Acemagic RX16 (AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX) : dual boot Ubuntu 24.04 + Windows 11
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2025 10:54 pm
First step is to download the .iso file of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS .
I visited URL https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop and clicked on button ‘Download 24.04.1 LTS’ .
Given that .iso file weighs 5.8GB , it is likely an interrupt during downloading. So I selected from download tab in the browser the file ubuntu-24.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso and with right button on it I chose option ‘Copy Download Link’ . Then I interrupted download .
Then I opened a terminal where I wrote wget <space> <Paste from right mouse button activated popup menu> .
Example :
wget https://releases.ubuntu.com/noble/ubunt ... -amd64.iso
This shell command starts downloading of file in current directory . In case downloading stops before completion , I started a new shell command wget --continue <Download Link> .
Example :
wget --continue https://releases.ubuntu.com/noble/ubunt ... -amd64.iso
I don’t know whether there is something similar to ‘wget --continue’ to avoid restarting download from scratch every time on Windows 11 .
Second step is to create a USB bootable stick from .iso file (ubuntu-24.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso in this case) .
First insert a fresh USB stick in a USB port on computer .
On Linux I did it by shell command on terminal using program ddrescue .
to obtain <USB stick path> :
sudo fdisk -l
to create USB bootable stick :
sudo ddrescue --force -D <path .iso file> <USB stick path>
Once again , I didn’t use Windows 11 , but in case someone is interested to create a USB bootable stick on Windows 11 , these URLs provide relevant information on how to do it :
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-u ... 1-overview
https://etcher.balena.io/
Third step is to provide an empty volume on a disk in our Acemagic RX16 .
One possibility is to resize volume occupied by Windows 11 on 512 GB SSD :
Start --> Settings --> System --> Storage --> Advanced storage settings --> Disks & volumes
on volume "Windows (C:)" push button "Properties" and then push button "Change Size"
assign on right of "New (MB)" value 65536 and then push button "OK"
Remark : in this case Windows 11 is shrinked to only 64 GB of storage , if you want more room for Windows 11 change numeric value in kilobytes accordingly
Another possibility is to install a fresh NVMe SSD on second slot of Acemagic RX16 .
After a fresh NVMe SSD has been installed in second NVMe slot , let’s initialize it from Windows 11 :
from Start icon on Windows desktop press right button of mouse and select ‘Disk Management’ from popup menu.
on popup window there is ‘Disk 1’ marked as ‘Unallocated’
on ‘Unallocated’ press right button of mouse and select ‘GPT (GUID Partition Table)’ , the other one ‘MBR (Master Boot Record)’ doesn’t work in case of a NVMe SSD of 4 TB
on ‘Unallocated’ press right button of mouse and select ‘New Simple Volume…’ , all defaults of ‘Wizard’ are fine but presumably name of new volume where is preferably ‘Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS Volume’ instead of ‘New Volume’
Fourth step is to activate this USB bootable stick on our Acemagic RX16 .
Insert relevant USB bootable stick with ubuntu-24.04.1 in a USB port on computer .
From Windows 11 (at this moment our Acemagic RX16 has only Windows 11) :
Start --> Settings --> System --> Recovery --> Advanced Startup
then push button ‘Restart Now’
At this moment we aren’t anymore interacting with Windows 11 but with UEFI , modern version of BIOS well known to administrator of PCs , this is operating system released by hardware manufacturer that in our case is AMD :
‘Choose an option‘ appears and move to button ‘Use a device’ using arrow keys and then press Return key
Use a device’ appears and move to button ‘UEFI:Removable Device’ or ‘UEFI: ...’ using arrow keys and then press Return key
now move to button ‘Ubuntu (safe graphics)’ using arrow keys and then press Return key
At this point we have switched from UEFI/BIOS executed at ‘close to hardware’ to ubuntu-24.04.1 desktop launched from USB bootable stick , but not yet installed on Acemagic RX16 .
From Ubuntu desktop choose icon ‘Install Ubuntu’ to start installation of Ubuntu , choose standard default installation where ‘dual boot’ option is already active (pay attention : if ‘dual boot’ option is not active then Windows 11 will be wiped out from Acemagic RX16) .
when volume to install is requested , let’s provide the empty volume after Windows 11 storage shrinking or volume ‘Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS Volume’ / ‘New Volume’ initialized on our second SSD slot of Acemagic RX16
don’t choose Ubuntu Pro and don’t choose to allow computer to send information to Ubuntu provider
installation takes a while and will split provided empty volume in three volume whose capacities are reported
Fifth step is to configure from UEFI to start from GRUB instead of Windows 11 : at this moment USB bootable stick can be removed , but restarting computer only Windows 11 will boot up and we can reach Ubuntu only from ‘Start --> Settings --> System --> Recovery --> Advanced Startup’ and then push button ‘Restart Now’ .
GRUB is text only program that allows to choose , after turning up computer , which operating system to boot : Ubuntu (by default) , Windows 11 , UEFI/BIOS .
