SSD on z820 with Linux

[knoba]

I'm trying to replace my boot HDD with a SSD, on a z820, with Linux mint (specs below). I cannot get the drive to show up in bios. Searched forums, tried numerous bios settings. I could use a little help, please?

The ssd drive is a Kingston (SA400S3), 120Gb, 2.5", Internal SSD, SATA 3 (backwards compatible with sata 2) with a 2.5" HDD -> 3.5" SSD Hard Drive Tray Caddy (654540-001)

Specs:

O/S: Linux Mint, 20.2, "Uma", Xfce, kernel 5.4.0-88-generic (x86_64), 64 bit.
BIOS: Intel J63 v03.96
M/B: HP, PN: 708610-001, Pcb Rev: 1.03.
CPU1: Intel Xeon E5-2670 v2, 2.5GHz, 10 core, Socket 2011 / LGA2011, 64 bit, Heatsink (635868-001).
CPU2: Intel Xeon E5-2670 v2, 2.5GHz, 10 core, Socket 2011 / LGA2011, 64 bit, Heatsink (635868-001).
RAM: 16GB (2 x 8GB), DDR3-1600MHz, RDIMM, 1.35v, ECC Registered, CL11, PC3-12800R, 16 slots, 240 pin.
GPU: GeForce 9600 Smart (TC1GB), GPU: GeForce 9600 GSO, 512MB, PCI Express 2.0 16x, SSE2, DDR2, DVI-I, HDMI, VGA.
HDD1: Hitachi Deskstar, (HDS72161), 7K160, 160Gb, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache. [EFI & Boot]
HDD2: Hitachi Deskstar, (HDS72161), 7K160, 160Gb, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache. [Home]
PSU: Delta Power Supply (DPS-1125A-AB), 1125W, multirail, HP (623196-002).

[DGroves · Accepted solution]

the z820 has 3 different HD controllers, which one is the drive connected to?

onboard oem SATA 6GBps (two blue or grey ports) this is the perfered port(s) for a sata 6GBps drive

onboard Intel "SCU" 3GBps  (5 white ports next to the two oem ports)

onboard LSI 2008 ROC chip 3GBps sata 6GBps SAS (7 white ports along edge of motherboard)

drives connected to the LSI ports will only show in the LSI bios subsection of the z820 bios "IF" the LSI boot rom is enabled

if the boot rom is disabled the ports can not be used for a boot device only data

[knoba]

Thank you for your time!

The drives were both on the LSI (it was already enabled) but I suspect there may be a problem with the chassis connector on drive bay #1. Also, pre-formatting the disk with an EFI boot partition & EXT3 secondary partition helped get it seen in the BIOS. I can  move over to the "onboard oem SATA 6GBps ports" as recommended. Thank you!