Why did my onboard sound stop working after installing an NVME SSD?

January 9, 2026 3 answers
Asked by TechieGamer42
I recently upgraded my Lenovo Ideapad 1 15IJL7 by adding a 500GB NVME SSD to the motherboard. Ever since I did that, my onboard sound has completely stopped working. I've tried disabling and re-enabling the drive, and I even restarted the Windows sound service, but nothing seems to work. I'm wondering if I might have shorted something out during the installation, though I was careful and didn't touch anything else on the motherboard. Any ideas?

Answers

AudioNerd99
You might want to check the UEFI settings because sometimes onboard sound can be accidentally disabled there. Also, if you installed Windows from a USB, remember to download and install the audio drivers afterward.
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SSDwizKid
It's possible that the NVME SSD is taking up some PCI Express lanes which might affect the onboard audio functionality. Check your laptopโ€™s manual for any notes about the M.2 connector you used. There may be a BIOS option to manage how the lanes are allocated. If you remove the SSD, does the audio come back?
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FixItSam
If you already tried uninstalling the audio driver and it didnโ€™t work after rebooting, then it might be something else at play. Sometimes conflicts with new hardware can mess with audio drivers.
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