Solved Can't install any Linux distro on new MSI Pulse 17 AI laptop

[karbono]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to install Linux on my new laptop, but I haven't had any success and I'm running out of ideas.

My hardware is an MSI Pulse 17 AI C1VGKG-040XES with an Intel Ultra 7 155H.

I have tried to install several distributions, including the latest versions of Ubuntu, Kubuntu, KDE Neon, MX Linux, and Fedora. In most cases, the installation fails during the disk partitioning step. The installer doesn't seem to recognize the NVMe SSD correctly. On the rare occasion that an installation does complete, the system either won't boot, has major graphics issues, or is missing critical drivers.

Here is what I have already tried without success:

• Disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS.
• Disabling Fast Boot.
• Disabling the WiFi card in the BIOS.

Given the hardware is very new, I suspect it might be a driver or kernel issue, but I'm not sure what else to try. The main problem seems to be the disk controller.

Is there a specific distribution known to work well with this new Intel "AI" hardware? Or is there a BIOS setting I might have missed that is necessary for Linux to see the drive correctly?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Brickwizard]

My hardware is an MSI

Media star int. not one of my favourite brands, and often have problems,

Here is what I have already tried without success:

• Disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS.
• Disabling Fast Boot.

After performing these actions did you do a full power re-start [not a Windows re-boot?] if not give it a try, also if you have hybrid graphics this can cause problems,

check the UEFI [bios] make sure you have enabled USB boot and when you open the short boot menu to start your installation the USB is showing

 

[dos2unix]

Both my main dailys are MSI systems, (AMD Ryzen) I never have any problems with them.
Depending on which distro you use, you don't have to disable secure boot/fast boot.
I've never heard of disabling a wifi card in the BIOS to make Linux work.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Try CachyOS and PikaOS.

CachyOS — Blazingly Fast OS based on Arch Linux

CachyOS is a performance-optimized Arch Linux distribution with CPU-specific package builds, advanced kernel scheduling, and an effortless installation — delivering measurable speed gains without sacrificing simplicity.

cachyos.org

PikaOS Linux

PikaOS - Your new Linux distro for gaming and beyond!

wiki.pika-os.com

 

[Mike-BTU]

Try CachyOS and PikaOS.

CachyOS — Blazingly Fast OS based on Arch Linux

CachyOS is a performance-optimized Arch Linux distribution with CPU-specific package builds, advanced kernel scheduling, and an effortless installation — delivering measurable speed gains without sacrificing simplicity.

cachyos.org

PikaOS Linux

PikaOS - Your new Linux distro for gaming and beyond!

wiki.pika-os.com

He's already tried Kubuntu, KDE Neon, MX Linux, and Fedora. Is there something different about these distros that makes them more likely to work?

 

[f33dm3bits]

He's already tried Kubuntu, KDE Neon, MX Linux, and Fedora. Is there something different about these distros that makes them more likely to work?

Rolling release distributions are mostly better for bleeding edge hardware but looks like it's not bleeding edge hardware(I just checked), since it's from 2024. Either way with that hardware I would prefer to be using a rolling release distribution, as Ubuntu-based distributions mostly come with the same kernel as Ubuntu which are a bit behind most of the time. I've seen on multiple places where Fedora's installer had weird things with some ssd's.

That's why I would say it would be fair to try rolling release distribution such as CachyOS a try and PikOS is based off the Debian testing branch so also basically rolling with the newest updates. Also if I had that laptop I would be running a rolling release distribution on it, so also advising what I would do myself. The other option would be to play around with bios/uefi settings related to disk settings, forgot the name for it but I think it's AHCI/RAID settings.

 

[karbono]

Media star int. not one of my favourite brands, and often have problems,


After performing these actions did you do a full power re-start [not a Windows re-boot?] if not give it a try, also if you have hybrid graphics this can cause problems,

check the UEFI [bios] make sure you have enabled USB boot and when you open the short boot menu to start your installation the USB is showing

Yeah I did a full power re-start but most of the time I just see a black screen or can't finish the launcher to install. Already I have set discrete graphics mode.

And I can see the USB before booting from it.

Thanks.

Both my main dailys are MSI systems, (AMD Ryzen) I never have any problems with them.
Depending on which distro you use, you don't have to disable secure boot/fast boot.
I've never heard of disabling a wifi card in the BIOS to make Linux work.

Here is where I see the tip about disabling wifi card in the BIOS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/1cu9vp1/ubuntu_2404_dualboot_install_error_were_not_sure

Try CachyOS and PikaOS.

CachyOS — Blazingly Fast OS based on Arch Linux

CachyOS is a performance-optimized Arch Linux distribution with CPU-specific package builds, advanced kernel scheduling, and an effortless installation — delivering measurable speed gains without sacrificing simplicity.

cachyos.org

PikaOS Linux

PikaOS - Your new Linux distro for gaming and beyond!

wiki.pika-os.com

Thanks, I'm creating the USB media with PikaOS ISO NVIDIA, will try it soon.

