Fsck'd by Windows again

WetGeek

@tomscharbach : On the little Inspiron that's been streaming to our TV, I finally got tired enough of all the "Unknown error has occurred" messages from Windows. It was time to nuke Windows and install Solus Plasma instead. That was the beginning of my problem.

I started the computer with the Solus .ISO in place, and selected F12 at boot to start the one-time boot menu. I was able to select the USB drive and start the Solus Plasma installer. That's when the second problem reared its ugly head. Because I wanted to do an EFI installation and create enough swap partition for hibernating, I fired up the KDE Partition Manager in order to create the necessary partitions. But the partition manager could only see the USB drive, not the Windows drive.

After fussing with that for a long time, I finally figured I'd just do an ordinary install, and forget about creating the partitions first. So I did that, and went through the install process normally, until the end when the installer was unable to write to the SSD drive. I suspect that Linux couldn't see the Windows partitioning.

When I gave up and reluctantly went back to Windows for this job, it had to repair itself, losing my Bluetooth pairs, requiring me to switch to a Wi-fi mouse and wired keyboard for a while, until I could remove the mouse and keyboard as Bluetooth devices and re-pair and reconnect them again.

At this point, I'm about ready to donate this Inspiron to Goodwill to recycle it, and get another Optiplex to drive the TV. I know I can install Solus on one of those, 'cause I have two others with Plasma on them. First, though, I thought I'd ask you, my DELL computer guru, whether you have any other suggestions.

Should I try to get into BIOS/UEFI on this Inspiron and find a way to get rid of Windows from there, or should I just go ahead and get another Optiplex to stream to the TV? I'm just afraid that if I find a way to remove Windows, and still can't get Solus installed, we'll have no TV until I can buy another computer and configure it. My wife wouldn't be amused at all.

brent

WetGeek I'm superstitious about keeping windows...it's probably not rational....destroying and making unsuable one's own linux system several times kinda makes a guy skittish...
...I will admit the last 2 years I just update my Windows but do no work in it. Then I unplug it from mobo.

--unless I didn't read you are right? you are keeping a copy of windows on a machine somewhere? or saying goodby forever?
edit/sp

LarryNG

WetGeek
WetGeek, tomscharbach's tips will likely get the job done, but if you haven't already gotten everything running smoothly, here's my penny's worth:

My own preference is to fully wipe a drive while in Windows (diskpart / list disk / select disk # / clean), which fully deletes all UEFI/GPT partitions, then do a quick format before installing another OS. (I usually use a USB to SATA cable when wiping ssds.) I've always had bad luck dual-booting or even over-writing an existing OS, so now I rarely even attempt to install a new OS unless it's on a bare drive all by its lonesome.

Years back I used to do on-site Dell warranty at state government offices. Actually, I grew fond of Dell's laptops, mostly because they were so easy to work on. One office's IT guy frowned when he saw that I was using a Puppy CD for transferring data from failed OSes to new hard drives. 😃

But yeah, for streaming television, I got rid of Windows years ago and went Mint (wow Windows had continuous errors and poor performance). If/when I ever update the Mint, I may just install Solus instead.

Brucehankins

If I'm wiping windows completely, I wipe the drive first, then install something. I'd make sure secure boot, fast boot, you know the drill, is all taken care of in BIOS per usual. Then boot to whatever .ISO will report your SSD. It may be Budgie, Gnome, Endeavour, Ubuntu, whatever. Just get to where gparted, KDE partition manager, or the CLI can recognize and interact with the SSD. Wipe it, set new partitions, and then go install what you want.

WetGeek

brent unless I didn't read you are right? you are keeping a copy of windows

Yeah, it's a little DELL Inspiron desktop I bought refurbished, and use it to feed content to my TV. It does a fair job of that, but gets stopped too many times with an "unknown error" message, and I have to stop and restart it. I'd really rather install Plasma on it, but that's what I'm having trouble doing, because the "Live" Solus .ISO can't detect the Windows SSD. Not to partition it, and not to install on it.

brent

WetGeek you can go into windows disk management and shrink the windows partition, create one for solus and make format solus's as gpt.
maybe (solus live) is looking for gpt or can't process the existing brtfs system...but that seems nonsensical please disregard...or the old inspiron is out of touch. 'cant detect target drive' is so annoying an error.

