Thinkpad T60, early Core Duo cpu, Intel chipset, Adata ssd

This has a recent Win 7 install and I was attempting to install Linux Mint as a dual boot. Tried both Mate and Cinnamon, the live install boots successfully, but when the install gets to identifying the location to be installed, I see only sda. It is not seeing the two partitions that Win 7 has created. I used GParted to reduce the larger Win 7 (on a 120G ssd) to 40G, leaving the rest as unallocated, (but not partitioned or formatted) but still get the same result. Another thread here has suggested that the drive the install sees as sda may well be the usb drive containing the install media.

Any suggestions as to what I may need to do to have the ssd recognized? A bios setting perhaps?

The same install usb had just successfully installed a dual boot of Mint Mate to an Acer Travelmate 2480 (Pentium M and a hdd.)

Notes,

Guess you might as well correct me on this first.
Just to see if I understand this correctly, do you have one or two drives attached? I get the feeling you are saying you have two. If not then you would only have one drive as in /dev/sdx. Some live media/usb media may confuse the deal so you really do have to know what drive you are working on.

While not always true in linux you may have to go to bios and make sure the ssd drive is identified correctly.

Personally I'd have used Windows to reduce windows but too late now.

Gparted will have a pulldown on top right for drives. There is also place where the type of drive and size should show. Disks program may also be used.

Is this current (as in most recent) Mint iso ?.
The Ubuntu installer didn't see Windows installs for a while a few months back - a bug in the installer. Should be fixed now.

format the partitions, whatever you want at that point, then active them which ever order they need to be done in in windows. or will work to set up your partitions first before trying to install.

Just don't accidentally wipe your windows partition(s)

another thought to add to them, if your install is showing sda for the disk to set up your Linux, be careful and do not commit to anything yet, and say yes, then see what the next step tells you, it maybe to show all of your partitions so you can pick which ones you want to use to install Linux.

To clarify: the laptop has only one drive (not counting the usb drive containing the install media.) That one ssd drive has a Win 7 install that I wish to retain, adding Mint in a dual boot.

The bios has no problem seeing this 120G ssd (Win 7), and GParted has no problem seeing it. The 2 partitions seems to be something Win 7 does when it installs, one of them being very small, in the Mb range.

Mint Mate had no problem installing as a dual boot in the Acer Travelmate, an older Pentium M laptop with a hdd. The identical install usb (yes the current and latest Linux Mint 18) was used in the Thinkpad T60, so the issue is likely to be the ssd vs. hdd or the bios.

I don't think partitioning or formatting will solve the problem, because the installer can't see the Windows partitions on the ssd (it did on the hdd in the Acer.) GParted can see them.

MINT installer, is that anything like the Ubuntututututu Installer? I am not familiar with its setup off the to of my head in how they have their stages that they go through setup.

I know some installers will see all of your drives, USB included,

It will show them as

/dev/sda
/dev/sdb
/dev/sdc
etc...

then you pick which one you want to work with, first.

then it goes into the partitioning stage, where you can select your raw un-formatted partitions, and assign it to whatever you want, then write that to the sector, exit, then it goes into selecting the mount points stage.

Just to get an process of elimination going. To see if it is your stuff or the Distor you are using.

Try using a completely different Disto that has a completely different type of installer. Then see what that one tells you when you get to that part you're getting stuck at.

Then you and everyone will have some more valuable data to work with.

Before you get going too far, be sure you have a complete NTbackup with system state or some other way to recover windows.

Some ideas.

First go and use windows to double check the partition and free space. Yes, windows will or could have a small 100mb or more space it uses. It can also have a recovery area that you may with to keep.

Gparted could be used to make a small swap space and /root. In some computers you have to have the /boot area low on the disk.

An update:

I'm almost certain that the answer to this problem is enabling AHCI in the bios because of the use of a SSD. I haven't had the time to save files and reinstall Win 7 after changing the bios setting.

Hey DanceMan,

I think I'm missing something. Why do you expect to see something other than /dev/sda or just sda when being asked which drive to install on, if the computer only has one disk (your 120 GB ssd) ? Seems to me that this is the answer / choice I would expect. I am unfamiliar with Mint or with GUI installs in general, but I would guess that you would be expected to confirm /dev/sda as the destination for your install and then the installation program will likely ask you to specify which partition / unformatted area to use ...

Apologies in advance if I've misunderstood your situation.

Cheers :-)

Rikkkk

The Mint installer cannot see the partitions on the ssd. I am fairly sure that Enabling AHCI in the bios will solve this, but first I will have to reinstall Win 7. When AHCI is enabled now, the existing Win install won't boot.

Hey DanceMan ... Just piping in here again in hopes of saving you from reinstalling Windows ... When you install Linux (any distro, pretty well ..), you will also be installing a boot loader (often GRUB) that will recognize your Windows installation and enable you to boot either Windows or Linux when starting up. I wouldn't be too concerned about Windows 7 not booting for the moment. Just go ahead and install your Linux distro (Mint, I believe ..) to the unpartitioned space on your drive (or you can partition and format it in advance with GParted if you find that more intuitive ...). Again, though, I wouldn't be surprised at not seeing the partitions mentioned at the first choice you have to make in a Linux install ... you usually have to start by identifying the actual drive (in your case /dev/sda) before getting to the partition detail.

Cheers,

You're not getting it. Reread the posts above. If I just go ahead and install now I will wipe out the Win partition and install, because the Mint installer can't see it. The installer just sees unpartitioned space, despite the existence of two partitions created by Win 7. Those partitions can be seen by Win and by Gparted.

You're not getting it.

.... Quite possible ... as I mentioned in my first reply, apologies in advance if that's the case.

Reread the posts above.

... I have .. several times ...

If I just go ahead and install now I will wipe out the Win partition and install, because the Mint installer can't see it. The installer just sees unpartitioned space, despite the existence of two partitions created by Win 7. Those partitions can be seen by Win and by Gparted.

... Again, and this is also mentioned by others in this thread, I'm not sure your installer is not seeing the partitions. You just may not be far enough along in the process yet. And before "wiping out" an existing partition or OS, the Mint installer would let you know it was going to repartition and format.

... So I'll leave you to it, then, and wish you the best.

Linux Mint install -- iso burned to a USB Stick?

it is showing you just sda in what part of the pick your hard drive to install Linux is that showing you sda?
Have you tired going a step further to see if it then shows you all of your partitions after you select sda for the hdd to install on?

You SHOULD be safe with an installer up to the point you fully commit to it. You can dump it at anything before that as long as it is not actually writing to a hdd.

I just moved win10 from my secondary to my sdd. cloned it using (let me go find it again) if you got a spare hdd laying around you could clone your windows to it. That way you'd have a back up just in case. It took me like under 15 minutes to clone win10 to a different drive, I actually took that one I cloned to the sdd then put it back to a just installed it state OS only then cloned that one to a 32BG sdd for back up.

the windows sdd on my system I had to shrink it as much as I could which it only let me take it down to 50 odd GB's the OS itself was under 32BG so lucky it worked. If you know anything about cloning drives.

the point being it only took under 15 minutes and it is a clone so no reactiving it and all of that. good for a complete back up of your windows system

http://www.todo-backup.com/backup-re...-10-to-ssd.htm

Despite the age of this thread I am suffering from exactly the same issue as DanceMan. Attempting to install Linux Mint 19.3 on an old Sony Vaio laptop. GParted sees the sda drive (as does parted and fdisk on cli) but the GUI installer for Mint just sees the USB stick that the ISO is running from. Were you able to install Mint in the end DanceMan? Has anyone else had this issue?