Asrock AB350 Pro4 Not recognizing Samsung 960 Pro

[shancaldazar]

So I'm having an issue here getting my new Asrock motherboard to recognize my 960 pro. Bios is up to date, using a 2400G processor.

I originally was using this drive on an Asus motherboard that was a piece of junk. Had a bunch of problems, returned it, got this Asrock mobo. So the 960 pro already has windows 10 pro installed on it (and was working fine on the Asus mobo).

I assembled the new computer with the Asrock mobo today and it will not recognize the 960 pro after the first boot. So yes, when I clear CMOS, unplug/hold power button, etc, after this initial boot the 960 pro shows up in the UEFI and I select it to be my main boot drive. Upon applying the changes and restarting it goes straight to the bios and the 960 pro no longer shows up. Running windows installer from a USB also doesn't find the 960 pro. Disabling secure boot and/or CSM does nothing.

I've seen several people reference that I might have to install the drivers for the 960 pro, but they give no instructions on how to do so. Is this most likely what I need to do? If not, what is the next step?

This thread seems to be the same problem I am having, but just says "update the drivers." Don't know how to do that outside of windows!
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3416866/nvme-drive-detected-x370-taichi.html#r19701267

 

[Calvin7]

NVME SSDs do not appear within the BIOS until Windows creates the system partition with the EFI Boot Sector. Your M.2 SSD contains UEFI driver information within the firmware. By disabling the CSM module Windows 10 will read and utilize the M.2-specific UEFI driver.

The M.2 drive has to be the only drive installed.

Insert a USB memory stick with a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup on it, USB3 is quicker but USB2 works also. A Windows DVD won’t work unless you’ve created your own UEFI Bootable DVD.

How to create a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup
https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-create-a-bootable-uefi-usb-drive-with-windows-10-setup/

 

[shancaldazar]

NVME SSDs do not appear within the BIOS until Windows creates the system partition with the EFI Boot Sector. Your M.2 SSD contains UEFI driver information within the firmware. By disabling the CSM module Windows 10 will read and utilize the M.2-specific UEFI driver.

The M.2 drive has to be the only drive installed.

Insert a USB memory stick with a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup on it, USB3 is quicker but USB2 works also. A Windows DVD won’t work unless you’ve created your own UEFI Bootable DVD.

How to create a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup
https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-create-a-bootable-uefi-usb-drive-with-windows-10-setup/

The 960 already has had windows 10 installed on it (with the EFI boot sector). It's straight out of a previously working computer.

The 960 shows up in the BIOS only after the first boot after clearing CMOS. After that, it will not show up in the BIOS. It does not show up in windows installer at all (I already have a bootable USB with Windows 10 setup on it).

That's my issue. The Bios clearly knows that the drive is there (at least on the first boot), but it disappears after that and the only way to get the Bios to recognize it again is to clear the CMOS (of course, I can't boot into windows at all either).

 

[shancaldazar]

Update, got it working.

The board was on bios 4.70, which was the most up to date bios available. Figured that much like when things intermittently work in Windows and you can't find the root cause, a reinstall of the OS is the best bet. Applied the same logic to the mobo.

Downloaded 4.70 from Asrock (which was the same one my board was running) and flashed it from USB. 960 pro is now recognized after every reboot and it boots into windows!

Must have been something corrupted with the bios and a fresh install of the same version fixed it, or Asrock puts out mini updates to their bios without publishing that they have updated them. Either way I am happy and it works now!