Question NVMe M.2 SSD intermittently not detected in BIOS ?

[boonhtan]

I recently built myself my first PC. The mobo is an Asrock B650M Riptide Wifi + Ryzen 7600. The SSD I had is Transcent MTE250S 4TB.
I have Win 11 in the SSD but this SSD occasionally not being detected in the bios thus wont boot into windows.
I have the latest BIOS version on the mobo, tried reseating the NVME drive, remove keyboard mouse wireless dongles.
When the NVME drive was not detected, I will power down and unplug the pc then press and hold the power button for awhile, this usually does the trick and the next boot will detect the NVME drive.
I tried reseating the RAM too. My suspicion is that the CMOS battery is bad but I dont want to replace the CMOS batttery just yet as I dont want to undo the build.
Any other suggestions on what I can try?

 

[Lafong]

Do you have the latest firmware for the SSD?

 

[boonhtan]

Do you have the latest firmware for the SSD?

I am not aware how to update the firmware. I tried SSD Scope by Transcend but there is no firmware update option.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Any other suggestions on what I can try?

Which M.2 slot did you install the drive in?
Try the other onboard M.2 slot.
Try forcing M.2 slot into PCIE 3.0 operating mode.

 

[Lafong]

SSD Scope | Software Download - Transcend Information, Inc.

Developed for use with Transcend SSD products, Transcend SSD Scope is an advanced and user-friendly software that makes it easier than ever to maintain a healthy and efficient SSD. SSD Scope brings together the latest technology in determining the condition and optimizing performance of an SSD...

us.transcend-info.com

Above link says Scope has a firmware update option.

May be incorrect, I have no idea.

If you don't have that option, it may mean there is no update available as of yet.

It's only speculation that it would help. Web search may or may not indicate Transcend drives have intermittent connectivity issues. It's a fairly common issue across multiple brands.

Did you try the drive in another port, if available?

 

[boonhtan]

Which M.2 slot did you install the drive in?
Try the other onboard M.2 slot.
Try forcing M.2 slot into PCIE 3.0 operating mode.

SSD Scope | Software Download - Transcend Information, Inc.

Developed for use with Transcend SSD products, Transcend SSD Scope is an advanced and user-friendly software that makes it easier than ever to maintain a healthy and efficient SSD. SSD Scope brings together the latest technology in determining the condition and optimizing performance of an SSD...

us.transcend-info.com

Above link says Scope has a firmware update option.

May be incorrect, I have no idea.

If you don't have that option, it may mean there is no update available as of yet.

It's only speculation that it would help. Web search may or may not indicate Transcend drives have intermittent connectivity issues. It's a fairly common issue across multiple brands.

Did you try the drive in another port, if available?

I tried on the other port, so far its been able to detect in the BIOS.
Previously, Im inserting in the Blazing M.2 slot (PCIE5) then now i switched to the Hyper M.2 slot (PCIE4). Will there be any performance hit if I insert the main boot drive into the Hyper M.2 slot?
I would prefer to use the Blazing slot with the heat sink, but seem like there is an intermittent issue detecting the drive in that slot.

 

[Lafong]

I think that Transcend is a gen 4 drive, so there wouldn't be any advantage in a gen 5 port........other than the heatsink. I'd evaluate temps and buy an aftermarket heatsink if I was concerned.

 

[boonhtan]

i tried switching from the Blazing M.2 slot to Hyper M.2 slot, and I noticed the R/W performance is reduced.
In the Blazing slot, i get 7393Mb/s for read and 6687 Mb/s for write.
In the Hyer slot, i get 4445 MB/s for read and 3709 MB/s for write.
Is there a setting in the BIOS i need to set in order to use PCIE4 for the Hyper slot?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Is there a setting in the BIOS i need to set in order to use PCIE4 for the Hyper slot?

Drive in both slots works in PCIE 4.0 mode.
Performance differences are because one slot is cpu connected,
the other slot is chipset connected.

 

[boonhtan]

Latest update. Both my M.2 intermittently wont detect the NVME drive.
Still looking for the cause of this intermittent issue...

 

[SkyNetRising]

Try forcing M.2 slot into PCIE 3.0 operation mode.
If still no luck, then replace the drive.

 

[boonhtan]

just got the NVME replaced.
Just as I thought it would fix the problem, the issue that the drive is not being detected reappears.

 

[SkyNetRising]

What model did you replace it with?
Same model?

Check drive temperatures. Your problems may be because of overheating.

 

[Maxxify]

Yeah, could be overheating, or otherwise a power issue (sleep/hibernate/fast startup).

 

[boonhtan]

What model did you replace it with?
Same model?

Check drive temperatures. Your problems may be because of overheating.

Yup same moel. I got it RMA-ed.
The temps are ok, under load around 60 degrees C

 

[boonhtan]

Yeah, could be overheating, or otherwise a power issue (sleep/hibernate/fast startup).

The temps looks good at around 60 degrees c under load.
I just do normal shut down from the start menu, not sure if there is any config to make for the shut down.

 

[Maxxify]

The temps looks good at around 60 degrees c under load.
I just do normal shut down from the start menu, not sure if there is any config to make for the shut down.

The Fast Startup feature in Windows is a form of hibernate and potentially a drive won't wake properly, so you can check that.