SSD drive not detected

[rmcellig]

I just bought two AK1 mini computers. I installed an SSD drive. When I reboot it doesn't show up in the boot menu. The drive is 250GB. It works fine in my regular PC. What do I need to do to see my drive in the boot menu so I can boot from it? It's my main Linux drive.

If I do a regular boot into windows I don't see the SSD drive. Even if I go into disk management I don't see the drive.

I tried another SSD and still can't see the SSD drive in the boot menu. I tried these same things on both AK1 computers with the same result.

Is there something I have to do in the BIOS?

THANKS!!!!!!!

[Gabe]

If the drives are already formatted in Ext4 or some other type of Linux format, Windows won't be able to see them. It may detect the drive itself, but it won't be able to detect or see anything on it.

If they're formatted in something Windows can see and use, I would ensure that the drives are fully seated in the expansion bay. Do they show in the boot section of the BIOS (press Delete on system startup)?

[rmcellig]

Neither drive shows up in the BIOS boot section or the device manager and I know that windows 10 can't read or write to ext4.

I want to have both win10 and Linux on my computer so I should be able to boot from the SSD drive. If this gets too complicated, I'll return both acepc PCs disappointed. I was really looking forward to using these computers for my work. I don't game. I use audacity for my radio shows so that's basically what I do.

I really hope there is a practical solution. In the meantime I will take another SSD drive formatted NTFS and see how that goes but I really need to use Linux!!

Looking forward to more responses before taking further action.

[rmcellig]

I just tried a blank internal SSD drive formatted NTFS. I don't see it in the boot menu because it's blank but I see it once booted into windows.

Looks like I'll have to return one of the drives because I need an all windows 10 PC because I have two USB drives. So I can pull one of the drives from the case put it in the internal SSD bay.

I guess this means I can't run Linux at all from an internal SSD drive?

[Gabe]

From what I've seen you should be able to run Linux from the SSD. This person is running theirs as a dual boot, with Linux on the add on SSD.

[witt]

You can take out the internal Msata, install 2.5SSD separately, and reinstall linux. After the installation is successful, you can reinstall the original Msata and switch the boot disk in Bios when booting, or press F7 to select the boot disk when booting. .

[rmcellig]

I no have Linux Lite on the SSD drive I put in the ACEPC and Windows 11 is still on the other drive that comes with the ACEPC.

If I delete Windows and install Linux, how do I reinstall Windows 10 pro if I need to?

Thanks for all the support in this forum!!

I'm so happy because the other ACEPC computer I have will be a Windows 10 Pro only with a 2TB NTFS formatted internal drive!!

[Gabe]

If I delete Windows and install Linux, how do I reinstall Windows 10 pro if I need to?

You can download the W10 Pro installation file here. The instructional video is there as well.

[rmcellig]

Thanks!! Where do I get the installation key from for win 10 pro?

[Gabe]

Thanks!! Where do I get the installation key from for win 10 pro?

The Product Key is embedded in the BIOS, and Microsoft's activation servers have your PC logged, so if/when you reinstall Windows it will automatically activate when you first connect to the net, and as Windows 10 Pro.