Second drive (m.2 NVME PCIE SSD) won't show in Disk Management but is in BIOS.

[edmDude]

HP Pavilion 590-p0066
Motherboard: Lincs 843B
Factory Hard Drive (OS) : 1 TB 7200 HDD (spinner)
OS: Windows 10 Home (64 bit)

Hello All, Hoping for some assistance.

Added a second drive  (m.2 NVME PCIE 512gb SSD) to my desktop using the open m.2 slot (from the HP Motherboard doc : One M.2 socket 3, 2280 type for SSD).  None of the motherboard or HP docs say if these support NVME, but looking at the socket it has the single slot on the right, which would suggest NVME support.   Also it does not say if it is PCIE or SATA, but I would think PCIE.

Here is the exact m.2 SSD:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/600420/512GB_SSD_3D_NAND_M2_2280_PCIe_NVMe_30_x4_Internal_Solid_...

Edit:  I did find this that says NVME PCIE is supported on the 590 motherboards, even though it was by a contributor, not the HP Agent.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Upgrading-Optain-drive-to-m-2-s...

The issue is that the drive shows in the BIOS under Hard Disk (M.2 512gb PCIE SSD) and also in Device Manager but it does not show in Windows in Disk Management, where I would expect to be able to initialize, set drive letter and format (NTFS).   Not sure why this would not be plug-play.   

I've been searching for a solution for the past two days and tried several things but none have worked, so I am finally posting.

Things I've tried that have not worked:

1. Ran Memory Diagnostic Tools - I read this has helped some people with this issue.  Did not find any issues and did not find drive.

2. Pulled and re-installed in the socket.  (Only one available m.2 socket so can't try in another and I don't have another computer with m.2 support)

3. Ran Windows Update (up-to-date)

4. Ran driver updates in Device Manager and shows using best driver (no yellow errors icons)

5. Multiple restarts

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Hawk

[Grzwacz]

Greetings,

Welcome back to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

You have done all there is to do.

HP usually supports only PCIe on consumer PCs. This is what you purchased.

Very strange the BIOS sees the drive but Disk Management does not show the new drive as offline in the lower section of Disk Management.

Do you have a Microsoft NVME controller In Device Manager, Storage controllers? W10 should install this driver on the fly when you install a NVME disk.

Check Windows Update. Then check Disk Management again.

Regards

[edmDude]

Hello,

Yes,  in Device Manager I've got the following drivers:

Standard SATA AHCI Controller (Updated -> Using Best Driver)

Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller (Updated -> Using Best Driver)

Standard NVME Express Controller (Updated -> Using Best Driver)

I've checked Windows Update about 5 times today and everything is Up-to-date.

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

The BIOS sees the disk and you have the NVME controller driver.

Disk Management should also see the disk as "Offline" if it is a new disk.

Run HP Diagnostics at system startup to check storage devices.

Maybe the disk is bad. Reseat the drive in the M.2 socket.

I usually buy Intel or Samsung M.2 drives; never heard of the brand you bought.

Regards

[edmDude]

I ran HP Diagnostics and it only shows the C: drive.

[edmDude]

I'll also throw this out as it's interesting, but not a fix.

I could get the drive to show in Disk Management if I went to System -> Storage -> More Storage Spaces -> Manage Storage Spaces -> Here I could see the drive and make it a storage space (which I don't really want to do) and set a drive letter. Then if I went into Disk Management it would show where I could format it to NTFS, but not initialize or set to GPT. When I remove the storage space, it was removed from Disk Management also. 

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

Well, you got me.

I don't know why HP Diagnostics did not see this M.2 disk if the BIOS detects the disk.

Have you read any reviews on this disk manufacturer?

I use Samsung, Intel, and have also used ADATA M.2 PCIe disks with no problems.

Can you try this disk in a different PC?

Regards

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

Try cloning the SATA operating system (OS) disk to the new M.2 drive using Macrium Reflect free (Link).

The OS disk has the NVME controller so the M.2 disk should load Windows.

Then disconnect the SATA OS disk. See if you can load Windows using only the cloned M.2 disk.

I have never had this problem so I am wondering if the brand of M.2 disk you chose is the cause.

Regards

[edmDude]

I don't have another PC that accepts m.2 drives.  The drive is a MicroCenter brand ( Big computer store local and around US).  I'll see if I can get them to swap it out with another make of m.2 PCIE NVME SSD.

Yeah, real head scratcher..  Been tough researching as everyone just says "Go to Disk Management" and I'm like.. it's not there bro! 🙂

[edmDude]

I've tried the cloning thing too with Macrium, and that had it's own issues.  Some issue with 512 sectors can't clone to 4096 sectors.  SMH..