[RESPONDED] Bricked 1TB storage expansion card during Ubuntu install

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When trying to install Ubuntu to my 1TB expansion card, the result was an Ubuntu system that wouldn’t boot properly, and an expansion card basically thrown away for absolutely nothing.

On which EFI are you going to install? Two EFI partition, one per disk? or one EFI partition on your internal SSD? If the answer is the former, remove the internal disk before installing another OS on 1TB expansion to prevent the installer from messing up the existing EFI.

What’s your existing OS on your internal SSD? If Windows, you can use the Disk Management tool to format the 1TB to “unbrick” it, then proceed to reinstall Ubuntu with the internal SSD removed. If on Linux, you can use gnome-disk-utility and manually check whether there’s an EFI on the 1TB, and before reinstalling, run a file manager on admin mode and remove the Ubuntu entry on your internal disk’s EFI (typically mounted on /boot/efi or /efi)

Ended up unbricking. Trying to have Windows on C:, then Ubuntu on the expansion card. I’m not the greatest with this side of things, so I guess I’d probably have split EFIs?

Your expansion card was not “bricked” in the first place. Bricking means your card would now function better as a doorstop than its original purpose as an expansion card.

It helps to explain if you had previously installed Windows and are trying to setup a dual boot OR put your desired outcome in the post (Windows on say the 2280 drive slot; and Ubuntu on an expansion slot) someone likely has experience setting up a similar configuration and can point you in the right direction or link to a support article.

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I feel it a decent idea to point out that the external storage devices do not have the best track record as targets for OSs in their current state/configuration.

Since you have the 16, it might be a better idea (Sanity sake) to install on the second NVME (2230) IIRC.

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Without question, our recommendation is to use a second NVMe in the FW16 and use the expansion card for running backups. It’s doable to run an OS from it as it is fast enough to do so, but, it is never going to be a smooth as NVMe. For mission critical installs, always recommending NVMe. Testing distros from the expansion card can be done, but it’s not something I personally recommend outside of that.