Question I can not locate my SSD M.2 when trying to install windows?

[Robert1324]

Having some trouble with installing windows. PC runs fine for a start. When I reach the part where I’m asked in which storage should I install windows, I can not see my SSD M2 ( the only storage device I put in the pc ) so I can not progress further.

The motherboard is B450 PRO4 R2. I updated the bios to the latest version because I thought that was the problem but apparently that’s not the case.

The SSD is Samsung 990 Pro M.2 NVMe.

I’m sorry if this is not supposed to be in this section. Thank you guys in advance!

 

[35below0]

Can you see the SSD in BIOS? It should be listed somewhere in supported/installed devices. If you can't see it there, then maybe it is not properly installed?

The 990 Pro is PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0
The board supports up to Gen3 x4
https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/B450 Pro4 R2.0/index.asp#Specification

🙁

 

[Robert1324]

Can you see the SSD in BIOS? It should be listed somewhere in supported/installed devices. If you can't see it there, then maybe it is not properly installed?

The 990 Pro is PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 2.0
The board supports up to Gen3 x4
https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/B450 Pro4 R2.0/index.asp#Specification

🙁

I could not spot the SSD nowhere in the BIOS. Can’t check right now because it’s my friend’s pc and I was helping him.

Ouch, does that mean these 2 pieces are not compatible? Sorry for my ignorance , I’m a newbie

 

[35below0]

I could not spot the SSD nowhere in the BIOS. Can’t check right now because it’s my friend’s pc and I was helping him.

Ouch, does that mean these 2 pieces are not compatible? Sorry for my ignorance , I’m a newbie

It looks like you can't use that 990 Pro with that motherboard, so maybe you'll need a Gen3 4x model SSD.
I'm not sure, but if there's no SSD in the BIOS then it is probably not compatible.

And don't worry, we all make mistakes. This is a detail buried in fine print.

 

[CountMike]

PCIe are generally downwards compatible in versions so that shouldn't be a problem. Are you sure BIOS is in UEFI and not CSM mode ?

 

[Robert1324]

PCIe are generally downwards compatible in versions so that shouldn't be a problem. Are you sure BIOS is in UEFI and not CSM mode ?

I am pretty sure the bios is in UEFI mode, it said click F11 to enter UEFI mode and I remember seeing UEFI multiple times somewhere in the bios. Again I’m a newbie so I might be mistaken?

As for CSM, I was looking online and some articles said I need to activate the M.2 slot and for me to do that I had to launch CSM? Not sure what CSM is but I did that and it didn’t change anything. Here are the instructions I followed:

“Power on the ASUS computer and press the BIOS key (F2 or Del) once you see the PC logo.
Now, you are in the BIOS. Go to Advanced > Boot to make sure Launch CSM is Enabled.
Press F10 and OK to save changes and exit the firmware.”

 

[CountMike]

I am pretty sure the bios is in UEFI mode, it said click F11 to enter UEFI mode and I remember seeing UEFI multiple times somewhere in the bios. Again I’m a newbie so I might be mistaken?

As for CSM, I was looking online and some articles said I need to activate the M.2 slot and for me to do that I had to launch CSM? Not sure what CSM is but I did that and it didn’t change anything. Here are the instructions I followed:

“Power on the ASUS computer and press the BIOS key (F2 or Del) once you see the PC logo.
Now, you are in the BIOS. Go to Advanced > Boot to make sure Launch CSM is Enabled.
Press F10 and OK to save changes and exit the firmware.”

CSM = Compatibility Support Module.
CSM is opposite of UEFI mode , that's same as Legacy BIOS mode. To enable UEFI, CSM should be Disabled. Windows setup disk/USB should also be made so it supports UEFI.

 

[TerryLaze]

The driver page has floppy drivers, so drivers that are supposed to be loaded from "floppy" at the point where you are choosing an installation drive.
Download and uncompress this file and copy the resulting folder to a usb drive, doesn't need to be an empty one.
On the windows drive selection there is a little icon called load driver.
Might be on a slightly different spot depending on the version of windows.
Click it and point it to the folder with the driver.

SATA Floppy Image_CC ver:9.3.0.296
https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/B450 Pro4 R2.0/index.asp#Download

 

[35below0]

If the SSD isn't listed anywhere in BIOS, either it has not been installed properly or the motherboard can't work with it.
If it can be seen in BIOS and it's settings or tests are available but windows installer cannot see it, that's a separate problem.

CSM can be used to make drives bootable but that is not causing the problem. CSM would even interfere with Win11 setup.

First please confirm the SSD drive is working properly.

 

[Robert1324]

If the SSD isn't listed anywhere in BIOS, either it has not been installed properly or the motherboard can't work with it.
If it can be seen in BIOS and it's settings or tests are available but windows installer cannot see it, that's a separate problem.

