[SOLVED] X220 mSATA unrecogrised (outdated BIOS?)

[mipo]

Hello, I have Thinkpad X220 and recently decided to upgrade it with mSATA SSD.

I've put it into WWAN slot (tho there was nothing in this slot originally) and expected it to work out of the box, tho it doesn't. I have nowhere to test if the drive itself is at fault since I think I have no other laptop with mSATA port (I have Apacer AST220 240GB mSATA SATAIII) and I assume this could've be outdated BIOS problem.

Code: Select all

UEFI BIOS Version: 8DET 42WW (1.12)
Embedded Controller Version: 8DHT 19WW (1.16)

Do you think I should update it and this could fix the problem?

Thanks in advance to everyone!

[TitoLabieno]

What do you mean by unrecognised? Is it displayed on the BIOS devices list alongside the internal disk?
This might be obvious but, if you are using Windows, have you initialized it? Can you see it under Windows Disk Management tool?

[mipo]

What do you mean by unrecognised? Is it displayed on the BIOS devices list alongside the internal disk?

Nope, I don't see it as boot option in BIOS. The only thing I see (when I pull out my main HDD) is PCI LAN: IBA GE SLOT which is Ethernet and not mSATA SSD

This might be obvious but, if you are using Windows, have you initialized it? Can you see it under Windows Disk Management tool?

I use Linux and I don't see any new entry when I do fdisk -l/lsblk (in order to list disks) so that's telling that it's not being recognized... at least as storage device. I think if it's not even recognized by BIOS than Disk Management in windows will say the same thing

[RealBlackStuff]

You sure it is mSATA?
What is the make & model SSD?

[Vopu]

Hi , to check if your mSata itself is not the problem , you can get a Msata>usb adapter for about £5 from ebay, or $3 from aliepress. Your system should recognize it automatically and no bios update is necessary as far as i know , besides if you update to latest bios 1.46 (above1.40) you may not be able to roll back with official installer.
As asked what make and model is your Msata? I am not sure if there is a bios setting that you can disable the Msata port ? Is there guys ?

[mipo]

You sure it is mSATA?
What is the make & model SSD?

I've wrote it in OP post, it's:
Apacer AST220 240GB mSATA SATAIII
Yeah, I know it's not the most well-known brand so it could've be possible if that's the point of failure.

you can get a Msata>usb adapter for about £5 from ebay, or $3 from aliepress

Yeah, great idea! I've found mSATA->SATA adapter in local store. Should be able to put mSATA into normal SATA port after that and see if it works. I'll update everyone on how will the test go once I'll manage to get it!

I am not sure if there is a bios setting that you can disable the Msata port ? Is there guys ?

That's what I was curious about myself. I might try to reset BIOS to default settings and see how it goes. So far I'm pretty sure that my version of BIOS should support mSATA

From official Thinkpad BIOS changelog:

Code: Select all

<1.11-1.03>
 UEFI: 1.11 / ECP: 1.03
- (New) Added support for mSATA model.
- (New) Added support to configure boot priority order using a WMI interface.
- (Fix) Fix for CD boot failure depending on a content of a bootable CD.

And my version is 1.12 which is version above.

[RealBlackStuff]

I missed that name and I also never heard of that one.
AFAIK mSATA does not work under UEFI, so you may need to change BIOS/Startup/ settings
UEFI/Legacy boot: Both
Priority: Legacy first.

[mipo]

I missed that name and I also never heard of that one.

Heh, me too. But it came with a warranty and was kind of cheap for mSATA SSD so I've figured that it's worth a try

AFAIK mSATA does not work under UEFI, so you may need to change BIOS/Startup/ settings
UEFI/Legacy boot: Both
Priority: Legacy first.

Ohhh that's a good hint! But unfortunately that didn't solved the issue...
Even with Legacy only it won't see it... No luck here.

I must get my mSATA->SATA adapter soon hopefully. When I do I'll tell you guys what is the results of testing mSATA drive itself. If it's working than it's quite mysterious what causes such thing. Maybe the slot doesn't work? I hope not...

[mipo]

I must get my mSATA->SATA adapter soon hopefully. When I do I'll tell you guys what is the results of testing mSATA drive itself. If it's working than it's quite mysterious what causes such thing. Maybe the slot doesn't work? I hope not...

Got it. mSATA drive is perfectly fine, huh...
Any ideas as to what could've cause this issue in that case?

