Cannot Disable Optane or Change SATA Mode After Motherboard Repair

[flabbergast]

Hello,

I have an Acer Nitro AN515-55 laptop with Intel Optane Memory configured with RAID mode. After a motherboard repair, I'm experiencing issues with my dual-boot setup (Windows + Fedora Linux). When I boot Fedora, I get this error, which I believe is caused by the encrypted disk:

Cannot open access to console, the root account is locked.See sulogin(8) man page for more details.
Press Enter to continue.
dracut-initqueue[638]: Warning: Not all disks have been found.dracut-initqueue[638]: Warning: You might want to regenerate your initramfs.

Current Situation:

• Windows boots successfully
• The Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application shows error: "The system is not ready for Intel® Optane™ Memory" / "No valid disk pairs are present in the system"
• My Linux installation (Fedora) cannot boot because it was previously configured for AHCI mode
• In BIOS, the SATA Mode setting is locked to "Optane with RAID" and grayed out - I cannot change it to AHCI

System Details:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H
• BIOS Version: v1.04
• HDD0: HFMS12GDJTN1-82A0A (Optane module)
• HDD1: CT1000P3PSSD8 (main SSD)
• Model: Acer Nitro AN515-55

What I Need: Before the motherboard repair, I had successfully configured my system to use AHCI mode (disabling Optane acceleration) to allow dual-booting with Linux. Now I need to either:

1. Properly disable/remove the broken Optane configuration so I can switch BIOS back to AHCI mode, OR
2. Reset the Optane pairing completely

What I've Tried:

• The Intel Optane application shows the configuration is broken but provides no option to disable or remove it
• BIOS won't allow changing SATA mode from RAID to AHCI

How can I completely disable or reset the Intel Optane configuration in this state so I can change my SATA mode back to AHCI?

Thank you for any assistance.

[pujeeth]

Hello flabbergast,

Greetings!!

We understand that you are experiencing issues with switching the SATA mode from Optane with RAID to AHCI and disabling the existing Intel® Optane™ configuration.

In this case, we recommend contacting your system manufacturer (Acer) for further assistance. The option to change the SATA mode and manage BIOS configuration settings is controlled at the system or motherboard level, and only the manufacturer can provide the necessary steps or tools to modify these settings.

Please reach out to Acer Support for detailed guidance on setting the SATA mode to AHCI and resetting any existing Optane configuration.

Acer Support

https://www.acer.com/in-en/support

Regards,

Pujeeth

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Allen12]

Hi @flabbergast, after a motherboard repair, your BIOS is locked in RAID/Optane mode due to leftover Optane metadata. To fix this: in Windows, use Intel RST to remove/unpair the Optane module; if needed, perform a secure erase of the Optane drive. Then, reset BIOS to defaults—SATA mode should become editable. Switch to AHCI, and if Windows was installed under RAID, you may need a registry tweak or reinstall. After this, Linux should boot normally. Always back up data before making these changes.

[flabbergast]

Dear Allen12, 

Thank you for your response. I tried (screenshot in the attached file 08a79173-492b-42ad-8691-e4778e94a440.jpg) with Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application shows error: "The system is not ready for Intel® Optane™ Memory" / "No valid disk pairs are present in the system". 

Am I using the wrong application? 

I tried to install it from: 

https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mzng5hzwz1t?hl=en-US&gl=IE

But it reinstalls the same app. 

Thanks for the support!

[pujeeth]

Hello Flabbergast,

Greetings!

As mentioned earlier, we recommend that you contact your system manufacturer (Acer) for assistance in changing the SATA mode and managing the BIOS configuration settings.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Regards,

Pujeeth

Intel Customer Support Technician