Cant install Win7 and RAID0 on GA-Z170X-Gaming 7

[chaotic_cannon]

Hi,
Have all brand new parts.
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 Mobo
i5 6600k chip with a good cooler
2 x 8Gig or Corsair Ram
2 x Samsung 950 Pro 256Gig M2 ssds installed in the M2 slots (THey are NVMe SSDs)
Have built PC's before but having major issues here.

Assembled everything and got into the Bios. The bios recognizes the RAM, no issue there. The bios does NOT recognize either of the SSD's in the M2 slots under the NVM section of the bios.
The Bios does NOT recognize any SATA drive in the SATA section (and I have enabled the RAID controllers in the SATA area)

The boot sequence DOES list 1 of the 2 SSD's in the boot sequence.

The MOBO does NOT recognize any USB drive that is hooked up via the case. Have a CD ROM isntalled for Win7 isntall.

Boot into the WIN7 loader, and the loader does NOT see any drive either.

The MOBO manual says to enable raid, after POST starts and before boot sequence to hit "ctrl+l" to enter legacy RAID bios utility. This does NOT work at all.

So I cant see either drive, cant install WIn7 to install on 1 drive and then use gigabyte software to enable raid later.

Please help

 

[Tradesman1]

Do you have the latest BIOS?

 

[chaotic_cannon]

I have version F4 which is the 2nd to last version.... however ... I cannot get a USB to read (since not OS installed) and cant install OS since BIOS wont read my 2 M.2 drives isntalled

 

[Calvin7]

You need to use UEFI RAID Configuration. You won't be using the Cntrl plus I Utility.

In BIOS Setup, go to BIOS Features and set Windows 8/10 Features to Windows 8/10 and CSM Support to Disabled. Save the changes and exit BIOS Setup.

After the system reboot, enter BIOS Setup again. Then enter the Peripherals menu. Scroll down to the Intel Rapid Storage Technology sub-menu.

 

[chaotic_cannon]

Hi,
Ok I have changed the BIOS features as stated above to Win8/10 and CSM support disable. Save and exit and reboot.

GOne back in and under the peripheral tab, there are the following sub areas:
- SATA Config (where I can choose raid - but both the raid and ACHI modes have no drives listed)
- Intel BIOS guard technology (set as disabled)
- NVMe config (still not M.2 ssd shown)

Now under the save and exit tb under the override boot options the 1 and only ssd that was listed is no longer there either.

 

[Calvin7]

UEFI RAID Configuration may be a Windows 8/10 Feature. I don't know about it working with Windows 7.
The manual says you must use UEFI RAID Configuration in Chapter 3 with your M.2 RAID setup.

 

[chaotic_cannon]

HI, yes but the BIOS nor Win7 installer recognize the either M.2 drive at all..... cant even get to the raid stage

 

[chaotic_cannon]

anyone have any thoughts at all?

 

[b0uddh4]

hi,

I just succesfully assembled a pc on a GA-Z170X gaming 3 configuration:
- processor 6600k
- GA-Z170X gaming 3
- 2x samsung 840pro (raid 0)
- 2x NVME samsung SM951 (raid 0)
- 16Gb ram

I had the exact same issue on my pc, my sata drives would disappear when the m2 disks were installed.
the first thing I did was reset BIOS to default and then set everything to uefi + win 8/10 support, didn't touch CSM.
the motherboard manual stated that some sata ports were deactivated when m2 is used, the table shown was not accurate, I found out that there were more ports deactivated than stated in the manual.
In my case I have 6 ports (0 to 5), ports 0 to 3 are deactivated and only 4 and 5 remain active.
after I found through trial and error which ports were good, all was detected properly and I could set my raid arrays.

you will need to reboot before some changes in the bios become visible so reboot after changing your settings and reenter BIOS.

Regarding the Windows install, I also wanted to install 7 but couldn't detect or even load drivers for the install to begin (USB was inactive for some reason).
I solved this by downloading the win 10 install package for USB key (available directly through microsoft, they have an automated installer that prepares a USB drive for you, must be more than 4Gb), you can even use your genuine win7 activation key to proceed with the installation.

some useful information here regarding M2 and sata compatibility:
http://techreport.com/review/29072/gigabyte-z170x-gaming-7-motherboard-reviewed/2

I hope this will help you, I went through a lot of anger an frustration before solving this but it was all worth it in the end.

 

[b0uddh4]

didn't see the post was old already, I hope this finds someone else who needs the help...

