M.2 Drive unique problem (seemingly)

[gamerstudent]

Hello,

I bought a new PC. Wanted to do a clean install using USB Windows installer software. I have now tried this with Win 10 as well with the same results.

My M.2 is seen in the bios as an nvme-device, but it is not bootable if CSM is disabled. Enabling CSM makes M.2 bootable but causes an error on a black screen essentially telling me to provide a bootable device and press a key.

I have EFI\Boot etc. in the fat 32 partition of my M.2, but it is not recognized in bios?

I have Asus Crosshair X670E, AMD 7950X3D.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Should i just buy a new ssd/m.2?

Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is the currently installed BIOS version?

Also, you do NOT need, nor do you really even WANT, there to be any existing partitions once you click install on the "where do you want to install Windows" window. And, Windows has been NTFS for MANY years, so you would not want to try and install it to any FAT partition anyhow.

What you WANT to do, once you get to the "where do you want to install Windows" window is choose the "Custom" option, then delete ALL existing partitions on THAT specific drive. For this reason it's a good idea to make sure there are NO other drives attached to the system while installing Windows except the drive you are installing TO and the drive (Generally a USB flash drive these days) you are installing FROM. Once you delete all the existing partitions on the target drive, click next. Windows will automatically create ALL required partitions and perform any required formatting. You do not need to do it manually, nor should you.

But first thing is making sure your BIOS is the latest stable release. Often, this is ALL that is required to resolve M.2 drive issues. However, what is the model of your drive and what other drives are attached to the system, and exactly what headers are they attached to?

Also, if you disable CSM I am pretty sure, especially for Windows 11, you need to also ENABLE Secure boot and for 11 you'll need to make sure that fTPM is enabled in the BIOS unless you have an actual TPM 2.0 add in device installed.

 

[gamerstudent]

What is the currently installed BIOS version?

Also, you do NOT need, nor do you really even WANT, there to be any existing partitions once you click install on the "where do you want to install Windows" window. And, Windows has been NTFS for MANY years, so you would not want to try and install it to any FAT partition anyhow.

What you WANT to do, once you get to the "where do you want to install Windows" window is choose the "Custom" option, then delete ALL existing partitions on THAT specific drive. For this reason it's a good idea to make sure there are NO other drives attached to the system while installing Windows except the drive you are installing TO and the drive (Generally a USB flash drive these days) you are installing FROM. Once you delete all the existing partitions on the target drive, click next. Windows will automatically create ALL required partitions and perform any required formatting. You do not need to do it manually, nor should you.

But first thing is making sure your BIOS is the latest stable release. Often, this is ALL that is required to resolve M.2 drive issues. However, what is the model of your drive and what other drives are attached to the system, and exactly what headers are they attached to?

Also, if you disable CSM I am pretty sure, especially for Windows 11, you need to also ENABLE Secure boot and for 11 you'll need to make sure that fTPM is enabled in the BIOS unless you have an actual TPM 2.0 add in device installed.

Thank you for your answer. In my desperation I bought a new M.2 -drive yesterday and LORD BEHOLD it worked. I did the exact same steps as with the first M.2 and it just worked the first time. My old M.2 was Samsung EVO 970 1Tb and the new one is Samsung EVO Pro 2Tb. I find it hard to believe that my old M.2 was somehow corrupt/broken as it works just fine in normal use and was perfectly recognized in the bios, but not bootable. Strange... Of all the possible common answers to my problem, I could have never believed that it was a faulty/incompatible M.2.

I want to thank you for taking your time to answer @Darkbreeze.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, at least you resolved the issue. Good luck gs.