Cloned SSD is not recognised by American Megatrends BIOS at startup.

[maxspencer]

I am attempting to upgrade my son's Gigabyte P15 v2 laptop by swapping out the HDD for a Samsung 850 evo SSD. Using Samsung Migrate Software the clone went seamlessly. However after shutting down and swapping out the drives I can't get the new SSD to boot. All I get is something like 'Change to Bootable Drive' or something similar. BIOS settings are AHCI but still new SSD does not show. Also, I tried cloning again using Samsung and then using Macrium Reflect (which took much longer to clone) but all with no change. I am a couple of tries from throwing the laptop out of the window which is how frustrating this is! If I put old HDD back in everything is fine. All advise gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[jay32267]

So when you go into the BIOS after you install the new SSD....do you even see it in there?

...and when you install the new SSD are you using the same data cable from the MB as you used on the old drive?

 

[maxspencer]

So when you go into the BIOS after you install the new SSD....do you even see it in there?

...and when you install the new SSD are you using the same data cable from the MB as you used on the old drive?

Hi Jay

Thanks for responding to my post.

No I can’t see the SSD in the BIOS after installing. The old HDD showed as port 5 and says empty with the SSD inside the exact same port. Yes, it is plugged in exactly the same cable as the old drive. I just can’t see what I could have done wrong.

 

[USAFRet]

I am attempting to upgrade my son's Gigabyte P15 v2 laptop by swapping out the HDD for a Samsung 850 evo SSD. Using Samsung Migrate Software the clone went seamlessly. However after shutting down and swapping out the drives I can't get the new SSD to boot. All I get is something like 'Change to Bootable Drive' or something similar. BIOS settings are AHCI but still new SSD does not show. Also, I tried cloning again using Samsung and then using Macrium Reflect (which took much longer to clone) but all with no change. I am a couple of tries from throwing the laptop out of the window which is how frustrating this is! If I put old HDD back in everything is fine. All advise gratefully received. Thanks.

Possibly you left off the boot partition during the cloning process?

Try it again, ensuring you select ALL the partitions on that drive.

 

[maxspencer]

I am attempting to upgrade my son's Gigabyte P15 v2 laptop by swapping out the HDD for a Samsung 850 evo SSD. Using Samsung Migrate Software the clone went seamlessly. However after shutting down and swapping out the drives I can't get the new SSD to boot. All I get is something like 'Change to Bootable Drive' or something similar. BIOS settings are AHCI but still new SSD does not show. Also, I tried cloning again using Samsung and then using Macrium Reflect (which took much longer to clone) but all with no change. I am a couple of tries from throwing the laptop out of the window which is how frustrating this is! If I put old HDD back in everything is fine. All advise gratefully received. Thanks.

Possibly you left off the boot partition during the cloning process?

Try it again, ensuring you select ALL the partitions on that drive.

Hi USAFRet

Thanks for the response.

With Samsung Migrate you don’t get an option to see partitions after the clone so that’s why I tried Macrium Reflect as well because that confirms each partition copied so I knew I had them all. So as certain as I can be that the clone was a perfect one at least once.

 

[USAFRet]

hmmm...I use Macrium almost exclusively, and haven't seen this.

Can you try it again with Macrium, and capture a screenshot showing the relevant partitions selected, just before you click the GO button?

 

[maxspencer]

hmmm...I use Macrium almost exclusively, and haven't seen this.

Can you try it again with Macrium, and capture a screenshot showing the relevant partitions selected, just before you click the GO button?

I could if I hadn’t boxed the SSD to return. I have already spent hours I don’t have on this and will try a different SSD to see if I have more luck. With Macrium I dragged and dropped each partition and as each cloned it appeared on a progress report. It is the only time I have used Macrium - and only time I’ve tried to clone a HDD - but the final report confirmed that each of the partitions cloned successfully. All partitions were definitely cloned according to the software.

 

[USAFRet]

Interesting.
It may have been a bad drive. I've never seen that.

For future reference, my specific cloning steps:

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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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 as necessary.
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

 

[maxspencer]

Interesting.
It may have been a bad drive. I've never seen that.

For future reference, my specific cloning steps:

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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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 as necessary.
Delete the 450MB Recovery Partition, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------

Sorry for delay in response. As this was a swap out, there were never 2 drives connected at the same time so I never had to worry about that or connecting from different cables/ports. The only time both were connected was during the clone process via the USB cable. Other than that your steps mirror those used by me. I’m no super-techie person by any means but I’m pretty good at following steps and this seemed like one of the less complex computer operations I’ve undertaken over the years. Maybe it is a bad drive, I hope so or I’m going to have the same problem with the new SSD drive. Thanks for all your assistance, it is much appreciated.