Ubuntu will install to microSD but not MMC. Windows installs to MMC without issue

Support Linux Support
1

I have a Lenovo 100e Gen 2 (phaser) with onboard MMC and a microSD slot. I’ve installed MrChromebox’s UEFI BIOS successfully after removing write protection. I was able to install Ubuntu & Mint to the microSD (/dev/sdb) without issue, but all operations on the MMC (/dev/mmcblk0) fail, with Input/Output read/write errors. On the contrary, Windows 10 installed to the MMC without issue, however CrystalDiskInfo doesn’t recognise the disk and can’t check its quality

I’ve attempted installing Ubuntu, Mint, tried fsck, gparted, tried using DD to clone the microSD, but nothing Linux based will read or write to the MMC. Would love to get Linux onto the MMC, as the microSD is slow.

Unfortunately my work laptop deleted the backup firmware, so can’t try legacy BIOS. Any other ideas to get Linux onto the MMC?

Appreciate any support!

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Can you create a new GPT partition table using fdisk?

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Unfortunately fdisk just hangs or previously I think I’ve hit the same IO errors. It’s sat like this for 5 minutes

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Bump

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Note that Ubuntu is not supported by us.

Looking at the screenshots you provided, it appears the emmc is dead. There is no real fix for this, other than to get a new device

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this isn’t a Ubuntu issue, and the OP says Windows works fine, so the eMMC is not likely dead

2 Likes
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I was just noting that ubuntu was not supported, since most people miss that in the docs.

When did OP mention windows works fine? The only windows screenshot I see, is running from a removable drive, with crystaldiskinfo noting “Disk not found” nevermind, I’m bind.

Did OP try another flavor of linux at all?

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Odd. Can you post the output of “uname -a” so we can see what kernel you have? Also, try “lsblk -o MODEL,SERIAL,NAME,TYPE,SIZE,LABEL,UUID,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,RM,RO”

djb

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Give Linux Mint Debian Edition a shot

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Admittedly I did miss the compatibility note. I’ve tried Ubuntu, Mint, Kali & Arch. I’m about to try Mint Debian, as suggested by @s31bz after collecting outputs for @djb_pizza

1 Like
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flewis@chrobuntu:~$ uname -a
Linux chrobuntu 5.15.0-43-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jul 12 10:30:17 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

flewis@chrobuntu:~$ lsblk -o MODEL,SERIAL,NAME,TYPE,SIZE,LABEL,UUID,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,RM,RO
MODEL SERIAL NAME TYPE   SIZE LABEL UUID                                 FSTYPE MOUNTPOINT RM RO
             loop0
                  loop     4K                                            squash /snap/bare  0  1
             loop1
                  loop    62M                                            squash /snap/core  0  1
             loop2
                  loop  63.9M                                            squash /snap/core  0  1
             loop3
                  loop 163.3M                                            squash /snap/fire  0  1
             loop4
                  loop 268.7M                                            squash /snap/fire  0  1
             loop5
                  loop 400.8M                                            squash /snap/gnom  0  1
             loop6
                  loop  74.2M                                            squash /snap/core  0  1
             loop7
                  loop 349.7M                                            squash /snap/gnom  0  1
             loop8
                  loop 505.1M                                            squash /snap/gnom  0  1
             loop9
                  loop  91.7M                                            squash /snap/gtk-  0  1
             loop10
                  loop  12.9M                                            squash /snap/snap  0  1
             loop11
                  loop  45.9M                                            squash /snap/snap  0  1
             loop12
                  loop  38.8M                                            squash /snap/snap  0  1
             loop13
                  loop   284K                                            squash /snap/snap  0  1
             loop14
                  loop   476K                                            squash /snap/snap  0  1
STORA 000000 sda  disk  29.7G                                                               1  0
             ├─sda1
             │    part   512M       978E-1480                            vfat   /boot/efi   1  0
             └─sda2
                  part  29.2G       7be7dedc-7b04-4b5f-8f3a-37e3b1c8608d ext4   /           1  0
      0x00eb mmcblk0
                  disk  28.5G                                                               0  0

Thank you @djb_pizza

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Kernel 5.15.0 is too old. Version 6.6.37 is current LTS kernel: Index of /mainline/v6.6.37

Older versions of Ubuntu may not work well with newer kernels. There were a lot of fixes for mmc in the last couple of years. It doesn’t matter what distribution you use - you need an up to date kernel.

djb

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No luck with Mint Debian unfortunately

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LMDE 6 uses a 6.1.? kernel I think.

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If you could give it a try, try downloading the latest arch iso and try loading it into fdisk, and creating a partition. That’ll have kernel 6.9 or something

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I feel this on a spiritual level. My TIDUS isn’t properly mounting or installing to drives either…

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completely different issue

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Tried with the latest Arch, and it hangs on mmcblk0 I/O errors. It seems to see 2 boot partitions (where windows is currently installed) but can’t read them. I’m currently doing it via Ventoy, so I can quickly switch between test distros, but previously had issues with the native ARCH iso too

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