Second HDD shown as "Unknown" and "Not initialized"

Question

I have a problem when adding a second HDD to my laptop. It appears as "Unknown" and "Not initialized" on Windows Disk Manager. However, I can successfully see it when plugging it to an external carry disk case. I don't have that issue with other HDDs, so it's not a problem with the connector. I’ve already tried the following:

Update device drivers: Device Manager -> Disk drives -> listed as “Unknown device” -> Uninstall device -> Restart -> Device reinstalled, listed as “Unknown device” -> no changes.

Windows Disk Manager: right click on Disk 0 (Unknown, Not initialized) -> Initialize disk -> GPT or MBR option selected -> Ok -> Error “Incorrect function”.

DiskPart (from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmchiJKQr-w&t=3s): list disk -> select disk 0 -> clean -> create partition primary -> Error “DiskPart has encountered an error: Incorrect function. Check the system event log for more information”.

DiskPart: list disk -> select disk 0 -> attribute disk clear readonly -> Error “DiskPart failed to clear disk attributes”.

As external HDD on an external carry disk case: complete format (not quick) as NTFS -> no changes.

With AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard: tried to “Rebuild MBR” but needed the paid version to proceed.

The information about my disk on Diskpart is:

DISKPART> detail disk

Disk ID: 00000000
Type : SATA
Status : Online
Path : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#PCI(1700)#ATA(C00T00L00)
Current Read-only State : Yes
Read-only : Yes
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No

There are no volumes.

Could you give me any help or suggestions on how to proceed? Thank you!

Answer 1

Hello

It seems like you've tried a variety of troubleshooting steps already, but let's explore some additional options:

DiskPart with different commands: Instead of just trying to clean the disk, you can try a few more commands in DiskPart to see if any of them work. After selecting the disk, try these commands one by one:

clean

convert gpt (or convert mbr)

create partition primary

format fs=ntfs quick

Check the disk for physical issues: It's possible that the disk has some physical issues preventing it from being initialized properly. You can run disk diagnostics tools to check for any hardware problems. Most hard drive manufacturers provide their own diagnostic tools for this purpose.

Check for firmware updates: Sometimes firmware issues can cause problems with disk initialization. Check if there are any firmware updates available for your laptop's hard drive.

Check for BIOS/UEFI updates: Ensure that your laptop's BIOS or UEFI firmware is up to date. Sometimes outdated firmware can cause compatibility issues with new hardware.

Test the disk on another computer: Try connecting the second HDD to another computer and see if it initializes properly there. This can help determine if the issue is specific to your laptop or if it's a problem with the HDD itself.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, it's possible that the disk itself is faulty and may need to be replaced.