Question SSD not detected by UEFI

[BlueCrystal]

Hello guys!

I'm having some troubles here.

I'm trying to do a fresh new install of Windows 10 on my SSD.
One important thing to note is that my Mobo has an option "Support for Windows 8/8.1" that forces me to use UEFI only. If i don't activate it, then i can use Legacy+UEFI mode.

So, when i'm in UEFI only mode (Window 8 support activated) i can install Windows 10 on my SSD, BUT, after the first restart, it doesn't work because it's not "seen" by UEFI. It simply doesn't show up in the bootable devices list (although it had been well detected by my USB Windows Installer).

However when i'm in Legacy+UEFI mode (Windows 8 support deactivated), the SSD does showup in the devices list since it's only "seen" by Legacy (it doesn't have the UEFI prefix to its name, like some other devices do), but i then can't install Windows 10 on the disk (telling me that my Mobo doesn't take it in charge -> because support is deactivated or because SSD isn't as "UEFI") or can't continue the install (for the same reasons).


So i'm a bit stuck. On one side i can install Windows but can't boot on my SSD, and on the other one i can't install it.



I've been searching for hours, seen a lot of topics similar (yet slightly different) to this, and couldn't find any answers that would solve my problem.

I have in my BIOS AHCI Sata mode activated, i'm in UEFI only and my SSD is formated and in GPT (i made sure of all of that)

I think it's also worth mentioning that the SSD is well detected by the Mobo as it shows in the list of connected SATA ports. I also tried another cable, didn't change anything, and i believe the SSD is working fine, since it has always been.

Finally, my Mobo is an MSI Z87-G45 Gaming (With latest BIOS Firmware installed from factory [v1.9]) and my SSD is a Samsung 840 Evo 120Go i belive.




I hope you guys will be able to help me out on that,
Thx in advance!

 

[kerberos_20]

if your bios sees your drive in legacy, that means ssd is using mbr partition
make sure only your ssd is connected
go full uefi again
boot your usb win install
on drive selection remove all partitions you see on your drive
than continue...it should work

 

[SchizTech]

Are you sure you booted the USB installer in UEFI mode? The installer installs Windows in the same mode it itself was booted in. When you select the flash stick in the boot menu, look for a copy marked UEFI and choose that one.

 

[BlueCrystal]

if your bios sees your drive in legacy, that means ssd is using mbr partition
make sure only your ssd is connected
go full uefi again
boot your usb win install
on drive selection remove all partitions you see on your drive
than continue...it should work

I made sure the SSD was in GPT and not MBR, both on OS (the one on my HDD) and at the "partitions part" during Windows Install. On both cases i used DISKPARTS to convert it to GPT, and verified in the SSD properties that it well was in GPT (and it was). Also, there's no already existing parts, the SSD is all unalocated space. So yeah, i already tried these steps multiple times, and it's still not being recognized by UEFI

EDIT : I still retried following what you said, but just like before, i got the same result

Are you sure you booted the USB installer in UEFI mode? The installer installs Windows in the same mode it itself was booted in. When you select the flash stick in the boot menu, look for a copy marked UEFI and choose that one.

Yes, my USB Installer is in UEFI, that's why i can install Windows on my SSD but not boot on it after the first restart, since the SSD isn't in UEFI

 

[SchizTech]

During the next installation when the installer is done copying and expanding files and restarts, unplug the flash drive at that point. If the PC gives a no boot device error there's a real problem, though I've seen PCs get their boot order confused in this situation.

In the BIOS, look for a UEFI boot priority order. Once the installer is done with the first phase there should be a "Windows boot manager" (it doesn't show the boot drive name specifically under UEFI, the Windows Boot Manager is the UEFI solution that boots the drive) you want to be top priority.

 

[BlueCrystal]

During the next installation when the installer is done copying and expanding files and restarts, unplug the flash drive at that point. If the PC gives a no boot device error there's a real problem, though I've seen PCs get their boot order confused in this situation.

In the BIOS, look for a UEFI boot priority order. Once the installer is done with the first phase there should be a "Windows boot manager" (it doesn't show the boot drive name specifically under UEFI, the Windows Boot Manager is the UEFI solution that boots the drive) you want to be top priority.

I've also tried unpluging the USB installer at first reboot, but it then simply boots on the EFI Shell which is then my only available boot option. Since my SSD isn't seen by UEFI, no matter if windows is already installed on it, i just won't be able to boot on it. I messed with the priority order for hours before realising that my SSD wasn't detected by UEFI. No Windows Boot Manager option shows up.

 

[SchizTech]

Alright. Have you tried a BIOS reset? There should be a coin cell battery on the board that can be popped out by pressing it's retention clip. Make sure the PC is without power (unplugged from the outlet) and wait a few minutes. This is meant to drain the chip that holds the BIOS settings, forcing it to revert fully to defaults (this includes time and date which will be reset to manufacturing date and need to be reset).

