[SOLVED] Gigabyte Z690 gaming X DDR4 and Samsung NVMe are not best friends..

[Christian Olsen]

My Hardware:
I5 12600k
Gigabyte Z690 gaming X DDR4, BIOS F7 (newest)
M2 Connectors:
M2A_CPU
M2P_SB
M2Q_SB
M2P_SB
Windows 11 Pro (updated)
Kingston Fury Beast 3200
Samsung MVMe M2 980 PRO (W11Pro)
Samsung NVMe M2 970 EVO Plus 2TB (1 of 2)
Samsung NVMe M2 970 EVO Plus 2TB (2 of 2)
Samsung HDD 6TB (not connected most of the time to simplify)
Story:
I installed W11 from a USB pen to the 980PRO in M2A_CPU, while the two 970EVO sitting in M2P and M2M.
After a few boot with long waiting W11 was on the 980Pro, but the two 970 did not show up in windows.
I removed both 970, and put one back in M2Q, and then I could see it in W11 Disk manager, and format it.
This configuration was running OK. BUT I could not use the M2P and M2M Connectors. If I moved the 970 from M2Q, where it worked OK to M2P, it did not show up in W11 DiskManagement, if I moved it back it showed up and worked OK.
I can use 2 connectors M2A_CPU and M2Q_SB, and its working even if I switch the M2 ssd.
But if I move one or the other to M2P or M2M, they don’t show up in DiskManager.
I did a lot of moving M2 around and reading of many problems and possible solutions, but none worked for me.
I don’t even know if it’s a problem with Gigabyte Z690, Samsung SSD og W11.
Do any of you have more than 2 NVMe running on a Gigabyte Z690 gaming X DDR4 ?

 

[DRagor]

Check if BIOS sees drives in M2P and M2M. If it does not then probably faulty motherboard.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Do any of you have more than 2 NVMe running on a Gigabyte Z690 gaming X DDR4 ?

First check, if all NVME drives are detected in BIOS. If they are not detected, then there's some hardware issue/ BIOS configuration issue.
If they are detected, then most likely there is a problem with missing drivers.
Install Intel inf chipset driver.
Then install Samsung NVME driver.
In device Manager there should be NVME controller device for each NVME drive.

 

[dwd999]

My Hardware:
I5 12600k
Gigabyte Z690 gaming X DDR4, BIOS F7 (newest)
M2 Connectors:
M2A_CPU
M2P_SB
M2Q_SB
M2P_SB
Windows 11 Pro (updated)
Kingston Fury Beast 3200
Samsung MVMe M2 980 PRO (W11Pro)
Samsung NVMe M2 970 EVO Plus 2TB (1 of 2)
Samsung NVMe M2 970 EVO Plus 2TB (2 of 2)
Samsung HDD 6TB (not connected most of the time to simplify)
Story:
I installed W11 from a USB pen to the 980PRO in M2A_CPU, while the two 970EVO sitting in M2P and M2M.
After a few boot with long waiting W11 was on the 980Pro, but the two 970 did not show up in windows.
I removed both 970, and put one back in M2Q, and then I could see it in W11 Disk manager, and format it.
This configuration was running OK. BUT I could not use the M2P and M2M Connectors. If I moved the 970 from M2Q, where it worked OK to M2P, it did not show up in W11 DiskManagement, if I moved it back it showed up and worked OK.
I can use 2 connectors M2A_CPU and M2Q_SB, and its working even if I switch the M2 ssd.
But if I move one or the other to M2P or M2M, they don’t show up in DiskManager.
I did a lot of moving M2 around and reading of many problems and possible solutions, but none worked for me.
I don’t even know if it’s a problem with Gigabyte Z690, Samsung SSD og W11.
Do any of you have more than 2 NVMe running on a Gigabyte Z690 gaming X DDR4 ?

Well for starters the Windows installer really does not work well with more than one drive being connected at installation time. This is obviously difficult when using m.2 drives but that's the way they wrote the installer. You could try removing all of the drives except for the 980 Pro and reinstalling Windows. After installation and updating is complete and Windows is working perfectly you can add in your other drives one at a time. Since your current Windows installation was not done properly its going to be difficult to fix. Personally I also always use a partitioning tool like Gparted to ensure that my drives have a GPT identifier and their space is totally unallocated before installing Windows.

