Just for the record... I was having difficulty installing an additional hard drive in my new HP 2 in 1 laptop. I was starting to wonder if HP had started “white listing” hardware that could be installed in their laptops. But I ordered a new ribbon cable from Amazon to replace the one that I purchased on eBay. I didn’t believe that this was the problem and ordered a similar Lenovo laptop which had reviewers which talked about their success adding larger drives. But when I installed the new cable the hard drive was recognized immediately.
Now I have to decide which laptop to keep. They both came from Costco. The Lenovo was actually a slightly better deal, but I have already purchased over $80 in upgrades for the HP, not all of which can be returned.
Sounds as if there is a data line on that ribbon cable that has a break in it somewhere. Likely a bad connection between the connector and the cable. Happens.
As to which to keep, seems as if you fixed the HP problem and have $80 of upgrades. Return the Lenovo and keep the HP for what it will do for its lifespan.