I have searched for a solution and tried several things to no avail. So I am asking here. This problem occurred following a clean install of Linux Mint 22 (stable build). I want to preface this: I don't think this problem was caused by Linux Mint but rather something I did while installing Linux Mint.
The problem: I mistakenly did a clean install of Linux Mint and wiped out my factory Windows 11 installation. At first, I was eager to have Linux Mint back and running on my decent, mid-range, gaming laptop. So, in my infinite wisdom, I used the partition management tool during the Linux Mint install to WIPE OUT both of the hard disks in my laptop and have a clean fresh install using the entire disk. I wasn't concerned because I knew the Win11 installation was tied to my Microsoft account and I knew I could just download Windows 11 and reinstall it. BUT, I forgot about Secure Boot and TPM.
When I eventually decided I was done playing and wanted to reinstall both with a dual boot option, I tried to re-install Windows 11 but when asked to select the disk where windows will install, the two internal disks show as 'offline'. My attempts to interact with these disks with DISKPART yielded no better results. See this picture I took while trying these things Edit: This image depicts "Disk 1" and "Disk 2" which I originally believed to be my two internal disks but I have since learned the windows installer was showing these because I had a USB hub and card reader attached to the computer. After removing the reader and hub, the Windows installer now shows ONLY the USB installation media created to install windows. No other drives are present.
Mind you, this problem is only present during the Windows installation tool. In Linux, I can access and use both internal drives without issue. Also, I bought this laptop in September of 2022 and have been running windows installed on the stock drive and have used the added internal drive without issue until a few days ago. I clearly did something to bugger this up and now Windows is unhappy with me.
Steps I have taken: (to fix or compound, you decide)
- Enable/disable Secure boot
- Reset secure boot
- enable/disable TPM
- reset/clear TPM
- Created bootable USB with Windows.iso using the Windows Installation Media Creator Tool in Windows 10 & 11 and in Linux Mint with their built-in bootable USB tool.
- Used USB drives of various ages ranging from new to a few years old.
- Windows.iso obtained from Microsoft
- Manually installed disk drivers
(attempted unsuccessfully)Edit: This is the solution. My previous attempt failed because I looked in the wrong directory.
Machine Details:
- Brand: Acer
- Model: Nitro 5
- Model Number: AN517-54-79L1
- Notes: One disk came installed, the second disk was added by me shortly after purchase and served me well for storing games for years until I did this.
I think I buggered something when I deleted partitions all willy nilly. Can someone help me undo what I have done so I can re-install Windows 11? I'm wanting to have a dual-boot and, in my experience, the easiest way to do this is to install Windows first then install Linux.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Edit 1: Grammar and conciseness
Edit 2: @grawity - Linux Mint is installed to and runs seemingly well from the stock disk. I was able to access and modify partitions of the second internal disk from the same Linux installation. dmesg output doesn't show anything that stands out to me. Maybe you see something I am missing? lsblk -N and lsblk -S output doesn't either. sda is my added WD drive. nvme0n1 is the stock drive where Linux Mint is installed. Disk detail showed me that the two disks it was showing was not the two internal disks. Rather, I just confirmed those "disks" shown during the Windows 11 install were actually my USB hub and card reader. I confirmed this by removing the card reader and hub and booted from the windows installation media and now the installer ONLY shows the USB installation media. No other disks.
