[SOLVED] Help to understand what is the difference between AHCI and RST

[Mystic_]

I'm trying to dual boot between windows and Linux mint on my notebook, but every time I go to install Linux mint it says that I need to disable the intel RST technology and switch to AHCI in the bios, but there's a problem, I'm using an NVMe SSD 512 gb M.2 2280 Intel Optane storage. Can I switch to AHCI mode? I've seen at least 25 different topics on the internet talking about this and there are always people who say it works fine and others who say it doesn't. Does anyone know how to help me with this problem?

My specs:
Type: Notebook Dell G3 15 3500

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10300H CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.50 GHz

SSD: NVMe SSD 512 gb M.2 2280 Intel Optane storage

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti

Current OS: Windows

 

[Colif]

Most of the linux mint help in past that lists Optane are for PC with only small amounts of Optane and 1 tb hdd.
Yours is a PCIe NVME that has optane on it, whole new ball game.

NVMe was designed for SSD. It communicates between the storage interface and the System CPU using high-speed PCIe sockets, independent of storage form factor. Input/Output tasks performed using NVMe drivers begin faster, transfer more data, and finish faster than older storage models using older drivers, such as AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) a feature of SATA SSDs.

Understanding NVME Technology

AHCI was mostly created for HDD but you can also find ssd using it and some m.2.
It is used with SATA controllers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host_Controller_Interface

RST - Intel Rapid Storage Technology. It is used for RAID. It covers both PCIe & SATA controllers.

In the past Intel would pair a really small ssd with a hdd to act as a cache drive. As ssd have gotten bigger and the need for both the hdd and the program diminished, they replaced the ssd with Optane to once again make hdd seem faster. Now Optane is big enough to not need hdd anymore.
both forms of optane still exist, there are 32gb cache drives or 512gb or larger nvme drives.

I am not sure what its used for with Optane alone on an NVME, it might be needed to run it.
They used to use it to speed up ssd so might just be a continuation of that.

I would ask on their forums about how to set up linuxmint in this situation - https://forums.linuxmint.com/

curious - does it have any ram or use optane for that as well?

 

[Colif]

i would be more inclined to add a 2nd drive and just install onto it, if you have space/ability.

messing with one may stop windows working