Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 doesn't see HDD of my HP laptop model 14-fq0050nr; but works fine on my HP Stream
I bought an HP laptop, model 14-fq0050nr. Unfortunately I did not check carefully before buying - the laptop came preloaded with Windows 10 S, which is crippleware. I figured, time to try loading linux on a laptop. I have a decent (programmer's) working knowledge of linux - I'm no linux guru.
I chose Ubuntu MATE and loaded the .iso image (ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso) onto a 4GB USB thumb drive, using Rufus 3.12.1710. All went well; I was (and am) able to boot from that USB thumb drive. I actually like Ubuntu MATE - it works, and looks fine.
Unfortunately it does not recognize the HDD (or FDD, or SSD, or whatever HP put in my laptop). When I try installing Ubuntu MATE to HDD, I can't - the only (memory) device recognized, is the thumb drive itself.
I've spent some hours reacquainting myself with what to me are linux esoterica that I kind of half-remember, such as df, fdisk -l, and lsblk - also some new stuff like GParted and Disks. All very nice but they all clearly are dealing with the same "brick wall" - they just don't see the drive. It's like it isn't even there.
I also got acquainted with the Windows 10 tool diskpart, and was able to do fun things such as shrink a partition, create a new partition, format it, etc. That all works pretty well.
Another thing I did along the way was wipe the entire hard drive (using diskpart), then recreate it using the restore device I'd prepared before beginning all this.
I read many pieces of advice; most just presume that linux/Ubuntu will find the drive, and that the standard tools listed above, will work. It doesn't, and they don't. Other suggestions include disabling UEFI boot mode and instead using/specifying legacy &/or CSM boot support. I've been all through the power-on startup menu, including checking out all the BIOS settings - there's no such option, on my computer. There are more, more esoteric suggestions - too far out for me to attempt, and, too unlikely to actually work.
This machine has two USB ports and I can, if I have to, get by with using one port for the OS-on-a-memory-stick, and the other port to hook to an external hard drive. But, when I go to shut down the box, I need to remove the USB memory stick, which would not be a good solution long-term.
After hours of researching I stumbled across this link:
which tells one person's story, that "there was some sort of hybrid SSD/HDD drive installed from the factory. I replaced the drive with a regular WD HDD, and it installed Mint 32 bit with no problems. To this date that laptop will not recognize a straight SSD, and there are no BIOS updates available."
Others tell similar tales of certain memory devices that, apparently, are simply unsupported by/in linux.
This is a brand new and inexpensive laptop. I definitely don't want to open it up in order to mess around trying to install a different hard/fixed drive. The device (HDD or SDD or whatever it is) works perfectly well with Windows so it isn't a hardware or cabling issue.
I'm hoping that someone might know of drivers, or a mod of some sort, or a way I can hack around in BIOS settings, so that I can use my computer's hard drive, while using linux. And that's my question, or request, or plea.
Cheers and Happy New Year to anyone who's read this far.
Update: In response to a question - yes, the touchscreen worked perfectly, also the mouse, touchpad, and WiFi. I wondered about this since I'm no expert - I was very pleased. Only the hard drive was a problem.
Note, though - I had to boot (and install) Ubuntu MATE using "safe graphics", whatever that means or those are. The default graphics selection resulted in strange screen artifacts in which blocks of screen "real estate" were misplaced/shuffled.
Update: I also have an older (quite a bit older - 4 years old, I believe) HP Stream - a cute little blue touchscreen laptop I bought new for $200 from the online site of a big box retailer. Having gone through the above-documented install attempt I thought I'd try the same thing, on the HP Stream.
One difference - unlike on the above-described laptop, on the HP Stream, I did not choose "safe graphics" - just the default ("unsafe"?) graphics option. On the HP Stream this default option worked perfectly.
Result: perfect functionality! Ubuntu MATE did recognize the HP Stream's fixed/hard drive; I was able to use GParted to wipe out the prior OS and all disk contents. The install worked perfectly. I have what amounts to a brand new box/laptop.
The point: same OS (ubuntu-mate-20.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso), same guy (me), even same computer manufacturer (HP). Different results. Conclusion: it's not purely my stupidity/incompetence that is the cause of this problem.
I will post more about this upgrade in another post once I figure out how to do so in this forum.
31 Answer
Your HP uses an eMMC card for storage and it’s a right pain to change the OS. That said, it’s not impossible. You’ll need to do something like this:
In the BIOS settings for the computer ...
- Ensure the system is using UEFI boot mode
- Enable "Firmware TPM" before installation
- Disable "Secure boot"
- Disable "Legacy Option ROM"
Now you can install the OS.
Hope this helps.
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