SSD not detected by BIOS

[nic01]

Hi. I have an Asus VivoBook Pro 15 N580VD. It came with an HDD and an empty slot for SSD. On the product web page it says that it supports 512 GB SATA SSD. I got a Samsung 860 EVO SATA M.2 500 GB SSD and put it in the slot, but it's not recognized at all by BIOS.
I have latest BIOS (version 315).
I have AHCI enabled.
From what I read in various threads, the next step would be to remove the HDD and see if then the SSD is detected. However, I am very reluctant to do that, because then I have to remove the battery and probably other components (HDD is not in its own box, where you can just remove the screws and take it out) and I don't want to risk breaking something.
So my question is - what else can I do to make the SSD work?
Thanks in advance.

 

[R0GG]

Verify in the Bios that your M.2 Slot is set to SATA

 

[nic01]

I don't see any options that mention "M.2" in the BIOS. Under "Advanced ---> SATA configuration" I have only "SATA Mode Selection", which can be either AHCI or Intel RST Premium. I have AHCI selected.

 

[R0GG]

- In the Bios >boot> Add new boot option : see if your SSD is offered as new device to add.
- Then in Bios >boot> boot option ptriorities : select the new SSD as boot 1st boot drive
- Is your SSD visible under windows disk management ?
- Is the drive visible in Asus Bios Easy mode?

 

[nic01]

- Under Boot I have:
CSM Support (Enabled)
Launch PXE OpROM Policy (Disabled)
Boot Option Priorities
Boot Option #1 (<Toshiba HDD>, no other device)
Hard Drive BBS priorities
Delete Boot Option

- it's not visible in Disk Management
- it's not visible in Easy Mode too, probably should be on SATA 0, but it says "empty". HDD is on SATA 2, 1 and 3 are also empty.

 

[R0GG]

That is weird, I would try to reseat drive in the M.2 slot.

 

[nic01]

Just did that - removed the drive, put it back in (with the screw on the other end), again it doesn't show up either in BIOS or Disk Management.
I'm starting to think this particular drive is not supported. It did say in the laptop product page "512 GB SATA SSD" and this one is 500 GB, I assumed it was the same thing, but it seems it isn't......very weird though.

 

[R0GG]

If it doesn't show up anywhere in Bios it won't show up in disk management, I was just trying to make sure we're not overlooking something in the Bios.
Is the SATA SSD keyed and fits perfectly in the M.2 Sata slot?
Last resort is to order an M.2 SSD from a different brand.

 

[nic01]

Yes, it fits perfectly. The 5-pin part is to the right and the 6-pin to the left. The half-circle for the screw also aligns perfectly with the hole in the laptop chassis.
I thought a Samsung SSD would be supported since it's a major brand, but it seems not.

 

[R0GG]

Usually Bios has a separate entry for M.2 NVMe drives to configure them either in PCIe or Sata mode, your laptop manual doesn't describe all bios entries in detail, I would browse Bios again looking for that value and make sure it's set to Sata mode (what is your M.2 SSD model number ? to confirm it's a Sata model)

 

[nic01]

It's not an NVMe drive, it's SATA M.2. Model number is MZ-N6E500.
I actually thought about getting an NVMe, but it crossed my mind to ask Asus support if the laptop supports it, and it doesn't. (Although the slot can fit an NVMe drive). It also "hasn't been tested" with SSDs bigger than 512 GB. From the product page under "Storage":

2TB 5400RPM SATA HDD

Solid State Drives:
SSD SATA3 128GB

Solid State Drives:
SATA3 512GB SSD

Hard Drives:
500GB 5400RPM SATA HDD

Solid State Drives:
256GB SATA3 SSD
SATA HDD 5400RPM 1TB

These are the drives it has been confirmed to support.
I'll check again the BIOS options, although I checked them probably 10 times already and didn't find anything.

 

[R0GG]

Thanks for update mate, yeah it seems like this little jewel of laptop has a lot of restrictions around it's upgradability ( don't know whether dictated by the hardware or made up by Asus), would definitely give a 256GB SSD M.2 Sata SSD a go as there are multiple users forum thread reported successfully getting those to work.
Asus N580V disassembly, SSD upgrade >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U14jHhteDk

 

[nic01]

Yeah, but 256 GB is too small for me, and since it says in the specs "SATA3 512GB SSD", I want to install that capacity. Now the question is which brand will it support.
BTW, the guy in the clip you posted installs a 128 GB SK Hynix (look at 9:30).
Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the laptop, it's thin, yet powerful and has a great screen. The only "bug" is the heavy restrictions on the M.2 port.