Functioning 2.5" Internal SSD Not Detected Anywhere On The laptop

[EthanG1]

I recently installed a new SSD in my laptop

Laptop Name: HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15-ec0xxx
SSD Name: Crucial MX500 1TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5" Internal SSD

The laptop had a 2.5" drive bay and a SATA connector but a drive was not installed there from the factory. Since it had a location for a drive bay and the hardware was compatible with a new drive, I thought this drive was compatible. The Crucial website also said that this drive was compatible. There were no issues during installation of the drive.

After installing the drive:
- The drive does not appear in Device Manager
- The drive does not appear in Disk Management
- The drive does not appear in the "System Diagnostics" menu after pressing Escape when turning the laptop on.
- The BIOS does not display what drives are present at all and does not have any option to toggle SATA devices.
- The SATA cable is securely plugged in and the drive works perfectly when used externally via a SATA-to-USB adapter.

I can find other people on HP forums and YouTube who had a 2.5" SSD working perfectly with this exact same laptop. Is it possible that my SATA cable is defective? It has never been confirmed to be working, as there was never a drive connected to it. However, I cannot find any replacement cables for sale, and I don't even know if the SATA cable is removable to begin with.

It is also worth noting that:

- There are no new BIOS updates for my computer, no related driver updates, and I have both an external SSD and an internal M.2 NVMe drive working perfectly.

- In Device Manager there are "Standard NVM Express" and "Microsoft Storage Spaces" controllers, but no Serial ATA controller. I do not know if this changes anything, but another laptop with a functioning SATA drive also has SATA controllers and drivers which are absent here.

- HWInfo appears to think that the motherboard has SATA functionality, but it still does not detect the drive.

Any help would be appreciated. I had trouble finding anyone else having this same problem and I've exhausted every step that Crucial and various other internet guides suggested.

[The_Fossette]

@EthanG1

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

In order that I may provide you with an accurate solution, I will need the product number and the exact model for your computer.

Follow the steps in the below article to find the product details.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03754824

Look forward to hearing from you and you have a great day!

Take care.

Cheers!