Is this a board you've used before? It's not a recent model so it may not be under warranty anymore.

 

[BlueCrystal]

Alright. Have you tried a BIOS reset? There should be a coin cell battery on the board that can be popped out by pressing it's retention clip. Make sure the PC is without power (unplugged from the outlet) and wait a few minutes. This is meant to drain the chip that holds the BIOS settings, forcing it to revert fully to defaults (this includes time and date which will be reset to manufacturing date and need to be reset).

Is this a board you've used before? It's not a recent model so it may not be under warranty anymore.

I also had tried resetting the BIOS the software way, and i've just tried the hardware one that you told me, doesn't work either.
And yeah, it's not under warranty anymore, i've been using it for the past 4/5 years, it has always been in this pc. I've never changed anything in the BIOS since then.

Weird thing is, at the very beginning, so 5 years ago, i had succeeded to install Windows 8 on this very same SSD and same BIOS config, but then moved it to my HDD since it was taking a huge part of my SSD and at the time i wished to use it for high demanding games. Now, that i want to install W10 on this SSD it doesn't work, although the BIOS config hasn't changed for a bit, and the only thing i've done to the SSD was putting some games on it, and then i formated it yesterday + made sure to convert it to GPT



EDIT : I have three options with "Hard Disk" in it's name. Two of them are UEFI :
- UEFI Hard Disk
- UEFI USB Hard Disk

One is Legacy :
- Hard Disk : Samsung SSD 840 EVO 120G


Only the Legacy one is the SSD. The two UEFI ones simply don't boot, even when set to first boot options when just get skipped.

 

[SchizTech]

There could be a corrupt BIOS on that board which has broken booting. One might try transplanting a drive working on a different computer (as UEFI) if just to test, though the most likely scenario you're facing is replacing the board or looking for a service that can repair the BIOS.

 

[kerberos_20]

uefi is caching boot records
u may need to clean it
sooo..since u have efi shell available
go to it
To dump a list of current boot entries:
Shell> bcfg boot dump -v

remove all one by one
To remove the 1st boot option: Shell> bcfg boot rm 0
To remove the 2nd boot option: Shell> bcfg boot rm 1
and so on

once done, power of pc, plug in ssd and boot from usb install media
try again install win now (with only ssd + usb pen)

 

[BlueCrystal]

There could be a corrupt BIOS on that board which has broken booting. One might try transplanting a drive working on a different computer (as UEFI) if just to test, though the most likely scenario you're facing is replacing the board or looking for a service that can repair the BIOS.

I can perfectly boot on my HDD though, which is detected by UEFI. Only my SSD doesn't appear in the UEFI boot devices list

uefi is caching boot records
u may need to clean it
sooo..since u have efi shell available
go to it
To dump a list of current boot entries:
Shell> bcfg boot dump -v

remove all one by one
To remove the 1st boot option: Shell> bcfg boot rm 0
To remove the 2nd boot option: Shell> bcfg boot rm 1
and so on

once done, power of pc, plug in ssd and boot from usb install media
try again install win now (with only ssd + usb pen)

Ok, i'll try that when i come back home, after work, and let you know how it goes

 

[BlueCrystal]

uefi is caching boot records
u may need to clean it
sooo..since u have efi shell available
go to it
To dump a list of current boot entries:
Shell> bcfg boot dump -v

remove all one by one
To remove the 1st boot option: Shell> bcfg boot rm 0
To remove the 2nd boot option: Shell> bcfg boot rm 1
and so on

once done, power of pc, plug in ssd and boot from usb install media
try again install win now (with only ssd + usb pen)

Ok i've just tried to do that, but it tells me that bcfg isn't recognized as an internal/external command, program or batch file, and, indeed, looking in the "help" list i couldn't find it.

I'm running on version 2.31, so bcfg should be installed, BUT it also tells me "Current running mode 1.1.2" and i don't know what that is.

My SSD is well found by the EFI Shell btw, which also shows me that it's in GPT (it seems to be counted twice though, cause i have blk0 and blk1 that are HardDisks and exactly the same except for the two last "parameters" that look like error codes (like 0x40800) and then blk2 which is a BlockDevice and that i don't know about.

Sorry for the crappy quality, i can't really get better than that

EDIT : also, i can access the EFI Shell only when i'm in "non support for Windows 8+", so in Legacy+UEFI. In the boot list, the EFI is still called "UEFI : EFi Shell " or something like that.

So it has UEFI in it's name, but doesn't appear when i'm in UEFI only

 

[BlueCrystal]

All right you know what guys, i'll just keep Windows on my HDD for now, and try to borrow an SSD from a friend to test if it works or not. If it does i'll just buy a new SSD with 1To this time and get rid of the 120Go one. I've already spent too many hours on that, and it's not worth the headache anymore.

If i somehow manage to understand and/or fix the problem i'll let you know.

Alright, thx for helping guys, have a great day!