Question Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite M.2 NVMe drive not recognized

[rfoggio]

I have the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Elite AC motherboard and am having issues getting a second M2 NVMe drive to be recognized.

My current configuration is:

CPU: Intel i7-10700k

M2M_SB slot socketed with Samsung SSD 970 EVO 1TB
M2A_SB slot socketed with Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB

SATA: Samsung EVO 860 1TB connected to SATA 0 slot which shouldn’t conflict with either of the above M2 drives.

PCIE X16 socketed with Gigabyte Aorus 2080 GTX graphics card.

I just updated the motherboard bios to the latest version and the M2A_SB drive is still not being recognized in the BIOS.

I’ve tried disconnecting the SATA SSD and the M2A_SB drive still isn’t recognized then.

Is there a BIOS setting I need to enable that I’m missing? Or is my understanding of how the PCIE lanes, M2 sockets and SATA drive interaction incorrect?

I’ve been referencing the documentation here: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_z490-aorus-elite-ac_1001_e.pdf
and verified that my motherboard is revision 1.0

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I just updated the motherboard bios to the latest version
You should clear the CMOS for your motherboard once you've verified that the BIOS was flashed successfully.

and the M2A_SB drive is still not being recognized in the BIOS
What's populating M2B_CPU ?

You try and open up Samsung's Magician App and see if the drive shows up there? Also, I'd try and install the NVMe driver for the drives if you've got an OS installed for your platform.

 

[rfoggio]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I just updated the motherboard bios to the latest version
You should clear the CMOS for your motherboard once you've verified that the BIOS was flashed successfully.

and the M2A_SB drive is still not being recognized in the BIOS
What's populating M2B_CPU ?

You try and open up Samsung's Magician App and see if the drive shows up there? Also, I'd try and install the NVMe driver for the drives if you've got an OS installed for your platform.

Wow thanks for the quick reply!

I cleared the CMOS, everything with the BIOS update looks like it went through successfully, can see the updated version and the driver date.

M2B_CPU slot is empty since the manual says its reserved and has no functionality.

Downloaded the NVMe Driver and can see that in Device Manager. Also downloaded Samsung magician and it only picks up the NVMe driver in the M2M_SB slot which is my boot drive.

After clearing CMOS and downloading drivers etc, the M2A_SB drive is still showing up as "N/A" in BIOS

EDIT: In device manager I now see an "Xvd" drive, but I don't see it in Disk Manager, its possible this was there before and I'm now just seeing it.

 

[nero519]

I have a similar situation, Aorus z490 Ultra, m2a port not recognizing my drive (wd sn770), I have the same drive in the other port (m2m), and a samsung 980 pro in the third slot (m2p), both being recognized without problems, for some reason the m2a port doesn't respond to anything...

 

[rfoggio]

Should have replied to this earlier, but I followed the steps that @Lutfij mentioned, Updated bios, cleared CMOS, installed the updated Drivers and still nothing...

Ended up buying a new drive, same version, and it worked instantly.

@nero519 My best recommendation would be to make sure your motherboard BIO is updated, make sure your drivers are updated, follow the documentation and make sure that none of your drivers are on conflicting memory channels, I did have to switch my sata ssd to a different channel that didn't conflict with the second M2 slot.

If you do all that and still no luck, try another hard drive, its possible the new one could jsut be a bad drive.

 

[nero519]

Should have replied to this earlier, but I followed the steps that @Lutfij mentioned, Updated bios, cleared CMOS, installed the updated Drivers and still nothing...

Ended up buying a new drive, same version, and it worked instantly.

@nero519 My best recommendation would be to make sure your motherboard BIO is updated, make sure your drivers are updated, follow the documentation and make sure that none of your drivers are on conflicting memory channels, I did have to switch my sata ssd to a different channel that didn't conflict with the second M2 slot.

If you do all that and still no luck, try another hard drive, its possible the new one could jsut be a bad drive.

Unless this is extremely bad luck and the three m.2 I tested were not compatible, yeah, I don't see any fix in my case, I'll try directly with Gigabyte's warranty, I suspect the port is just faulty, but just in case this help someone else, I did the following:

- Bios updated to latest version.
- Checked in windows with WD's app for firmware updates.
- Switched the m2a/m2m m.2 and both worked only with the m2m port.
- Cleared the CMOS, loaded default settings, toyed with some related bios settings, etc.
- Tested an old nvme m.2 I had laying around.
- Disconnected all sata devices.
- Tested without the GPU connected.

I wouldn't say its drivers since the same m.2 works fine in the other port, and the same m.2 works fine on that port too.

I already opened a case with Gigabyte hoping there is something to do, if not, I still had an upgrade planned later this year anyway, it is what it is I suppose....