4TB SSD does not exist

[JFiglik]

I upgraded my old HP laptop, have a newly purchased HP Spectre-360 14-0000 (HP Product # 7K631AV). Aside from the fact that HP's website refuses to acknowledge that my serial number is a valid laptop, the machine was 10 days ago, booting with a Crucial 4TB SSD.

Now, it is not recognised, the machine claims there is no device present (using a recovery USB drive, command window and "diskpart"). If I put in a 1TB SSD, everything is rosy. The 4TB SSD can go into an enclosure and is functional on another machine.

This tells me the laptop's SSD socket is functional. So if the socket works, and the SSD works what has happened they the laptop, which worked fine with it 10 days ago, no longer recognises the device. Is there a setting in the BIOS that is suddely uphigh capacity storage devices?

[Raj2111]

Hi @JFiglik 

Welcome to the HP support community.
 

I understand you're experiencing an issue with your HP device, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I'm here to help you today.

Here are some possibilities and steps you can take to troubleshoot:

1. Check the BIOS Settings

It's possible that a BIOS update, or a change in settings, has caused the laptop to no longer properly detect the 4TB SSD. You should check the following settings in the BIOS:

SATA Mode: Ensure that the SATA mode is set to AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) instead of RAID or IDE. AHCI mode generally works better with modern SSDs.

UEFI vs. Legacy Boot: If the laptop is trying to boot in Legacy mode, it might not be able to properly detect larger drives. Switch to UEFI mode if it's not already enabled.

Secure Boot: Sometimes, Secure Boot can interfere with newer hardware. Try disabling Secure Boot temporarily to see if the laptop recognizes the 4TB SSD.

Storage or NVMe Settings: If the 4TB SSD is an NVMe drive, make sure the BIOS is configured to recognize NVMe devices properly. Some older systems may have compatibility issues with larger NVMe drives without the proper BIOS settings or updates.

2. Update the BIOS

Even if your laptop works with smaller SSDs, there could be an issue with firmware or BIOS updates that affects compatibility with larger drives. HP often releases BIOS updates to improve hardware compatibility, especially with newer, larger drives. Check for the latest BIOS update on HP's support website using your laptop's model number or try the automatic update tools from HP if the website allows it.

• Reboot the laptop and press the appropriate key (usually F10 or ESC) to access the BIOS settings.
• Check the BIOS version at the top of the BIOS screen and compare it to the latest available version on the HP website.

3. Test the 4TB SSD in Another Machine

Since the 4TB SSD is functional when placed in another machine, it's unlikely that the drive itself is defective. However, it's still worth testing the SSD in another laptop or desktop that supports large drives and checking whether the issue persists.

4. Check Drive Formatting (GPT vs. MBR)

Large drives (like 4TB) must be formatted using the GPT (GUID Partition Table) scheme, not MBR (Master Boot Record), as MBR has a size limitation of 2TB. If the SSD was previously formatted as MBR and you swapped it into your HP Spectre, it may not be detected properly. You can check and convert the partition style using the following method:

• Connect the SSD to a working machine (like through an external enclosure).
• Open Disk Management in Windows (Press Win + X, then select Disk Management).
• Right-click the SSD and see if it’s formatted with GPT or MBR.
• If it's MBR, you will need to convert it to GPT. Be aware that converting will erase all data on the drive, so back up anything important before proceeding.

To convert from MBR to GPT:

• Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
• Type diskpart and press Enter.
• Type list disk to see all connected disks.
• Find your 4TB SSD (look at the size of the disks).
• Type select disk X (replace X with the number of your 4TB SSD).
• Type clean (this will erase all partitions on the drive).
• Type convert gpt.

5. Check the SSD Capacity Limit in BIOS

Some older laptops or motherboards may have issues recognizing SSDs over a certain capacity, even if the hardware physically supports them. Double-check whether there are any documented limitations for your laptop's BIOS/UEFI.

6. Test the SSD in the Laptop with Another OS or Bootable Drive

Sometimes Windows can have issues recognizing hardware after an update or configuration change. Try booting from a Linux live USB or a different recovery environment and check whether the 4TB SSD is recognized there.

I hope this helps! Keep me posted.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
 

-Regards
Raj-HP Support

[Raj2111]

Hi @JFiglik 

Welcome to the HP support community.
 

Please follow the steps form my previous post.

I hope this helps! Keep me posted.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
 

-Regards
Raj-HP Support

[JFiglik]

Thank you for the response.

Most of the BIOS settings you mentioned are not applicable for the Spectre x360 P/N 7K631A (aka 14-eu0000). There is no capacity setting and no interface setting.

Not only does the 4TB SSD work on other machines, it works on this machine, just not on the PCIe socket on the motherboard. Placed into an enclosure, it works just fine on this machine.

The disk is setup as GPT

It would seem that because this 32GB RAM laptop only supports a 1TB SSD even though other "versions" (e.g. 14-EF2013DX) do support larger drives. How in the h*ck are you supposed to know what to order. Is HP hobbling the machine in the BIOS? Is there something (black-) magical about a 14-eu0000 that says it is not allowed to have a larger SSD installed?

I have wasted the better part of a month trying to figure out **bleep** is going on here. There are only so many menu options to try. Why is this so difficult? Why is it not just a matter of dropping in a disk (SSD) and having it work. A 2280 m.2 SSD is a pretty standard piece of equipment. It's not as if there are different voltages or other technical reasons.

For this model, 14-eu0000 is there a BIOS that supports 4 TB onboard SSDs? I say onboard because the existing setup does support a 4TB EXTERNAL SSD. Given that it is a laptop, I thought it might be more convenient to have it be internal. So I ordered the wrong combination, upgrading the SSD should be a relatively easy, plug 'n play kind of fix. Apparently not.

What can I do?

[Raj2111]

Hi @JFiglik 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to assist you.

I've sent you a private message with the instructions. In order to access your private messages, Click the Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link

Take care and have a good day.

-Regards

Raj-HP Support