Problems installing windows on a M.2 "SM951" and a Z170 Pro Gaming mobo. Help please!

[Paulsm]

Hi all,

I have honestly tried everything in order to install a windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 on the SM951 but nothing; there´s no way to make windows accept this device as my boot device.Its very frustrating.
The only thing Asus support said was "is it in the compatibility list?" (a.k.a. "I´m not going to help you at all"), quite disappointing ...

If anyone has succeeded on installing on this specific model of the Z170, please tell me how.
I will really appreciate. (I can tell you that the other Z170 mobos approach does not work)

Thanks for your help and time.
P.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Did you change the boot priorities in the BIOS?
Have you disconnected every other drive?

 

[Paulsm]

Thanks for answering.
Yes I did check the boot priorities and there are no other drives connected.
I can boot from the USB stick with the 8.1 or windows 10 "ISO" but the installer sees the disk but says "windows cannot be installed onto this disk..."
https://www.ramcity.com.au/assets/images/windows-no-install.jpg

SOS!

 

[Calvin7]

How to install Windows 7/8.1/10 on the Samsung XP941 / SM951 SSD
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-install-windows-8.1-on-the-samsung-xp941-ss/138296

The main thing is that you choose UEFI boot option. (The boot option that starts with UEFI)

 

[Paulsm]

Already tried that and no success
The "normal"approach for the Z97, Z99 and even the Z170 deluxe doesnt work
Thanks
P.

 

[Stevoa5]

I'm having the same problem with a Gigabyte Z170, so frustrating.

 

[Paulsm]

Finally found the answer (thanks to the asus support via email, chat was useless)

One of the key things is that you need to build the USB to install windows with "Rufus", as usual (or original DVD). You need to select "GPT/UEFI" AND ALSO ENSURE ITS USING FAT32.
Anything that is not FAT32 will not work.

As soon you have the USB, then you need to play with the BIOS few times:

BIOS - BOOT - CSM Mode - DISABLED
BIOS - BOOT - Secure Boot - Other OS
Boot from USB /DVD
Install Windows from a bootable USB with GPT partition scheme or from the original Windows DVD
When the system reboots for 1st time:
Go back to BIOS and Enable CSM
Change Secure Boot - Windows UEFI Mode
Select M.2 as boot device
Save and exit.

The system will keep installing and will boot from the M.2

Hope that helps.
P

 

[DonkeyOatie]

You solved your own problem and helped others too (who search and find this post) Well done.

 

[dcohn]

I have an ASUS Z-170A running Bios 1302. I was told to first update to current which I believe is 1702.
Then he said to follow these steps. I explained I had an SM-951 which was slow to boot. Once booted the system runs great, like a rocket and disk performance tests are incredible but its not right. Just feels wrong.

My question is where do I get the SM-951 Samsung driver mentioned below. I cannot find it.

From ASUS Support directly via email.
I understand that you are having issues with your NVMe configuration. Kindly follow the below steps for better performance.

Step by step prep for Windows 10 boot from NVMe
1. From Download Windows 10, use the Download Tool 64-bit link to get MediaCreationToolx64.exe
2. Insert a USB 3.0 flash drive such as the SanDisk Ultra Fit and create the bootable install media
3. insert this flash drive into one of the blue rear USB 3.0 ports of the Supermicro SYS-5028D-TN4TThe default is Legacy, change these [and BIOS boot mode] to EFI
4. power up
5. press Del to get into BIOS
6. set BIOS to defaults, reboot
7. set BIOS to UEFI mode
8. go to SATA Configuration
9. change all SSDs you have from Hard Disk Drive to Solid State Drive
10. press ESC, then select PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration
11. select M.2 PCI-E 3.0 X4, change from default [Legacy] to [EFI]
12. select SLOT 7 PCI-E 3.0 X16, change from default [Legacy] to [EFI]
13. optionally, for better speed, select Onboard Video Option ROM, change from default [Legacy] to [EFI], this allows you to do the next step
14. press ESC, select Security, select CSM Support, change from default [Legacy] to [EFI]
15. press ESC, select Boot Settings, Boot Mode Select, change from [Dual] default to [UEFI]
16. press ESC, Save Changes and Reset
17. if you have no data on any drives, your system will likely automatically boot from the USB drive (if not, press F11 at boot time to manually select USB UEFI)
18. perform a normal Windows 10 installation, you'll have a GPT drive type, and if you clone it someday to a >2TB drive, it will still be bootable
19. for this drive, the speed is slower with Windows 10's Microsoft NVMe driver, from Samsung's SSD site, download and install the Samsung NVMe Driver Installer, then reboot when prompted

Kindly let us know if the issue persists, to proceed further.

Hi all,

I have honestly tried everything in order to install a windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 on the SM951 but nothing; there´s no way to make windows accept this device as my boot device.Its very frustrating.
The only thing Asus support said was "is it in the compatibility list?" (a.k.a. "I´m not going to help you at all"), quite disappointing ...

If anyone has succeeded on installing on this specific model of the Z170, please tell me how.
I will really appreciate. (I can tell you that the other Z170 mobos approach does not work)

Thanks for your help and time.
P.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Hi. This is an old, dead, solved thread, so you are unlikely to get any answer. The best way to handle this is to start an new thread of your own and put a link to this thread in it, along with an explanation of your problem.

This site discourages Necromancy, the raising of buried threads from the dead.