[SOLVED] After BIOS update, Windows 10 boot SSD is not booting, and it's disappearing from the BIOS ?

[apprentajs]

Greetings

I have MB - MSI B760 Gaming Plus WiFi
CPU - 14700KF
Windows 10 installed on an ADATA SU800 SSD

Yesterday I have updated my BIOS, which went well, looked up official site, downloaded newest bios and installed through USB flashdrive through the motherboard port. Update went smooth, however, after the update, Windows doesnt boot up. The SSD that has windows on it does show up properly in the BIOS when turning the PC on for the first time, but after quitting BIOS, it restarts itself and goes back to BIOS where the SSD usually disappears. However, after shutting down and turning the PC on again it re-appears.

I have tried enabling CSM, which got me into a "Reboot and select proper boot device".
When SSD is visible in BIOS, it does show as first in the boot priority sequence, and with the "windows boot" description.

I also pulled the SSD and plugged it into a different PC where it is fully working and loading into Windows normally twice now.

I also tried putting in a USB with Windows install on it, and ran diagnostic and Recovery (just 3 days back).

I am lost and confused after looking through the internet for tips and answers, tried many things that i may not remember, but I am willing to try again if you have any solutions.
Thank you.

 

[Lutfij]

Yesterday I have updated my BIOS, which went well, looked up official site, downloaded newest bios and installed through USB flashdrive through the motherboard port.
What BIOS version were you on and what BIOS version did you flash/update to? Did you clear the CMOS after verifying your BIOS was successfully flashed to the latest version?

I have tried enabling CSM, which got me into a "Reboot and select proper boot device".
If the OS was installed with CSM disabled, then disable it, make sure you're on UEFI mode(instead of UEFI+Legacy) and that Secure Boot is enabled.

 

[apprentajs]

What BIOS version were you on and what BIOS version did you flash/update to? Did you clear the CMOS after verifying your BIOS was successfully flashed to the latest version?

If the OS was installed with CSM disabled, then disable it, make sure you're on UEFI mode(instead of UEFI+Legacy) and that Secure Boot is enabled.

I am not entirely sure what version it was exactly, but I never updated it before (basically it stayed the same from the box). Somewhere from middle of 2024, if that helps.
No I havent done anything with CMOS, wasnt aware of that before now. Looking it up, it means to disconnect the motherboard battery, and putting it back after few mins? (If you have any good guide for it, it would be highly appreciated!)


Yes UEFI mode is on by default. When i tried CSM it did toggle in UEFI+Legacy along with it, but i have reverted those changes since then.
Secure Boot is enabled and Secure Boot mode is on standard

 

[hussaj]

Where did you get the update from? Link
Try restoring BIOS to its defaults
I think you will have to reinstall windows

 

[apprentajs]

Where did you get the update from? Link
Try restoring BIOS to its defaults
I think you will have to reinstall windows

From here https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B760-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI/support
I tried restoring through pressing F6 in the BIOS to "optimized defaults", does that count? or are there other ways of restoring it?
If I have to reinstall windows, I will (the Windows installer works and sees all drives normally), I just want to make sure there isnt anything I could do to save it still and that it would truly solve the issue

Oh and thank you for replying, both of you

 

[hussaj]

Did you download the top one , that is Beta version, still testing and usually contain bugs

 

[apprentajs]

Did you download the top one , that is Beta version, still testing and usually contain bugs

Yes, do you believe that could be the cause, and should I try to flash it to the second newest, non-beta?

 

[hussaj]

I don't think you can downgrade BIOS
Don't do that for the time being, you will get in more mess and trouble
If you don't have important files , reinstall windows, but try first install without formatting, called in place upgrade. This would install new windows next to the older one and you can get your files from the older later and delete the older once you are OK.

 

[digitaldata77]

Best to have the original BIOS file backed up before updating with a stable BIOS update file in case of a problem so the board does not end up being bricked.

 

[apprentajs]

I don't think you can downgrade BIOS
Don't do that for the time being, you will get in more mess and trouble
If you don't have important files , reinstall windows, but try first install without formatting, called in place upgrade. This would install new windows next to the older one and you can get your files from the older later and delete the older once you are OK.

I looked it up and apparently downgrading BIOS is relatively the same as upgrading it, so I did install the same but non-beta version (before your reply), and it went well, however it did not solve the issue
I have tried reinstalling windows, couple of times, and never managed to complete the installation, because the SSD disk just simply disappears from the system after any PC restart, and windows ofc requires a restarts during setup.

Best to have the original BIOS file backed up before updating with a stable BIOS update file in case of a problem so the board does not end up being bricked.

I will keep that in mind for the next time (hopefully there wont be next time hah), however I always had the option to pull and download anything from another separate PC.
And thankfully, nothing went wrong with my BIOS, aside from the strange issue described.

Thank you for for replying.

 

[apprentajs]

Update -
I managed to test the disappearing SSD on another separate PC#3 and it booted up no problem every time, finished remaining windows setups, and works flawlessly. It has 0 issues both on PC#2 and PC#3
I have also pulled a boot drive from PC#2 and plugged it into the main PC that has the issue, and even that just booted up completely normal, no issues.
It is very strange to me, that an SSD can work flawlessly on two separate systems but not boot and disappear after restart on my main system.

Considering all this, I have prayed and purchased new affordable NVMe drive, that I intended to use as system drive on my main machine. And that turned out to be the right call in this situation, as it has no issues, does not disappear in the BIOS, and I am currently writing from my main PC.
So in the end, I got my main PC working by buying a new drive (certainly an upgrade too), and my previous SSD, since it works normally in other systems, might end up as an upgrade for those.

However I am flabbergasted on what could have caused this whole situation, so if anyone has any clue on what could it have been and would like to satisfy my curiosity, as well as potentially help some poor soul reading this in the future, it would be highly appreciated!

Thank you for reading.