[SOLVED] How to properly install m.2 into x99s sli plus motherboard?

[tehahe]

I've been trying for a good week to get this working on my own but I have the intel 7 series m.2 pcie and I've installed it into my x4 slot on the X99S Sli plus motherboard. For some reason it isn't registering that it exists. My friend told me to try looking through BIOS and I'm honestly stumped with this stuff at the moment. Please help! Thank you!

 

[Calvin7]

The NVMe M.2 drive should be the only storage drive connected.

NVMe SSDs do not appear within the BIOS until Windows creates the system partition with the EFI Boot Sector. Your M.2 SSD contains UEFI driver information within the firmware. By disabling the CSM module Windows will read and utilize the M.2-specific UEFI driver

Go into the bios, under the boot tab there is an option for CSM, make sure it is disabled.

Click on secure boot option below and make sure it is set to other OS, not windows UEFI.

Click on key management and clear secure boot keys.

Insert a USB memory stick with a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup* on it, USB3 is quicker but USB2 works also. A Windows DVD won’t work unless you’ve created your own UEFI Bootable DVD.

Press F10 to save, exit and reboot.

Windows 10 will now start installing to your NVME drive as it has its own NVME driver built in.

When the PC reboots hit F2 to go back into the BIOS, you will see under boot priority that windows boot manager now lists your NVME drive.

Click on secure boot again but now set it to WIndows UEFI mode.

Click on key management and install default secure boot keys

Press F10 to save and exit and windows will finish the install. Once you have Windows up and running, shutdown the PC and reconnect your other SATA drives.

*How to create a bootable UEFI USB drive with Windows 10 Setup
https://winaero.com/blog/how-to-create-a-bootable-uefi-usb-drive-with-windows-10-setup/

The Windows 10 ISO link is broken in the above. You can obtain the ISO file here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[tehahe]

Thanks for the response? So to my understanding, the first part of this is how I can fix my issue and the second is how to install windows onto it? How do I make sure the m.2 is the only drive I have? Just disconnect the current HDd I'm using? I'm really not knowledgeable on a lot if terminology but I just want to confirm that the first part is the solution in your eyes. Thanks!

 

[karenjoly]

Update to the latest bios . Look here to update it

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/X99S-SLI-PLUS

Next, In the bios, (Press the "Delete" key while the system is booting up to enter the bios) look for the drive under a boot menu.

If you cannot find it in the updated bios , then consider the board's limitation on running M.2 drives as set out on the MSI website here

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/X99S-SLI-PLUS#support-hdd

The only Intel 7 series PCIe drive listed for compatibility is a 750 400 GB drive (SSD 750 Series - SSDPE2MW400G4R5)

Do you have that drive ? If yes and you have the latest bios and the drive is not in the bios anywhere, I would contact tech support on compatibility.

If your drive is not listed and the latest bios does not recognize it, then you are likely out of luck. You can always contact tech support with a hail mary request for support but also consider alternatives to that drive.