Thanks you everybody for your replies.

 

[KGIII]

You can also try toggling "AHCI" in your "BIOS" (really CMOS these days, I suppose) settings.

 

[karbono]

Your issue likely stems from the very new Intel Ultra platform and lack of full driver/kernel support in current stable Linux distros. Try Fedora 40 or Ubuntu 24.04 with the latest kernel (6.8+ or mainline). Also, check BIOS for VMD (Volume Management Device) — disabling it can help Linux detect the NVMe drive. If problems persist, use a daily build or wait for newer kernel releases with better support.

Hi Georgine,

I have tried Fedora 42 (Sway Atomic) but once the boot menu appears, it didn't boot to the installer or the desktop.
About the VMD, I can found it in BIOS but it's grey coloured so I can't disable it. Anyway, I have no problem in most of cases with the NVME.

You can also try toggling "AHCI" in your "BIOS" (really CMOS these days, I suppose) settings.

Thanks KGIII,

Actually just found an "AHCI" option in the SATA option menu, or something like this.

I will post most of the options that the BIOS offers.

Thanks in advice again!

PS: I'm burning CachyOS to try it hehe

 

[karbono]

CachyOS installed and working! (at least it seems)

Thanks everyone for your help and tips. I will check these days if all works correctly

Regards,

 

[f33dm3bits]

CachyOS installed and working! (at least it seems)

Thanks everyone for your help and tips. I will check these days if all works correctly

Great! Don't forget to check out their wiki and their forums.

Welcome to the CachyOS Wiki

Getting started with CachyOS

wiki.cachyos.org

CachyOS Forum

A place to share informations about CachyOS!

discuss.cachyos.org

 

[karbono]

Great! Don't forget to check out their wiki and their forums.

Welcome to the CachyOS Wiki

Getting started with CachyOS

wiki.cachyos.org

CachyOS Forum

A place to share informations about CachyOS!

discuss.cachyos.org

Thanks you!!
I will take a look because it's the first time I have installed a based Arch distro

 

[wizardfromoz]

Try Fedora 40...

There is no point in doing that, as Fedora 40 reached end of life in May, and Fedora 41 goes EOL in November.

Fedora 42 is a viable choice but we'll see how the OP goes with Arch.

Wizard

 

[f33dm3bits]

Thanks you!!
I will take a look because it's the first time I have installed a based Arch distro

Here's a useful wiki page you will want to read through.

Post Install

Steps to configure after installing CachyOS

wiki.cachyos.org

 

[karbono]

Here's a useful wiki page you will want to read through.

Post Install

Steps to configure after installing CachyOS

wiki.cachyos.org

Thank you again for your time and tips, appreciate it!

 

[Mike-BTU]

Rolling release distributions are mostly better for bleeding edge hardware but looks like it's not bleeding edge hardware(I just checked), since it's from 2024. Either way with that hardware I would prefer to be using a rolling release distribution, as Ubuntu-based distributions mostly come with the same kernel as Ubuntu which are a bit behind most of the time. I've seen on multiple places where Fedora's installer had weird things with some ssd's.

That's why I would say it would be fair to try rolling release distribution such as CachyOS a try and PikOS is based off the Debian testing branch so also basically rolling with the newest updates. Also if I had that laptop I would be running a rolling release distribution on it, so also advising what I would do myself. The other option would be to play around with bios/uefi settings related to disk settings, forgot the name for it but I think it's AHCI/RAID settings.

Man, you're sharp!! I almost can't believe that it worked!

I've never even heard of CachyOS. How long has it been out?

 

[f33dm3bits]

I've never even heard of CachyOS. How long has it been out?

Somewhere between November 2023(their releases page) and April 2024(Wikipedia) , so a little over a year. I've seen a lot of content creators be really excited about CachyOS. Als they provided a lot of extra tools that make Arch Linux more user friendly to new users as they provide some extra graphical tools and other tweak tools. So I've starting to promote CachyOS here to new users to see what the experience for them is like, same for PikaOS.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Somewhere between November 2023(their releases page) and April 2024(Wikipedia) , so a little over a year.

And according to the Arch-derratives archwik page 2022.

Arch-based distributions - ArchWiki

 

[Mike-BTU]

And according to the Arch-derratives archwik page 2022.

Arch-based distributions - ArchWiki

I think that speaks volumes in Arch's favor. CachyOS based their distro on one of the top, nearly trouble-free Linux distros. I still plan on installing Arch this year. (Or maybe it'll be CachyOS. ;-)

 

[f33dm3bits]

I still plan on installing Arch this year. (Or maybe it'll be CachyOS. ;-)

If you don't mind tui type installer you can go with "archinstall", if you want a graphical installer go with EndeavourOS or CachyOS but I would say just go with CachyOS to see what you think. I actually addded the CachyOS repos to my Arch installation to try something different and because I didn't want to reinstall.

Optimized Repositories

Information about our optimized repositories

wiki.cachyos.org