[SOLVED] M2 NVMe SSD sometimes disappears

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MikeKilo

MikeKilo

Oct 6, 2019
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Hello All,

I have Z370 gaming 3, with windows 10 installed on 3.5" SATA 3 SSD and additional M2 NVMe drive (Samsung MZVLW256HEHP) installed.

In some power ups, the M2 SSD does not show in the BIOS and in windows, but at some power ups it appears just fine.

It was an OS drive before, but once those issues started I re-tasked it for general, quick access SSD.

Installing it on the other available M2 slot on the MB had the same effect.

Is it faulty and needs to be replaced, or any other ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Moshe
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
When you stopped using it for an OS drive, did you delete ALL of the existing partitions on the drive, or did you ONLY format the C: partition on that drive thinking that was all you needed to do?

It would be highly recommended that you back up anything important on that drive to someplace else and in either drive management or a third party partioning management program delete every partition on that drive including the hidden partitions from when it was a Windows drive, and then create a new GPT partition using all of the available space.

If you DID delete those partitions to start with, and created one single partition covering the entire drive, then I'd try doing a hard reset of the BIOS to reset the hardware tables. Maybe there's...
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When you stopped using it for an OS drive, did you delete ALL of the existing partitions on the drive, or did you ONLY format the C: partition on that drive thinking that was all you needed to do?

It would be highly recommended that you back up anything important on that drive to someplace else and in either drive management or a third party partioning management program delete every partition on that drive including the hidden partitions from when it was a Windows drive, and then create a new GPT partition using all of the available space.

If you DID delete those partitions to start with, and created one single partition covering the entire drive, then I'd try doing a hard reset of the BIOS to reset the hardware tables. Maybe there's still a boot manager partition on that drive that needs wiped out or the record of it being on that drive in the UEFI configuration.


BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.
 
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Solution
Hi,

I deleted all the partitions with diskpart.
I just did as you say and got a BIOS message that it indeed reset itself.
Unfortunately, the system is now stuck at boot and resets itself after a timeout.
Optimal default or any other value does not help...

😳

Moshe
 
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Update - I Disconnected my M2 drive and tried to reboot - no change.
I then turned off the power supply switch and when I turned it on the system booted (without the M2 installed).

Any ideas what the $%!& is going on here?
 
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WHICH 650w Antec PSU is it? There are many. They are miles apart in terms of quality and reliability, which is WHY when it comes to power supplies, people need to stop looking at the capacity as the measuring stick and start looking at specific models. Preferably (And universally for that matter) those with REPUTABLE professional reviews of the unit like those offered on JonnyGuru, Tom's hardware, TechpowerUP and KitGuru.
 
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Not a great PSU, Channel Well technology is the OEM. Same platform as the Cooler master GM series. Very mediocre, but ok for what it is. If you have a graphics card that needs a 550w power supply it would definitely not be my first choice but it's probably much better than what is commonly available in some regions.

Probably not your issue.

If it has the same problem on both M.2 slots, it could be the drive. First, make sure you have the MOST recent motherboard BIOS version installed.
 
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The BIOS Version is quite old, the one that was supplied with the board. I will try to upgrade and see if it helps. It look like there is some kind of a race at boot, which sometimes results in a successful initialization of the drive and sometimes it misses. Very frustrating as the issue is not persistent.

Thanks for all the support!

Moshe
 
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I would recommend that you update to version F14. You do not need to worry about any other versions. It takes only the latest version to get all previous versions included.

This video is for the AB350, obviously an AMD board, but it is Gigabyte and the Q-flash procedure for updating the BIOS should be exactly the same provided you get your BIOS update image from the product page for your own motherboard. I recommend you use a flash drive just as he does in this video.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJf7KfPO5TQ
 
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Well, updating to the latest BIOS version didn't solve the issue, the NVMe SSD still isn't showing at about 1 out of 3 power ups...

I intend to buy a new NVMe SSD (probably Samsung 970 EVO Plus) on Thursday, I hope I didn't miss anything and that the new HW will solve this very annoying issue.

Thanks for all the help up until now!

Moshe

Update - I did notice something. Whenever I switch the PS off using the back switch and then on again, the SSD does show up in BIOS and windows, any idea why is that?
 
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Did you do a hard reset AFTER updating the BIOS? If you did not, then please try that.

I posted the procedure earlier. Updating is often not enough. Sometimes you have to update and THEN do a hard reset. Doesn't always work, but it works in some cases. Worth trying.
 
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Well, just or closure and for the sake of documentation in any case someone else has similar problem - I installed a new NVMe SSD and the issue appears to have been solved.

Thank you Darkbreeze for the support!
 
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THis has been hapening on my z370(same as op) also with my m.2 ssd. I found it kept happening and stoped when i updated the bios. It seems to happen only when the m.2 is under heavy load. I think its a compatiability issue with faster m.2 drives and board not keeping up so it loses it. It happened once more(really unusual heavy load i put on it) but then i noticed there was already another update for the bios like within a month since i got the did first one. Hasnt happened again. Just though this might be useful information for someone. My m.2 is the XPG SX8100.
 
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