Axios

WetGeek Is it set to AHCI since it had windows on it might check

[deleted]

Axios Considering it's an SSD it should be set to ACHI anyway.

I'd try if another distro picks up the drive.

WetGeek

[deleted] I'd try if another distro picks up the drive.

That sounds like an idea. Maybe try with a Sparky .ISU and see if I can partition the disk with that.

Axios

[deleted] This issue make me curios to why it happens with so many ppl
Only had it happen to me 1 time And it was a Hd not ssd but I went and wiped the disk 1pass I think
because I was getting no where and partioned for single drive and formatted and then solus installed.
Did all this with a windows Pe disk tho.
If I may ask why being ssd has to do with achi?
(I wipe disks when I run into problems like that because who knows where crap is hideing and a wipe
should get rid of it and usually does) Microsoft loves hideing stuff.
Just my two cents

[deleted]

Axios

If I may ask why being ssd has to do with achi?

Performance and TRIM

Axios

[deleted] Ahhh I knew that big brain fart I guess...lol
It Happens.

tomscharbach

[T[he "Live" Solus .ISO can't detect the Windows SSD. Not to partition it, and not to install on it.

Assuming that your Inspiron is using UEFI, the installation instructions suggest checking this:

Your system must be booted using Unified EFI (UEFI) mode, as opposed to a "legacy (BIOS) mode".
Your disk is required to be GPT formatted.
If you cannot see your SSD drive, set the SATA configuration to AHCI.

The only time I've had issues with the installer not recognizing a drive is when SATA was set to RAID. My guess is that if you cut over to ACHI, that will resolve the issue.

WetGeek

LarryNG But yeah, for streaming television, I got rid of Windows years ago and went Mint (wow Windows had continuous errors and poor performance). If/when I ever update the Mint, I may just install Solus instead.

Thanks for your reply and great suggestions. I really appreciate them, as well as Tom's. My situation is one where I'm the sole caregiver for a wife with Alzheimer's, and watching TV is one of the few things she's still able to enjoy doing. So it scares me to take any extreme measures to get Solus running on this Inspiron. If things should go sideways, there'd be no way for her to watch TV until I could resolve the situation, which might even require buying another computer.

So I think I'll temporarily re-task one of my older Optiplex desktops that's currently functioning as a torrent server and use it in place of the Inspiron that's now streaming to the TV. There's no problem running Solus on it, because that's what is already on it. Such a swap would leave the Inspiron connected to the monitor that the Optiplex has been using, so I can try to get Solus installed on it there. And if that's successful, I can simply swap them back again. If it's not, Plan B would be to buy another computer, but during the time that requires, the TV would still be mostly functional.

Sorry about such a long reply. I've started over several times in an attempt to shorten it, but it's a complicated situation.

tomscharbach

WetGeek Such a swap would leave the Inspiron connected to the monitor that the Optiplex has been using, so I can try to get Solus installed on it there. And if that's successful ...

I would take these steps (assuming that the Inspiron is set to UEFI):

(1) Check to make sure that Bitlocker is not enabled on the Inspiron (Control Panel > System and Security > Bitlocker Drive Encryption). It is very unlikely that Bitlocker is enabled, but it doesn't hurt to check.
(2) Boot into UEFI/BIOS setup (repeat-click F2) and look for "SATA operation" or a similar heading.
(3) Change the SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI. Save changes and exit. At this point, Windows will no longer boot [FN], but since you are nuking Windows, that shouldn't be a concern.
(4) Boot into the Solus USB using the Boot Menu (repeat-click F12).
(5) Check to see if the Solus USB recognizes the Inspiron's SSD. It should.
(6) Assuming that the Solus USB recognizes the Inspiron's SSD, install Solus. I personally use the "intall Solus onto the entire disk" method (which wipes partitions and installs Solus "clean"), but you can use the manual method if you want to set up a large swap partition. That's up to you.

