Question M.2_2 Not detecting any drive

[Faulzy]

Before it got to this point I was having issues stated in my previous thread, Now I’m stuck with my M.2_2 no longer detecting drives.

Question - Constant Boot Blue Screens

PC was working fine for months, Went away for 4 weeks to visit my family and have come back to constant blue screens and unable to boot into windows. Any help getting this sorted would be greatly appreciated. List of error codes I’m getting; Memory Management IRQL Not Less Or Equal Critical...

forums.tomshardware.com

After leaving it alone and going to bed frustrated, when I woke up and started trying to get it working again the drive was detected in the bios.

Exiting the bios happy thinking my issue magically fixed itself, the system shut down then instantly started up again and the drive was once again gone. I have tried 3 different drives in the M.2_2 slot and none are picked up anymore. Even the original drive that was placed into that slot and worked fine for months.

All drives work and function properly in M.2_1. I really have no idea how this could have happened and any help trying to get to the bottom of it would greatly be appreciated.

System:
MB: MPG Z390 Gaming Plus
CPU: i9-9900KF
Memory: 2x HyperX Furry 16gb
GPU: MSI RTX 3080
PSU: Corsair RM750x
M.2_1: Crucial P5 Plus 1TB
M.2_2: WD Blue SN550 [Boot Drive w/ windows 10]
SATA1: 2TB Seagate BarraCuda SATA-III

 

[Lutfij]

PSU: Corsair RM750x
How old is the PSU in your build? What else did the unit power prior to the RTX3080?

Perhaps try and remove the RTX3080 entirely from the build, replace it with a lower TDP GPU(borrowed from a friend or neighbor) and see if the board picks up the second M.2 drive. Which port is that Seagate HDD populating? SATA1? If you have a magnifying glass or a jeweler's loupe, perhaps see if any pins/terminal/contact trace is bent or broken on M.2_2's slot.

 

[Faulzy]

PSU: Corsair RM750x
How old is the PSU in your build? What else did the unit power prior to the RTX3080?

Perhaps try and remove the RTX3080 entirely from the build, replace it with a lower TDP GPU(borrowed from a friend or neighbor) and see if the board picks up the second M.2 drive. Which port is that Seagate HDD populating? SATA1? If you have a magnifying glass or a jeweler's loupe, perhaps see if any pins/terminal/contact trace is bent or broken on M.2_2's slot.

Entire build is just under a year old and has been running fine up until now. Nothing has been run before the 3080, everything listed has been in the system since put together. HDD is populating SATA 1. In the boards manual it says it’s compatible, at least that’s what it looks like to me.

I have checked the slots and drives and see no issue with the contacts. It did pick the drive up again that one time after leaving it all night and then vanished again after the reboot.

 

[Lutfij]

^ I'd poke a guess as to the motherboard BIOS being corrupt. You tried reflashing as stated on the other thread?

 

[Faulzy]

^ I'd poke guess as to the motherboard BIOS being corrupt. You tried reflashing as stated on the other thread?

I did update it, It still don’t detect any drive in that slot. Should I try doing it again? Or would that be pointless?

 

[Lutfij]

I didn't say updating the BIOS, I meant reflashing the BIOS with the latest version. Sometimes the BIOS can get corrupt during an update process or sometimes it ends up being corrupt itself. Usually I'd have suggested a CH341A BIOS programmer but since your board is yet working(and you seem to have access to your BIOS screen) I'm suggesting a reflash of the BIOS with the latest Beta BIOS for your motherboard.

 

[Faulzy]

I didn't say updating the BIOS, I meant reflashing the BIOS with the latest version. Sometimes the BIOS can get corrupt during an update process or sometimes it ends up being corrupt itself. Usually I'd have suggested a CH341A BIOS programmer but since your board is yet working(and you seem to have access to your BIOS screen) I'm suggesting a reflash of the BIOS with the latest Beta BIOS for your motherboard.

Alright I’ll go and download the latest beta version and give it another try and see if anything changes.

 

[Faulzy]

I didn't say updating the BIOS, I meant reflashing the BIOS with the latest version. Sometimes the BIOS can get corrupt during an update process or sometimes it ends up being corrupt itself. Usually I'd have suggested a CH341A BIOS programmer but since your board is yet working(and you seem to have access to your BIOS screen) I'm suggesting a reflash of the BIOS with the latest Beta BIOS for your motherboard.

