HP EliteBook 8460p SATA drive not booting

[Narwhal]

So I received an HP EliteBook 8460p from my aunt. I spent some money and time getting it ready to run. I replaced the fan, battery and put a Kingston SSD in the laptop. However, after installing Linux (Pop!_OS to be specific), the OS won't boot. I know the OS installed successfully because I used a SATA to USB adapter to check the drive on my desktop, and I also tried replacing the Kingston drive with a PNY SSD with Windows 10 on it. Still not reading a hard drive. I ran the hard drive test from the bios multiple times, and the tests completed, rather than telling me no hard drive was found. UEFI settings were also enabled and BIOS version is dated 2016. I know there is a more up-to-date bios available, I simply haven't found the download for it yet.

Any ideas on what the problem is and if it can be fixed?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Can't find the download?
It would be right on hp.com/support

Enter the model of system on there and go to the download section. However you have to run their bios update from inside a working Windows OS

Try one of the ssd and boot from a Win10 usb flash drive and install the os fresh, after the first os install reboot, enter the bios and change boot order to SATA SSD/HDD as the first boot device.

[Narwhal]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Can't find the download?
It would be right on hp.com/support

Enter the model of system on there and go to the download section. However you have to run their bios update from inside a working Windows OS

Try one of the ssd and boot from a Win10 usb flash drive and install the os fresh, after the first os install reboot, enter the bios and change boot order to SATA SSD/HDD as the first boot device.

Going to the HP website only shows the March 2011 BIOS, though I'm wondering if that's because I'm on a Linux machine. I was wondering if installing Windows would solve the problem with the drive.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

It's not the correct bios then if it's 2011.

Install Windows at least as a test and so it was actually installed to that machine and not a drive that already has it on it. Once in Windows and can get online, go to the hp.com/support site and do the system auto detect method.

You seeing a 2011 bios means you're viewing downloads for the wrong model

[Narwhal]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

It's not the correct bios then if it's 2011.

Install Windows at least as a test and so it was actually installed to that machine and not a drive that already has it on it. Once in Windows and can get online, go to the hp.com/support site and do the system auto detect method.

You seeing a 2011 bios means you're viewing downloads for the wrong model

I installed Windows 10 long enough to update the bios, I now have one dated Feb. 2018.

[Narwhal]

So Windows booted fine. Updated the BIOS, and then tried to reinstall Pop!_OS and it won't boot. Could it be a problem with how the drive is formatted when installing Pop!_OS?

[Komrade]

After you install a drive you need to create a partition give the drive a letter and format it.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Wipe the drive for Linux and do all the partitions for that during your linux install

[Narwhal]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Wipe the drive for Linux and do all the partitions for that during your linux install

So I tried to use the advanced option for the Pop!_OS installer, still cannot boot, BUT I installed stock Ubuntu and it booted without an issue. I might recreate the USB.