===============
[FN] -- If you want to change RAID to AHCI but have the computer reboot into Windows before you install Solus from the USB, then the procedure to convert from RAID to AHCI is slightly more complicated: (a) run msconfig, (b) select "Boot" tab, (c) Select "Safe boot" and "Minimal", (d) reboot into UEFI/BIOS setup (F2), (e) change SATA operation from RAID to AHCI and save changes, (f) reboot, and Windows will open in "Safe Mode", (g) run msconfig, (h) select "Boot" tab, (i) UNSELECT "Safe boot" and "Minimal", (j) reboot.

WetGeek

tomscharbach I would take these steps (assuming that the Inspiron is set to UEFI)

Tomorrow I'll try these steps before my wife gets up for the day. It's a bit late for today.

That Inspiron is one of the few computers that I brougt new, and it's still pretty up-to-date, so I'm pretty sure it uses UEFI, and it has never asked me for a Bitlocker password. Also, I can't imagine that it is set to use RAID for its single SSD, but that's the first thing I'll check.

I've given this quite a bit of thought, and I'm now willing to give this a try where it now sits. If the Inspiron ends up bricked, I can bring down an Optiplex from upstairs and have the TV back in service very quickly. (And we can just put up with the frequent timeouts until I can come up with a better idea.)

It still amazes me that I can't just buy a wi-fi dongle that will solve this problem, not even the model from the DELL web store (bought from Amazon, but identical model number to the DELL offering). I've bought 3 or 4 by now, all listed as Linux compatible. But apparently not DELL compatible. None has ever connected to our network at any speed.

tomscharbach

WetGeek Also, I can't imagine that it is set to use RAID for its single SSD, but that's the first thing I'll check.

All of the Latitudes and Optiplex computers I have worked with in the last decade were set to RAID. Inspiron, which is a consumer-level laptop, might be set to AHCI. I just checked by husband's new Inspiron, and it is set to AHCI.

If it turns out that your Inspiron is already set to AHCI, then you will have to look to another cause for the problem.

WetGeek

Okay, this is getting weirder and weirder. I finally got to the bottom of this when I inserted a 5 GHZ capable dongle I had tried befoe into one of the Optiplexes upstairs, and it connected with my 5 GHg network with no problem at all. This was in the same room as the router.

So I brought that computer downstairs and connected it to the TV. I was giddy with anticipation. I paired it with the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and tried to connect to the same router it had been connected to upstairs, but the 5 GHz network couldn't be found.

I've always known that a 5 GHz connection doesn't have the range of a 2.4 GHz one, but I've never had any reason to suspect that that might be the problem. In total, there are 5 computers here in the living room that all connect without a problem to the 5 GHz network upstairs. It's only the Optiplex with the dongle that does not. At least, I've finally identified the real root cause.

So, now I figured I'm back to where was before -- trying to get that Inspiron to install Windows and use its wi-fi radio. But wait. It gets even better!

I also found upstairs a bus-type wi-fi card (with two antennas) that I'd totally forgotten about until now. It had a tall mounting bracket installed on it, but I also found the box with the short version, and installed that. I even remembered how to get the Optiplex open, and both bus slots were empty. (I only needed the little one.) Now I'm just waiting for my wife's movie to end, and I'll swap the computers out one last time. I'm confident that this adapter is going to solve the problem. The Inspiron will be perfectly fine upstairs as a torrent server.

WetGeek

WetGeek I'm confident that this adapter is going to solve the problem.

And I'm now happy to report that I was right. We're now watching Ant Man and Wasp Quantumania on Disney+.

Thanks again for everyone's help with this. Sorry about the leads that turned out to be wrong.

Axios

WetGeek I would walk that dongle over to trash and drop it in sounds like it may
have internal issues.

LarryNG

WetGeek <And I'm now happy to report that I was right.

Excellent! Best news I've heard in weeks. My wife's disabled, so we keep 1.5 bookshelves filled with DVD movies and TV series (and growing). Several minutes ago I ordered an additional 2 spare DVD players just to make sure she always has something to watch movies with. (Also have 2 new spare non-smart TVs still in the boxes.) The Linux box is for watching Korean dramas when local TV signals are too weak.

Now with SSDs being so darn cheap, I'm thinking about getting a couple just to have Solus preloaded and ready to go when the existing SATA2 hdd fails.

Gotta keep the wives happy! 🙂