Surprise surprise, I have had the pc turned off for some hours now as I was frustrated with it not working. The drive is now there again. Should I still continue to reflash the bios?

 

[Faulzy]

I didn't say updating the BIOS, I meant reflashing the BIOS with the latest version. Sometimes the BIOS can get corrupt during an update process or sometimes it ends up being corrupt itself. Usually I'd have suggested a CH341A BIOS programmer but since your board is yet working(and you seem to have access to your BIOS screen) I'm suggesting a reflash of the BIOS with the latest Beta BIOS for your motherboard.

Reflash had no change, M.2_2 is still showing nothing connected in bios and windows.

 

[Lutfij]

The thing is, the PSU you own isn't exactly what's supposed to be powering the entire platform, rather something of higher wattage(although the unit is reliable, it lacks the wattage when the GPU has transient spikes), then again it seems to me that maybe your motherboard is what's playing tricks with you, considering no device is detected on said M.2 slot. The part that makes me think it's a PSU issue is that you can shut off your system and it comes back after a cold boot but is not there after the system has been warmed up. It might also be the drive being faulty/failing.

Possibilities...

 

[Faulzy]

The thing is, the PSU you own isn't exactly what's supposed to be powering the entire platform, rather something of higher wattage(although the unit is reliable, it lacks the wattage when the GPU has transient spikes), then again it seems to me that maybe your motherboard is what's playing tricks with you, considering no device is detected on said M.2 slot. The part that makes me think it's a PSU issue is that you can shut off your system and it comes back after a cold boot but is not there after the system has been warmed up. It might also be the drive being faulty/failing.

Possibilities...

The psu never gave me issues before this? Could this have just developed over time, I really don’t think it’s the drives as I have spare drives and none of them are detected in that slot. I really think that slot has just died on me and I’ll need to get another board.

 

[Lutfij]

A PSU that's taxed beyond it's specs can and will exhibit anomalies. First day, it'll be fine, second day little less so until one day it fails or fizzles out something in or on the build. Same thing with people who are boxers, they end up with some form of trauma or physical limitation that prevents them from activities. You should do a little digging on RTX3000 series transient spikes, if you haven't.

I really don’t think it’s the drives as I have spare drives and none of them are detected in that slot
as stated in my post above
it seems to me that maybe your motherboard is what's playing tricks with you, considering no device is detected on said M.2 slot
Hence why I think it's also a board problem(or maybe the BIOS chip needs a sterilization which the BIOS flashing program on the board is incapable of doing, as you've noticed I mentioned a BIOS programmer before).

 

[Faulzy]

A PSU that's taxed beyond it's specs can and will exhibit anomalies. First day, it'll be fine, second day little less so until one day it fails or fizzles out something in or on the build. Same thing with people who are boxers, they end up with some form of trauma or physical limitation that prevents them from activities. You should do a little digging on RTX3000 series transient spikes, if you haven't.

I really don’t think it’s the drives as I have spare drives and none of them are detected in that slot
as stated in my post above
it seems to me that maybe your motherboard is what's playing tricks with you, considering no device is detected on said M.2 slot
Hence why I think it's also a board problem(or maybe the BIOS chip needs a sterilization which the BIOS flashing program on the board is incapable of doing, as you've noticed I mentioned a BIOS programmer before).

Is it worth trying the BIOS flashing software then before going out and buying a new psu and board? If so how would I go about it.

 

[Lutfij]

Honestly that's for you to decide, right about now, I'd try everything I'd have at my disposal when it comes to personal rig troubleshooting before saying, I'm done. That's how I roll. Troubleshooting isn't about pointing a finger and then knocking the assumed culprit out of the park, it's actually a process of elimination. You go through options at your disposal until you're left with the logical conclusion and culprit to the issue.

the BIOS flashing software
It's a programming tool, costs about 10 or so USD and you will need to use a third party app. You might even need to desolder the BIOS chip from the board in order to strap it to the programmer, then resolder it to the board once you've successfully flashed it with the tool.

You stated the build is less than a year old. You should contact seller and MSI, bring them in on the matter and initiate an RMA. Unless ofc you don't have warranty on it(which is impossible since anything has at least a year of warranty when bought brand new). Please keep in mind that desoldering/resoldering anything off or on the board, courtesy of you, will void your warranty.

