I'm trying to install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS from a USB stick, but I'm hitting a snag. When I get to the part where I need to select a partition for the bootloader, I only see a 32GB option, which is my USB stick, and not the 1TB SSD I'm trying to use. I've already disconnected the Windows SATA drive to avoid any issues. Right now, my BIOS isn't even recognizing the NVMe drive—there's no mention of it, and the diagnostics are showing a warning saying 'No hard drive present'. I can see that the NVMe drive has a green light, so it seems to be powered on. My laptop model is a Getac S410 G2 i7, which does have an NVMe slot, and the card fits correctly. What steps should I take to troubleshoot this issue?
4 Answers
Check if your SATA controller is set to AHCI mode in the BIOS/UEFI settings. Sometimes that’s a requirement for recognizing NVMe drives.
This doesn’t seem to be an Ubuntu issue if the BIOS can’t detect the drive. Try reseating the NVMe disk to see if that helps. If it still doesn’t show up, the problem might be with the drive or the M.2 slot itself. You could test with another drive if possible to see if the slot is faulty.
If the BIOS can’t see your NVMe drive, try checking if there’s another M.2 slot you can use. Also, make sure your motherboard's BIOS is fully updated, as sometimes that can resolve a lot of hardware detection issues.
I'll update the BIOS and have to plug in the Windows drive again for that. About other slots, I don’t think there’s another one; there's something nearby that looks like a slot but it's configured differently.
Make sure your motherboard supports booting from NVMe drives. If there’s no option for NVMe in the BIOS, it might not be set up to boot from that type of drive.
I didn't check that before! The BIOS just lists ‘Hard Disk’ without clarifying which type it is. I did update the BIOS and went back, but still no luck.
You’re right—it has to be something hardware-related since Ubuntu can't do anything if the BIOS doesn't see it.