Question ASROCK z370 issue with new NVMe Samsung M2 SSD?

[jonathan7007]

ASROCK, asrock
On 1 December I installed a Samsung 2TB "Pro990" into my ASROCK Taichi370's "second" M2 slot. Remaining in Slot 1 M2 was the Samsung 512 SSD which has been the Operating System boot and related files for six years.

The install was unsuccessful.

My Taichi Z370 mobo *never* saw this new SSD. BIOS and Disk Management could not recognize the drive at all. I've got a replacement on its way, because I hope the Pro990 I tried to install was defective, but could there be a conflict with the ASROCK motherboard?

Here are steps I took:
>I turned off the easy small overclock offered in BIOS.
>I disconnected ALL other SATA hard drives and one DVD drive. No Luck
>I swapped the slots - the new drive went into the #1 M2 slot and the boot drive, the Samusung 512GB, was installed in Slot2, which is the M2 at the back of the mobo and case. Slot1 had always successfully booted Windows. So I know that first M2 slot "works". Still no recognition of the Pro990. The BIOS found the boot routines on the 512GB in its new location, and Windows started.

So Slot 2 (M2) is fully functional, but unable to see the Pro990.

My exchanged new Pro990 will arrive in four or five days and I want to confirm that there is not a structural reason that a Taichi Z370 cannot accept TWO NVMe SSDs when one of the SSDs is expecting Gen4 SSD and it's sitting in a Gen 3 PCIe channel. Searching this idea on the web I found no such cautions because these devices are supposed to be backwards compatible. I could find no posts or info on the web with this particular issue.

Any thoughts, everybody?
(Frustrating: There is no instruction on tagging posts in the "User's Guide here!)

 

[Lutfij]

Which BIOS version are you currently for your motherboard? What processor are you working with/paired with that motherboard? What OS are you on? Might want to list all your storage drives(make and model) as well.

 

[jonathan7007]

Lutfij,
Thank you for your reply. Some of the below repeats the info I posted in my original note. The basics:
>Win10 Pro
>Z370 Taichi motherborad
>EUFI notation in Setup screen of BIOS: P1.10
>ASROCK does NOT list an updated BIOS on their download page. Other ASROCK motherboards are on ASROCK's downloads page, so I assume there is no new BIOS file.
>Processor Intel 8700 i7.
>64Gig RAM
>M2 NVME 512GB Samsung Pro960 in M1 position which requires two of those possible SATA slots.
>There are several spinning hard drives and I have reached the Z370's limit (3) for such extra SATA data drives. These work fine and I cannot imagine contribute to the issue as long as there are not too many of them on the lanes. The new 990 was not recognized even when ALL of these other drives were disconnected from the motherboard.
>Samsung 860EVO on SATA controller.
>I tried restarts both with and without the mild "stock-overclock" requested.

To repeat my problem:
1. When my 2TB Samsung Pro990 arrived I disconnected ALL SATA drives except for the 512TB boot SSD.
2. The new 990 went into M2 slot so I could clone the 512 over to the new 2TB SSD.
3. Booted OK because the mobo found the newly-moved boot partition, but new M2 drive not recognized.
4. Pursued various diagnostic investigations, fruitless.
5. I swapped NVMe drives, placing the new 990 into the M1 slot that I knew could be recognized. I found that the 990 was not recognized in the M1 slot where my current NVMe SSD boot drive was successfully recognized.

 

[jonathan7007]

Well, ASROCK could do this better... it appears that there are BIOS update links visible if you dig up the Z370 product page (it's a six to seven year old product) and scroll down far enough. Why not include them in the "Downloads" section of the website among other boards' updates? Those updates are for products of the same age as the Z370, so when I landed on that Downloads page it seemed that they had not issued any new BIOS code.

So I'll learn about BIOS update steps after I make sure I have an image of the boot drive and its current data partition, etc. Note that ASROCK displays a disclaimer that says if you have no trouble running your computer, DON'T UPDATE BIOS. (At least in what I see on this product page so far.) And they are clear that you CANNOT go back to earlier (working) BIOS states. Great... Just jump... You may get injured, but... we warned you.