 

[Faulzy]

Honestly that's for you to decide, right about now, I'd try everything I'd have at my disposal when it comes to personal rig troubleshooting before saying, I'm done. That's how I roll. Troubleshooting isn't about pointing a finger and then knocking the assumed culprit out of the park, it's actually a process of elimination. You go through options at your disposal until you're left with the logical conclusion and culprit to the issue.

the BIOS flashing software
It's a programming tool, costs about 10 or so USD and you will need to use a third party app. You might even need to desolder the BIOS chip from the board in order to strap it to the programmer, then resolder it to the board once you've successfully flashed it with the tool.

You stated the build is less than a year old. You should contact seller and MSI, bring them in on the matter and initiate an RMA. Unless ofc you don't have warranty on it(which is impossible since anything has at least a year of warranty when bought brand new). Please keep in mind that desoldering/resoldering anything off or on the board, courtesy of you, will void your warranty.

I haven’t got another system to take stuff from and try, so I think I’ve pretty much tried everything I could. Unless I’ve missed something out. I’m just not sure at all on what else todo. Also just to add I did use multiple power supply calculators before getting this psu to make sure it would be ok with the build, and a lot of them said I needed around a 550-600 power supply. But I guess they don’t take into consideration the spikes you mentioned. You have anything else in mind to give a try before taking any drastic measures?

 

[Lutfij]

I've been at this thread for 1hr 24mins(on the dot now) that's what I've got now. You might want to view this;

View: https://youtu.be/wnRyyCsuHFQ


Do you even have warranty on your build? :/

 

[Faulzy]

I've been at this thread for 1hr 24mins(on the dot now) that's what I've got now. You might want to view this;

View: https://youtu.be/wnRyyCsuHFQ


Do you even have warranty on your build? :/

Alright I’ll watch that, and yeah I assume so. The warranty that comes with the components should still be valid. I’ll have to contact msi and try a board replacement.

 

[Lutfij]

I’ll have to contact msi and try a board replacement.
MSI and your seller/e-tailer/retailer. Email them both or have them in the same conversation/correspondence.

 

[Faulzy]

I’ll have to contact msi and try a board replacement.
MSI and your seller/e-tailer/retailer. Email them both.

Will do first thing in the morning, any recommendations on a psu to replace the one I have then?

 

[Colif]

You only got 4 hours sleep? and started new thread? I was going to help but I see its moved onto PSU & Motherboard. MB was obvious choice.

 

[Faulzy]

You only got 4 hours sleep? and started new thread? I was going to help but I see its moved onto PSU & Motherboard. MB was obvious choice.

No I slept for longer, we just have different time zones. I got a replacement board being sent out from MSI, So time will tell if the boards the issue. I highly do doubt it’s the gpu spiking that’s caused this, because I have never had my system turn off on me or any funky business shown in that video provided above.

 

[Colif]

PSU was one angle I hadn't thought of. if its a power thing you would think it show up elsewhere as well?

its just strange it was the same thing each time.

it works all the time when its showing, it doesn't randomly stop working if its got power?
from what i seen of power problems, the 1st thing they turn off if its a power thing is USB and then display.

This happens at boot, MB either sees drive or it doesn't. no other devices seem affected.

So no one would have turned PC on in the time you away? it was off and unplugged.

 

[Faulzy]

PSU was one angle I hadn't thought of. if its a power thing you would think it show up elsewhere as well?

its just strange it was the same thing each time.

it works all the time when its showing, it doesn't randomly stop working if its got power?
from what i seen of power problems, the 1st thing they turn off if its a power thing is USB and then display.

This happens at boot, MB either sees drive or it doesn't. no other devices seem affected.

So no one would have turned PC on in the time you away? it was off and unplugged.

Yeah it has to just be the board being defective, like you said if it truly was the PSU struggling to power the board. I would of noticed other components having issues, not just a single m.2 slot refusing to detect anything slotted. I haven’t had a single crash or anything underload, not even whilst doing benchmarks/ stress tests.

Whilst away no one would have touched it, unless someone broke in with the intent to short my pc and leave without a trace. It’s honestly the strangest issue