 

[Christian Olsen]

Well for starters the Windows installer really does not work well with more than one drive being connected at installation time. This is obviously difficult when using m.2 drives but that's the way they wrote the installer. You could try removing all of the drives except for the 980 Pro and reinstalling Windows. After installation and updating is complete and Windows is working perfectly you can add in your other drives one at a time. Since your current Windows installation was not done properly its going to be difficult to fix. Personally I also always use a partitioning tool like Gparted to ensure that my drives have a GPT identifier and their space is totally unallocated before installing Windows.

YES, YES, YES. 'dvd999' You really saved my day.
I did as you explained, and everything works now - THANKS so much.
I have tried to solve this for many days, and used a lot of time.
I have contacted Support for the hardware companies, and they will answer in 5-7 days !!
And here in 'Toms HARDWARE' I get instant usefull help from a real ekspert - GREAT.
If you ever come to Denmark I will give you a hug and a cold beer.

 

[benbird7]

Hi there,

Just jumping on this, I got the z690 gaming x yesterday coupled with a 12700k. Installed 3x m.2 drives but couldn't see 2 SATA ports after installing the one in the bottom. Moving it further up re-enabled the SATA ports. I thought all 4 m.2 ports could be used along with sata.

[url=https://ibb.co/ygLqJY6][/URL]

I also had the MSI pro briefly before getting this and it was much easier to overclock CPU and ram. I'm considering going back to the MSI pro from this, or is it worth persevering with this board?

 

[Christian Olsen]

Hi there,

Just jumping on this, I got the z690 gaming x yesterday coupled with a 12700k. Installed 3x m.2 drives but couldn't see 2 SATA ports after installing the one in the bottom. Moving it further up re-enabled the SATA ports. I thought all 4 m.2 ports could be used along with sata.

[url=https://ibb.co/ygLqJY6][/URL]

I also had the MSI pro briefly before getting this and it was much easier to overclock CPU and ram. I'm considering going back to the MSI pro from this, or is it worth persevering with this board?

I'm happy with my Gigabyte 690 Gaming X DDR4 - NOW.
It running great with 3 NVMe and 2 Sata HDD, and a sata DVD read/writer.
The solution that helped me out was to re-install my new W11 with only 1 NVMe (for W11) and no other NVMe (or Sata) connected, during W11 installation.
I have reported this to MS support, because many people have similar problems. And it seems not to be related to Gigabyte, Samsung, Kingston or other motherboard, SSD og memory hardware.
Hope to save you days of trouble.

 

[benbird7]

I'm happy with my Gigabyte 690 Gaming X DDR4 - NOW.
It running great with 3 NVMe and 2 Sata HDD, and a sata DVD read/writer.
The solution that helped me out was to re-install my new W11 with only 1 NVMe (for W11) and no other NVMe (or Sata) connected, during W11 installation.
I have reported this to MS support, because many people have similar problems. And it seems not to be related to Gigabyte, Samsung, Kingston or other motherboard, SSD og memory hardware.
Hope to save you days of trouble.

That's great thanks Christian for the prompt reply.

On the MSI pro board I could get 5.1ghz at 1.3v and 4000 on the mem. But I'm struggling to get 5.1 on this one and memory won't go beyond its xmp rating of 3600 (crucial ballistix).

I have a backup of Windows 10 with a lot of stuff on it, I may look to restore that and then go a Windows 11 update route hopefully it will be ok. I don't really want to fresh install windows but if it comes down to it I'll have to.

I see there's a F8a bios out, are you still on F7?

 

[Christian Olsen]

That's great thanks Christian for the prompt reply.

On the MSI pro board I could get 5.1ghz at 1.3v and 4000 on the mem. But I'm struggling to get 5.1 on this one and memory won't go beyond its xmp rating of 3600 (crucial ballistix).

I have a backup of Windows 10 with a lot of stuff on it, I may look to restore that and then go a Windows 11 update route hopefully it will be ok. I don't really want to fresh install windows but if it comes down to it I'll have to.

I see there's a F8a bios out, are you still on F7?

Yes, I'm on F7. I updated from F6. I have seen the F8a, but for some reason the Gigabyte update utility (@Gigabyte) did not use it. ?
Another fact, during my first W11 installation, is that my two NVMe Samsung SSD were brand new and not initialized yes.
So you may succeed if your ekstra drives are initialized, I hope.
My only change is XMP for my memory Kingston Fury Beast running now at rated 3200.