Sfdisk --no-reread error when installing Ubuntu 26.04 / 24.04 on external Crucial T700 (Zikedrive Z666) from MinisForum MS-S1 MAX

[pinoso]

Hi, I’m trying to install Ubuntu 26.04 (and also tried 24.04) on a MinisForum MS-S1 MAX (AMD Strix Halo) using an external SSD: Crucial T700 4TB inside a Zikedrive Z666 enclosure. No matter what I do, the installer fails with the following error:

curtin.util.ProcessExecutionError: Unexpected error while running command.
Command: ['sfdisk', '--no-reread', '/dev/sdX']
Exit code: 1

I have tried the following:

• Both ext4 and btrfs filesystems

• Manual partitioning with GParted beforehand (EFI 512MB FAT32 + root partition)

• “Something else” installation option

• Different USB ports on the MinisForum

• Cleaned the drive with wipefs -a and dd before installation

Has anyone successfully installed Ubuntu 24.04 or 26.04 on an external NVMe enclosure (especially high-speed ones like Crucial T700 / Zikedrive) with the latest installer? Any known workarounds or kernel parameters that might help? Thanks in advance!

[peterwhite23]

Welcome to the Ubuntu Discourse, @pinoso!

@pinoso

No matter what I do, the installer fails with the following error:

curtin.util.ProcessExecutionError: Unexpected error while running command.
Command: ['sfdisk', '--no-reread', '/dev/sdX']
Exit code: 1

That /dev/sdX looks suspicious, because there is no such device; the ‘X’ is just a placeholder in examples and one is supposed to substitute a letter, e.g. /dev/sda, for the real device. Furthermore, it’s somewhat dangerous to use those legacy device nodes, for they are dynamically assigned at boot; better use the symbolic links in one of the /dev/disk/by-* directories.

Can you elaborate on how you got to that point of failure?

Also, NVMe devices usually have names like /dev/nvme0n1.

[pinoso]

sdX was just an OCR mistake from a photo I took of the screen. AI suggested the controller in the ZikeDrive Z666 is too new for the current Linux kernel. I’ve already installed Ubuntu on the internal SSD as a workaround. Plan is to move the installation to the ZikeDrive later. AI thinks it should boot fine once installed.