predator helios 300 Why does my SSD not show up in my drives?

ThePhoenixKing
ThePhoenixKing Member Posts: 4 New User
edited January 2022 in Predator Laptops
I bought a Samsung 870 qvo 4tb 2.5 ssd for my predator helios 300. I properly installed the screws and to my knowledge plugged in the sata cable how it's intended to be inserted. However, after I turn my laptop back on it still only shows the disk drive that came with the laptop. I've looked through the device manager and the disk manager and both don't show the drive. I've taken the ssd out and reinstalled it 5 times, even unplugging the battery while I did so but still nothing. Can any tell me if there's something I'm doing wrong?

Thread was edited to add model name to the title


Answers

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,661 Trailblazer
    edited January 2022

    I don't know the exact Helios 300 you have? Give us the model number? But and what I’m seeing from your caption is that you have an M.2 SSD drive which I presume that its your boot drive? When you install this new drive make sure that the SATA power plug and the SATA data combined plug is plugged in properly and the ribbon cable is plugged into the motherboard plug properly and that also, you have the right SATA plug cable, the caption below is the Acer SATA plug/ribbon cable for a Predator Helios 300 PH315-53 for adding a 2.5" drive part number 50.Q7WN2.001 as all these cables are model specific and you can’t use just any cable and that might be why your drive is not appearing and being recognised. 

     

     

    All the above should make your new drive appear in “Disk Management” where you can format it to NTFS first which is MBR/Legacy but, a 4TB Samsung 870 QVO in format of MBR will not give you 4TB full capacity so, you have to format this drive to GUID/GPT format if you want to use all the 4TB capacity. Note: MBR/Legacy format max capacity is 2TB in windows OS. To do a GUID/GPT format see this guide “Convert an MBR disk into a GPT disk” as a Master Boot Record (MBR) disks use the standard BIOS partition table. GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). One advantage of GPT disks is that you can have more than four partitions on each disk. GPT is also required for disks larger than two terabytes (TB).


  • xapim
    xapim ACE Posts: 7,253 Pathfinder
    edited January 2022
    As @StevenGen stated very well all brand new drives no matter the form factor come in raw mode they need to be formatted and partitioned before they can become usable but many ppl doesnt know this and sometimes return them because the drive letters arent recognized so brand new drives are not plug n play as everyone expects it   :)


    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/11532543

    UserBenchmarks: Game 43%, Desk 61%, Work 40%
    CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ - 63.5%
    GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050-Ti (Mobile) - 41.9%
    SSD: WDC WDS200T2B0B-00YS70 2TB - 71.4%
    HDD: WD WD10SPZX-00HKTT0 1TB - 93.7%
    RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR4 2666 C15 2x16GB - 76.8%
    MBD: Acer Predator G3-572

    I'm not an Acer employee. (just here to help in the best way i can)
    If my answer fixed you issue please accept it for any other users who search for it would find it quickly thanks :)
    If you want to learn more about undervolting/optimizing windows join the Predator fb group and youtube channel:

    Owner/Admin (HOTEL HERO/Red-Sand/Opoka Opoka)
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/PredatorHelios300
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJwGUHxSJ8FKqAhnOqQuAw
    Acer support:
    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/service-contact
    http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/  


  • ThePhoenixKing
    ThePhoenixKing Member Posts: 4 New User
    edited January 2022
    @StevenGen @xapim So the model number is N20C3 and series number is PH315-53-71HN (Not sure if you need them both or not but I am relatively new to the PC world, apologies in advance). Also, attached is the sata cable I bought but I see that this one doesn't match the series number on mine so maybe that's the issue.
  • xapim
    xapim ACE Posts: 7,253 Pathfinder
    Thats the exact part number you need 


    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/11532543

    UserBenchmarks: Game 43%, Desk 61%, Work 40%
    CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ - 63.5%
    GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050-Ti (Mobile) - 41.9%
    SSD: WDC WDS200T2B0B-00YS70 2TB - 71.4%
    HDD: WD WD10SPZX-00HKTT0 1TB - 93.7%
    RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR4 2666 C15 2x16GB - 76.8%
    MBD: Acer Predator G3-572

    I'm not an Acer employee. (just here to help in the best way i can)
    If my answer fixed you issue please accept it for any other users who search for it would find it quickly thanks :)
    If you want to learn more about undervolting/optimizing windows join the Predator fb group and youtube channel:

    Owner/Admin (HOTEL HERO/Red-Sand/Opoka Opoka)
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/PredatorHelios300
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJwGUHxSJ8FKqAhnOqQuAw
    Acer support:
    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/service-contact
    http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/  


  • ThePhoenixKing
    ThePhoenixKing Member Posts: 4 New User
    @xapim If the cable I bought is exactly what I need then maybe I should send it back and exchange it for another one. It's possible I was just sent a faulty cable.
  • xapim
    xapim ACE Posts: 7,253 Pathfinder
    Yes its possible 


    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/11532543

    UserBenchmarks: Game 43%, Desk 61%, Work 40%
    CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ - 63.5%
    GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050-Ti (Mobile) - 41.9%
    SSD: WDC WDS200T2B0B-00YS70 2TB - 71.4%
    HDD: WD WD10SPZX-00HKTT0 1TB - 93.7%
    RAM: Kingston HyperX DDR4 2666 C15 2x16GB - 76.8%
    MBD: Acer Predator G3-572

    I'm not an Acer employee. (just here to help in the best way i can)
    If my answer fixed you issue please accept it for any other users who search for it would find it quickly thanks :)
    If you want to learn more about undervolting/optimizing windows join the Predator fb group and youtube channel:

    Owner/Admin (HOTEL HERO/Red-Sand/Opoka Opoka)
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/PredatorHelios300
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJwGUHxSJ8FKqAhnOqQuAw
    Acer support:
    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/service-contact
    http://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/  


  • ThePhoenixKing
    ThePhoenixKing Member Posts: 4 New User
    @StevenGen @xapim An update on my situation. I took my laptop to a friend who is much more knowledgeable about computers than I am and had him see if he could figure it out. He played around with it for a while but couldn't figure out why my drive wasn't showing up. Then he has a brilliant idea, an idea so simply it's a wonder how nobody had thought of it yet. He unplugs my sata cable from the motherboard, flips it to the other side, and plugs it back in. (Basically, just like the very first image I posted but with cable flipped upside down). Then BAM, the drive shows up in the disk manager and can be partitioned like normal. Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it was that simply but hey, you live, and you learn right. Anyways thank you both for your comments regardless. I will be kicking myself over this one for a while.