CSM can be used to make drives bootable but that is not causing the problem. CSM would even interfere with Win11 setup.

First please confirm the SSD drive is working properly.

Does what you say apply for what TerryLaze said above you as well? Should I be able to see the SSD in the bios in that case as well?
Where can I see the SSD on the bios exactly if you don’t mind walking me through it? I remember going through storage on bios settings, it showed me like 6 storage spots but none of them seemed occupied, like it didn’t have a name or something. I don’t remember exactly what it read but it looked something like this:
“Empty “
“empty”
”empty”
”empty”

 

[Robert1324]

The driver page has floppy drivers, so drivers that are supposed to be loaded from "floppy" at the point where you are choosing an installation drive.
Download and uncompress this file and copy the resulting folder to a usb drive, doesn't need to be an empty one.
On the windows drive selection there is a little icon called load driver.
Might be on a slightly different spot depending on the version of windows.
Click it and point it to the folder with the driver.

SATA Floppy Image_CC ver:9.3.0.296
https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/B450 Pro4 R2.0/index.asp#Download

Will try this as soon as possible and update you, thank you!

 

[35below0]

Does what you say apply for what TerryLaze said above you as well? Should I be able to see the SSD in the bios in that case as well?
Where can I see the SSD on the bios exactly if you don’t mind walking me through it? I remember going through storage on bios settings, it showed me like 6 storage spots but none of them seemed occupied, like it didn’t have a name or something. I don’t remember exactly what it read but it looked something like this:
“Empty “
“empty”
”empty”
”empty”

I'm not eaxctly sure as each manufacturer's BIOS is slightly different. But it should be possible to see all devices installed or plugged in, such as GPUs, UBS drives, HDDs, SSDs. Anything that you know you installed in the case and connected properly should be visible in some menu.

The menu you are refering to could be the boot menu. That will list all bootable devices, but that is not relevant when the SSD is not formatted.
Even an unformatted and unbootable SSD should be listed in some menu. Probably NVMe or M.2 or something like that.

I cannot walk you through it because i don't know the BIOS, but if you look in every menu and see all the other PC components, but not the SSD, then it is either not connected properly, broken or unsupported.
Take it step by step.

 

[CountMike]

If the SSD isn't listed anywhere in BIOS, either it has not been installed properly or the motherboard can't work with it.
If it can be seen in BIOS and it's settings or tests are available but windows installer cannot see it, that's a separate problem.

CSM can be used to make drives bootable but that is not causing the problem. CSM would even interfere with Win11 setup.

First please confirm the SSD drive is working properly.

Windows 11 do require UEFI in order to use TPM and secure BOOT.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...irements-86c11283-ea52-4782-9efd-7674389a7ba3

 

[35below0]

Windows 11 do require UEFI in order to use TPM and secure BOOT.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...irements-86c11283-ea52-4782-9efd-7674389a7ba3

That can be confusing. What CSM can do is force a device to be seen as bootable even if it isn't bootale.
CSM does not need to be enabled to install Win 10 or 11. If it's off by default i would leave it that way unless there was a reason to enable it, but it would be better to install the OS first.

TPM is required. version 2.0 for Win 11. It should be on by default.

Secure BOOT is most confusing. Win 11 requires that the motherboard has it, but it does not require that Secure BOOT is enabled. It is most likely disabled by default and should stay that way.

The cofusion between CSM and Secure BOOT is that enabling one disables the other. You cannot have both. But actually neither is required to install Win 11. As long as the motherboard supports Secure BOOT, Win 11 will happily install (assuming it does not crap out for other reasons), even if Secure BOOT is disabled.
And again, CSM is not required for Win 11.

 

[CountMike]

That can be confusing. What CSM can do is force a device to be seen as bootable even if it isn't bootale.
CSM does not need to be enabled to install Win 10 or 11. If it's off by default i would leave it that way unless there was a reason to enable it, but it would be better to install the OS first.

TPM is required. version 2.0 for Win 11. It should be on by default.

Secure BOOT is most confusing. Win 11 requires that the motherboard has it, but it does not require that Secure BOOT is enabled. It is most likely disabled by default and should stay that way.

The cofusion between CSM and Secure BOOT is that enabling one disables the other. You cannot have both. But actually neither is required to install Win 11. As long as the motherboard supports Secure BOOT, Win 11 will happily install (assuming it does not crap out for other reasons), even if Secure BOOT is disabled.
And again, CSM is not required for Win 11.

Have you seen official Microsoft minimum requirements list ?
It's not that CSM and Secure BOOT disable each other, it's SB that doesn't work in CSM/legacy mode and so is the case with TPM, all in W11 only.