HP 200 Pro G4 22 all-in-oneLinux Dual Boot Issue – No BIOS Option to Disable Intel VMD / Enable AHCI

[Ghost897]

I am using HP 200 Pro G4 22 All-in-One and I'm trying to dual boot Linux(Zorin OS 18. 1) alongside Windows 11. I've spent a lot of time trying to get this working and I'm stuck.

The problem is that when I boot from a Linux USB, the internal drive is completely invisible. Linux just can't see it at all. After a lot of research I think this is because of the Intel VMD controller that HP uses on this machine.

I've tried everything I can think of — different boot parameters, updating to the latest BIOS — but nothing works. The biggest frustration is that there's no option anywhere in the BIOS to disable VMD or switch to AHCI mode, which is what Linux needs to see the drive.

I'm not trying to remove Windows — I just want both systems on the same machine. This should be a reasonable thing to do in 2025/2026.

Has anyone found a way around this? And is there any chance HP could add a VMD disable option in a future BIOS update? Other manufacturers do offer this and it would make a huge difference for people who want to use Linux.

Any suggestions would be really appreciated!

Thanks

[resistencia]

Hi @Ghost897 

That's strange; this model shouldn't use VMD drives, This technology was introduced starting with 11th-generation processors. I suspect you have Intel Optane memory installed, and these modules aren't compatible with any version of Linux.

If you have an Intel Optane drive that has been replaced with an NVMe drive, you can use Linux,

[Ghost897]

Thanks @Resistencia

Thanks for the reply! I checked and the drive installed is a BIWIN AP443 NVMe SSD — not an Intel Optane module. So it seems to be a regular NVMe drive that's just being hidden behind the Intel VMD controller.

Is there any way to disable VMD on this machine to allow Linux to see the drive? I've already tried multiple boot parameters, updated the BIOS to the latest version, but there's no VMD disable option anywhere in the BIOS.

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be really appreciated

[resistencia]

It's not a VMD disk; you probably have Windows installed in UEFI/GPT mode, and the version of Linux you're using isn't compatible with UEFI/GPT partitions. In any case, you can check this by opening Windows, going to Device Manager, and looking under “Disk Controllers” to see if it says ‘VMD’ or “RST.”

How to Enable Intel® VMD Capable Platforms for RAID or Intel® Optane™...

The Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) driver version 18.0 and later support Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD) technology capable platforms. Intel® VMD is the new way to configure 11th Generation and greater Intel® Core™ Processor-based platforms for Intel® RST management of RAID and Intel® Optane™ memory volumes.

I did the work for you—download the driver file. As you can see in the screenshot, there are no drivers for VMD, only RST and Intel Optane.

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