Friday, November 24, 2017

dual boot - Ubuntu 16.04 can't see my SSD partitions when installing alongside Windows 10


I bought a new laptop that comes with Windows 10.
When I get to Installation Type it gives me this:


no types listed


fdisk only sees my USB drive.


fdisk output in terminal


Windows disk management looks like this:


Windows disk management with ESP, 2 primary partitions, recovery partition and 220GB unallocated, third partition left to right


I have successfully installed Ubuntu on 3 other machines using this boot drive before.


I noticed it doesn't let me choose Install alongside Windows. Not sure if it's supposed to be after Installation Type.


Gparted looks like this:


gparted apparently showing only USB



Your BIOS is set to RAID for the disk subsystem, and the Ubuntu installer doesn't know what to do with that. You need to change it to AHCI. Here are two ways to do it. Windows will not need to be reinstalled if you follow one of these methods.


Some folks have found the 2nd choice that I provide easier to do...


You've got a single disk set up in RAID mode, and the Ubuntu installer won't recognize your partitions until you switch your disk setting in the BIOS from RAID to AHCI.


Making that switch comes with some problems though, as Windows will no longer boot.


Choice #1: Looking at this article https://samnicholls.net/2016/01/14/how-to-switch-sata-raid-to-ahci-windows-10-xps-13/ will show you how to make the change without having to reinstall Windows.



  • Boot to Windows with your current SATA controller configuration

  • Open Device Manager

  • Expand Storage Controllers and identify the Intel SATA RAID Controller

  • View properties of the identified controller

  • On the Driver tab, click the Update driver… button

  • Browse my computer…, Let me pick…

  • Uncheck Show compatible hardware

  • Select Microsoft as manufacturer

  • Select Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller as model (this choice may be outdated by now).

  • Accept that Windows cannot confirm that this driver is compatible

  • Save changes, reboot to BIOS and change RAID SATA Controller to AHCI

  • Save changes and reboot normally, hopefully to Windows


Now you should be able to install Ubuntu in a dual-boot configuration.


Choice #2: See http://triplescomputers.com/blog/uncategorized/solution-switch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/



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

  • 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

  • Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal

  • If this command does not work for you, try bcdedit /set safeboot minimal

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

  • Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI from either IDE or RAID (again, the language varies).

  • Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.

  • Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).

  • Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot

  • If you had to try the alternate command above, you will likely need to do so here also: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot

  • Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.


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