I just installed the 17.1 Pro version of Zorin OS some days ago and would be thankful for some support with something.
After I experienced some brower issues I wanted to try some different desktop environments and installed also the 16 Lite version to see if xfce would fit better.
When I could choose the desktops after restart I wasn't sure which description belonged to which desktop and I then decided to remove the 16 Lite installation.
After restart I could not get in a desktop environment. Login shows now a login possibility through terminal and then a welcome message.
I am just learning all this... And there might have been a mistake somewhere...
I would be happy to get back to a graphic environment, could someone maybe help with that?
Reading back your original post. Did you replace Pro with Lite then replace Lite again with Pro on the same drive and partitions?
or did you have both Pro and Lite installed alongside each other (as mentioned by Ocka)?
If you installed Lite over Pro as a single OS, then that should have formatted root and provided a clean start for Lite. Same if you then installed Pro over Lite again.
We can't see your setup, a Gparted screenshot of your drives and partitions setup may help our understanding, as I for one am a bit confused.
If you have been through all yoir BIOS screens and cannot find that switch, don't worry maybe age of your machine or its BIOS preceed that.
Can I ask what is your make/model of machine?
Has its BIOS been updated?
I have read here on the forum, that nvme drives have a reputation of being difficult when installing linux distro's. One user @seanhinkley here on the forum, suggested selecting RAID not AHCI if you have a nvme drive, which yours looks to be, as the labels on your Gparted partitions seem to indicate that. Zorin OS pro 16.3 installer NVME disk not detected. - #11 by seanhinkley
My queston asked if you were running Gparted using "Try Zorin" mode off the USB or running Zorin and Gparted from the nvme drive. If from the nvme drive then I think that drive and partitions would expected to be shown as mounted/locked like your screenshot.
As you are using EFI then that EFI partition and its size are expected. The ZorinOS partition is then the ext4 formatted partition. Are you able to click the ext4 partition to expand and show partitions within that.
Are you able to boot ZorinOS Pro from your internal nvme drive or does it fail?
Note. As you have purchased Pro, you are entitled to request support from the devs, but do bear in mind they are only 2 people, so you would need to be patient with them.
Glad to see you've fixes the issue, i was just reading the last part about RAID.
To Clarify this ,RAID is used with 2 or more hard drives, without going into detail, Using RAID you can Eg; use one drive as storage & the other as the OS's, Swap/ etc etc.
Summary:
Julie is, as I understand, is only able to boot ZorinOS from her installation Live USB not from the internal nvme drive. @Julie can you please confirm that understanding, as it is still unclear. @Julie Also, have you ever been able to boot ZorinOS Pro, or Lite, from your internal nvme drive, with the installation USB removed?
Boot Repair reports "Locked-NVram" issue and it is a nvme drive, which adds difficulty.
I have removed the "Solution" flag at my post #4.
Note. In another thread @seanhinkley suggested using RAID rather than ACHI setting in BIOS where there is a nvme drive, but that is academic as there is no setting in Julie's BIOS for that.
EDIT:
I have just been looking at sopec of Thinkpad X270 (extracts)
@Julie in BIOS look at Security settings, particularly TPM and hard disk password settings.
Ah good to hear. That clears a lot of misunderstanding.
Ignoring the Boot Repair error re Locked-NVram, does everything else work as expected when you boot Pro from your internal drive?
If true, and that Boot Repair error does not impact your use of ZorinOS, then it maybe is not so important.
EDIT: @Julie before you first went and installed ZorinOS on this laptop, did it have Windows on it? I am wondering if Windows was wiped before first disabling "fast-startup" in Windows Power Options. Ref: Before you install
Sorry @zabadabadoo ,
i noticed that the issue was "solved", & as a courteous gesture i gave my congratulations.
As for using RAID with only 1 drive.
It is not advisable due to a few issues that can arise.(Eg , Machine will continue writing RAID address's/instructions, OS not seeing the drive, etc etc.
These are some of the thing's that cause issue's).
Please read Here & Here, there is a graph near the bottom of the 1st link, that may save you a read, showing the config effects.
Yes the NVMe drive is faster than AHCI, but the difference is not noticeable, you will have more issue's in RAID mode than AHCI mode, with a single drive.
So for best results use AHCI,ATA, or IDE, with a single drive.
Hope this helps.
Added:
Note the Name. RAID ("redundant array of independent disks")
So using RAID Mode is an unelegant workaround that I've had to use on a couple of occasions when the other modes just simply would not work and it appears to have something to do with the BIOS and chipsets I unfortunately have no idea why it would work in RAID Mode and not Achi or IDE if I had to make a wild guess I would say it has something to do with Hardware security and changes to TPM protocols however I don't know that for sure (raid devices cant be isolated on the hardware for reasons)
One was for a two-in-one tablet device and the other one was for a netbook both had limited bioses geared towards Windows only
Just to help:
When you delete or format the Windows OS (Or any OS), all settings, including the "Fast Startup" option in Windows Power Options, are removed along with the OS itself.
Hope this helps.
That's fair. Seemed to fixed the "desktop envirinment" issue, but then discovered the "Locked NVram" as a consequence.
I am wondering if it is worth splitting this thread from post #10, where "Locked NVram" is first mentioned, giving new thread a title "Boot Repair error Locked NVram nvme drive" or similar.
Only if the OP (@Julie ) wishes to find out why the error is happening & it could help future readers.
@Julie, Do you wish to start another topic (which will include some of the above posts relating to the error) in boot repair?
Please reply "Yes or No", thank you.
Note:
One of the RAID issue's is not seeing the OS(something like what Fast Startup does,, locks the drive).. maybe the same as Locked!
Hmmm maybe i just answered my own thought, because RAID creates address/like last state, file, so this like hibernation (Fast startup) lock the drive/partition, maybe the cause.
Also Note that some new Pc's have a NVMe/RAID option as well as RAID & AHCI.
Just to add to the confusion
just a thought.
Offline now.
While offline another thought pop'ed between my ears.
This locked drive error may not happen now the OP has install again.
