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[SOLVED] Can't Boot Windows From M.2 NVMe Drive

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Bert Rochau

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Nov 3, 2013
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Hello,

I am attempting to do a clean install of Windows 10 onto an M2 NVMe SSD. I can successfully install Windows onto the drive, but I cannot actually boot into Windows after completing the installation.

  • Mobo is a ASUS Z490-I
  • M2 drive is a Corsair MP400
  • The motherboard always identifies the M2 drive as a storage device
  • The motherboard will only identify the M2 drive in the boot order if CSM is enabled
  • When appearing in the boot order, I only see "Corsair MP400" listed; I do not see "UEFI MP400", "Windows Boot Manager MP400", etc.
  • If I boot into the M2 drive with CSM enabled, I get a "Reboot and Select proper Boot device" message
  • If I boot with CSM disabled, I go straight into the UEFI BIOS
  • I have cleaned the M2 drive and reformatted it as GPT
  • The M2 drive has an EFI partition
  • If I disable CSM, I get a the following message: "Due to Microsoft Secure Boot regulations, ensure the Microsoft signed UEFI driver is contained in the plugged PCI-E based storages including M.2 SSD before set the Launch CSM to [Disabled]. Otherwise, the PCI-E based storages will be only available for the data drive usage. Contact the PCI-E storage vendor for the UEFI driver availability details."
  • I have installed Windows 10 via USB drive onto the M2 drive (I know it's there because I can see the files there when I boot into Windows via a different drive)
  • When installing and booting, I have disconnected all hard drives except the M2
  • I have attempted to boot both with secure boot set to "Windows UEFI" and "Other OS" without success
  • Fast boot is disabled
Any help in resolving this would be appreciated.
 
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Dragos Manea said:
Unplug all drives, leave only the corsair m.2 conected, install windows in uefi mode the test see if it boots, it might detect a previous efi partition, that's why it will not make your m.2 bootable.
Click to expand...
Doubt it's a previous EFI partition because I've cleaned the drive before installing. And I'm confident that I've installed Windows in UEFI mode.
 
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Bert Rochau said:
Never got to user account setup. It will cycle back to the start of the USB install menu.
Click to expand...

Its not finished then, its done its trick of half installing. Its copied onto ssd but its not ready to boot off the ssd yet. its only half installed. It should have restarted and booted off ssd but its got stuck.

Asus dropped ball with bios instructions on that board.
https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z490-i-gaming-model/helpdesk_manual
it tells you nothing.

Um, in the save exit screen of the bios, is there an option called Boot Override? it might also be on the boot tab.

only have the m.2 in when you install
reset bios to factory defaults
put USB in at startup & go into bios
pick boot override
pick the USB from the list
PC will boot from USB once and next start should ignore it completely and boot from ssd, and continue install.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?115969-Install-Win-10-M-2-nvme-drive
 
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Colif said:
Its not finished then, its done its trick of half installing. Its copied onto ssd but its not ready to boot off the ssd yet. its only half installed. It should have restarted and booted off ssd but its got stuck.
Click to expand...
clarification: it can boot off ssd to continue the install process but its not a finished install. There is only 1 user currently and you can't logon to it as it has no password. its job is to be used by windows to install itself. once you create users its deleted. Its only after a later restart in the install process does it use the right file names.
 
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Do you have newest BIOS for motherboard? sometimes that can help.

you should be able to set BIOS to defaults, put USB in and it should just boot from it once and ignore it completely on the restart. Not stop and try to run USB again.

you can't boot windows as its not finished. No point trying. I discovered a few months ago that the installer doesn't set the EFI up until after the 1st restart, we know as someone added a hdd into the PC mid install and it used a boot partition on the added drive instead of the one on ssd, so it makes some changes during install process to make the efi live.

Best idea is to wipe the drive if its even trying to run it.

Better idea still is for the motherboard to just install win 10. And not get half way and stop.
 
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Is it possible that there is a driver issue here? Like I get the message "Due to Microsoft Secure Boot regulations, ensure the Microsoft signed UEFI driver is contained in the plugged PCI-E based storages including M.2 SSD before set the Launch CSM to [Disabled]. Otherwise, the PCI-E based storages will be only available for the data drive usage. Contact the PCI-E storage vendor for the UEFI driver availability details."

Is it possible that the driver is missing?
 
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Oh. That is not a standard partition configuration.
You have done some manual magic there.

Why is there 301MB unallocated space in the beginning of the drive?
Why is EFI system partition at the end of the drive and not beginning?
EFI system partition appears to be empty. It doesn't contain necessary bootloader files.

Execute from elevated command prompt to fix bootloader. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
diskpart​
list disk​
select disk 3​
(select M.2 drive)​
list partition​
select partition 3​
(select 400MB EFI system partition)​
assign letter=H​
exit​
bcdboot D:\windows /s H:​
​
In last command it might be necessary to use /f switch.
bcdboot D:\windows /s H: /f UEFI​

www.howtogeek.com

How to Open the Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 10

Much of the time, opening the Command Prompt as a regular user is all you need. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can run commands that require administrative privileges.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com
 
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SkyNetRising said:
Oh. That is not a standard partition configuration.
You have done some manual magic there.

Why is there 301MB unallocated space in the beginning of the drive?
Why is EFI system partition at the end of the drive and not beginning?
EFI system partition appears to be empty. It doesn't contain necessary bootloader files.

Execute from elevated command prompt to fix bootloader. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
diskpart​
list disk​
select disk 3​
(select M.2 drive)​
list partition​
select partition 3​
(select 400MB EFI system partition)​
assign letter=H​
exit​
bcdboot D:\windows /s H:​
​
In last command it might be necessary to use /f switch.
bcdboot D:\windows /s H: /f UEFI​

www.howtogeek.com

How to Open the Command Prompt as Administrator in Windows 10

Much of the time, opening the Command Prompt as a regular user is all you need. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can run commands that require administrative privileges.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com
Click to expand...
Yeah the nonstandard partition configuration is a result of previous attempts to resolve this.

Unfortunately same result. After recreating the boot files, the drive still is not recognized as a bootable device.
 
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Bert Rochau said:
Is it possible that there is a driver issue here? Like I get the message "Due to Microsoft Secure Boot regulations, ensure the Microsoft signed UEFI driver is contained in the plugged PCI-E based storages including M.2 SSD before set the Launch CSM to [Disabled]. Otherwise, the PCI-E based storages will be only available for the data drive usage. Contact the PCI-E storage vendor for the UEFI driver availability details."
Click to expand...
shouldn't be, most NVME drives will either automatically have the windows driver on them when installed or use one like the Samsung NVME driver that is also likely signed by Microsoft. Any driver that runs in Win 10 has to be signed by Microsoft first or win 10 won't run it.

800gb is a strange size.
 
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