I'm pretty clueless at this point... Maybe ports are faulty? Is there a way to test the ports?

[Vopu]

Got it. mSATA drive is perfectly fine, huh...

, checking your previous posts , i can see your bios version UEFI: 1.11 indeed has support for mSata added according to lenovo support , however there is an entry on bios version UEFI: 1.18 with added support for increased number of /multiple devices, see here
<1.18-1.08>
UEFI: 1.18 / ECP: 1.08
- (New) Added support for Password Beep function.
- (New) Added support to increase number of configurable boot devices by BootOrder
option of Windows WMI script.
- (New) Upgrade Intel Sandy Bridge Microcode Upgrade to revision 18
- (Fix) Fixed an issue where Intel TXT Feature might not be enabled by ThinkPad BIOS
Settings for Windows when Security Chip is activate at same time.
- (Fix) Fixed an issue where Bluetooth device power state might be changed after
running Windows WMI script.
- (Fix) Fixed an issue where BitLocker can not be enabled on UEFI boot 64bit Windows.
- (Fix) Fixed an issue where PXE boot might not be completed successfully.
- (Fix) Fixed an issue where password authentication might be failed by using
fingerprint depending on the password string.

Maybe not to the latest 1.46 but at least either 1.18 OR 1.19 may resolve your problem, and since we know the mSata itself is functional this may as well be a compatibility issue (hence we could not figure out your Msata brand in the first place, other than known brands) (I have seen this mentioned in lenovo support also,)
check this
Vopu

[Vopu]

Have you tried re-formatting it since now you have access to it with the msata>sata adapter, what windows are you running on this machine? Are all your updates/drivers ok, especially the chipset drivers? What do you use for driver updates ? while you check your drivers, see also intel RST driver and lenovo diognostics, check if there is an official firmware update for your mSata , you can use Apacer SSD Utility V1.0.1.6 to see if there is a function for a firmware update within , see here
Vopu

[mipo]

Maybe not to the latest 1.46 but at least either 1.18 OR 1.19 may resolve your problem, and since we know the mSata itself is functional this may as well be a compatibility issue (hence we could not figure out your Msata brand in the first place, other than known brands) (I have seen this mentioned in lenovo support also,)
check this
Vopu

Oh thank you! I'm indeed more confident in upgrading BIOS to 1.19 than to the latest version. I'll try doing that than, wish me luck

Have you tried re-formatting it since now you have access to it with the msata>sata adapter, what windows are you running on this machine?

I'm running Linux but I do have HDD with Windows for those extreme cases since most firmware and bios updates are for Windows. I'll try updating bios first tho, than we'll see how it goes. Thank you for hints and great help!

[mipo]

, checking your previous posts , i can see your bios version UEFI: 1.11 indeed has support for mSata added according to lenovo support , however there is an entry on bios version UEFI: 1.18 with added support for increased number of /multiple devices, see here
<1.18-1.08>
UEFI: 1.18 / ECP: 1.08
- (New) Added support for Password Beep function.
- (New) Added support to increase number of configurable boot devices by BootOrder
option of Windows WMI script.

Maybe not to the latest 1.46 but at least either 1.18 OR 1.19 may resolve your problem, and since we know the mSata itself is functional this may as well be a compatibility issue (hence we could not figure out your Msata brand in the first place, other than known brands) (I have seen this mentioned in lenovo support also,)
check this
Vopu

Thanks a lot, that helped!
Basically if someone encounter that problem and will scroll until the end of this topic trying to find answer: my BIOS (1.11) was indeed outdated to support wide range of devices.

WAYS TO DIAGNOSE:

• mSATA drive isn't listed as boot option in BIOS, but you're positive that drive itself is fine (you may want to diagnose it first)

• you have BIOS version below 1.18

SOLUTION: Flush the latest BIOS if you're not afraid of not being able to roll back, but safe choice would've be to update to 1.19 (link in the quote) since the support for wide range of boot devices was added in 1.18

[Vopu]

Glad you have resolved your problem , as all along you have suspected from your first post, bios..
Anyways , hit back if you enconter any other problems.
Vopu

[dr_st]

Flush the latest BIOS if you're not afraid of not being able to roll back, but safe choice would've be to update to 1.19 (link in the quote) since the support for wide range of boot devices was added in 1.18

I would update at least to 1.39. From 1.40 and onward there are no new features, only security fixes. If you care about them, update to the latest; however, if you update to 1.42+ you cannot roll back (easily).