Can't enable Ultrafast Boot in the BIOS, can't disable CSM in Boot

Genova · 11 Apr 2021

I have just finished installing everything on my new system and realized that I can't enable Ultrafast Boot in the BIOS. Every time I enable it, it reverts to disabled.

I'm using an NVM.e m.2 SSD (SK Hynix P31 Gold 1TB). Everything was set to UEFI during the installation process, but I did not have CSM disabled before I installed the operating system, which is Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. I think perhaps part of the problem was that I used a very old graphics card during the installation (nVidia 9800GT), as my processor has no integrated graphics, and I had not yet moved my normal GPU into my new system. But I was able to navigate the UEFI BIOS during the initial BIOS check, so that's probably not it.

Now I have my more recent GPU attached and trying to enable UltraFast Boot in the ASRock Z590 Steel Legend 6E WiFi motherboard, but it's not working. Trying to disable CSM doesn't work--it keeps auto-reverting to enabled. Although CSM is effectively disabled, since "Launch Storage OpROM Policy" setting is UEFI Only.

Trying to enable Ultrafast Boot doesn't work: it keeps auto-reverting to disabled.

For reference, I'm using that m.2 SSD as my main drive and 1 WD Black 6TB WD6001FZWX storage HDD. I did not have the HDD connected when I did the Windows install--only the SSD.

Isn't there Anything I can do about this without doing a complete reinstall? I've now installed so much software with activation codes, it's a major headache to do a complete reinstall.

Megahertz · 11 Apr 2021

Did you boot the installation drive as UEFI?

Lets see if tour drive is Legacy-MBR or EFI-GPT
Open a CMD window as administrator and type
diskpart
list disk
exit

Do you have a * on the GPT column?

Ultra fast boot BIOS setting will disable USB BIOS drivers to make it some seconds faster.
You may need to reset BIOS to enter BIOS or boot into Recovery environment. Don't think it worth for what it gives on a NVMe drive.

Genova · 11 Apr 2021

Thank you for replying!
Yes, both disks are listed as GPT.

I now think perhaps the problem is my graphics card. It does not have a UEFI-compatible vBIOS. I'm trying to see if I can get one. Would the motherboard BIOS see that the vBIOS is not compatible and reset to non-fast boot?

My motherboard has a utility to boot into BIOS from Windows (ASRock Restart to UEFI)

joeandmarg0 · 12 Apr 2021

When you ---save and exit---the change made in the bios,do you immediately restart the pc?

Genova · 12 Apr 2021

joeandmarg0 said:

When you ---save and exit---the change made in the bios,do you immediately restart the pc?

Yes, isn't that the only way? When saving and exiting the BIOS, the computer ends up auto-restarting. I hear the PSU click, lights turn off, then the system reboots past the BIOS into Windows. I can see the Fast Boot did not stick, because the BIOS diagnostic screens still happen, and when I go back into the BIOS, the setting is Disabled.

sygnus21 · 12 Apr 2021

Genova said:

I now think perhaps the problem is my graphics card. It does not have a UEFI-compatible vBIOS. I'm trying to see if I can get one.

Been there done that. Yes, if your GPU doesn't support UEFI (under a UEFI BIOS), CSM will have to be enabled or else the GPU won't function (output video).

I found this out when I was trying to enable Secure Boot, which requires CSM to be disabled. Turns out I couldn't disable CSM because my old Sapphire (AMD) Radeon R9, which had a BIOS issue that didn't allow the card to be detected as UEFI compatible, would cease to work with CSM disabled. The short of the ordeal is that Sapphire (AMD) had to issue a corrective BIOS to fix this issue.

There was a huge thread about the issue a few year back - here's one of my posts on the issue at overclock.net in the AMD GPU forum. Here's another post after Sapphire issued me the BIOS update.

So yeah, if you card isn't UEFI compatible (under a UEFI BIOS), then you can't disable CSM without disabling the GPU (no video output).

All that said, in this day and age today's GPU's should be UEFI compatible. Some will even mention it on the label, but this is old news now so...

Anyway, what card do you have? Have you looked into a GPU BIOS update?

zbook · 12 Apr 2021

Genova said:

Thank you for replying!
Yes, both disks are listed as GPT.

I now think perhaps the problem is my graphics card. It does not have a UEFI-compatible vBIOS. I'm trying to see if I can get one. Would the motherboard BIOS see that the vBIOS is not compatible and reset to non-fast boot?

My motherboard has a utility to boot into BIOS from Windows (ASRock Restart to UEFI)

According to this tutorial there are GPU requirements for ultrafast boot:
Enable or Disable Fast Boot in UEFI Firmware Settings for Windows

Code:

Your graphics card VBIOS must support UEFI GOP. 
If it doesn't, then check with the manufacturer to see if they may have a firmware available 
to flash the VBIOS with to add support.

Genova · 12 Apr 2021

Thanks everyone--I guess it's my graphics card that's at fault. No UEFI-compatible vBIOS, and I've just received a response from its manufacturer tech support. They said there's no vBIOS version available to support UEFI.

Ultra-fast Boot is going to have to wait until I can get a modern graphics card :)

sygnus21 · 12 Apr 2021

Genova said:

Thanks everyone--I guess it's my graphics card that's at fault. No UEFI-compatible vBIOS, and I've just received a response from its manufacturer tech support. They said there's no vBIOS version available to support UEFI.

Again... what graphics card do you have???

Also what motherboard do you have?

Genova · 12 Apr 2021

MSI Lightning R9 290X at the moment or PNY GTX 660 Ti.
My motherboard is listed in the first post, it's an ASRock Z590 series (Steel Legend).