Rant over.

 

[jonathan7007]

(Duplicating a post on the Asrock forum today)

Thank you for your suggestions. Since my last post I have also posted on TomsHardware and there, too, the question about latest BIOS came up.
No, I am on the original firmware (P1.10 ).

Asrock didn't show an update on their overall Support/Downloads website section but on the Z370 product page - scrolled way down - there is a table of downloads with a [Beta]2021 v4.20I (letter "I") and the cryptic "Added NVMe TCG OPAL SSD support" which is offered by Asrock as, what, the reason we'd use it?

This is a production workstation which already has a NVMe. Therefore "Beta" is a dicey description...Asrock has had two years+ to test this or roll up user comments to graduate the rating to full release status.

Do you think that the new NVMe would work in Slot 3 without a BIOS update?

My Z370 works fine with the existing NVMe from Samsung. When I tried to install the new NVMe in Slot 2 it was not recognized. Slot 3 is underneath the cooler fans and heat exchanges. If I have to use that slot I'll have to pull that rig, clean CPU, re-apply paste, etc.

Maybe if I pull the GPU I can get at that M3 socket.

- tough time to fit all this in with other responsibilities during holidays.

 

[ecruz1986]

I also have Z370 Taichi, processor is 8700k.

I just got a Samsung 990 PRO 4tb with heatsink. I plugged it into M2_2 and it didn't show up in BIOS.

I have a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2tb on slot M2_3 which works fine.

The 990 Pro is the heatsink version, it has a red stripe led, which is breathing. It also gets warm on touch, so I guess the connections are working well.

I haven't done any further tests such as trying to swap ports or anything. I guess they will be unfruitful, since the manual doesn't show any discrimination or restrictions between the M2 ports despite sharing lanes with SATA ports (which I know I'm not sharing).

Did you manage to find any sort of workaround? Do I really have to return the SSD?

 

[ecruz1986]

Good news!

I did experiment swapping slots. It looks like the M2_3 slot is privileged: the Samsung 990 Pro works on this slot, and on this slot only!

I tried it on M2_1 and M2_2. Only M2_3 works for the Samsung 990 Pro.

I can use either M2_2 or M2_1 for my old Samsung 970 Evo Plus together with the Samsung 990 Pro on M2_3 and it works.

So for anyone having similar issues with the ASRock Z370 Taichi: be aware that this motherboard has some sort of compatibility bug with the M2 slots, but the M2_3 slot is the only one that seems to be most compatible of all. Not all M2 slots are created equal here.

I did not update the BIOS to the Beta versions. I have the latest "stable" version 4.20, dated 2019/11/6.

 

[TTvsANTS]

Good news!

I did experiment swapping slots. It looks like the M2_3 slot is privileged: the Samsung 990 Pro works on this slot, and on this slot only!

I tried it on M2_1 and M2_2. Only M2_3 works for the Samsung 990 Pro.

I can use either M2_2 or M2_1 for my old Samsung 970 Evo Plus together with the Samsung 990 Pro on M2_3 and it works.

So for anyone having similar issues with the ASRock Z370 Taichi: be aware that this motherboard has some sort of compatibility bug with the M2 slots, but the M2_3 slot is the only one that seems to be most compatible of all. Not all M2 slots are created equal here.

I did not update the BIOS to the Beta versions. I have the latest "stable" version 4.20, dated 2019/11/6.

Thank you! I have the same mobo, CPU, BIOS v4.20. and my new 990 Pro 2TB wouldn't work in M2_1 or M2_2 either. M2_3 worked fine with or without M2_1 and M2_2 filled with 960 EVOs. Strange issue but I'm so glad you found the solution! Had to pull the 1080Ti to squeeze it in under the Noctua NH-D15S. Seven year old box and I'm having a tough time justifying building a new one.

 

[Lutfij]

You might want to pay attention to the time stamp on the thread before responding to it. Locking thread, OP please contact the nearest mod if you'd like to revisit this.