Samsung 970 Evo M2 card issues

[Jordaneggli]

I have have a build with an Asus Z97 pro WiFi board. I’ve had this computer for year and now want to install an M.2 for additional storage.

I currently have a samsung ssd (with my operating system), a cheap hdd, and am now trying to install a new Samsung 970 evo NVMe M.2 card.

I installed the M2 and when I went to boot, it told me that the system needed to be repaired, but it couldn’t repair. I went into the Bios and found that my SSD no longer shows up as being installed in the bios and the M2 drive is nowhere to be seen. The only drive it shows is my hdd, but I can’t boot with that.

I uninstalled the m2 and found that my ssd shows up again so I can boot.I put the m2 back in and once again, neither that or the ssd shows up. The SATA slot where the ssd is just shows up as empty in the bios.

I have version 2.16.1240 of the bios.

I can’t seem to find any answers online so I thought I’d ask you all.

Jordan

 

[moproblems99]

It is possible that having your m2 port active has disabled the sata ports your ssd was using. As for the NVME, make sure legacy options are enabled in your bios.

 

[biffzinker]

As for the NVME, make sure legacy options are enabled in your bios.

I think I remember NVMe only works with a partition that has GPT active as the boot sector, and CSM/Legacy disabled.

Edit: Try moving the SATA SSD cable to another port. The SATA Express ports are shared with the M.2 slot.

 

[Jordaneggli]

I think I remember NVMe only works with a partition that has GPT active as the boot sector, and CSM/Legacy disabled.

Edit: Try moving the SATA SSD cable to another port. The SATA Express ports are shared with the M.2 slot.

The issue is that all of my SATAs are filled. So does plugging the m2 in disable all the SATAs shared there or just hard drives sharing that SATA?

 

[skizzo]

The issue is that all of my SATAs are filled. So does plugging the m2 in disable all the SATAs shared there or just hard drives sharing that SATA?

refer to your motherboard's manual. it should specifically state if either a SATA M.2 or a PCIe NVMe M.2 is installed, how that can reduce standard SATA ports being operational. Or it may even impact PCIe lanes of a particular PCIe slot. if you have more than one M.2 slot, they may not be the same. For example, one M.2 slot might disable SATA ports 0 and 1 when another M.2 slot would disable SATA ports 4 and 5. Several varying factors are potentially coming into play here

 

[Jordaneggli]

refer to your motherboard's manual. it should specifically state if either a SATA M.2 or a PCIe NVMe M.2 is installed, how that can reduce standard SATA ports being operational. Or it may even impact PCIe lanes of a particular PCIe slot. if you have more than one M.2 slot, they may not be the same. For example, one M.2 slot might disable SATA ports 0 and 1 when another M.2 slot would disable SATA ports 4 and 5. Several varying factors are potentially coming into play here

Gotcha. I’ll look into when I get home from work and see what’s up. Thank you!

 

[biffzinker]

Your motherboard manual mentioned SATA Express ports are disabled when the M.2 slot is populated.

 

[Jordaneggli]

Your motherboard manual mentioned SATA Express ports are disabled when the M.2 slot is populated.

Yes sir. I found that I did have a regular SATA that I could move the ssd to. Once I did, I was able to find the ssd in the bios and boot from that. Currently migrating my ssd to m2.
Thank you all for your help!

Issue Update:

I successfully transferred everything from my ssd to m2 via Samsung’s transfer program. (for some reason it just copied everything from the ssd to the m2, but didn’t delete from the m2) Weird.

The issue is that my m2 still doesn’t show up in the bios, but it does show up when I load windows from my ssd. All of my drives show up in windows 10.

Plus, windows won’t automatically boot from the ssd or even let me chose it as an automatic boot option anymore. I have to force boot it.

any ideas how I can get my m2 to show up in the bios and automatically boot?

 

[skizzo]

Yes sir. I found that I did have a regular SATA that I could move the ssd to. Once I did, I was able to find the ssd in the bios and boot from that. Currently migrating my ssd to m2.
Thank you all for your help!

Issue Update:

I successfully transferred everything from my ssd to m2 via Samsung’s transfer program. (for some reason it just copied everything from the ssd to the m2, but didn’t delete from the m2) Weird.

The issue is that my m2 still doesn’t show up in the bios, but it does show up when I load windows from my ssd. All of my drives show up in windows 10.

Plus, windows won’t automatically boot from the ssd or even let me chose it as an automatic boot option anymore. I have to force boot it.

any ideas how I can get my m2 to show up in the bios and automatically boot?

It sounds like Samsung Magician did what you told it to do....which is copy disk A (SSD) and clone it to disk B (M.2). That does not involve erasing drive A. No worries there.

I would try updating your BIOS if it is not the most recent version. given the M.2 shows up and is seen in Windows 10 and Samsung Magician that suggests the issue is not a driver because it is seen and usable in Windows 10. makes me think something is going on with BIOS if you cannot see the M.2 there, as well as properly select other disks at bootable disks. I would first try just removing the SSD all together and trying to boot with the M.2. And/or visa versa....remove the M.2 and leave just the SSD to see if it will be selectable as a auto boot option in that configuration.

I did glance through your MB's manual and there is nothing not already mentioned or resolved about how the M.2 port shares bandwidth. Nothing seemed special indicating "oh just click this checkbox and the M.2 will been seen in the BIOS".

One last thought, if you get into the Windows 10 screen that lets you select boot drives perhaps you can set the boot drives there? I know I can do this on a Apple Mac Pro running Windows 10, but I have not tried it on a modern system like my Z390. I just use my BIOS for such tasks on that system. Try searching "system configuration" (or "msconfig " as suggested by another article) in Windows search.....the window looks like this (below). The M.2 and SSD should BOTH show up there. Go to the boot tab to actually select the default boot device

4 Ways To Change The Boot Order In Windows 10

The boot menu shows up every time you turn on a PC where two or more Windows operating systems are installed. For instance, if you have installed Windows

www.intowindows.com

 

[Jordaneggli]

It sounds like Samsung Magician did what you told it to do....which is copy disk A (SSD) and clone it to disk B (M.2). That does not involve erasing drive A. No worries there.

I would try updating your BIOS if it is not the most recent version. given the M.2 shows up and is seen in Windows 10 and Samsung Magician that suggests the issue is not a driver because it is seen and usable in Windows 10. makes me think something is going on with BIOS if you cannot see the M.2 there, as well as properly select other disks at bootable disks. I would first try just removing the SSD all together and trying to boot with the M.2. And/or visa versa....remove the M.2 and leave just the SSD to see if it will be selectable as a auto boot option in that configuration.

I did glance through your MB's manual and there is nothing not already mentioned or resolved about how the M.2 port shares bandwidth. Nothing seemed special indicating "oh just click this checkbox and the M.2 will been seen in the BIOS".

One last thought, if you get into the Windows 10 screen that lets you select boot drives perhaps you can set the boot drives there? I know I can do this on a Apple Mac Pro running Windows 10, but I have not tried it on a modern system like my Z390. I just use my BIOS for such tasks on that system. Try searching "system configuration" (or "msconfig " as suggested by another article) in Windows search.....the window looks like this (below). The M.2 and SSD should BOTH show up there. Go to the boot tab to actually select the default boot device

4 Ways To Change The Boot Order In Windows 10

The boot menu shows up every time you turn on a PC where two or more Windows operating systems are installed. For instance, if you have installed Windows

www.intowindows.com

Thanks for your help! Updating the bios worked tolet it recognize the m2. I then had to unplug the ssd and set the m2 to auto boot. Then I plugged the ssd back in and formatted it.
It all works now! Thank you!