Problem installing windows 10 on evo 850 / msi z170A

[julian.korten]

Hi all,

system specs
* Intel Core i5-6600K socket H4 (LGA1151)
* MSI GTX 970 Gaming (MS-V316)
* Motherboard MSI Z170A GAMING PRO (MS-7984)
* Samsung EVO 850 250 GB

I have a problem installing windows 10/8.1 (pro / home). After installing I get the message
"Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"

Its a fresh install, i try both
* GPT with UEFI and MBR with legacy bios, the boot priority is correct. UEFI recognizes the Samsung SSD in legacy (and UEFI) but not in UEFI only (also I converted it to GPT). For GPT i used a stick with partition scheme for uefi / gpt and for MBR i used mbr / legacy using rufus and the official win 8/win 10 iso. Also after installing using UEFI/GPT, the windows boot manager is not shown. I also tried several USB ports (2.0, 3.0, 3.1).

* I used diskpart to clean / convert the ssd.
* I tried automatic repair
* I tried RUN CHKDSK
* I tried to repair boot sector
* I tried to change to active partition using MBR
* I tried several reinstallations using different bios configs like w/o secure boot / no fast boot / Win 8.1. / 10 WHQL Support
* AHCP is active
* I updated BIOS to 7984v1E (latest version)
* I installed the SATA drivers
* I tried different SATA ports
* there is no other HDD/SSD connected

And after all that, I absolutely have no clue what the reason could be. It would be lovely if someone could give me some more ideas

thanks in advance

 

[marksavio]

you can double check with this checklist below
* use the USB UEFI installer from this site https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10
* remove all drives from the SATA ports except for your SSD
* check BIOS SATA mode is in AHCI
* check BIOS detects your Samsung SSD in your corresponding SATA port (ideally SATA_0/1)
* boot up. F8 (or F2/DEL go to bootmenu). select the USB UEFI win10 installer. run it. format the disk/delete all partitions (if its an old one). install. auto-restarts with your windows in your SSD.
* shutdown and reattach your secondary drives back to the SATA ports

if the "reboot and select proper boot device" error still occurs after the restart. try removing your USB drive and make sure the boot priority is on your SSD Windows Boot Manager partition. and reboot.

is there anything thats different or you did different?

 

[julian.korten]

you can double check with this checklist below
* use the USB UEFI installer from this site https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10
* remove all drives from the SATA ports except for your SSD
* check BIOS SATA mode is in AHCI
* check BIOS detects your Samsung SSD in your corresponding SATA port (ideally SATA_0/1)
* boot up. F8 (or F2/DEL go to bootmenu). select the USB UEFI win10 installer. run it. format the disk/delete all partitions (if its an old one). install. auto-restarts with your windows in your SSD.
* shutdown and reattach your secondary drives back to the SATA ports

is there anything thats different or you did different?

Hi marksavio,

* i used the USB UEFI version for the windows installation
* only the SSD is attached / nothing else is attached to any other SATA port
* AHCI is active (there is no IDE mode, only RAID)
* bios detects the SSD in Legacy+UEFI mode - not in UEFI mode only (it is shown to be attached on the SATA port, but you cannot choose it in the boot priority menu)
* I tried the steps you mentioned (started USB in UEFI mode, installed windows on a clean, gpt converted SSD, tried to select windows boot manager to boot, but it is missing and booting from UEFI hard disk gives me the "select proper device"- message)

 

[marksavio]

if the "reboot and select proper boot device" error still occurs after the restart. try removing your USB drive and make sure the boot priority is on your SSD Windows Boot Manager partition. and reboot.

 

[julian.korten]

In UEFI mode, there is no windows boot manager shown. The USB drive is removed, but the error still occurs.

 

[marksavio]

then what does it see there? is the sata drive detected in BIOS. you need to give us more info
have you tried disabling CSM in your Boot menu?

 

[julian.korten]

Sorry, I thought i did - as i mentioned, in UEFI mode the Samsung Evo is not shown - according to some other threads, in UEFI mode there is only "UEFI Hard Disk Windows Boot Manager" - but I am missing that. In UEFI it shows:
* UEFI Hard Disk
* UEFI CD/DVD
* ... USB key
* ... USB Floppy
* ... Network

The samsung ssd is shown under UEFI+Legacy and also under "Status" it is mentioned to be plugged onto SATA 1.

Edit: fyi there are two boot modes called "UEFI" and "UEFI+Legacy"

 

[marksavio]

okay look for the CSM. its usually enabled by default to support older OSes. disable it. and try running the windows install from scratch again. remember to delete all partitions as well from your previous attempts.

ok your BIOS is different.
i guess youve already tried this "Windows 8.1/ 10 WHQL Support" as enabled. this will set your OS to be installed as GPT. and do the shift+F10 on the first part of the installer until a command console pops up and ran the following commands below?
* diskpart
* list disk
* select disk 0
* clean

if the install doesnt work, then you will need to run some diagnostics on that drive with a different PC. you just get the magician tool and do some tests/fixes/initialisation on it. or just RMA the drive.
http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

 

[julian.korten]

Unfortunately that did not work - there is no CSM in MSI boards (i think its asus), but I think "Windows 8.1./10 WHQL Support" (1) and "Windows 7 Installation" (2) has a simular function - I tried all combinations ((1) enable/disable (2) enable/disable), but there is still no bootable device

Edit: Read your updated post - i used diskpart already. I will try your suggestion later.

Thanks so far.

 

[marksavio]

yah sorry to make you repeat what youve already done. seems you did everything right so far. hopefully that samsung drive only needs it to be initialized by the magician software for it be usable.

 

[julian.korten]

Ok, I bought an external ssd case, but unfortunately Magician does not work with external ssds. The ssd works as an external drive, I also installed the latest firmware update for the ssd from Samsung. The problem persists. Windows diagnozes (as external) shows no errors or anything else... I can read/write on the ssds with no problems - I think the weak point is not the ssds, but the BIOS which cannot find the bootloader on the ssd (or SATA ports?)

Does anyone know what I can try to figure out the problem?