[SOLVED] HDD caddy not detected anywhere

[Marygraceee]

Lenovo ideapad 300 17-isk.
Hdd caddy is not being detected anywhere, not even bios.
Hdd is fine, works everywhere I put it.
Caddy is fine, tried it with two more laptops and it's fine.
Combo caddy + hdd is fine, works in those two mentioned laptops.
The Sata port in my laptop is fine, tried it with three different optical drives and works like a charm.
Tried two different caddies, they both work on the other laptops but not in mine.
The hdd inside the caddy, when the laptop is powered on, spins, so power gets there.
Tried updating the bios, changing the settings around but no luck.
Oh, also tried different hdds and one ssd. They all work in the other laptops but not in mine.

What can I do? I've already ordered another caddy to try a third brand, this one also has the famous switch everyone tells you to deal with.
These two caddies I have right now don't have that switch.
I'm kinda desperate because I need that extra space, and my laptop doesn't have a m.2 as far as I'm aware.

Help is appreciated.

 

[Ralston18]

When then HDD caddy is plugged into the Lenovo ideapad the caddy drive does not show up even in Device Manager?

Verify that in Device Manager > View tab that "Show hidden devices is checked.

Likewise open Disk Management and look in there as well.

Lastly - a bit more involved:

Open Powershell (as admin) by typing "Powershell" into the "Type here to search box.

At the Powershell PS >type "Get-Disk" (without quotes).

Does the HDD caddy drive appear in the results?

Example results from my computer:

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Try the new cross-platform PowerShell https://aka.ms/pscore6

PS C:\Users\TEST > Get-Disk

Number Friendly Name Serial Number HealthStatus OperationalStatus Total Size Partition
Style
------ ------------- ------------- ------------ ----------------- ---------- ----------
2 ATA Samsun... 36B Healthy Online 931.51 GB GPT
1 KBG30ZMS25... 0008_0D04_0023_14F4. Healthy Online 238.47 GB GPT
0 Samsung SS... S59UNS0N502804E Healthy Online 465.76 GB GPT


PS C:\Users\TEST>

Objective being to determine if the HDD Caddy is at all visible to the Lenovo Laptop.

 

[Marygraceee]

When then HDD caddy is plugged into the Lenovo ideapad the caddy drive does not show up even in Device Manager?

Verify that in Device Manager > View tab that "Show hidden devices is checked.

Likewise open Disk Management and look in there as well.

Lastly - a bit more involved:

Open Powershell (as admin) by typing "Powershell" into the "Type here to search box.

At the Powershell PS >type "Get-Disk" (without quotes).

Does the HDD caddy drive appear in the results?

Example results from my computer:

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Try the new cross-platform PowerShell https://aka.ms/pscore6

PS C:\Users\TEST > Get-Disk

Number Friendly Name Serial Number HealthStatus OperationalStatus Total Size Partition
Style
------ ------------- ------------- ------------ ----------------- ---------- ----------
2 ATA Samsun... 36B Healthy Online 931.51 GB GPT
1 KBG30ZMS25... 0008_0D04_0023_14F4. Healthy Online 238.47 GB GPT
0 Samsung SS... S59UNS0N502804E Healthy Online 465.76 GB GPT


PS C:\Users\TEST>

Objective being to determine if the HDD Caddy is at all visible to the Lenovo Laptop.

Doesn't show.

 

[Ralston18]

Make and model HDD caddy?

How is the caddy being powered?

 

[Marygraceee]

Make and model HDD caddy?

How is the caddy being powered?

Two Salcar, one GeekerChip.
It's being inserted instead of the optical drive.

 

[Ralston18]

Does the original optical drive work ? (If there was an original optical drive.)

Noted that three other optical drives worked; however, they were direct connect not in a caddy per se - correct?

When a caddy is present in the laptop - the drives do not work in the laptop.

Just trying to narrow down by swapping and elimination to what the problem may be.

These caddies?

https://gambia.desertcart.com/produ...top-optical-bay-cd-dvd-rom-external-enclosure

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GeekerChip-9-5mm-Drive-Caddy-Laptop/dp/B07PBV6VPH

Caddies appear to be from the same source manufacturer....

And the webpage installation instructions are not at all straight forward and the format is not at all, to me anyway, end user friendly.

Were there any other installation instructions provided with the caddies? Other than what is provided in the two links above?

The GeekerChip caddy shows an image with a "High speed SATA 3.0 interface" and next to it some "SATA Transmission Interface" ?

Could indeed be that switch but the sellers do not seem to really want to address that issue.

My thought, at this moment, is that there is indeed some compatibility issue between the Lenovo IdeaPad and the caddies.

Not sure what else to suggest. Perhaps some error of omission or commission on my part.

Hopefully there will be other ideas and suggestions. I have no problem with that.

 

[Marygraceee]

Does the original optical drive work ? (If there was an original optical drive.)

Noted that three other optical drives worked; however, they were direct connect not in a caddy per se - correct?

When a caddy is present in the laptop - the drives do not work in the laptop.

Just trying to narrow down by swapping and elimination to what the problem may be.

These caddies?

https://gambia.desertcart.com/produ...top-optical-bay-cd-dvd-rom-external-enclosure

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GeekerChip-9-5mm-Drive-Caddy-Laptop/dp/B07PBV6VPH

Caddies appear to be from the same source manufacturer....

And the webpage installation instructions are not at all straight forward and the format is not at all, to me anyway, end user friendly.

Were there any other installation instructions provided with the caddies? Other than what is provided in the two links above?

The GeekerChip caddy shows an image with a "High speed SATA 3.0 interface" and next to it some "SATA Transmission Interface" ?

Could indeed be that switch but the sellers do not seem to really want to address that issue.

My thought, at this moment, is that there is indeed some compatibility issue between the Lenovo IdeaPad and the caddies.

Not sure what else to suggest. Perhaps some error of omission or commission on my part.

Hopefully there will be other ideas and suggestions. I have no problem with that.

As I said, the original dvd drive works, as other two drives taken from other laptops.
The instructions are simply plug and play, and the caddies work plug and play in the other (now 3) laptops I've tried them in.

I guess this laptop simply doesn't support caddies, idk.

 

[Ralston18]

Might be worth trying this caddy:

https://www.amazon.com/Nimitz-Drive-Caddy-Lenovo-Thinkpad/dp/B00W1WAJBK

May be more legitimate and not a 'knock off" generic product.

Check the Q & A's.

 

[Marygraceee]

Might be worth trying this caddy:

https://www.amazon.com/Nimitz-Drive-Caddy-Lenovo-Thinkpad/dp/B00W1WAJBK

May be more legitimate and not a 'knock off" generic product.

Check the Q & A's.

Ill check, thanks