Win 10 Pro install on NVME PCIE drive: My nightmare

Hi folks
Some devices will be detected by the BIOS but that doesn't always mean that the BIOS can boot from them. If you load a stand alone version of GPARTED check to see if the NVme device is seen -- and if it is you should set the partition flags of the partition you want to boot from to 'boot,esp' if it's a GPT device.

E.G (OK I'm using Linux) but for a GPT device you still need a small efi partition -- here I have one formatted fat32.

Partition Flags set to boot,esp.



Cheers
jimbo

The two M.2 NVME SSDs on my computer.

Disk0: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro (2TB)
Disk1: Intel 660p (2TB)

You can see how the boot drive is partitioned differently than the data drive.

Hi,
Sounds like you just need to download and put the 980 driver on a usb and point the installer to it to install the m.2 driver.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Sounds like you just need to download and put the 980 driver on a usb and point the installer to it to install the m.2 driver.

I don't understand why a driver is needed. Shouldn't Windows already have all the drivers it needs?

I built a computer back in 2017 that had a Samsung 960 EVO 500GB M.2 NVME boot drive. I had no problems with that.

Isn't the OP's motherboard from 2020?

NavyLCDR said:

I had two brand new ADATA SSDs that were bad. They would be only intermittently detected by both BIOS and Windows. Sometimes yes, sometimes not. I finally went with Samsung. While it is much less likely that the Samsung EVO SSD itself is bad, it is still a possibility. Have you tried physically removing it and re-installing it to make sure it is seated correctly?

Yes Sir, I did. I've moved the M2 PCIE drive (SAMSUNG 980 Pro) into the other slot and same results. Detected by BIOS, even possible to try to boot on it but never seen by Windows installer.
Today I will pickup a new SATA drive (SAMSUNG 870 Evo) and will continue the investigation.

MisterEd said:

I don't understand why a driver is needed. Shouldn't Windows already have all the drivers it needs?

I built a computer back in 2017 that had a Samsung 960 EVO 500GB M.2 NVME boot drive. I had no problems with that.

Isn't the OP's motherboard from 2020?

On some systems, the UEFI firmware causes trouble with disks that aren't GPT formatted. Maybe this is why the Windows installer fails to detect the disk so, by booting into WinPE first, it would then be possible to see what the DISKPART utility reports.

- - - Updated - - -

Can not install Win10 on Samsung 980 Pro / x570 xtreme : gigabytegaming

you for sure need to boot into some type of rescue os just to see if the drive shows, if the drive is in a standard nvme port intel/amd then it should show on recent windows 10 install media providing it is booting from uefi, a 3rd party driver shouldnt be needed.

The problem is you have this as your boot order.

uefi usb
nvme
usb

you dont know if its falling back to the 3rd option.

Disable all legacy boot support in the bios, then if it does successfully boot you at least know its a uefi boot.

Update:

Installed successfully Win10 on the SATA drive just bought. Straight forward installation.
So now having Win running, CSM Boot enable, the Win drive manager is able to "see" the M.2 Drive but cannot initialize it.
Windows is reporting that the device is working fine.
Samsung Magician software does not see the M" but only the SATA one.
Si I' tried to install the SAMSUNG 980 Pro firmware via the given procedure (ISO on bootable USB) but failed.

3080FE said:

Update:

Installed successfully Win10 on the SATA drive just bought. Straight forward installation.
So now having Win running, CSM Boot enable, the Win drive manager is able to "see" the M.2 Drive but cannot initialize it.
Windows is reporting that the device is working fine.
Samsung Magician software does not see the M" but only the SATA one.
Si I' tried to install the SAMSUNG 980 Pro firmware via the given procedure (ISO on bootable USB) but failed.

I just looked back at your original post. I see you put the Samsung 980 Pro in the M.2_2 slot. Had you also tried it in M.2_1?

I don't have a Samsung drive in my computer any more so I don't remember the details of the Magician software. Doesn't it have diagnostics so that you can test a Samsung SSD drive?

It looks like the Samsung 980 Pro may be bad. You might want to contact Samsung about that. The other possibility is that the problem is with your motherboard. If you get a replacement Samsung SSD and it does not work either then the problem lies with the motherboard. Then you would have to consider replacing the motherboard.

Unfortunately, nobody can tell you what to do. I am just saying what I would do. I would find the situation unacceptable and want to get to the bottom of what the problem was.

I built a computer in April 2017 that had a Samsung 960 EVO M.2 NVME for the boot drive. The motherboard was a then just released ASUS Prime X370 Pro. I had no problems installing Windows 10 on it. This was my first build with a UEFI BIOS on it so didn't even know enough to change any setting from their default values.

Install this: Downloads for Intel(R) Chipset Software Installation Utility
See if Samsung Magician software can detect the 980 Pro after that.