[SOLVED] BSOD Issue with Samsung 980 Pro SSD ?

[ElectronicSwug]

Hello Everyone!

I’m having an issue with my Samsung 980 Pro SSD. I’ve been getting a BSOD recently (WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR), and my computer crashing. When the PC reboots, the SSD is not showing up in bootable devices.

After crash, my HDD would boot instead. I took it out, so now it just boots to bios, where the SSD is not in the bootable drives. If I just keep restarting the computer, I can get it to boot sometimes. I also tried reseating the SSD in its M.2 slot and switching M.2 slots. I also cleaned the inside of the PC while doing this. Each of these fixes buys some time where the SSD doesn’t crash. I then updated the bios which gave me about a week of time without a crash. Although, the drive is refusing to boot altogether now.

At first, I thought it was compatibility issue as the SSD says “PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2”, and the M.2 slots on my motherboard are PCIe 3.0. But I’ve been running this build for 8 months now with no problem until now.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Specs:
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z390-A
CPU: Intel i9-9900k @ 3.6GHz
RAM: 2x G-Skill 8gb 2133MHz
GPU: MSi GeForce GTX 1060
PSU: Corsair RM850x

 

[Colif]

the drives have 5 year warranties, if you have proof of Purchase you should contact https://www.samsung.com/us/support/computing/memory-storage/ and arrange a replacement.

 

[CustomDaGG]

Hello Everyone!

I’m having an issue with my Samsung 980 Pro SSD. I’ve been getting a BSOD recently (WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR), and my computer crashing. When the PC reboots, the SSD is not showing up in bootable devices.

After crash, my HDD would boot instead. I took it out, so now it just boots to bios, where the SSD is not in the bootable drives. If I just keep restarting the computer, I can get it to boot sometimes. I also tried reseating the SSD in its M.2 slot and switching M.2 slots. I also cleaned the inside of the PC while doing this. Each of these fixes buys some time where the SSD doesn’t crash. I then updated the bios which gave me about a week of time without a crash. Although, the drive is refusing to boot altogether now.

At first, I thought it was compatibility issue as the SSD says “PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2”, and the M.2 slots on my motherboard are PCIe 3.0. But I’ve been running this build for 8 months now with no problem until now.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Specs:
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z390-A
CPU: Intel i9-9900k @ 3.6GHz
RAM: 2x G-Skill 8gb 2133MHz
GPU: MSi GeForce GTX 1060
PSU: Corsair RM850x

I just registered to reply. Ooh man I am so happy to see this post not because you are having a problem but because I am having the same problem with almost identical system specs:
9900K
ROG Strix Z390-F
Etc.
I bought 980 Pro 2TB to use on my current system and also to be future-proof (in case I upgrade to a PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 system). At first I didn't notice there was a problem but when I installed Windows 10 on 980 Pro I started getting BSOD errors frequently and it was too late to return the drive. I RMAed it to Samsung and they returned it saying the drive was OK, and I should check my system for incompatibility. Now seeing your post, I am 100% sure it is just incompatible, but shame on Asus as this drive is in QVL list of similarly speced MSI Z390 motherboards. I am using KC2500 2TB without a problem now. I will sell 980 Pro or keep it for my future build.

P.S. I also tried Silicon Power UD70 2TB before 980 Pro, it had the same problem on Z390F, PCIe 3.0 but still incompatible, wtf really Asus!

 

[Colif]

Have you made a post about it on Asus forums as they won't become aware of a problem if its not mentioned.

 

[CustomDaGG]

Have you made a post about it on Asus forums as they won't become aware of a problem if its not mentioned.

I contacted Asus via online chat, they told me that the drive is not in QVL list of the Z390F, hence cannot guarantee it will work. They also told me to send my MB for repair. So, they probably don't know what they're talking about. Will not buy Asus again, that's for sure. I will write on Asus forums but I don't expect a solution.

 

[Colif]

my last 4 motherboards were all Asus, but then I may have been lucky and never needed to ask them anything.

 

[CustomDaGG]

my last 4 motherboards were all Asus, but then I may have been lucky and never needed to ask them anything.

If you check Asus B550, X570 and Z690 MBs' storage QVL lists, 980 Pro is not listed in most of them. Some of the boards don't even have a storage QVL list. I checked all major MB brands, and MSI seemed the best of them as they list most of the drives on the market in their MBs' QVL lists. This is like the first time I see that an SSD can be incompatible with a MoBo. Z390-F was my first Asus MB, and frankly I have been quite happy with it until now. I think it's gonna be the last one as well, and never gonna buy a MB without checking the QVL.

 

[kerberos_20]

This is like the first time I see that an SSD can be incompatible with a MoBo

well its a PCE-E device, compatibility depends on bios, bios updates usualy brings some device compatibility improvements
well but ssd throwing tantrum during use coud either be device or mainboard fault

 

[Colif]

its a shame Samsung don't have a listing of motherboards their drives have been tested with.
Ram makers do that sort of thing, storage being similar should as well.
MB makers tend to be slack adding new drives to the list once a board is out a few years. They don't update all sorts of things.

 

[CustomDaGG]

well its a PCE-E device, compatibility depends on bios, bios updates usualy brings some device compatibility improvements
well but ssd throwing tantrum during use coud either be device or mainboard fault

I tried with another brand new 980 Pro, same result. So seeing this post , am pretty sure it is just incompatible thanks to Asus. BTW, I am on the latest BIOS for my board.

 

[kerberos_20]

try switching PCIE generation in bios settings, sometimes it resolves odd M2 behaviour

 

[CustomDaGG]

try switching PCIE generation in bios settings, sometimes it resolves odd M2 behaviour

It's on auto, should I set it to gen 3?

 

[CustomDaGG]

Update on the issue: After thorough investigation, I have found out that the issue was caused by 2 pads on the CPU not making good contact with the pins on the MB. I had applied clear nail polish on the pads on the upside of the CPU before using liquid metal between the CPU cooler and the CPU IHS approx. 10 months ago as a precaution, and somehow a tiny bit of nail polish had dropped on the pads on the downside of the CPU and had dried up there preventing a good contact. Now I am able to use pretty much every NVMe drive that I could find (i.e. Samsung 980 Pro, XPG SX8200 Pro, Kingston KC2500, Silicon Power UD70). Problem solved!

 

[CustomDaGG]

Update 2 on the issue: 2 days later than I discovered the dried up clear nail polish between the CPU and the CPU socket and removed it, the BSOD issue started again while gaming, but this time, after BSOD 980 Pro was still visible/detected in the BIOS (previously it wasn't being detected until a hard shutdown and restart), and the PC was able to boot up following a restart after BSOD. So I guess clearing the contamination in the CPU socket solved the problem that prevented me from being able to use 980 Pro, but there was still something wrong with the PC. CPU: under load + GPU: under load (Gaming)=> BSOD, CPU: under load + GPU: no load (Aida64 Extreme stability test)=> No BSOD, CPU: little load + GPU: under load (Furmark burn-in)=> No BSOD. Guessed it might be due to my previously-thought-high-quality Xigmatek Tauro G 750W 80+ Gold PSU, and I was right. Switched to NZXT C650 80+ Gold PSU since then, and the system has been rock solid (fingers crossed, testing for the last 5 days 7/24). I hope it helps someone with a similar problem!