Issues installing ubuntu in dual boot with Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54

Hello,

I recently bought an Acer Nitro 5 AN515-54, and I need to install Ubuntu 18.04 in dual boot for school. I did the following steps / verifications :

I created a 100Go partition from windows (reduced the size of the disk with diskmgmt.msc)
I created an Ubuntu 18.04 USB iso with Rufus with a FAT32 / GPT configuration (since I think my disk is UEFI)
I disabled Fast Boot in Windows and in the BIOS, and disabled also Secure Boot
I made sure to use an USB 2.0 port

However, during the Ubuntu installation, at the "Installation Type" step, I can't see any partition showing up in the window, and I can't figure out why. I read something online about the intel smart response technology giving Ubuntu some trouble but the thing is that with models like mine (with only one SSD and no HDD) you cannot disable ISRT from the bios (maybe it is just not installed to be honnest I don't really know).

Could someone please help a programing student enjoy some SUDO on his laptop ?

Thanks in advance !

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MaClane

Good afternoon souyahia !

What EXACT model of your laptop?
Is the Ubuntu ISO x64 bit?

souyahia

Hi @MaClane and thank you so much for taking time to help me.

My computer is an AN515-54-77PN. And yes I downloaded the 64 bit version of the Ubuntu ISO (the AMD64)

MaClane

Good Morning !

What release, 19.04?
Have you tried using another pendriver and redoing the process?

souyahia

Hi again.

The release I'm trying to install is Ubuntu 18.04.3 since I'd like to have an LTS.

I've been trying to use another USB pendrive for the past few hours, but I just can't manage to boot on another pendrive. I just changed the USB drive but I applied the same method as before and now I don't know why but I can't find the USB drive in the boot menu (but when I go back and use my previous USB drive it still boots perfectly fine). I only have two USB drive so I can't really try with another one...

I also checked the SHA256 checksum of my ISO image to see if the ISO is corrupted but it is not. I've attached to this message a screenshot of my SSD partition and a photo of the issue when installing Ubuntu (no partition showing up) (it's in french sorry).

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/9c/m64ismg7kv9n.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/cu/7f2u8sq0iqyb.jpg

Again, thank you so much for your time.

MaClane

Is Sata Mode on Bios in AHCi?
I suggest you try version 19.03 and use Rufus to create the installation stick.
Take a read here too:

https://medium.com/@petragospodneti/windows-10-and-linux-love-hate-dual-boot-problems-d9994cbe16c0

souyahia

Here's a picture of my information panel in the bios :

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/cx/0iv0tm45hivn.jpg

I don't think I am in AHCI mode since it is written RST Premium with Optane. However there's no way to edit this line thus change the SATA mode. Should I try the solution explained in the link you just showed me ?

I have read a lot of discussions online where people could boot to Windows anymore after passing to AHCI mode, so is it safe ? Also the guy in the link you gave me is trying to install his dual boot in Legacy boot and not in UEFI so I'm not sure if it applies to my situation or not.

So what would you recommend me to do ? I'll try with Ubuntu 19.03 and see if I still got the partition issue.

Edited the content to hide personal/sensitive information
Acer-Samuel

souyahia

could NOT boot to windows *

souyahia

Ok so I tried with Ubuntu 19.04 and... the installation freezes after maybe 5 seconds or 6 lol. After choosing "Install Ubuntu", when the Installer GUI pops-up (where you first have to choose a language), everything freezes after 5 sec. I still can move my mouse though, nothing responds I can just move my mouse...

MaClane

You must disable the dedicated GPU for the installation to proceed.
When the option to test linux via flash drive appears, press the letter "e" and type in cmd nouveau.modeset = 0 or just nouveau.modeset = 0 and then press f10 to continue the installation.

The Intel IRST issue is here:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1092878-cannot-install-ubuntu-while-bios-is-in-intel-rst-mode/
https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/a1p1yq/intel_optane_memory_cache_with_linux/
https://askubuntu.com/questions/923150/use-intel-rst-while-dual-booting-ubuntu

souyahia

Hi.

I've tried the nouveau.modeset thing and the installation still freezes... On the desktop when i double click the install ubuntu it freezes and does nothing.

As for the IRST issue, I must admit I'm not a pro and I don't understand everything... Could you describe me the procedure I could apply in order to install my dual boot ?

Dinkan90

Hi there, goto bios and set up a supervisor passpord. Then come to the tab named Main and press ctrl+S. This will enable option to change sata mode to ahci and save changes

Warming- will not be able to boot to windows from this point. Either have a backup or do a fresh windows and ubuntu dualboot.

Credit goes to @JordanB a user in this form. I was facing the same issue.

Hope this helps @souyahia

Samy_Ouyahia

Hi this is me I had an issue with my previous account.

Thanks for your help @Dinkan90, I think I will do what you said. I however have a "noob" question.... But how do I reinstall Windows properly ? Because all I got is a new computer with Windows already installed on it but how do I create a bootable USB of Windows like I did with Linux and most importantly how do I keep my license key verified after I reinstall Windows ?

I know this is a dumb question but I've never installed Windows on a computer and I don't really want to loose my license key. Thanks for your help !

Samy_Ouyahia

Hello everyone.

After a few days of scratching my head I finally managed to install a dual boot wiht windows 10 and ubuntu 18.04 on my Acer Nitro 5 515-54-77PN. I will describe what I did here for anyone that had similar issues, I hope this will help !

First of all, I've read online that Linux and Windows don't really like to coexist in the same drive, as Windows tend to destroy the boot loader at each update, and since I need more space anyway, I bought another SSD (M.2 NVMe) that I added in my laptop to install linux on, but I definitely think it doesn't really matter and you can still install your dual boot on the same drive without issues.

I first created a bootable Windows USB Flash drive following an official tutorial from Microsoft (available on their website) because apparently, Windows might not be able to boot again after the next step, so in case that happen, I could re-install windows properly
Then I switched my SATA mode to AHCI. To do so, I first enable safe boot in Windows (Win + R, then type "msconfig", then go to the boot section and enable safe boot). Then in my BIOS, I went to the "Main" tab and pressed CTRL + S, allowing me to change to SATA mode to AHCI.
This is the step where some people might need to reinstall windows since it can't boot anymore in AHCI. Fortunately for me, Windows just took maybe 5 min to boot, saying it was "reconfiguring the system" and after that my windows was prefectly fine.
I then proceeded to install Ubuntu 18.04 using the normal procedure, and this time Ubuntu was able to detect the available partitions.
After the installation was complete, everything was working fine except for the WiFi on linux (no adapter was found so I couldn't connect to wireless internet). Using an ethernet cable, I typed "No adapter found Ubuntu 18.04 Intel" on google (since my wifi controller is an Intel) and I followed the first few tutorials I saw and it worked. Tbh I don't remember exactly which one worked for me since I did this really late last night.

Anyway, thanks to everyone that tried to help me here, have an excellent day and good continuation

sakthivels

Hi, just use install Ubuntu safe mode.
Connect to the internet while installing.
This will download the necessary drivers for nvidia also.
Hope this helps.
Regards,

Edited the post to hide personal/sensitive information
Acer-Samuel