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664
August 16th, 2023 23:41
Aurora R12, WD Black M.2 SSD not recognized
I installed a WD_black M.2 SSD on the motherboard, but it is not recognized. I've never used one before. From what I'm reading on various tech blogs and community sites, it looks like often the advice is to set the BIOS SATA mode to IDE. But the Alienware BIOS (which is UEFI) does not have an "IDE" option. The options are "RAID" (the default) and "ACHI". On top of that, I see the warning that if I choose ACHI, my original drive will become unbootable.
It looks like the only way to use the M.2 is to choose ACHI. And that in turn requires a complete reinstall of Windows. But before I go down that road, I want to know if anyone has done this, and knows if I am on the right track?
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ProfessorW00d
4 Operator
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2.4K Posts
1
August 17th, 2023 03:23
@mprewitt You cannot find it in Device Manager? It may not show up under Disk drives if it is not yet initialized or if it is initialized as MBR. Look for UNKNOWN or some such thing.
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ProfessorW00d
4 Operator
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2.4K Posts
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August 16th, 2023 23:51
What is on your M.2 SSD . . . and did you initialize it MBR or GPT?
(edited)
Vanadiel
6 Professor
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7K Posts
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August 17th, 2023 01:29
What was the original drive configuration, and what is the new configuration?
And it should show up under windows, but if you use Windows installation media it will not when in RAID mode due to the RAID drivers missing.
Regardless of anything it should show up in BIOS.
mprewitt
4 Posts
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August 17th, 2023 02:34
@ProfessorW00d It is blank. I don't have any way to access that drive at the moment to initialize it or do anything to it. It doesn't show up anywhere.
mprewitt
4 Posts
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August 17th, 2023 02:38
@Vanadiel It is configured however it was configured when it came in the box. I've had it only 1 day now, and I can't see its content or how it is currently formatted or if it is unformatted. I'm not sure where I would see it in the BIOS. I looked through all the UEFI options, and there was nothing about M.2.
aryuss
1 Rookie
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77 Posts
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August 17th, 2023 03:44
Go to settings, type 'manage disk and volumes' in the search bar on the left, find WD_BLACK SNXXXX, and initialize it.
Vanadiel
6 Professor
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7K Posts
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August 17th, 2023 13:54
@mprewitt It should be under the BIOS boot option. Was the R12 ordered with a regular HDD only option? Like, what are you booting from right now?
mprewitt
4 Posts
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August 30th, 2023 20:38
Thanks for the help. I fixed this a while ago, but forgot to update here. After a subsequent reboot, the drive showed up in Device Manager, and I was able to format it. So it's working as expected now.
It didn't seem to require any additional installs, but for some reason on the first reboot after installing it, it didn't show up, but after rebooting a second time, there it was!