Question After desabling CSM my devices aren't bootable

[Mattco00]

I cloned my windows to a m.2 ssd from my Sata, and I could boot into windows just fine but then i enabled secure boot (I wanted to upgrade to windows 11) and that desabled CSM support.
Without CSM support my drives can't be seen on the bootable options tab in my bios.
I tryed turning CSM back on but it keeps turning off after I save it so I cant go back from secure boot.
Any ideas how I can solve this problem?
I appreciate the help!
( Gigabyte Z790 with latest BIOS)

 

[Colif]

I tryed turning CSM back on but it keeps turning off after I save it so I cant go back from secure boot.

that is a problem.

have you tried resetting cmos? As secure boot might not be enabled by default

you don't need secure boot enabled on win 11, the PC just needs to be able to run it. I have used 11 for 18 months with no secure boot.

you need to convert drives to UEFI boot before they will be seen without CSM on

How to switch from Legacy to UEFI boot mode (MBR2GPT conversion)

In the context of my work as a system administrator from time to time I have to deal with desktop / client issues in addition to infrastructure and server problems. So I recently had to cope with 2 problems that had the same cause. Case 1:On one workstation, Bitlocker had

it-infrastructure.solutions

 

[Mattco00]

that is a problem.

have you tried resetting cmos? As secure boot might not be enabled by default

Yes I did, but the default settings are secure boot on and CSM off
I read someting about MBR and GTP particion format but I think I set my SSD to GTP which should work, but its clearly not showing as a bootable device.

 

[Colif]

Gigabyte Z790

which one?

You said you set it to Secure boot? You could try flashing bios over top of itself, that would remove any settings you made, though clearing cmos is meant to as well.

MBR/GPT

Spoiler

Up until 2009 all PC used Legacy bios.

They didn't know what a mouse was, you had to use arrow keys on kb to navigate them. They weren't very modifiable, they had to be a certain size and were only 32bit.

They only used Legacy boot method (it wasn't called legacy yet)

it uses MBR - MBR stands for Master Boot record

MBR drives can only have 4 partitions and max drive size is 2.2tb

Boot partition on MBR drives is always 1st partition on drive



In 2009 UEFI was released to replace Legacy bios. UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

it uses a graphical interface that knows what a mouse is

It can be expanded and have new features added

It can use UEFI or Legacy boot method

It can boot legacy drives since it was made to replace BIOS, can't not be backwards compatible.

It supports GPT drives. GPT stands for GUID (GUID = Global Unique ID - every GPT drive on earth has its own number) Partition Table

GPT drives can have up to 256 partitions and max drive size is a silly 18.8 million tb

Boot partition on a GPT drive can be anywhere.

All PC before win 7 used MBR

Win 7 32bit uses MBR only

Win 7 64bit can be MBR or GPT

win 10 64 bit can also be either but it prefers GPT



UEFI boot method can boot both MBR & GPT drives.
Legacy can only boot MBR, it doesn't know what GPT is for booting

 

[Mattco00]

which one?

You said you set it to Secure boot? You could try flashing bios over top of itself, that would remove any settings you made, though clearing cmos is meant to as well.

MBR/GPT

Spoiler

Up until 2009 all PC used Legacy bios.

They didn't know what a mouse was, you had to use arrow keys on kb to navigate them. They weren't very modifiable, they had to be a certain size and were only 32bit.

They only used Legacy boot method (it wasn't called legacy yet)

it uses MBR - MBR stands for Master Boot record

MBR drives can only have 4 partitions and max drive size is 2.2tb

Boot partition on MBR drives is always 1st partition on drive



In 2009 UEFI was released to replace Legacy bios. UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

it uses a graphical interface that knows what a mouse is

It can be expanded and have new features added

It can use UEFI or Legacy boot method

It can boot legacy drives since it was made to replace BIOS, can't not be backwards compatible.

It supports GPT drives. GPT stands for GUID (GUID = Global Unique ID - every GPT drive on earth has its own number) Partition Table

GPT drives can have up to 256 partitions and max drive size is a silly 18.8 million tb

Boot partition on a GPT drive can be anywhere.

All PC before win 7 used MBR

Win 7 32bit uses MBR only

Win 7 64bit can be MBR or GPT

win 10 64 bit can also be either but it prefers GPT



UEFI boot method can boot both MBR & GPT drives.
Legacy can only boot MBR, it doesn't know what GPT is for booting

The new m.2 is GTP with the cloned windows and I have my old SATA whis is MBR with windows too.
What I don't really understand is why my drives only showing up when I enabled CSM.
Shouldn't they appear when secure boot on and CSM off?
I will try to flash the bios as you said nad see if CSM stays on.
But if I want to upgrade to windows 11 I would need secure boot.
So this means I stuck with CSM and windows 10?
Thank you for your help!

