[SOLVED] SSD shows up in Gparted but not in UEFI BIOS - stuck in Aptio setup utility loop

[xTheOneWhoKnocks]

Background: My Asus Transformer laptop(with a HDD) stopped booting into the OS out of the blue and got stuck in the Aptio Setup Utility. I hadn't really made any software changes. It was dual boot with Ubuntu 18.02 and Windows 8.1. I tried all the solutions I found about changing the security boot option from the Setup utility, enable Launch CSM, push power button for 20 seconds, blah blah. But sometimes, it would just boot normally and get stuck halfway of using it and then my HDD would start clicking. Suspecting a bad OS, I clean-installed just Ubuntu. The getting stuck and clicking continued and I concluded that my HDD had gone bad and bought myself a Kingston 240 GB SSD.

Things worked well for a month. Yesterday, I guess I closed the lid before it completely switched off (only weird thing I can think of). A couple of hours later when I tried to turn it on, it surprisingly went back to the Aptio setup utility. I used a Ubuntu live USB and it went into the live session. I opened Gparted to find the SSD inside. So I'm guessing SSD and the connection are fine? I also ran GRUB repair but it didn't help. I ran the check disk option from the live USB. No issues.

I've ordered a USB to SATA connector to see if it might help.

F1, F2, F10 doesn't seem to do anything different either. Can someone please help? 😐

 

[Lutfij]

Did you create your bootable USB installer for Windows 8.1 using Windows Media Creation Tools? You might want to pass on the SKU/model for your Asus laptop. Double check on which BIOS version you're on(if there are updates pending for your platform).

 

[xTheOneWhoKnocks]

Did you create your bootable USB installer for Windows 8.1 using Windows Media Creation Tools? You might want to pass on the SKU/model for your Asus laptop. Double check on which BIOS version you're on(if there are updates pending for your platform).

Hello,
Thank you for the response. Took it to a local repair guy. Turns out the cable connecting the SSD/HDD was at fault.

Ps. Was using Ubuntu, not windows.

 

[xTheOneWhoKnocks]

UPDATE: Took it to a local repair guy. It was a hardware issue. The connecting cable was at fault. I guess the sudden lid closing episode must've caused the thing to move or something. Turns out my HDD had never gone bad in the first place lol. Using it as external with the SATA to USB.