Can't boot win10 from M.2 NVMe without HDD plugged in.

IdontRemember · 25 Nov 2022

Hello,
I normally installed 2 win10 OSs from bootable USB key to the disk 2 and 4 (C:,G:)

Can't boot win10 from M.2 NVMe without HDD plugged in.-partitions.jpg

THE ISSUE: Both of the systems will boot only when the disk 0 HDD is plugged in. If I unplug it then they won't boot. (On my ASUS Z690 MB in BIOS only the first disk 0 (HDD) is shown in bootable devices - it was my main disk with win10 installed prior to adding ssds).

All of my other disks are M.2 NVMe SSDS and BIOS doesn't see any of them in NVMe devices nor bootable devices (tried enabling/disabling CMS and Secure boot but didn't help) .

As you can see the partition manager says that:
disk 2 (win10 C:) is boot,crash dump,basic data partition + there are 2 recovery partitions.
Why does it say on disk 4 (win10 G:) that it's only basic data partition and there is not any recovery partition created?

I just don't get why the win10 installation is so *** that it won't ask you anything about where should be the boot/recovery partitions created and does everything randomly....

So please help what should I do so that both win10 OSs on the disk 2 and disk 4 would be independently bootable?

many thanks

Try3 · 25 Nov 2022

I suggest that you make system images then
- remove the other disks then install Windows 10 on the sole remaining one, then
- restore only the C:\ drive portion of the image to the new C:\ drive of the new installation so you get back your applications & so on, then
- repeat this with only the second desired drive connected, then
- re-set up your dual booting arrangements.
And then make new system images.

Perhaps somebody will come along for you with BCD commands & partition rebuilding instructions as an alternative to my suggestion. That would be a lot less work for you.

Best of luck,
Denis

Paul Black · 25 Nov 2022

Hello @IdontRemember,
Welcome to TenForums.

For information, the issue can be caused because of the following.

Disconnect ALL Other Disks:

It is highly recommended that you disconnect [ temporarily unplug ] ALL other Disks [ HDD's/SSD's/USB's ] BEFORE installing Windows. The reasons for this are . . .

You CAN'T accidentally OVERWRITE a connected Disk.
The BOOTLOADER [ boot configuration files ] will get installed on the correct Disk [ because Windows has the tendency to install the bootloader rather randomly on ANY connected Disk ], and therefore STOP problems with booting once the installation is complete.

Once the installation is complete . . .

Check that the OS boots correctly.
Check if the boot order in the BIOS/UEFI settings are correct [ if NOT, adjust accordingly ].
Reconnect the other Disks.

EXPLANATION:

Windows uses a different partition structure for BIOS/UEFI. During the installation process, Windows asks which Disk / Partition you want to use for the Windows C:\ drive, it does NOT however, necessarily use the same Disk for the other Partitions, and can therefore incorrectly create the hidden recovery partition on ANY attached Disk.

Additionally, for BIOS, if another Disk is left attached, and at a latter stage you remove that Disk, you will find that the OS will NOT boot. If you check the BIOS, you will see that the OS has assigned the AHCI/RAID setting instead of the LEGACY setting and set it up as RAID, therefore breaking the boot process.

I hope this helps.

SIW2 · 25 Nov 2022

I would shrink disk1 partition1 ( and if it is an os disk do the same for disk2 partition1 ) from the left by about 400mb. Then create esp and msr partitions in the new 400mb unallocated space just created by the shrink. Then populate the newly created esp partition using bcdboot command.

If disk2 is only for data in spite of the label, leave it as it is and only shrink disk1 partition1.

It would need to be done from outside windows with a 3rd party partition manager. Should be fairly quick and easy.

The above is a lot quicker and less writing to disk than reinstall and image restore would be.

I use diskgenius mostly however there are others like aomei, easeus, minitool that can do the same partitioning job.

free version is fine for this kind of thing
DiskGenius: Data Recovery, Partition Manager, Backup & Disk Utilities

unplug the two disks that are not showing up beforehand to avoid any confusion.

SIW2 · 25 Nov 2022

You could have a look from outside windows by borrowing my boot media.
2261v7.iso
extract the .iso to usb stick using this

Usb7ice.zip then boot from the usb you just created and have a look. You can take screenshots if in doubt and save them to the usb stick so they can be posted up here

NavyLCDR · 25 Nov 2022

From a command prompt with admin privileges run (within your normal windows):

Code:

diskpart
select volume c
shrink desired=100
create partition efi size=100
format fs=fat32 quick
assign letter=w
exit
bcdboot C:\Windows /s W: /f UEFI
exit

Here it is on my system just now as an example:

Code:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.819]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\System32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: RAIDER

DISKPART> select volume c

Volume 3 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> shrink desired=100

DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:  100 MB

DISKPART> create partition efi size=100

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

DISKPART> format fs=fat32 quick

  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

DISKPART> assign letter=w

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\Windows\System32>bcdboot C:\Windows /s W: /f UEFI
Boot files successfully created.

C:\Windows\System32>exit

It does not require a difficult solution.

zbook · 25 Nov 2022

Please post a share link for disk management displaying all rows and columns.

For share links please use one drive, drop box, or google drive.

Run these scripts and post share links into this thread:

Tuneup plus
diskparinfo

https://www.tenforums.com/attachment...p_plus_log.bat

https://www.tenforums.com/attachment...iskparinfo.bat

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging

Megahertz · 25 Nov 2022

The boot loader for both installations are on the EFI partition on drive 0 because you didn't detach drive 0 when you were installing Win 10 on drive 2 and 4.

To build a boot loader for each drive on a EFI partition, boot each drive and follow NavyLCDR instructions.
It will shrink C: and create a 100M Fat32 EFI partition on each drive
It will create a boot loader on the EFI partition to boot Win 10 on the C: partition.

Once you created the EFI partition on each drive, disconnect drive 0 and boot drive 2 and 4. If they boot normally, delete the EFI partition on drive 0.

Each drive should have it's own Recovery partition. The Related Recovery partition also need to be checked and eventually rebuild-ed. But that is another task after you make each drive indepedent.

A correct Win 10 partitions layout should be like this:

Can't boot win10 from M.2 NVMe without HDD plugged in.-image.png

IdontRemember · 27 Nov 2022

NavyLCDR said:

From a command prompt with admin privileges run (within your normal windows):

Code:

diskpart
select volume c
shrink desired=100
create partition efi size=100
format fs=fat32 quick
assign letter=w
exit
bcdboot C:\Windows /s W: /f UEFI
exit

Here it is on my system just now as an example:

Code:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.819]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\System32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: RAIDER

DISKPART> select volume c

Volume 3 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> shrink desired=100

DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:  100 MB

DISKPART> create partition efi size=100

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

DISKPART> format fs=fat32 quick

  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

DISKPART> assign letter=w

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\Windows\System32>bcdboot C:\Windows /s W: /f UEFI
Boot files successfully created.

C:\Windows\System32>exit

It does not require a difficult solution.

Thank you this was the easiest/fastest solution. But I was not able to shrink the C: part. only the last A: so now the EFI part. in on the end of the disk and booting works.

NavyLCDR · 27 Nov 2022

IdontRemember said:

Thank you this was the easiest/fastest solution. But I was not able to shrink the C: part. only the last A: so now the EFI part. in on the end of the disk and booting works.

Good deal! Glad it worked for you. I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. principle!