I recently built a new PC and am trying to set it up with an M.2 SSD for the first time. I've connected two older SATA SSDs along with a traditional hard drive to my motherboard, but I'm running into trouble getting the system to boot. When all SATA drives are plugged in, the PC doesn't even power on. However, when I unplug the hard drive, the system powers up and detects the SSDs. Interestingly, I tried using another older hard drive that I know works, but again, the PC won't boot with all the SATA drives connected. My question is, could there be compatibility issues between the NVMe M.2 SSD and older SATA hard drives? I'm looking for any advice or solutions you might have!
2 Answers
It's possible your motherboard might disable some SATA ports when an M.2 is connected due to bandwidth limitations. Make sure to look at your motherboard manual for specifics on this.
Check which slot you're using for the M.2 drive. Sometimes, the slot placements can affect how other drives work. If you're in the top PCIe slot closest to the CPU, that usually is the best choice!
I’m using that top slot, so I’m hoping that’s not the problem!
I don't believe that's the issue since my SATA SSDs work fine with the M.2 plugged in.