We’ll see it in second post .
I visited URL https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop and clicked on button ‘Download 24.04.1 LTS’ .
Given that .iso file weighs 5.8GB , it is likely an interrupt during downloading. So I selected from download tab in the browser the file ubuntu-24.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso and with right button on it I chose option ‘Copy Download Link’ . Then I interrupted download .
Then I opened a terminal where I wrote wget <space> <Paste from right mouse button activated popup menu> .
Example :
wget https://releases.ubuntu.com/noble/ubunt ... -amd64.iso
This shell command starts downloading of file in current directory . In case downloading stops before completion , I started a new shell command wget --continue <Download Link> .
Example :
wget --continue https://releases.ubuntu.com/noble/ubunt ... -amd64.iso
I don’t know whether there is something similar to ‘wget --continue’ to avoid restarting download from scratch every time on Windows 11 .
Second step is to create a USB bootable stick from .iso file (ubuntu-24.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso in this case) .
First insert a fresh USB stick in a USB port on computer .
On Linux I did it by shell command on terminal using program ddrescue .
to obtain <USB stick path> :
sudo fdisk -l
to create USB bootable stick :
sudo ddrescue --force -D <path .iso file> <USB stick path>
Once again , I didn’t use Windows 11 , but in case someone is interested to create a USB bootable stick on Windows 11 , these URLs provide relevant information on how to do it :
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-u ... 1-overview
https://etcher.balena.io/
Third step is to provide an empty volume on a disk in our Acemagic RX16 .
One possibility is to resize volume occupied by Windows 11 on 512 GB SSD :
Start --> Settings --> System --> Storage --> Advanced storage settings --> Disks & volumes
on volume "Windows (C:)" push button "Properties" and then push button "Change Size"
assign on right of "New (MB)" value 65536 and then push button "OK"
Remark : in this case Windows 11 is shrinked to only 64 GB of storage , if you want more room for Windows 11 change numeric value in kilobytes accordingly
Another possibility is to install a fresh NVMe SSD on second slot of Acemagic RX16 .
After a fresh NVMe SSD has been installed in second NVMe slot , let’s initialize it from Windows 11 :
from Start icon on Windows desktop press right button of mouse and select ‘Disk Management’ from popup menu.
on popup window there is ‘Disk 1’ marked as ‘Unallocated’
on ‘Unallocated’ press right button of mouse and select ‘GPT (GUID Partition Table)’ , the other one ‘MBR (Master Boot Record)’ doesn’t work in case of a NVMe SSD of 4 TB
on ‘Unallocated’ press right button of mouse and select ‘New Simple Volume…’ , all defaults of ‘Wizard’ are fine but presumably name of new volume where is preferably ‘Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS Volume’ instead of ‘New Volume’
Fourth step is to activate this USB bootable stick on our Acemagic RX16 .
Insert relevant USB bootable stick with ubuntu-24.04.1 in a USB port on computer .
From Windows 11 (at this moment our Acemagic RX16 has only Windows 11) :
Start --> Settings --> System --> Recovery --> Advanced Startup
then push button ‘Restart Now’
At this moment we aren’t anymore interacting with Windows 11 but with UEFI , modern version of BIOS well known to administrator of PCs , this is operating system released by hardware manufacturer that in our case is AMD :
‘Choose an option‘ appears and move to button ‘Use a device’ using arrow keys and then press Return key
Use a device’ appears and move to button ‘UEFI:Removable Device’ or ‘UEFI: ...’ using arrow keys and then press Return key
now move to button ‘Ubuntu (safe graphics)’ using arrow keys and then press Return key
At this point we have switched from UEFI/BIOS executed at ‘close to hardware’ to ubuntu-24.04.1 desktop launched from USB bootable stick , but not yet installed on Acemagic RX16 .
From Ubuntu desktop choose icon ‘Install Ubuntu’ to start installation of Ubuntu , choose standard default installation where ‘dual boot’ option is already active (pay attention : if ‘dual boot’ option is not active then Windows 11 will be wiped out from Acemagic RX16) .
when volume to install is requested , let’s provide the empty volume after Windows 11 storage shrinking or volume ‘Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS Volume’ / ‘New Volume’ initialized on our second SSD slot of Acemagic RX16
don’t choose Ubuntu Pro and don’t choose to allow computer to send information to Ubuntu provider
installation takes a while and will split provided empty volume in three volume whose capacities are reported
Fifth step is to configure from UEFI to start from GRUB instead of Windows 11 : at this moment USB bootable stick can be removed , but restarting computer only Windows 11 will boot up and we can reach Ubuntu only from ‘Start --> Settings --> System --> Recovery --> Advanced Startup’ and then push button ‘Restart Now’ .
GRUB is text only program that allows to choose , after turning up computer , which operating system to boot : Ubuntu (by default) , Windows 11 , UEFI/BIOS .
We’ll see it in second post .