[SOLVED] NVMe drives not recognized in BIOS

[marshallmorriss]

Hi everyone! I have added a PCIe expansion card with four NVME drives to my pc but only two of them are recognized in bios. Someone on the net has advised me to update the motherboard driver but that didn’t solve the problem. I have SSDs of different makes and capacities. Can this cause such a problem?

My expansion card:
https://primebuy.com/product/asus-hyper-m-2-x16-cardv2-hyper-m-2-x16-pcie-3-0-x4-expansion-card

2x Samsung SSDs:
https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...drives/ssd-970-evo-nvme-m2-500gb-mz-v7e500bw/

2x Crucial SSDs:
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-250GB-NAND-NVMe-2400MB/dp/B086BKGSC1

 

[4745454b]

Is it always the same two? Does moving the drives around change this?

 

[marshallmorriss]

SSDs from only two ports are detected (whatever drive is installed). However, when I install only one SSD, it is recognized in any of the four ports.

 

[kanewolf]

SSDs from only two ports are detected (whatever drive is installed). However, when I install only one SSD, it is recognized in any of the four ports.

My first guess is that you don't have a full x16 interface. The drives are probably mapped to four PCIe lanes each. For four drives you would need a FULL x16 electrical interface. If you have a desktop motherboard, you probably only have an x8 interface because you are sharing PCIe with the graphics card.

 

[4745454b]

I would look into any software that came with the housing. You might be able to map or change things so that it supports 4 drives.

 

[marshallmorriss]

My first guess is that you don't have a full x16 interface. The drives are probably mapped to four PCIe lanes each. For four drives you would need a FULL x16 electrical interface. If you have a desktop motherboard, you probably only have an x8 interface because you are sharing PCIe with the graphics card.

According to the specs, Hyper M.2 X16 is compatible with both x8 and x16 slots. Won't that work?

 

[marshallmorriss]

I would look into any software that came with the housing.

Hyper M.2 X16 comes with no software. As the manufacturer states, everything you need to do is to install it and then the drives will be detected in bios.

 

[kanewolf]

According to the specs, Hyper M.2 X16 is compatible with both x8 and x16 slots. Won't that work?

What motherboard and whicch slot are you trying to us this with?

 

[4745454b]

The card came with no config software? You said using them one at a time works, so we know the drives are good. I was aiming even if in an 8x slut or would know how to auto config so 4 drives would work. There could be an issue with not enough pcie lanes to go around. But i don't have any experience with that card.

 

[marshallmorriss]

What motherboard and whicch slot are you trying to us this with?

I have Rog Strix Z370-E Gaming and put the card in the top slot. However changing the slots makes not much difference

 

[kanewolf]

I have Rog Strix Z370-E Gaming and put the card in the top slot. However changing the slots makes not much difference

Just to make sure I understand which slot you are talking about, do you mean closest to the CPU or closest to the edge of the motherboard.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have Rog Strix Z370-E Gaming and put the card in the top slot. However changing the slots makes not much difference

Are you using a discrete graphics card?
If you put graphics card into second PCIE x16 slot, then first PCIE x16 slot switches into x8 operating mode.
You can put graphics card into third PCIE x16 slot only (x4 operating mode).

 

[marshallmorriss]

Just to make sure I understand which slot you are talking about, do you mean closest to the CPU or closest to the edge of the motherboard.

Closest to the CPU

 

[kanewolf]

Closest to the CPU

That should have an x8 interface. I have not explanation, since I have no experience with that specific type of card.