Question

A technician installs an add-on M.2 NVMe SSD into the second M.2 slot on a desktop motherboard. After booting, they notice that two of the board's SATA ports no longer detect the drives that were previously connected to them. All other hardware works normally. What is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The second M.2 slot shares PCIe/SATA lanes with those SATA ports, disabling them when populated

Answer

The NVMe SSD is defective and is drawing power away from the SATA controller

Answer

The SATA data cables loosened when the M.2 drive was seated

Answer

The power supply lacks enough wattage to run both the NVMe drive and the SATA drives