 

[MysticWiz]

Through various readings online, there was a mentioned to have "no" SATA HDD's, SSD or Graphics Card (providing you have Integrated Graphics) connected as FIRST to Update BIOS to most current using a Flash Drive and insert into a USB 2.0 port (won't work in USB 3.0 port).
For Installing Windows 7 Pro/ Ultimate please use Gigabyte's USB Utility Tool which requires the Win7 OS disc and a Flash Drive (prefer 16GB) to create a Bootable USB with Z170 Drivers. After you've made the bootable USB with Windows 7, you connect your M.2 SSD or regular SSD (maybe HHD) that you are going to Install Windows 7 on. Now you have an updated BIOS and have Windows 7 installed with all necessary drivers for Z170 motherboard. You will go into BIOS from this point to set up RAID and the array. Note: that any M.2 or PCIe - SSD will result in a loss of x number of SATA connections. Also understanding if you are using a PCIe - SSD you can not have RAID. Last and unfortunately, Windows 7 is being phased out (less support from Microsoft) and in reality your hardware and motherboard were made to use Windows 10. The Bad News ... Microsoft has added Hot Fixes to Spy on those using Win7 and Win8 ......According to https://thehackernews.com/2015/08/windows-spying-on-you.html, you can uninstall the tracking updates in Windows 7 and 8.1 by opening up an admin command prompt and entering in the following one at a time:


wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart
wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart

Note I've removed the /quiet from the commands as there's no way to know if the previous command finished to let you know to run the next one.

 

[MysticWiz]

hi,

I just succesfully assembled a pc on a GA-Z170X gaming 3 configuration:
- processor 6600k
- GA-Z170X gaming 3
- 2x samsung 840pro (raid 0)
- 2x NVME samsung SM951 (raid 0)
- 16Gb ram

I had the exact same issue on my pc, my sata drives would disappear when the m2 disks were installed.
the first thing I did was reset BIOS to default and then set everything to uefi + win 8/10 support, didn't touch CSM.
the motherboard manual stated that some sata ports were deactivated when m2 is used, the table shown was not accurate, I found out that there were more ports deactivated than stated in the manual.
In my case I have 6 ports (0 to 5), ports 0 to 3 are deactivated and only 4 and 5 remain active.
after I found through trial and error which ports were good, all was detected properly and I could set my raid arrays.

you will need to reboot before some changes in the bios become visible so reboot after changing your settings and reenter BIOS.

Regarding the Windows install, I also wanted to install 7 but couldn't detect or even load drivers for the install to begin (USB was inactive for some reason).
I solved this by downloading the win 10 install package for USB key (available directly through microsoft, they have an automated installer that prepares a USB drive for you, must be more than 4Gb), you can even use your genuine win7 activation key to proceed with the installation.

some useful information here regarding M2 and sata compatibility:
http://techreport.com/review/29072/gigabyte-z170x-gaming-7-motherboard-reviewed/2

I hope this will help you, I went through a lot of anger an frustration before solving this but it was all worth it in the end.

I will be using the same Gigabyte MoBo Ga-z170x-gaming 3.
I do not have the time for BIY and taking a risk with using CyberPowerPC.
Likely will receive it 1st week of March.
Enermax LEPA Lenyx LP801A full size tower
Intel i7 6700K cpu
Ga-z170x-gaming 3
Adata XPG Z1 (2x8GB) DDR4 2800MHz
Corsair H60 Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair RM850i - 850 Watt Gold power supply (Full Modular)
Nvidia GTX 970 video card (brand not yet known likely EVGA or MSI
SanDisk 256GB x400 m.2 SSD (new on market) - Free bonus (approx. $92 value)
SanDisk 256GB Z400 or Adata SP600 /610 SSD again not specified in my purchase order.
unknown brand , said SanDisk- suspect it might be a Seagate 2TB 7200rpm HHD.

I have all OSes from ages ago Win95, Win98se, Millennium, WinXP Pro, Vista Ultimate, Win7 Ultimate (tossed out Win8) and Windows 10 Pro x64. No need to buy OS.

Going to try to install Windows 7 Ultimate, if unsuccessful have to install the very much hated Windows 10 Pro cause Microsoft wants to screw with us and rob us of our Privacy. Will the U.S. Government and the FBI stand up for our Rights.? Really doubt it .. and a 1 percent maybe. - No matter what , I will not be voting for Hillary Clinton. I don't care for Donald Trump but my choices are next to none. Obama caused so much drama and there is no doubt he is the "Worst U.S. President ever and of all time".

 

[Masterjedisean]

Yes, I had the same issue. I think you need to download the RAID drivers onto a USB drive (be sure to plug into a USB 2.0 and not a 3.0 as the 3.0 may not work without drivers) and click the load driver when the time comes to install to hard drive of choice. After choosing the driver it may take a minute, *If you configured the RAID in BIOS properly) you should see you hard drive then. Proceed with your installation.

Here is a link to the drive for Win 7/8/10 64-bit

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_intel_bootdisk_irst_64_100series.zip
extract the download to your USB drive.

Good Luck!