220-1101 Hardware Practice Question
A technician installs an NVMe SSD in a desktop, but the drive is not detected. The motherboard manual states that one M.2 slot supports SATA only. What should the technician do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume all M.2 slots are identical and support any M.2 drive, but the exam tests the distinction between SATA and PCIe/NVMe M.2 slots and the importance of checking motherboard specifications.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Move the drive to an M.2 slot that supports PCIe/NVMe
The NVMe SSD requires a PCIe-based M.2 slot to function, as NVMe uses the PCIe bus for communication. The motherboard manual indicates that one M.2 slot is SATA-only, which means it cannot detect or communicate with an NVMe drive. Moving the drive to an M.2 slot that supports PCIe/NVMe resolves the detection issue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Move the drive to an M.2 slot that supports PCIe/NVMe
Why this is correct
NVMe SSDs are designed to communicate over PCIe lanes, not the SATA interface. Many motherboards have M.2 slots that are wired exclusively for SATA, which uses a different protocol and electrical layout. Placing an NVMe drive in a SATA-only M.2 slot will often leave it completely invisible, even if the physical connector fits. Relocating it to an M.2 slot explicitly labeled as PCIe/NVMe (usually an M-key) ensures the drive is properly linked to the chipset or CPU via PCIe and can be recognized.
- ✗
Disable all USB ports
Why it's wrong here
Disabling USB ports is an attempt to free resources, but USB and M.2 NVMe storage are unrelated subsystems. An NVMe drive's absence is caused by the M.2 slot lacking PCIe wiring or by a BIOS setting for the slot being set to SATA/AHCI mode. USB ports are managed by the chipset's USB controller and never share lanes or channels with the M.2 PCIe bus, so disabling them has no effect on drive detection and would merely disconnect keyboards, mice, and other peripherals.
- ✗
Replace the HDMI cable
Why it's wrong here
An HDMI cable transmits audio/video signals from the GPU or integrated graphics to the display, and does not participate in the storage subsystem in any way. If the drive is missing from UEFI/BIOS or the operating system, the problem is a logical or electrical connection issue at the M.2 slot. Replacing the HDMI cable could cure a blank or garbled screen, but it cannot change how the motherboard enumerates PCIe endpoints, so the NVMe drive will still remain undetected.
- ✗
Format the drive from the printer control panel
Why it's wrong here
A printer control panel only exposes options for print jobs, ink/toner levels, scan settings, and network configuration; it has no software stack or direct hardware access to the desktop's internal storage devices. Formatting requires a low-level data management interface from the host OS, such as diskpart, Device Manager, or mkfs, none of which exist on a printer. Even if the printer is network-connected, it cannot issue SATA or NVMe commands to a drive in the desktop PC, so this action is purely impossible and unrelated to the failed detection.
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Learn chapter
PSU Connector Types: 24-pin, PCIe, SATA
Key term
Solid-state Drive
A solid-state drive (SSD) is a storage device that uses flash memory to save data permanently, with no moving parts, making it much faster and more durable than a traditional hard disk drive.
Key term
Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
PCI Express (PCIe) is a high-speed expansion bus standard that connects internal hardware components like graphics cards, SSDs, and network adapters to a computer's motherboard.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1101 exam.