Lenovo T540p won't turn on after M.2 NVME 2242 install

I have a Lenovo T540p that won't turn on after M.2 NVME 2242 install.

State of Laptop:
W11P installed using Rufus to bypass 11 hardware requirements. WD 500GB SSD with OS & all data on it.
M.2 NVME 2242 512GB is a WD also.

After M.2 NVME 2242 install T540p won't even turn on. No Power On light or any other form off life. Thank God after M.2 NVME 2242 uninstall & updating Bios Date & Time laptop is back to normal.

I had planned to go Disk Management & format the M.2 NVME 2242. And live happily ever after. LOL.

What to do to make this work?

 

I believe I know where I went wrong. I bought a PCIe M.2 NVME 2242 which works only on 6th gen & up. Instead I should have bought a SATA 3 42mm M.2 SSD.

 

I'm not so sure anymore. If I read the manual correctly (which I should have downloaded 1st) the m.2 slot & a SATA 2242 SSD can only be used for system cache. Which I understand to be only temporary storage instead of permanent storage. I wonder if this is the final answer.

 

I just did some Googling and it seems you can use a SATA 2242 M.2 SSD, but not a NVMe one.

 

TY. I have a M.2 SATA 3 2242 on the way. I Googled a lot about this. LOL.

 

the 540p cannot boot from m.2. m.2 is only usable as a cache memory for windows. have a look into your user manual!

 

I did. Many reports of people using the M.2 slot for permanent storage & others using it as a boot device. So I'll get to see for myself.

 

It can boot from SSD, even though it was originally intended to be used as a cache drive. For an example, watch the following YouTube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8bzFeg3J0

 

I have one old Dell laptop, which has an SSD drive. In this Dell model, you just need to insert ssd drive in it...like putting dvd in. No need opening motherboard etc stuff like that.
Kinda innovative for an old pc. Bought it at second hand shop for 40 euros. Also bought 8GB DDR3L (yes L) memory module on it for 5euros. Really easy to add it.
Rufus based Windows 11 running quite fast on this one. Good for testing purposes.

 

as far i read (yesterday), voices said: not possible. fingers crossed he make it.

 

I got the M.2 SATA today. Recognized, actualized, formatted & renamed easy peazy. I might just might try the M.2 to install Debian. I'll give it a think.

 

Works to boot Linux Mint 21.2 Mate. Debian didn't work out. Just have to repeatedly press F12 during boot up & select the M.2 drive for Linux Mint. Everything works normally after rebooting defaults to W11 SSD. Except I had to reset the date & time in W11. Idk if that'll be the case when I boot to Linux again but I'm guessing it will be so.

 

@zapjb,

Nice to see you got the m.2 SATA working. Well done You might be able to resolve the time difference issue with this tip:

https://itsfoss.com/wrong-time-dual-boot/

 

The time is wonky on both OS when I go from one OS to the other OS. Sometimes though on Linux the time corrects itself after a minute.

Thanks for the link. I tried that & others I Googled. Either the Command didn't work or I couldn't figure it out. Any help appreciated. I wonder if it matters it's 2 different drives not just 2 partitions on the same drive?

 

concerning time? no.