[SOLVED] Samsung 980 Pro NVMe M.2 shows in BIOS but as unknown in Device manager

Feb 28, 2021
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Parts list:
  • Asus Z97 Deluxe
  • i7-4790K
  • Win 7 64-bit
  • Samsung 960 EVO NVMe 250GB
  • Samsung 980 PRO NVMe 1Tb
  • Samsung 850 PRO SSD 256GB
  • WD 6tb 7200rpm
  • Samsung 1tb 7200 rpm
I have WIN7 running on the 960 EVO NVMe. I bought the 980 PRO NVMe 1TB to replace it.
I have WIN7 installed on the 850 PRO and after swapping the NVMe drives, I planned to install WIN 10 on the new one. However, the drive in Device manager shows up as an unknown PCI device. I remember for the 960 EVO, I had to download a driver from Samsung to get it to work, but afaict there aren't any drivers for the 980 PRO to download.

Also, I can see the 980 PRO in BIOS, where it shows up in the NVMe section but that's the only place I can see it. Since it is showing up there, I don't think the drive is faulty, but I don't know if there are any next steps I can try.

Is it a driver issue? Or has someone else run into this and resolved it somehow? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

What I've tried so far:
  • I've tried uninstalling the Standard AHCI ATA Controllers in device manager to no effect.
  • I've tried enabling/disabling CSM in BIOS to no effect
  • I've tried removing all drives except the 980 PRO and booted with a WIN7 thumb drive, but it doesn't show up
  • I've tried uninstalling the unknown PCI in device manager to no effect
  • I've tried directing Device Manager to the 960 EVO driver folder for the unknown PCI to no effect
  • I've checked Samsung site for drivers for 980 and it doesn't appear to have any
  • In latest versions of both Samsung Magician and Migration tool, the 980 PRO doesn't show up
 
Solution
Parts list:
  • Asus Z97 Deluxe
  • i7-4790K
  • Win 7 64-bit
  • Samsung 960 EVO NVMe 250GB
  • Samsung 980 PRO NVMe 1Tb
  • Samsung 850 PRO SSD 256GB
  • WD 6tb 7200rpm
  • Samsung 1tb 7200 rpm
I have WIN7 running on the 960 EVO NVMe. I bought the 980 PRO NVMe 1TB to replace it.
I have WIN7 installed on the 850 PRO and after swapping the NVMe drives, I planned to install WIN 10 on the new one. However, the drive in Device manager shows up as an unknown PCI device. I remember for the 960 EVO, I had to download a driver from Samsung to get it to work, but afaict there aren't any drivers for the 980 PRO to download.

Also, I can see the 980 PRO in BIOS, where it shows up in the NVMe section but that's the only place I can see it...
I think I read the Z97's M.2 NVME slot was limited to just 10 GB/sec, vice the 32 Gb/sec in a PCI-e 3.0 x4 connection, or, twice that again on a PCI-e 4.0 x4 lanes slot...

I'd suspect this is a WIn7 issue...(even if you get it to work, you'd be limited to about 1100 MB/sec? In an adapter card, it might work as 4x PCI-e 3.0 lanes, but, perhaps not be bootable? not sure on that)

(You can always make a Win10 installation USB flash drive, and, see if it shows up there as a viable destination for install just as a test)
 
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Reactions: GameDad
Parts list:
  • Asus Z97 Deluxe
  • i7-4790K
  • Win 7 64-bit
  • Samsung 960 EVO NVMe 250GB
  • Samsung 980 PRO NVMe 1Tb
  • Samsung 850 PRO SSD 256GB
  • WD 6tb 7200rpm
  • Samsung 1tb 7200 rpm
I have WIN7 running on the 960 EVO NVMe. I bought the 980 PRO NVMe 1TB to replace it.
I have WIN7 installed on the 850 PRO and after swapping the NVMe drives, I planned to install WIN 10 on the new one. However, the drive in Device manager shows up as an unknown PCI device. I remember for the 960 EVO, I had to download a driver from Samsung to get it to work, but afaict there aren't any drivers for the 980 PRO to download.

Also, I can see the 980 PRO in BIOS, where it shows up in the NVMe section but that's the only place I can see it. Since it is showing up there, I don't think the drive is faulty, but I don't know if there are any next steps I can try.

Is it a driver issue? Or has someone else run into this and resolved it somehow? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

What I've tried so far:
  • I've tried uninstalling the Standard AHCI ATA Controllers in device manager to no effect.
  • I've tried enabling/disabling CSM in BIOS to no effect
  • I've tried removing all drives except the 980 PRO and booted with a WIN7 thumb drive, but it doesn't show up
  • I've tried uninstalling the unknown PCI in device manager to no effect
  • I've tried directing Device Manager to the 960 EVO driver folder for the unknown PCI to no effect
  • I've checked Samsung site for drivers for 980 and it doesn't appear to have any
  • In latest versions of both Samsung Magician and Migration tool, the 980 PRO doesn't show up
Create the w10 install media on an usb stick.
Unplug all disk except the 980.
Boot the flash drive............does it see the 980?
 
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Reactions: GameDad
Solution
Feb 28, 2021
2
0
10
Create the w10 install media on an usb stick.
Unplug all disk except the 980.
Boot the flash drive............does it see the 980?

I tried this last night and was able to see the 980 during the install flow. I created a new partition, formatted it and attempted an install of WIN 10 but kept getting a 0x80300024 error. Got frustrated and went to bed.

Tried again today. Deleted the old partition, created a new one and formatted and for some reason it installed today!

Then I got BSOD (0xc000000e) upon rebooting and had to trouble shoot that for a while (eventually after a number of reboots, a disk scan option appeared and it was able to fix whatever issues it was finding). It seems to be working now (I hope).

Hopped back into WIN7 to update here. I'm still not able to see the 980 NVMe in device manager, so this seems to be some kind of issue specific to WIN 7 rather than the 980 NVMe device itself.

The BSOD issues do give me pause though and I think I will preserve my 960 EVO WIN7 install just in case the WIN10 BSOD issues on the 980 persist and eventually make it unusable. (Unfortunate for me that the Z97 board only has one slot for NVMe drives - maybe it'll be time to upgrade sooner than I was planning)

Thanks guys for the suggestions.
 
Apr 11, 2021
3
0
10
Hiya. I had an almost identical problem (but with the 980, not PRO). Resolved the issue of Windows not recognising it by downloading two hotfixes that were no longer available from Microsoft. My thread and hotfix links can be found here!