m.2 NVME not detected

[Spidey200]

Recently i have bought a crucial p3 plus nvme m.2 1 tb ssd to upgrade my storage for my hp pavilion gaming 15-ec0101ax and possibly fresh install a new windows in the ssd.  The problem is that the ssd is not detected by the computer and it is also not showing in the BIOS.The ssd is empty and the windows is running on the HDD.
My questions are;-
1) why is it not detected? since it is specified that the m.2 slot support nvme cards.
2) is there any configuration for dual storage ?
3) will the crucial 1tb nvme ssd work along with the hdd , since the crucial website showed that the ssd is compatible with my laptop.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Your notebook does support M.2 NVMe SSD's according to chapter 1 of the service manual and many forum members have installed them in the 15-ec0xxx model series.

Maintenance and Service Guide HP Pavilion Gaming 15 Laptop PC

Solved: I want to add 512gb SSD in HP Pavilion Gaming - 15-ec0101ax - HP Support Community - 8324378

Solved: cmos checksum invalid 502 after SSD upgrade - HP Support Community - 8159985

The notebook does support dual storage configurations, but when they come like that from the factory, there is no operating system on the 2.5" drive.

Have you tried installing Windows on the NVMe drive?

If not, I suggest you try that.  Temporarily disconnect the 2.5" drive before attempting to install Windows on the SSD,

If Windows doesn't detect the drive, then the NVMe SSD or the NVMe slot may be defective.

[Spidey200]

Thanks for the reply!

I tried installing windows on nvme while the hdd was disconnected but it didn't detect the nvme drive on installation page of windows. Maybe the m 2 slot is disabled or defective because the SSD is working when I installed it in one of my friend's laptop.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I think the slot is no good but check your notebook's BIOS and see if there are any settings -- especially in the security section to enable or disable the M.2 SSD slot.

Your fallback option would be to replace the 2.5" mechanical hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD.

Certainly not as fast as a NVMe SSD, but a whole lot faster than a slow-poke 2.5" mechanical hard drive.

[Spidey200]

I checked the bios (bios version f.13) there were no option for m.2 and the only options on security were regarding administrator password and some TPM related settings. Also, I have noticed some bios having Advance Setting section but in my case there is no such section.

As you have suggested, the only option remain is to replace the Hdd with sata 2.5" SSD.

Anyways, thanks for the assistance ! 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance, and it is a real shame that the notebook has a hidden defect that would be impossible to detect unless you tried to install a NVMe SSD.

That is a very rare situation, but it can happen, I guess.

I have seen a few forum posts regarding memory slots not working when someone tries to install additional memory in the empty slot.