220-1101 Question 269
Single answerM.2A technician is upgrading a laptop with a new 1 TB M.2 SSD. The laptop manufacturer documentation states the system supports an M.2 2280 SATA drive only. The technician installs an M.2 2280 NVMe drive, but the system does not detect it in BIOS. The drive is known-good and works in another computer. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason the new drive is not recognized?
- A
The laptop supports only SATA-based M.2 drives, but the installed drive uses NVMe over PCIe
- B
The drive capacity is too large because laptops that use M.2 cannot support drives over 512 GB
- C
The technician should have installed a 2260 drive because 2280 drives are reserved for desktop systems
- D
The BIOS cannot detect any M.2 drive unless the system is configured for RAID mode first
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The key troubleshooting point is that M.2 describes the connector and card form factor, while the actual storage interface may be SATA or PCIe using NVMe. A technician must verify both the physical size, such as 2280, and the supported protocol. In this scenario, the laptop documentation explicitly limits support to M.2 2280 SATA, so installing an NVMe drive creates a compatibility mismatch even though the module fits in the slot. This is a common real-world issue when upgrading laptops and small form factor systems. Best practice is to confirm manufacturer documentation for M.2 slot type, supported keying, supported lengths, and whether the slot supports SATA, PCIe/NVMe, or both before purchasing a replacement drive.
- A. Correct.
Correct. M.2 is a form factor, not a single storage protocol. An M.2 drive can use SATA or PCIe/NVMe, and these are not universally interchangeable. If the laptop documentation specifies support for an M.2 2280 SATA drive only, an NVMe M.2 drive may physically fit but still be incompatible with the system's storage interface and firmware support.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. There is no general A+ rule that M.2 laptops are limited to 512 GB drives. Capacity support depends on the system's chipset, firmware, and manufacturer validation, not on M.2 itself. A 1 TB drive is common and not inherently unsupported simply because it is M.2.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. 2280 refers to the physical size of the card: 22 mm wide and 80 mm long. It is widely used in both laptops and desktops. The issue in this scenario is not the physical length, because the manufacturer specifically states 2280 is supported.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. RAID mode is not a universal requirement for BIOS detection of M.2 drives. Many systems detect SATA or NVMe M.2 devices in standard AHCI or default storage configurations. While some vendor-specific systems may have special settings, RAID mode is not the most likely explanation here given the explicit documentation stating SATA-only M.2 support.