r/linuxmint • u/-AgbomKennedy • 22h ago
Missing SSD during Linux mint installation
Hello everyone, I need help with my Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 3 AMD Ryzen 7 with 16GB RAM and 1 TB memory. I previously had Linux mint installed on my internal SSD, but after accidentally removing their boot entries from the BIOS boot menu, I could no longer boot into either operating system. I tried selecting NVMe0, but returned me to the boot menu and I tried using NVMe1 but during the installation the internal drive still wasn't seen. I created a bootable Linux Mint Cinnamon USB, which boots successfully, but Linux Mint cannot detect my internal SSD. The BIOS also doesn't show any information about the SSD, and the Linux Mint installer only shows my USB drive. I have tried "lsblk" and "sudo fdisk -l", but I couldn't find the internal drive. I also couldn't find AHCI, RAID, or VMD settings in my BIOS. Since my laptop uses an AMD Ryzen 7 processor, I'm unsure whether the online advice about Intel RST applies. Has anyone experienced this issue or knows how to troubleshoot it? I want to recover my existing files, so I don't want to format the drive or reinstall an operating system until I understand the problem. Any help would be appreciated.
1
u/Due-Result7928 16h ago
you need to boot your mint usb and use chroot to reinstall the boot loader (well explained on internet). I think Mint iso includes boot repair or grub repair and you can select it. it will find your system and reinstall the necessary boot information.
1
u/ManuelRodriguez331 16h ago
Here is your problem: since your AMD BIOS and lsblk show zero trace of the drive, this isn't a software or RST issue. Your NVMe controller likely crashed or lost connection. Fully shutdown, unplug power, and perform a hard flea power drain by holding the power button for thirty seconds. If it still doesn't appear in BIOS, physically reseat the SSD. Now, I must continue standing here looking extremely busy ...
1
u/enomad51 21h ago
If the BIOS doesn’t list the SSD at all, this isn’t a boot entry problem. Deleting boot entries doesn’t touch the drive, and the installer can only see what the firmware and kernel enumerate. So the drive isn’t being detected on the PCIe bus. The Intel RST/VMD advice doesn’t apply to your Ryzen model.