 

[Colif]

The MBR drive won't show up if you have secure boot enabled but the M.2 should if its GPT

It won't show as a bootable drive in bios in the same place the ssd would as its not sata. It is likely showing in another spot though.

I have a Gigabyte X570 board, m.2 doesn't show on front screen

You shouldn't be stuck... especially on a new board.

But if I would want to upgrade to windows 11 I would need secure boot.

You don't need it enabled

I don't.

PC just needs to have it as a feature, it doesn't need to be on. You do need TPM on and it doesn't work in legacy boot mode.

 

[Mattco00]

The MBR drive won't show up if you have secure boot enabled but the M.2 should if its GPT

It won't show as a bootable drive in bios in the same place the ssd would as its not sata. It is likely showing in another spot though.

I have a Gigabyte X570 board, m.2 doesn't show on front screen

You shouldn't be stuck... especially on a new board.


You don't need it enabled

I don't.

PC just needs to have it as a feature, it doesn't need to be on. You do need TPM on and it doesn't work in legacy boot mode.

Okay thank you
I'm now flashing the BIOS, than try fo enable CSM and I hope it works, if not I will chek my M.2 in an another computer if Its GTP or not.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The MBR drive won't show up if you have secure boot enabled but the M.2 should if its GPT

A drive needs to be UEFI bootable bofore it will show up in UEFI boot options.

Converting MBR drive to GPT is not enough, for it to become UEFI bootable.
Bootloader needs to be recreated also (from legacy compatible to UEFI compatible).
This is done automatically when converting from MBR to GPT with mbr2gpt utility.

If some 3rd party software was used for MBR to GPT conversion (not mbr2gpt), then it may not have recreated bootloader.
Then you'd have to recreate bootloader manually.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I tryed turning CSM back on but it keeps turning off after I save it so I cant go back from secure boot.

To disable secure boot, it may be necessary to clear secure boot keys first.

 

[Mattco00]

A drive needs to be UEFI bootable bofore it will show up in UEFI boot options.

Converting MBR drive to GPT is not enough, for it to become UEFI bootable.
Bootloader needs to be recreated also (from legacy compatible to UEFI compatible).
This can be done with mbr2gpt utility.

If some 3rd party software was used for MBR to GPT conversion, then it may not have recreated bootloader.
Then you'd have to recreate bootloader manually.

That might be the problem because I used MiniTool partition Wizzard to convert MBR to GTP.

 

[Mattco00]

A drive needs to be UEFI bootable bofore it will show up in UEFI boot options.

Converting MBR drive to GPT is not enough, for it to become UEFI bootable.
Bootloader needs to be recreated also (from legacy compatible to UEFI compatible).
This can be done with mbr2gpt utility.

If some 3rd party software was used for MBR to GPT conversion, then it may not have recreated bootloader.
Then you'd have to recreate bootloader manually.

So If I recreate the bootloader in a different computer and than reseat the M.2 it should show up as bootable?

 

[Mattco00]

So this is where I am with the problem:
I updated the bios like 6 times and now I got these command lines where I input the "code" : FS0:
Flash.nsh
Than disabled secure boot and enabled CSM UEFI Devices bellow that.
I exited and saved and now it stayed and I booted right into my windows on my old drive.

 

[SkyNetRising]

So If I recreate the bootloader in a different computer and than reseat the M.2 it should show up as bootable?

I exited and saved and now it stayed and I booted right into my windows on my old drive.

So - you can boot successfully into old windows now?

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Mattco00]

So - you can boot successfully into old windows now?

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

Sure thing,
I think the problem was that I cloned the windows from a MBR drive to a GTP drive without any changes being made, therfore I couldn't boot from it.
On top of that the bios was crap and had to try the same thing over and over.
Now I formated my new M.2 drive again. I might try to migrate windows with a paid softver which has the option to convert MBR drive windows to GPT Drive, but I might just reinstall windows all together to the new drive.
I uploaded the photos to google photos.screenshots

 

[SkyNetRising]

Delete partition Q:
Convert Disk 2 to MBR,
Repeat cloning, use Macrium Reflect free,
Clone result should be the same as clone source (3 partitions, first partition has to be set active),
Remove clone source drive from system (physically) and
Boot with only new drive connected (you can keep games drive connected, it is not bootable).

If that boots fine, then proceed with mbr2gpt.
First check new OS Disk number in Disk Management. It may have changed (currently it's Disk 2).
If disk number is different, then replace /disk:2 with appropriate number ( /disk:0 or /disk:1 )
Execute from elevated command prompt.

mbr2gpt.exe /validate /disk:2 /allowfullos​

If validation passes, then proceed with conversion

mbr2gpt.exe /convert /disk:2 /allowfullos​

​

After that boot into BIOS , enable UEFI boot and set first boot device to Windows Boot Manager.

 

[Mattco00]

It worked!!!! Thank you so much!
Now I'm in UEFI intead of legacy!