[SOLVED] M.2 disks recognized in BIOS but wont let me boot

[KOTEHOK]

I have recently upgraded to a ROG strix B360-F gaming motherboard, and i have also upgraded other components. I have also bought the
Kingston A2000 500GB NVMe M.2 SSD as an upgrade to my now very slow HDD's. I want to install windows onto this M.2 and boot from it, but as stated, it wont let me even try to boot from the M.2, i have looked all around the internet but found nothing, and by my (quite bad, but still) research it should work since the motherboard supports NVMe.

i need help please.
sorry for sub par english.

 

[Ralston18]

Look in the motherboard's User Guide/Manual. There should be a section about installing the M.2 and how SATA port assignments are affected.

Check what SATA ports are being used: M.2, HDD, Optical drive, etc..

Make sure that the HDD's are not connected to a SATA port that is "taken over" when M.2 is used.

 

[KOTEHOK]

Look in the motherboard's User Guide/Manual. There should be a section about installing the M.2 and how SATA port assignments are affected.

Check what SATA ports are being used: M.2, HDD, Optical drive, etc..

Make sure that the HDD's are not connected to a SATA port that is "taken over" when M.2 is used.

I can find the guide for a physical install of the M.2 drive, but cant find any info about this exact problem, i can check the online manual if i can find it.

EDIT: after looking in both the manual and the bios manual (to check for settings i need to change) i found nothing that could mean it "overlaps". (also, i am able to boot from my hdd, but cant find the m.2 as another bootable device)

 

[Calvin7]

Only one M.2 connector has PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode, the other is half that speed.

Connect only the M.2 drive as the only storage drive.

BIOS changes:
CSM (Compatibility Support Module) - set to [DISABLED].

1. Go to Microsoft and download the latest Windows 10 ISO.
2. Have a small USB flash drive available

Along with 1+2 above, go to Rufus and make a UEFI Windows 10 installation media flash drive with their program.
Rufus

Insert the flash drive and reboot to install Windows 10.

 

[KOTEHOK]

Only one M.2 connector has PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode, the other is half that speed.

Connect only the M.2 drive as the only storage drive.

BIOS changes:
CSM (Compatibility Support Module) - set to [DISABLED].

1. Go to Microsoft and download the latest Windows 10 ISO.
2. Have a small USB flash drive available

Along with 1+2 above, go to Rufus and make a UEFI Windows 10 installation media flash drive with their program.
Rufus

Insert the flash drive and reboot to install Windows 10.

I have connected the M.2 to the 4x drive, and will try the solution tomorrow, thank you very much! i assume i have to make the windows ISO and rufus UEFI before disconnecting the other drives (obviously).

EDIT: This worked! after booting from the flash drive i only had to delete two partitions to be able to install!
Thank you very much!

 

[Ralston18]

Does the following link present the Guide that you are using?

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...28.1870564197.1579127401-453788094.1569978805

Per Page 1-18 (provided I have found the applicable Motherboard User Manual) which socket are you using?

And doublecheck the Onboard Devices Configuration ( Section 3.6.7) Page 3-14.

 

[KOTEHOK]

Does the following link present the Guide that you are using?

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...28.1870564197.1579127401-453788094.1569978805

Per Page 1-18 (provided I have found the applicable Motherboard User Manual) which socket are you using?

And doublecheck the Onboard Devices Configuration ( Section 3.6.7) Page 3-14.

I am using the second (4x) socket and have set the bios to what i think would keep it from being disabled, and i can access the drive (putting files into it and it is visible in "my computer").
And yes, that is the manual i have in paper (or at least one that looks very like that one)

Sorry for the late reply! Im probably in a diffrent timezone.

EDIT: Section 3.6.7 mentions M.2_1 but not M.2_2 which is the socket i used.

 

[Ralston18]

No problem per se with being in a different time zone.

Or replying "late" in any case.

Tom's Hardware is world wide.....

The other issue is or may be just simply poor documentation. I.e., M.2_1 vs M.2_2.

Details matter and it often seems that the details are left to the end user community to figure out.

Reading back: slow HDD's.

What make and model HDD's? How many and in what configuration?

 

[KOTEHOK]

No problem per se with being in a different time zone.

Or replying "late" in any case.

Tom's Hardware is world wide.....

The other issue is or may be just simply poor documentation. I.e., M.2_1 vs M.2_2.

Details matter and it often seems that the details are left to the end user community to figure out.

Reading back: slow HDD's.

What make and model HDD's? How many and in what configuration?

I have https://www.hdsentinel.com/storageinfo_details.php?lang=en&model=HITACHI HDS721010CLA632 <-- this as my boot drive (i belive) and in the first SATA slot and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-ST1000DM003-inch-Barracuda-Drive/dp/B005T3GRNW in the second slot. I also have a optical drive in the third slot. These are very full and old (both around 7-8 years old).

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Ralston18]

Run Seagate's Sea Tools utility on Seagate Drive and Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test on the Hitachi drive.

Do remember that anything you do could cause further failure and data loss.

Back up as necessary and verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.

"Very full" can be quite problematic: I generally do not allow any given drive to get much beyond 70% - 80% full. That is just me.

Problems often start around 85% or so and 95% can be quite crippling.

If the drives are full/fragmented you could run utility software to clean and defrag.

I would start with Windows Disk Cleanup followed by a disk defrag (HDD's only).

Again, be sure you have backed up the data. Do so even if the process is slow....

See if you can regain any performance with respect to the old HDD's. And start considering replacing them.

 

[KOTEHOK]

Run Seagate's Sea Tools utility on Seagate Drive and Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test on the Hitachi drive.

Do remember that anything you do could cause further failure and data loss.

Back up as necessary and verify that the backups are recoverable and readable.

"Very full" can be quite problematic: I generally do not allow any given drive to get much beyond 70% - 80% full. That is just me.

Problems often start around 85% or so and 95% can be quite crippling.

If the drives are full/fragmented you could run utility software to clean and defrag.

I would start with Windows Disk Cleanup followed by a disk defrag (HDD's only).

Again, be sure you have backed up the data. Do so even if the process is slow....

See if you can regain any performance with respect to the old HDD's. And start considering replacing them.

I have now managed to boot from the drive and i have installed windows on the new M.2 drive. But thank you anyways for the replies! It works perfectly and i guess the BIOS just didnt want to let me boot, but after using the rufus program to make my USB stick bootable and since windows recognized it earlier, i guess the boot-windows also would. and suprisingly enough after installing it the BIOS also recognized it as a valid boot drive for some reason (???). but hey, i'm not complaining.

Again, thank you for the replies!