HP ProBook 440 G4 laptop black screen when SSD is attached

Solution 1:

HP ProBook 440 G4 supports M.2 SATA SSDs only. It isn't compatible with NVMe drives.

According to the HP ProBook 440 G4 specifications it supports:

M.2 (NGFF) 2280 solid state drive

"NGFF", in layperson's terms, is another name for SATA and that means it doesn't support NVMe drives and the symptom you're experiencing is the result of that, as expected. This specifications are also expected considering the hardware's age. Later generations of the same model had NVMe support.

Please note that both types fit the same M.2 slot but unless explicitly mentioned you can't use NVMe drives in any M.2.