this is a perplexing one.
you did your research.
but why does a HDD need a driver? for firmware? bios.
traditionally the HD or SSD is not seen in an install when it's not formatted.
Make sure you are UEFI in the bios. Make an EFI boot when you install (you haven't got there yet).
Right now I'd get in the live distro, and launch gparted. And format (nuke) the whole drive and format it GPT.
Maybe Solus can see it now.

This secret driver/funny handshake thing I have never heard of.
Is this an Acer Nitro thing, you think?

    WanderingMind What I can learn suggests that will not install the needed driver when Solus is added to my system. So now I'm left with no (usable) ideas..

    does it talk to you and tell you that in a message?

        I'm with Brent, format it using gparted. I've ran into several instances where linux did not install on a drive until it was formatted.

        Plan B - buy another drive on amazon, use that one. Then see if you can get the original working as secondary drive for storage. SSD's have come way down in price over the years. I always prefer to just start with a new drive anytime I am "gifted" a PC or am installing for a friend on an older unit. Less down the road problems....

          brent I know something about computers, but not enough to tell you why the HDD or SSD needs a driver. When I searched for my problem, adding the term Acer Nitro (yes, it does seem to be an issue with this model) that was the gist of the answers I found.

          When I mentioned that the drive was not visible to the live system I booted from, I did not just try to install, get the message there was no drive, then give up. There is a drive, with Windows installed and working. So I wondered if Windows was blocking the install somehow. Figured I'd try wiping out the drive. Went straight to gparted (also the equivalent partition manager in the Plasma version) but neither one of these would recognise the existence of another volume at all. Which is one of the reasons I believed the answers I read, which didn't make a lot of sense to me.

              zmaint format it using gparted. I've ran into several instances where linux did not install on a drive until it was formatted.

              me as well.
              your new SSD plan is good also. If you can't win that battle than re-purpose the old one since it doesn't need to fight Solus (or whatever it was doing) anymore.

                brent No, but when I researched what happens when you install anything extra in a live session before installing the distro the image is for, every answer I found said the additions were not included during the install. Yes, I may end trying that (the worst I'll do is waste some time, I assume) but figured before I wasted any time I ought to see if anyone else knew more about this.

                  WanderingMind There is a drive, with Windows installed and working. So I wondered if Windows was blocking the install somehow.

                  yes. but the right way to do linux next to Windows is Windows Disk management. It's their official linux way to partition in WIN then install disk.
                  I would never run them side by side personally. WIN has sandbagged the he** out of Solus when i did that.
                  Nuke WIN instead 🙂

                  PS--that Acer driver thing a dead end. Some here might know

                      zmaint Since gparted doesn't 'see' the drive either, I can't format it. Already tried that.

                      Yes, I may end up going with your Plan B. Although with my age and eyesight, I don't know if I want to tackle installing a new drive myself. I'd have to look up the process for the Nitro 5; I do know there are models where the task isn't so difficult. A quick look a the case makes me suspect this may not be one of the easy ones, although I'd have to research what's involved to be sure. Anyway, if I can't do any better, I'll certainly try your suggestion. Have to save up for that, though.

                      Both for reasons of speed (I'm writing this on an ancient Dell which is having a hard time running Lubuntu), cost, and the fact I prefer to learn how to get around the obstacles I encounter because by the end of that process, I'm still hoping someone might know more about this issue.

                      Either way, I do appreciate the suggestion. It's one I might not have thought of myself. So far, it also sounds as if it may be the way I have to go.

                          brent My plan was to nuke Windows anyway. When I had a dual boot system, I never used Windows 10 anyway. Usually, from a live image, I get the option to install to the existing Windows partition, which usually works. Then of course I had to try to wipe the partition, format it, etc, but gparted would not admit there was another device in the system at all, just the USB I had the live image on.

                          Yes, I'm hoping someone else might know something about this.

                            WanderingMind It does see the drive in bios yes? I've also had the weirdness happen recently where I had to delete the secure boot key completely, just disabling it did not work. Might also give that a shot if you've not already.

                            Youtube has guides for the drive replacement if it comes to that.

                                WanderingMind Since gparted doesn't 'see' the drive either, I can't format it. Already tried that.

                                WOW. Windows had made itself undetectable. Bizarre.

                                it's about the aspire: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/590106/cant-change-sata-mode-to-ahci-in-order-to-install-ubuntu-for-dual-boot and the hidden commands you need to get advanced bios settings. I had to do this to get Solus on a Satellie laptop I was gifted.

                                I see only one 'SOLVED' with Nitro and Mint side by side https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=398051 but you get yourself way out of proportion like Gumby again..

                                I'm sure you are 85 articles ahead of me

                                    zmaint Yes, the BIOS shows there is a hard drive in there. It's just that the live session can't find it. Trying to delete the secure boot key sounds as if it won't hurt anything. I'm also going to give my other idea a try, just to see what happens. If I waste time, then I do. At least I'll have a bit more experience. Just makes more sense to find out as much as I can before I try ideas which are far out there. (Assuming the live session detects there is an available driver to be added, I'll also have more information about that, even if the driver "disappears" during the install process.)

                                      brent Thanks. I'm going to see if I can figure anything out. Stubborn isn't always a bad quality.

                                      Oddly enough, I have a Satellite, which I had no trouble putting Solus on. It runs great - but the hinge is breaking (yes, one of those Satellites) so I can't use it until I get a repair guy to look at it. That fix is definitely more than I feel ready to take on.

                                      Edited to add: yes, I get my hands on whatever computers I can. Some of them won't even run Windows for various reasons. Most of them end up working. Save a few for myself, then donate the rest so they don't end up scrap quite so fast. Seeing what some of those old machines can do is what impressed me most about Linux. And turned me off Windows.

                                        Axios Until I boot the machine up again, I won't know for certain what it was set at. But I think it may have been set at RAID, which is something that caught my eye because I'm leery of RAID. If I am right, this would only be the second time I have ever encountered RAID. The first was not a good experience. If there is a way of fixing that drive, I've never found it. (Although never quite tossed the drive, just in case I learn more.)

                                        My question about your advice is this: since RAID seems to be very, very particular, if the mode is set to RAID, will I be able to change it without damaging anything? Or is there anything to watch out for there?

                                            WanderingMind If its set to (Raid) thats prob your problem.
                                            and if your still using windows yes it would cause issue.
                                            You have to go through some steps to convert windows to non raid setting when changing in bios I dont Remb
                                            really what they were been to long.
                                            If linux is all you got would cause no issues Linux will not work with it set to (Raid)

                                                Axios Okay, thank you. I'm going to give your advice a try a bit later. Once I have some answers, then I'll post whatever I learn here. Making Windows unhappy doesn't bother me at all. When I get my hands on any computer with Windows installed, it only stays there until I've replaced it with Linux.

                                                  Axios I did as you suggested. Solus Plasma is now working on my Acer.
                                                  One small fly in the ointment is it does not seem to want to boot into the BIOS. At the moment, I would only do this to clear up one very minor issue (an annoying password demand before the machine will boot at all). So I'm not going to worry about it until I have time to look into that. At least the machine is working. Thank you.

                                                      WanderingMind One small fly in the ointment is it does not seem to want to boot into the BIOS. At the moment, I would only do this to clear up one very minor issue (an annoying password demand before the machine will boot at all).

                                                      you spam your F12 (or whatever key) when booting, to show the boot menu, you see BIOS, select it. and it just hangs and does nothing?

                                                      Those annoying master passwords are usually created in the BIOS. On the Satellite I had to create a master PW in order to access the hidden features of the BIOS that would let me install Solus. That didn't happen to you?