Disable Intel RST after BIOS update Acer Nitro 5 AN517-51

trekkie1701c · May 2020

So I have an Acer Nitro 5 (Specifically a AN517-51) and I recently upgraded the BIOS on it to see if that would fix some intermittent issues in Windows. It didn't; however, the latest BIOS (version 1.29) seems to have disabled a LARGE number of options in the BIOS. Most importantly, it seems that this has disabled my ability to change the mode of the SATA controller and I can no longer disable Intel RST.

This is problematic as I was dual-booting the system with Ubuntu Linux, which was running just fine when I was able to run in AHCI mode. I'd like to be able to disable Intel RST again, and I was wondering if there was a way to change that back? It seems a simple enough thing to ask to unlock, since it was previously unlocked. Or am I simply missing an option that currently exists to unlock it?

Commodore_1995# · May 2020

It is important to highlight that you must press CTRL + S, when the MAIN tab is open.

brummyfan2 · May 2020

Hi,
Try pressing Ctrl+S buttons while in the Main tab of BIOS screen, it will give you the option to switch to AHCI mode, however, I would suggest backup everything because when I tried to switch to AHCI in my system, I got BSOD, so I have reverted back to Intel Premium RST with Optane mode.

trekkie1701c · May 2020

This didn't have any effect, unfortunately. The option remains greyed out and unchanged.

I do have a backup of all of my data and I can recreate both the Windows and Linux installs fairly easily, and I'm aware Windows can be persnippity when switching from RAID to AHCI mode. However, Ubuntu doesn't seem to have the ability to detect drives that are in RST mode whatsoever, and since both M.2 slots are going to be running different operating systems, there's no benefit to me to having Intel's particular implementation enabled (and several big downsides to having it enabled).

I have been able to get back in to my Linux install by cloning the SSD it was installed to over to my laptop's hard drive, but this is a less than ideal solution to the problem for quite a few reasons. It'd be a lot easier if the BIOS update hadn't changed the setting back to RST from AHCI and if it hadn't locked the setting.

brummyfan2 · May 2020

Hi,
You could try Ctrl+S in the safe boot as mentioned by @egydiocoelho in this thread.
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/579607/nitro-5-an515-54-change-sata-mode-from-rst-to-ahci

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/bq/d35fwczkaz9r.jpg

After pressing Ctrl+S SATA Mode option will be available.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/eb/chkhj2e72nvu.jpg

Commodore_1995# · May 2020

It is important to highlight that you must press CTRL + S, when the MAIN tab is open.

trekkie1701c · May 2020

egydiocoelho said:

It is important to highlight that you must press CTRL + S, when the MAIN tab is open.

Ah, I guess that was my disconnect, then. Thanks, it seems to be working now.

Commodore_1995# · May 2020

@trekkie1701c You are welcome. Also accept the answer from colleague @brummyfan2, as it is also correct and more complete.

FilipeAugusto · October 2022

Commodore_1995#

May 10, 2020

It is important to highlight that you must press CTRL + S, when the MAIN tab is open.

This should be visible by default and the default mode AHCI!

My "old" acer from 2019 got stuck with intel cause i didnt knew this...

My new acer is fixed. Thanks for the clarification, BUT, this needs to visible from start.

ohh, and some sugestions:

1. It would be appropriate to have an option to open access to the advanced bios menu, with notice that the user is fully responsible for any damage he causes with the modifications, considering that other notebooks, such as Dell's, which allow the user to make advanced changes to the system. Although they also limit in some ways.

to not lose windows when changing from RST to AHCI without losing anything (AFAIKT :))