I'm troubleshooting a Lenovo Legion 5 from 2021 with an Intel i5, RTX 2060, and two M.2 SSDs. The problems began with repeated DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION blue screens. After running chkdsk from the recovery environment, the Windows installation eventually stopped booting and now reports INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE.
The first SSD contains Windows, and its data is still readable, but Windows will not boot from it. The second SSD became unavailable shortly before the boot problem appeared. The BIOS and a Linux live environment can detect the second drive, but Windows cannot see it in File Explorer, Disk Management, or the Windows installer.
I tried removing and swapping storage drivers without success. Could this be related to Intel RST/VMD, the storage controller, or Windows storage drivers, or are these likely separate drive problems? I'm trying to avoid wiping anything because both drives contain important data.
3 Answers
The fact that Linux and the BIOS can see the second SSD points more toward a Windows storage-driver or controller-mode issue than an immediately dead drive. Check whether the BIOS is using Intel VMD or RST and make sure the matching storage driver is available to the Windows installer. Changing the controller mode can also make an existing Windows installation unbootable, so back up the data first and avoid repeatedly switching settings.
The blue-screen dump files would be useful for identifying whether the crashes were caused by a storage driver. If Windows or Safe Mode becomes usable, look for files in the Windows Minidump folder and inspect several crashes rather than relying on one. The INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error commonly appears when Windows loses access to the boot controller or its required driver, but it can also result from a failing SSD.
Since the second SSD is visible from Linux, use that environment to copy the important files off both drives and check the SSD health information if available. An intermittent SSD, firmware problem, or controller issue could explain the earlier watchdog crashes and the drive disappearing. Don’t run more repair commands or reinstall Windows until the data is secured.
The second drive briefly started working again, so I’m copying its data now before doing more troubleshooting.