On 10/02/2021 10:11, Bernard McNeill wrote:
On 08/02/2021 23:06, Lou Poppler wrote:On Mon, 2021-02-08 at 22:59 +0000, Bernard McNeill wrote:On 08/02/2021 22:44, Lou Poppler wrote:On Mon, 2021-02-08 at 22:26 +0000, Bernard McNeill wrote: [...]I have one SSD (which has Win-10 on it), there is no other disk (spinning or otherwise) on the machine. The BIOS System Information says 'M.2. SATA =(none)' and 'M.2. PCIe SSD-0=87NB51ASK5HS'. However: Under BIOS System Configuration, 'SATA Operation' is set to 'RAID On', [other options are 'Disabled' and 'AHCI' ].Interesting that Dell is making a distinction here between SATA and PCIe massstorage, but calling its RAID foolishness "SATA Operation - RAID On".Does this imply maybe that the SSD connected via PCIe and not via the SATAwiring/controller, is exempt from the RAID interference? I don't know. It sure would be nice if that is what they mean though. Maybe you can carefully test how this really works. (Make the backup first though)Is it even possible to RAID an SDD?With software RAID, you can combine all manner of storage devices into a"managed device" even different physical types of storage. What this built-in factory RAID might be is unclear to me. From the misbehavior of the system regarding your sometimes attached external USB disk (with the attempted debianinstall on it) it seems likely that the factory/BIOS RAID thing might beinterposing itself between disks as seen by running programs (like the debianinstaller) and the actual hardware storage itself. [...]FWIW, I found this link relating to Dell SSD, SATA and AHCI/RAID On.https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/Dell-M-2-FAQ-regarding-AHCI-vs-RAID-ON-Storage-Drivers-M-2-Lanes/td-p/507257 But still unclear to me if changing 'RAID On' to 'AHCI' is going to cause a problem.Best regards
FYIBeing persistent, I arranged for backup Windows knowledge in case everything fell apart, entered Windows safe mode, rebooted and changed the BIOS to: SATA Operation=AHCI (from RAID On), rebooted and got out of Windows safe mode.
Windows seemed undamaged, so I went on to reinstall Debian on the external HDD.
And there was a difference: This time, when the partitioner came up, it could see the internal SSD (previously it didn't, just showed the external HDD and the installer flash drive).
I have no idea why this should be, but carried on installing Debian over the entire external HDD.
And I still get the same result...it's as though the installer is not setting the Debian boot option to point to the HDD.
Any ideas gratefully received.