI mode but then I would have to re-install Windows 10 (which I don't want to). Furthermore, while changing to AHCI mode it gives me a warning – "Existing data stored on drivers will be erased when resetting controller mode. Proceed?", to which obviously I say No, because I don't know which "data" and "driver" is it talking about.

Also, let's say if I change to AHCI mode, do I lose some performance for Windows? (Oh c'mon, Intel RST Premium has cool words like rapid and premium in it. Don't tell me they are just for name's sake?!!)

Next, I also came across very similar questions on SE but some of them talk about how to switch to AHCI mode without re-installing Windows, while someone else talked about utilities such as dmraid and mdadm to configure things.

I am unsure what to do next. I just want to dual boot Windows and Ubuntu …and live a peaceful life.

Best Answer

Hello I copy and pasted the answer to a similar question I wrote in the Lenovo Forums with a little changes hope it helps:

I have a new Lenovo Y740 with 1TB ssd set to rst, after intensite research over the web I came upon a tutorial that explains exactly how to do this, I don't know if you still need this but I hope any other person with the same problem can solve with this: http://triplescomputers.com/blog/uncategorized/solution-switch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/

the tutorial will walk you through how to change the ssd to AHCI mode in the bios without having to format or reinstall windows, and after that you can install ubuntu normally as you will do.

also other related links:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Gaming-Laptops/Legion-y740-Window-on-PCIe-SSD-and-ubuntu-on-SATA-SSD-possible/m-p/4577649#M32994

tutorial for ubuntu in lenovo y740:

https://ark.party/ubuntu_y740

if you have windows HOME and wish to upgrade to PRO with a product key

https://softwaregroup.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012409747-How-To-Upgrade-Windows-10-Home-to-Pro-using-an-OEM-key

gigabyte and megabyte unit convertor to know how big you want your partition:

https://www.convertunits.com/from/GB/to/MB

I hope this is helpful.

Good luck and Happy Linux =D

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