Kubuntu suddenly fails to boot, BIOS detects NVMe SSDs but Linux cannot see any NVMe devices (Intel VMD / RST)
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1567940/kubuntu-suddenly-fails-to-boot-bios-detects-nvme-ssds-but-linux-cannot-see-any
System Information
Laptop: MSI Raider 18 HX AI A2XWJG
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX
Storage:
- Phison 2TB NVMe SSD
- Samsung 2TB NVMe SSD
BIOS:
- Originally: E1824IMS.30F
- Updated to latest: E1824IMS.317
Operating System:
- Kubuntu (previously working normally)
Problem Description
The system was working normally until a reboot. After rebooting, Kubuntu no longer boots.
The system either drops into BusyBox (initramfs) with:
ALERT! UUID=<uuid> does not exist
Dropping to a shell!
or shows:
Kernel Panic!
VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
At first I suspected filesystem corruption, UUID mismatch, initramfs issues, or GRUB problems. However, extensive troubleshooting suggests the issue occurs before Linux can even detect the SSDs.
Key Findings
BIOS detects both SSDs
BIOS and Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) both detect:
Phison 2TB NVMe SSD
Samsung 2TB NVMe SSD
Both drives appear as:
Non-RAID Physical Disks
Therefore the SSDs are still visible at firmware level.
Linux cannot detect any NVMe devices
Booted Kubuntu 24.04.4 Live USB.
Kernel:
uname -r
Output:
6.17.0-14-generic
lsblk
lsblk
Output only shows the USB drive:
sda
No:
nvme0n1
nvme1n1
appear.
fdisk
sudo fdisk -l
Only shows the Live USB.
No internal NVMe drives are detected.
nvme-cli
sudo nvme list
Returns no NVMe devices.
dmesg
sudo dmesg | grep -i nvme
Returns nothing.
No NVMe controllers are discovered.
VMD-related messages
sudo dmesg | grep -i vmd
Shows:
vmd 0000:00:0e.0: Unknown Bus Offset Setting (3)
This message appears consistently.
PCI Information
lspci -nn
Shows:
00:0e.0 RAID bus controller:
Intel Corporation Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller
The VMD controller exists.
However, there are no NVMe child devices enumerated behind it.
Driver Status
lsmod | grep vmd
Shows:
vmd
The VMD module is loaded.
However:
sudo nvme list
still returns no devices.
Troubleshooting Already Performed
Boot Recovery Attempts
Tried:
- Normal boot
- Recovery mode
- Older kernel entries
- BusyBox shell investigation
No success.
Live USB Testing
Tested with Kubuntu Live USB.
Live environment also cannot detect any NVMe devices.
BIOS Reset
Performed:
Load Optimized Defaults
No change.
BIOS Update
Updated BIOS:
E1824IMS.30F
→
E1824IMS.317
No change.
Kernel Parameters
Tried:
vmd.force=1
pci=nocrs
No improvement.
Driver Checks
Verified:
modprobe vmd
modprobe nvme
modprobe nvme_core
Modules load successfully.
Still no NVMe devices appear.
Current Assessment
At this point I do not believe the issue is:
- GRUB
- initramfs
- filesystem corruption
- UUID mismatch
- Btrfs corruption
because Linux cannot detect any NVMe devices at all.
The SSDs are visible to BIOS and Intel RST but are not being exposed to Linux.
The most suspicious clue is:
vmd 0000:00:0e.0: Unknown Bus Offset Setting (3)
combined with complete absence of any NVMe device enumeration.
Questions
- Has anyone seen "Unknown Bus Offset Setting (3)" on Intel VMD systems before?
- Could this indicate a VMD firmware issue or Linux VMD driver incompatibility with this platform?
- Is there any way to bypass VMD and expose the NVMe drives directly to Linux?
- Are there additional VMD debugging commands I should run?
- Has anyone successfully used Linux on an MSI Raider 18 HX AI (Core Ultra 9 285HX) with Intel VMD enabled?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. At the moment Linux cannot see any internal SSDs, so even reinstalling the operating system is not possible because no installation target appears.