A technician is installing a new M.2 PCIe NVMe solid-state drive onto a motherboard. After installing the drive into an available M.2 slot and powering on the system, the drive is not detected in the UEFI/BIOS configuration. Documentation for the motherboard reveals that the specific M.2 slot utilized is keyed strictly as a B-key slot supporting SATA protocol only. Which of the following best explains why the drive is not recognized by the motherboard?
- The M.2 slot provides interface connectivity for SATA only, whereas the NVMe drive requires PCIe lane routing available on M-key or B&M-key slots.Answer
- BThe installed NVMe drive requires a dedicated auxiliary 6-pin PCIe power cable from the power supply directly to the M.2 slot.
- CThe M.2 drive must be paired with an identical drive in an adjacent slot to populate a dual-channel memory configuration.
- DThe lack of drive detection during POST indicates that the operating system driver files have corrupted on the motherboard.
Answer
The M.2 slot provides interface connectivity for SATA only, whereas the NVMe drive requires PCIe lane routing available on M-key or B&M-key slots.
The correct answer correctly identifies that M.2 slot keying determines protocol support. B-key slots generally route SATA throughput (or PCIe x2), whereas high-speed NVMe SSDs demand M-key slots connected to PCIe x4 lanes for proper hardware detection and operation.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
M.2 Slot Keying and Protocol Compatibility
Estimated Time:1m 15s