M2 not showing up in BIOS (ASUS Prime Z370-A)

[whoooop]

Hello guys!

Been troubleshooting for a coupe of days with the help of different people and I haven't been able to get a Crucial MX500 ssd to be visible in the drives list nor is it visible if I try to install Windows. The drive is connected in the bottom socket of the mobo, the one beneath the aluminum plate, which I was told was the correct spot of the two included.

The drive seems to be detected by the BIOS in the SATA information area as N/A, but not on the boot priority list (as the attached image shows). I have it set as SATA mode. Also, the regular hdd and DVD drives are connected in the SATA6G_3 and 4 ports, respectively.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Barty1884]

The MX500 is a SATA based drive.
One of the M.2 slots on the board supports PCIe &/or SATA drives
The other M.2, supports only PCIe.

I'll have to check the manual for which slot is which, but I would assume you've got it connected to a PCIe only slot.

As per page 38 of the English manual found here:
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/PRIME-Z370-A/HelpDesk_Manual/



It would appear the M.2 nearest the CPU supports PCIe & SATA, the bottom slot is PCIe only.

 

[whoooop]

The MX500 is a SATA based drive.
One of the M.2 slots on the board supports PCIe &/or SATA drives
The other M.2, supports only PCIe.

I'll have to check the manual for which slot is which, but I would assume you've got it connected to a PCIe only slot.

As per page 38 of the English manual found here:
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/PRIME-Z370-A/HelpDesk_Manual/



It would appear the M.2 nearest the CPU supports PCIe & SATA, the bottom slot is PCIe only.

Hello Barty!

Are you sure the one nearest to the CPU is the correct one? According to the manual it seems to be the one at the bottom. The way it's presented in the manual seems a bit confusing because they begin the info below with illustration B instead of A.

I have it connected in the M.2_1 socket (Illustration B). Either way, I've tried both multiple times with no success.

Thanks for the quick replay, btw.

 

[Barty1884]

Looking at the manual page above, M.2_A is nearest the CPU.
The listing immediately below is just bullet points though, so I just assumed A and then B

Despite it not showing up in the BIOS, is it present as an install location for Windows? Was typical of older ASUS boards - you couldn't necessarily 'see' the drive in the BIOS, but you could install your OS to it. Then, once it was installed, "windows boot manager" was present in the BIOS.

Strange, and not 100% sure as to why..... but booting from a W10 USB might give you some insight as to whether the M.2 is truly 'detected' or not (ie if it is, it'll be available as an install destination).

 

[whoooop]

Looking at the manual page above, M.2_A is nearest the CPU.
The listing immediately below is just bullet points though, so I just assumed A and then B

Despite it not showing up in the BIOS, is it present as an install location for Windows? Was typical of older ASUS boards - you couldn't necessarily 'see' the drive in the BIOS, but you could install your OS to it. Then, once it was installed, "windows boot manager" was present in the BIOS.

Strange, and not 100% sure as to why..... but booting from a W10 USB might give you some insight as to whether the M.2 is truly 'detected' or not (ie if it is, it'll be available as an install destination).

Hello!

I tried booting Windows from USB drive and M2 isn't presented as an install location, no. Only WDC hdd.

 

[Barty1884]

In either M.2 slot?

 

[whoooop]

In either M.2 slot?

Yes! Tried both.

 

[karenjoly]

Does the drive appear in the Advanced UEFI mode under Boot ?

 

[whoooop]

Does the drive appear in the Advanced UEFI mode under Boot ?

Hello Karen!

No, it does not appear there.

 

[karenjoly]

1)Where's the kitchen sink ? Let'er go !

2)Consumer's best friend: RMA .

 

[whoooop]

1)Where's the kitchen sink ? Let'er go !

2)Consumer's best friend: RMA .

Will probably send it back to Amazon, but since it appears in SATA information (even if as N/A) and I get the following message "An M.2 SATA device has been detected in the M.2 socket. To use SATA device, please go to BIOS/Advanced/Onboard Device Configuration and switch to SATA mode" when I boot the BIOS without setting it in SATA mode, I feel like there's still probably a way to make it work since there's some detection here.

Or am I better off returning it despite of that?

Btw, here's a photo I just took of the message I get when I choose PCIE Mode. Would I get a message like that if the drive is damaged?

 

[karenjoly]

As an aside, I'm not sure why you conclude that the UEFI SATA column indicates the presence of the M2 ? While the top item does say M2_1 N/A, that M2 slot recognizes a SATA M2 drive ( at least it should) so I assume UEFI scans that port for SATA and would say N/A when no SATA drive is installed. See s 364 of the manual.

In any event, UEFI is indeed detecting a drive and pointing you to run SATA on the M2 port which you have done.
(Have you tried Auto, is UEFI uptodate, can you test the drive elsewhere, like a local shop, or test another drive, or rediscover prayer ? )

Who to blame ?

 

[whoooop]

As an aside, I'm not sure why you conclude that the UEFI SATA column indicates the presence of the M2 ? While the top item does say M2_1 N/A, that M2 slot recognizes a SATA M2 drive ( at least it should) so I assume UEFI scans that port for SATA and would say N/A when no SATA drive is installed. See s 364 of the manual.

In any event, UEFI is indeed detecting a drive and pointing you to run SATA on the M2 port which you have done.
(Have you tried Auto, is UEFI uptodate, can you test the drive elsewhere, like a local shop, or test another drive, or rediscover prayer ? )

Who to blame ?

Hello!

More than conclude, I just assumed it because, if I remember correctly, before I connected the M2 in the correct socket, the column's first item said SATA6G_1 (I may be wrong on that though), so seeing M2 there after the fact made me think that it was being detected somehow.

Anyway, I've tried AUTO already with no success and BIOS is up to date. Tomorrow a friend of mine will come to my office with a laptop to try the sdd there. That way I can make sure if it's damaged or not.

 

[karenjoly]

Well while you are waiting check out this solution: format the drive (elsewhere)

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3800843/windows-disk-management-samsung-ssd-bios-device-manager.html

 

[whoooop]

Well while you are waiting check out this solution: format the drive (elsewhere)

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3800843/windows-disk-management-samsung-ssd-bios-device-manager.html

Pardon the ignorance, but would I need to connect ssd on another machine to format it or can I do so from BIOS?

 

[karenjoly]

Better ask the user in that thread. I never heard tell of such a thing. I do note that there are format apps for usb drives but for unrecognized ssds ?