On 19.10.2021 21:11, Mark Misulich wrote:
Hi, I am trying to install Opensuse Leap 15.3 on a new Asus UX393E laptop, as a multiboot with Windows 11. The laptop has a 1 TB hardrive installed, which is listed as a NVMe Intel SSDPEKNW010T8.
In preparation for the installation, I reduced the size of the Win partition, leaving an unallocated space for the Opensuse install. After rebooting, I disabled secure boot. I then booted Gparted from a USB stick and installed separate partitions in the unallocated space for Swap, Root, and Home. I planned on using the windows /boot/efi partition for the /boot/efi required by Leap.
Then I attempted to install Leap 15.3 from a USB stick. The installation program worked well till I got to the partitioning. The install program doesn't recognize my harddrive at all, it only recognizes the USB stick with the installation program. It says it is unable to provide guided installation advice, and when I try to use expert partitioning, I find that the laptop's harddrive is not recognized at all.
Intel chipsets have special mode that hides NVMe access behind SATA AHCI controller. Consumer devices often default to this mode. Sometimes there are BIOS settings to change it (from RAID or IRST to AHCI). Sometimes this BIOS setting is hidden behind magic hotkey. Sometimes you cannot change it. Linux kernel does not support this mode so Linux cannot detect NVMe devices.
I haven't run across anything to help me out when I tried to search for an answer, and the opensuse forum is down now so I couldn't search there for ideas. Anyone have ideas about how to fix this problem?
If your BIOS supports it, change SATA mode from RAID/IRST/whatever to plain AHCI. And yes, it is about SATA controller setting even though you have NVMe device. If you go this route, find how to (p)repair your Windows so it still boots after this change or be ready to re-install it.