Question Bios wants me to Raid my new M.2 NMVe 2tb drive

Jun 10, 2023
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I got an Samsung MNVe M.2 2tb drive a while ago and have been putting off tackling this project for a while because it gives me anxiety.

Computer Specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00 GHz
MB: MSI Z170A SLI PLUS (MS-7998)
Bios Mode: UEFI
Boot Drive: Sata SSD 250gb
Storage: HDD 1TB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Ram: 16GB

When I go into Bios to activate the M.2 drive, it tells me that it needs to wipe my boot drive and Raid my drives. I can't really find a lot of good information, walk throughs or anyone with experience that can help me run through it step by step so I don't make a mistake. I'm just nervous about hurting my computer.

To note: I did buy a 6tb external recently to archive a lot of my music files (I edit music) and decided to backup my computer to that drive in anticipation of having to wipe all internal drives.

I would really appreciate any help you guys can offer! Thanks a bunch.
 
Solution
Can you show screenshots from windows ?
Disk Management,​
Control Panel\Storage spaces and​
Device Manager - disk drives and storage controllers expanded.​
Jun 10, 2023
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No, you do NOT need to do any RAID, nor should you.

In the BIOS, turn that function OFF.
So, I went into my BIOS and It gives me the option to enable "M.2 Genie" Assuming that it's trying to run things in a more consumer mindset?

Looks like my drives are currently under AHCI. I feel like my only thought is that my motherboard is shoehorning this issue.
 
Jun 10, 2023
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Not sure what your "M.2 Genie" is.
AHCI is what you want.
Yup, I figured. I didn't touch that part.

I think the M.2 genie is for easy setup (Which I'd rather avoid since it seems like it's going to delete everything and force a Raid.)

I will say that the M.2 slot doesn't even show up when looking at the Storage. It only shows Sata Ports (In advanced, it shows where you can enable Hot Plugs... I don't know what that means.)
 
Jun 10, 2023
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Can you show screenshots from windows ?
Disk Management,​
Control Panel\Storage spaces and​
Device Manager - disk drives and storage controllers expanded.​


Well, It does look like my computer can see the drives, but I don't see the M.2 in file explorer and Bios doesn't see it. Could it be that it's formatted wrong and just needs to be formatted?
 
Jun 10, 2023
10
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Can you show screenshots from windows ?
Disk Management,​
Control Panel\Storage spaces and​
Device Manager - disk drives and storage controllers expanded.​
Wow, I can't believe it was as easy as the drive needing to be formatted. Once I formatted it as NTFS, it shows right up and I can read and write to the drive. Gosh, I feel so dumb. I appreciate both SkyNetRising and USAFRet's help. Now to figure out how to transfer my boot drive to the M.2 haha!
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Now to figure out how to transfer my boot drive to the M.2 haha!
-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD


(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------
 
Jun 10, 2023
10
0
10
-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD


(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------
I will definitely be referencing this post once I get the nerves up to actually start the cloning process! I'll probably do it sometime this week. I've not really done a lot of commandline stuff except network testing at work. I'll definitely post questions to this thread if I have any.
 
Jun 10, 2023
10
0
10
-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD


(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------
Why would I need to download and install firmware/driver for the NVMe?
 

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