[SOLVED] M.2 SATA SSD only gets recognised after rebooting from BIOS ?

[Jones Tee]

Hi, recently I decided to clean install Windows 11 since there was a problem with my power button which wasn’t working correctly and required the plug to be turn on for about 30 minutes before being able to work. Now the power button works fine, however I realised that at every cold boot, the error “Reboot and Select a proper boot device” would pop up.
With the other drives disconnected except for the boot device itself, the PC just boots directly into BIOS instead, which also signals that the M.2 SSD is not detected in the boot options for both cases.

However, after a clicked on the Save Changes & Exit option, the M.2 drive is detected without fail and Windows is able to boot from it, with or without the other drives. Thus I think that it may not be the M.2 slot having problems.

For the clean install, I made sure to disconnect all other drives, reset BIOS to default settings. Did this three times and the same occurs.

Also, I did follow the motherboard manual on which slots to insert the M.2 drive as well as the other hard drives, so there shouldn’t be any problems regarding the drive placements.

My system:
Motherboard: TUF B450M-PRO GAMING
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
GPU: ZOTAC GTX 1660 SUPER AMP
SSD: HFS128G39TND-N210A (SK HYNIX)
HDD: SeaGate 1TB & 4TB
RAM: ADATA XPG 60G 2x8GB 3200Mhz

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you
(This is my first time using the forums so please bear with me if I’m making any formatting mistakes or missing information >.<)

 

[Lutfij]

You forgot to mention the make and model of the PSU. Given the specs above, how old is the build? Which slot is your M.2 SSD populating on the motherboard? When you install or reinstall your OS, you're advised to disconnect all drives from the build except for the drive you intend to have the OS installed on.

Where did you source the installer for the OS?

 

[Jones Tee]

You forgot to mention the make and model of the PSU. Given the specs above, how old is the build? Which slot is your M.2 SSD populating on the motherboard? When you install or reinstall your OS, you're advised to disconnect all drives from the build except for the drive you intend to have the OS installed on.

Where did you source the installer for the OS?

Hi, thanks for the reply. This is a build that I made about a year ago, with the PSU being SilverStone 600W 80 Plus.

M.2 SSD is currently in the first slot which the motherboard stated that it supports SATA.

As for the clean install, I used Microsoft’s official media creation tool imported into a USB flash drive. As stated above, I did disconnect all other drives when installing the OS into the M.2 itself. By doing it thrice I meant the clean install process with the disconnecting of drives were all repeated thrice

 

[SkyNetRising]

M.2 slot is currently slotted in the first slot which the motherboard stated that it supports SATA.

Try M.2 drive in the other M.2 slot.

Note - usage of M.2 sata drive disables some sata ports.

*1 The M.2_1 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA_5/6 ports, and therefore the SATA_5/6 ports cannot be used when an M.2 device is installed.
*2 The M.2_2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA_3/4 ports, and therefore the SATA_3/4 ports cannot be used when an M.2 device is installed.

 

[Jones Tee]

Try M.2 drive in the other M.2 slot.

Note - usage of M.2 sata drive disables some sata ports.

Hi, thank you for your reply. I will try that out once I get home. But i just wanted to ask, before I reset my PC, the M.2 drive in the M.2_1 slot works perfectly fine (which was for a whole year until that power issue came about). Can a reset usually change how the slotting of drives work? Thank you!

 

[Jones Tee]

Okay, so I have tried one last time to boot Windows in the M.2_1 slot before changing it. What I have realised is that it works pretty intermittently as of now. I can get it to boot flawlessly at first, but after shutting down it redirects me to the BIOS with M.2_1 slot detected as empty and I need to click on Save Changes & Exit before getting it to detect the drive again.

And whenever that happens, Windows Event Viewer would capture that the system rebooted without cleanly shutting down, as well as the previous shutdown being unexpected.

However, a restart always detects the M.2 drive without fail.

I am going to try out with the M.2_2 slot and see if the drive is going to work properly.

 

[Jones Tee]

Try M.2 drive in the other M.2 slot.

Note - usage of M.2 sata drive disables some sata ports.

Alright, I have moved the M.2 to the other slot and it works perfectly fine. Thank you!

However, I still want to ask: why would this happen even though the M.2 in slot 1 worked perfectly fine previously before the reset? I don't really mind using the second M.2 slot for the rest of the motherboard's lifespan as I do not really have plans to upgrade my storage, but I still would like to know why so that I may be able to prevent this issue from happening again.


Also, if you don't mind answering this too...

there was a problem with my power button which wasn’t working correctly and required the plug to be turn on for about 30 minutes before being able to work.

