My PC worked normally last night, but this morning it went straight to BIOS with no bootable device found. The Windows installation SSD is a 1TB WD Blue SA510. My M.2 drive and another SSD still appear in BIOS, but the WD Blue is missing from both BIOS and the Windows installer. I tried different SATA data cables and ports, but nothing changed. The system has a B550 Gaming X motherboard, Ryzen 7 3700X, and 32GB of DDR4 RAM. Is there another way to test the SSD, or has it probably failed?
3 Answers
If a drive is missing from both BIOS and the Windows installer, this is happening below the operating-system level. That usually points to the SSD, its power connection, or the SATA port rather than a partition or boot-order problem. Try a different SATA power connector from the PSU as well as another data cable, preferably on a separate power cable run. Also check your motherboard manual, since some SATA ports may be disabled when a particular M.2 slot is populated.
The best confirmation would be testing the SSD in another computer or with a USB-to-SATA adapter or enclosure. If it is invisible there too, the drive controller has probably failed. The SA510 series has also had reports of drives suddenly dropping offline, so a firmware or controller failure is possible. If it becomes visible again, copy important files immediately and update its firmware before trusting it with Windows or other data.
A power reset can sometimes make a locked controller respond: leave the SATA power connected but disconnect the data cable, let the computer sit in BIOS for about 30 minutes, then shut it down, unplug it, and hold the power button for 15 seconds. Reconnect everything and check again. This is only a last troubleshooting attempt, not a repair.
Since the other drives work in the same system while the WD Blue remains completely undetected, the SSD itself is the most likely culprit. If it stays missing when tested through an adapter or another computer, replacement is probably necessary. If the files are important, avoid repeated power cycling and consider professional data recovery instead of attempting repairs.
I tried another power connection and SATA port, but the WD Blue still does not appear. I did not realize that the M.2 slot could disable some SATA ports.