CanadianGuy

Haha! Been a long day ... that would help a lot eh?
 
Link to PCIe to 5 sata expansion: https://shop.zimaboard.com/collections/diy-nas-media-server-bt-client/products/5-channel-sata-6g-pcie-adapter-host-card-pci-express-x1-to-x4-sata-connector-supports-ahci-fis-ncq-marvell-chipset
 
If I found the correct model number to the PCIe, it is: G536PCE5850V10
 
However an update and solution to the situation in hopes that this helps someone else, especially if you have a zimaboard like me. Seems like this PCIe expansion card works just fine and I have identified the two problems
1. Seems like there's a few bios settings you might want to double check which you can find in the next few lines below.
Storage: Enable (The default was UEFI)
Other PCI devices: Enable (The default was UEFI)
 
I'm also providing the rest of the settings in case they're important as reference and they're not set by default for you in the image below:

 
The moment these settings were set, the PCIe card illuminated and the boot screen recognizes the PCIe to sata expansion card before reaching the bootloader screen.
 
I'm not sure what these settings are to explain but the idea was inspired by the following link: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/mobo-and-win10-not-detect-pcie-card-and-connected-sata-drive-solved.2597403/
 
Perhaps someone else with more technical knowledge can explain the BIOS settings that I changed.
 
2. Make sure you test the PCIe card first with a working HDD/SSD before you try setting up your new hard drive. It turns out that I also had a dead on arrival hard drive that I did not realize right away. This caused me to run in loops with my bios settings for hours before doing a sanity check with a known working HDD/SSD.

Hope this helps!