This problem happened together with signs of the time being all the way behind for every cold boot I did (which is about a few hours since shutdown and power off). Are all those issues related to the CMOS battery itself? Because I tried the screwdriver method and couldn't work unless I waited for 30 minutes, which suggests that I feel that the power button itself is working fine. I thought the motherboard is working fine too since after clean installs the issue never happened again... until a while ago where the problem happened again for about 5 seconds before being able to boot. So my guess is that both power button and motherboard power pins are working fine as it is.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Because I tried the screwdriver method and couldn't work unless I waited for 30 minutes, which suggests that I feel that the power button itself is working fine. I thought the motherboard is working fine too since after clean installs the issue never happened again... until a while ago where the problem happened again for about 5 seconds before being able to boot. So my guess is that both power button and motherboard power pins are working fine as it is.

Suspect PSU.

 

[Jones Tee]

Suspect PSU.

I see. Thank you for your response.

Regarding the M.2 drive itself...

why would this happen even though the M.2 in slot 1 worked perfectly fine previously before the reset?

 

[SkyNetRising]

why would this happen even though the M.2 in slot 1 worked perfectly fine previously before the reset?

Not sure.
M.2_1 is is connected to CPU. There might be some firmware issue with this slot or some compatibility issue with your particular M.2 drive model.

 

[Jones Tee]

Not sure.
M.2_1 is is connected to CPU. There might be some firmware issue with this slot or some compatibility issue with your particular M.2 drive model.

I see... That's pretty bad. Nevertheless, thank you for helping me and answering my questions! I am going to test on this slot for the next couple days to see if the issue is actually fixed.

 

[Jones Tee]

Hi, I just encountered the "Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device" again, and can only boot after entering BIOS with the Save Changes & Exit command. It seems that the M.2 slot 2 has the same issue occurring as well, thus the fault likely lies in the SSD part. Is there some sort of driver that I am missing instead or is my SSD simply failing?

 

[SkyNetRising]

It seems that the M.2 slot 2 has the same issue occurring as well, thus the fault likely lies in the SSD part.

Yes - looks like that.
It's possible, SSD doesn't get detected fast enough for first boot.
Try turning off fast boot in BIOS.

 

[Jones Tee]

Yes - looks like that.
It's possible, SSD doesn't get detected fast enough for first boot.
Try turning off fast boot in BIOS.

Okay so far I have tried 2 cold boots with fast boot disabled, and they seem to be working fine for now. I will test it over a few more days to see whether it really works, and if there are any other problems I will continue to post here. Thank you!

 

[Jones Tee]

Alright, new day new update.

So from what I have noticed today morning, the boot problem seems to be fixed which is great and all, but... the power issue is back again. Back to square one.

To further elaborate on the power issue itself:

• When power grid is turned on, motherboard lights turns on, thus indicating that there is indeed power received from the PSU itself
• Computer is not able to turn on immediately. I need to wait for some time before being able to press the power button for it to work and turn on the PC
• The longer the power grid is turned off, the longer I would have to wait for the power button to work so as to start the PC up
• Power button works perfectly fine if the power grid has not yet been turned off. Whether its asleep or shutdown, as long as the power supply has not been turned off, the power button works normally
• The clock is always behind whenever this happens. Longer time the power grid is turned off means larger time difference

I remember that previously I had a week of trying out my 2nd clean install (this current one is my 4th one) and the power button works perfectly fine. The whole issue wasn't there and the time is always accurate, with the exception of the M.2 boot drive problem. Thus my guess is this:

• the PSU might be working perfectly fine
• Motherboard power pins and power button are working normally

Could it have been some drivers that is messing with the power button itself? I think that I didn't install some drivers during the 2nd clean install, and this time round I tried to update as many drivers I can.
Plus, the power issue isn't related to the M.2 drive not working properly from what I suspect, since both problems did happen yesterday together before disabling fast boot.

 

[SkyNetRising]

• Computer is not able to turn on immediately. I need to wait for some time before being able to press the power button for it to work and turn on the PC
• The longer the power grid is turned off, the longer I would have to wait for the power button to work so as to start the PC up
• Power button works perfectly fine if the power grid has not yet been turned off. Whether its asleep or shutdown, as long as the power supply has not been turned off, the power button works normally

Suspect PSU. May need to replace it.

• The clock is always behind whenever this happens. Longer time the power grid is turned off means larger time difference

Replace BIOS battery.

 

[Jones Tee]

Suspect PSU. May need to replace it.


Replace BIOS battery.

Hmm I'll try that this weekend as I don't really have the time to get a new PSU and battery for now... but then again in previous clean install the problem seems to be not there at all for the whole week?

 

[Jones Tee]

Hi, I have just replaced the PSU yesterday, but today morning the same problem happened. The power button doesn’t work until the plug has been turned on for a while. What do I do now?

I have ordered CR2032 batteries online and they should be coming soon (either today or tomorrow), so while waiting may I know if a dead battery can actually cause this problem to happen?

 

[Jones Tee]

Suspect PSU. May need to replace it.


Replace BIOS battery.

Alright so I have replaced both the PSU as well as the CMOS battery, I bought a Corsair RM650. However the power issue is still happening. What other things can I try? Hopefully I don't have to RMA anything since it will take a while, and I hope that I do not have to spend too much money...

Also, the time is still behind even after changing the CMOS battery to a new one whenever the power issue is happening.