SSD not recognised by Linux Lite
 

Hi All
I'm trying to revive a Fujitsu Amilo 1705 with an 120gb SSD and installing 'Lite' 3.6. as the sole OS.

I have 'Lite' running in safe mode from a DVD, but whilst the computer knows the SSD is there - Lite doesn't. I used the 'Lite' forum but to no avail.

I formatted the SSD on a Windows laptop I did use MBR as it seemed in sync with an old computer.

If it is a NTFS problem I'm not sure what to change it too or how to. I'm using Western digital data lifeguard diagnostics.

Whilst Lite is running in safe mode I cannot find 'terminal'. Any ideas where I can find it? Can I use any code in Terminal to help Lite find the SSD?

Whilst I have superficially played around with computers for a few years - please keep it simple !

Cheers

I think it would help to clarify a few things:

Are you saying that the BIOS/UEFI firmware lists it as being attached to your system? But, Linux Lite does not see/list it it?

Are you saying that you partitioned it using MSDOS based partitioning? As partitioning and formatting are not one of the same thing.

You need to install the package for the ntfs-3g drivers, to access NTFS formatted partitions from Linux.

I don't use Linux Lite myself, so I don't personally know which desktop environment it uses by default. However their certainly are some terminal commands to list your SSD with. Try the following one:

If you are trying to use the disk, likely it doesn't auto mount disks, so you need to mount it yourself, & you may need to install ntfs-3g to mount an NTFS drive, whilst if you formatted it with VFAT most distros will be able to mount it.

But if you are trying to install LL onto the disk if it is fitted into your computer, then it is something to do with how LL works, maybe it will not use other disks in 'safe mode' - try running it 'live' & see if you can see your disk, or run the installer when it boots up.

Hi All.

Thanks for the speedy responses.

If I fire up the laptop and F2 the SSD shows up. When trying to install on the SSD the Lite does not see it.

Mmm. Well I'm a newbie floundering here I did format the SSD and from my memory I saw something about MBR being suitable for older computers so I plumbed for that option. Not suer whether that partitioning or not.

Mmm - again ntfs-3g not to sure what that is - where to get it or on which laptop Windows or Linux. Academic really as I can't do anything on the Lite laptop.

I can't access terminal as I can't find it as just about everything on the setup desktop doesn't appear to work without an internet connection which it won't let me access.

Quite out of my depth here but desperate to consign Windows to the shelf.

Cheers

If you are talking about the items in the "Welcome" window that appears, then no, you really can't do much of that without an internet connection. Just close that window by clicking on the red "x" in the top right corner.

I don't know why your SSD would not be seen. Windows almost certainly formatted the drive with NTFS, and that is not a suitable filesystem for installation, but the drive should still appear as an icon at the top left corner of the screen, right above the "Install Linux Lite" icon. If the drive is really being seen, the installer should offer the option to erase the drive and format it with default settings.

To open a terminal, either right-click on the background and select "Open Terminal Here", or else at the bottom of the screen click on the icon that looks vaguely like a terminal screen with ">_" displayed. Either way, you will start with a non-root shell, and almost all of the suggested commands need root privileges. Just type "sudo -i", and you will get a root shell that will allow those commands.

If Lite is detecting the drive, it would show up as /dev/sda. If that file is on your system, Lite is properly detecting the disk. Unless you have another disk in the system, in which case the SSD might be /dev/sdb.

Was there ever an operating system installed on this machine, to your knowledge. If so, what was it?
If you formatted the SSD on a windows machine, you are going to have to do it all over again as you cannot install Linux on a proprietary windows filesystem, it won't work.

Linux Lite has an online Manual, at the link below which should explain how to use it and how to find a terminal.

https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/

Can't imagine why you would need an internet connection to do simple things. I guess the Manual should explain.

I have personally verified that the first (and default) option the Linux Lite installer presents is to erase whatever is on the disk and set it up to a default arrangement (swap partition plus root partition).

Suggest maybe trying AntiX, works great on most older machines.
http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Thanks for confirming my earlier statement that formatting the partition for Linux was pointless. I believe that is the first option on almost any Linux install.

Thanks all for your input.

Well - the plot thickens. Found that a right click produces some menus and the 'drive' menu only shows the DVD.

I found 'terminal' and tried to type in 'sudo' and what do I get? - s4d6 ! Googled some commands to identify the SSD and, as above, just get gobbledygook i.e. type in # and I get \

Is it me going nuts or this computer?

In answer to 'has the computer had another operating system = Yes, Vista. Did a reset by taking out the battery and hitting the on/off button, as suggested somewhere.

Where to now?
Regards

Just had another look around and discover that if I type in 'find ssd' into the help page I get 'f5nd ssd. Weird!

Just looking at GParted and it returns 'Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0'

The complaint about the partition table on /dev/sr0 is no great surprise. Hybrid ISOs (the type that can be run unchanged either from a CD/DVD or from a USB flash drive) are a somewhat strange beast, appearing partitioned if used one way and unpartitioned for the other.

Either you have a strange keyboard type or else that machine has some serious hardware issues. It doesn't appear that the Settings Manager has support for anything except the "English(US)" layout. If keyboard layout doesn't seem to be a likely issue, I suggest selecting "Run memtest (memory test)" from the Linux Lite boot menu and see if that turns up anything. Let it run for at least one complete pass.

Regarding finding your SSD, try going into your BIOS setup and changing the disk interface from "AHCI" to legacy "IDE" mode. It might be that you have some disk controller that the Linux Lite DVD does not support. I'd suggest looking at some of the stored boot messages for anything about an unknown storage controller, but that's going to be hard to do until the keyboard issue is resolved.

Numberlock is on - switch it off - some distros, to my annoyance turn it on by default. ;)

Aha - well done Fatmac !

Now I've got the keyboard functional, what can I put into Terminal to see if it can recognise the SSD

Cheers