ACER Nitro AN515-54 - How do I get my Nitro 5 to recognize new Adata M.2 in the 2nd slot?

Nitro72

I installed the second M.2 (Adata pci exp 500 Gb) into the 2nd slot but the computer will not get past Acer logo. The drive is recognized in bios but when it is in the slot the laptop will not boot. I tried switcing the original drive into the other slot by itself and it booted fine - so drive interfaces are fine. It is either a setting problem or a problem with the Adata M.2 (unlikely). The SATA setting in bios is rst premium optane with AHCI as an alternative. I don't know if this is relevant! I turned off secure boot - made no difference. I tried using Paragon HD manager (with Adata inserted) but after loading files the M/C quickly switches back to  ACER logo (with spinning circles). So with the Adata inserted by itself or with the original drive in slot 1 and Adata in slot 2 HD manager will not boot from the USB - which it noramlly does.

ACER Nitro AN515-54

brummyfan2

Hi,
Could you please check whether your M.2 SSD is same model as discussed in the threads below, if so, another member found a solution but it's a registry editing, so if you are not familiar with it please get professional help, if you have done it before, give it a try.
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/578060/acer-nitro-5-an515-52-ssd-m2-problem
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/586357/nitro-5-an515-54-problem-with-second-ssd

Nitro72

The regedit solution was for a different model (AN515-52) but should I try it with the AN515-54? I did a factory reset on the laptop but it made not difference.

brummyfan2

Hi,
Yes, you can try, if that doesn't help switch back to the original value but make sure you backup everything so that you can revert back to original setup.

Nitro72

I tried the regedit change and to AHCI and windows would no longer boot. After I changed back to rst premium optane it booted again. This is similar to another poster which had this problem. The computer will not boot using AHCI. I doubt it is the M.2 card. Too many people have reported this problem.

brummyfan2

Yes, that's correct ADATA has chips on both sides, I would prefer M.2 SSDs with chips on one side only.

Nitro72

With windows not booting at all  I saw no point in putting the Adata drive back in. I am wondering if this problem was created earlier before I bought the new drive. I had split the original partition and cloned windows onto the second partition. This worked fine with windows boot menu. When I bought the new drive I decided to go back to one OS partition (windows had updated to most recent version 1903). That worked fine and then followed all the problems with the new drive. Do you think I have created the problem after creating the dual boot then going back?

brummyfan2

No, I don't know whether it may have caused the problem, as you have mentioned that ADATA is not working with or without the original drive, I suspect it to be a faulty drive, could you be able to test ADATA drive in another laptop? 
You have one M.2 NVMe SSD slot and another one for NVMe and SATA, problem is identifying the correct slot, so you have to use trial and error method to find out.

Nitro72

The slots are labelled. The original M.2 drive is pci and runs fine in either slot so I suspect the mixed slot works for pci. I have not been able to get any difference by switching the Adata drive from one slot to the other. Another question. I noted that the system repair (after I switched from rst to ahci) switched secure boot back on. How important is it to have this OFF.

brummyfan2

It's better to leave secure boot enabled because it's a kind of security, if it's enabled as a default setting, once you made any changes in BIOS( like changing supervisor password or in your case switching between AHCI and IRST), leave it on.

Nitro72

Thanks to all who helped. I have not been able to solve this puzzle so I am returning the drive assuming it is faulty and will try another brand such as Samsung or Crucial. Crucial publish a list of tested drives and the Acer nitro 5 AN515-54 is included. https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ssd