Don't understand why I can't initialize SSD i installed via adapter

[SaintIvaldi]

I recently installed a NVME M.2 expansion card with a 2tb 970 evo plus. but when I go to initialize I get this error.
motherboard is x370 msi gaming plus
the lone m.2 slot is ooccupied
 

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

Just to confirm, you are seeing the drive in Disk Management to try and initialize the drive? Also, what slot's it in on the board? Some NVMe drives are incredibly picky about 100% being in a PCIe Gen 3.0+ slot, which is technically the requirement for NVMe anyway. Bunch of slots on that board are PCIe 2.0.

[An0maly_76]

I second @SlayerOfHellWyrm. Lots of older boards that came out around the time PCIe3 was released don't necessarily have it. Also, what's the processor? This board has an M.2 slot, so I presume this is for aux storage or dual boot, but certain processors prior to certain architecture can't boot from a PCIe arrangement like this. For Intel, it's 2nd-gen Core i3/5/7 and older, not sure about Ryzen.

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

2 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

I second @SlayerOfHellWyrm. Lots of older boards that came out around the time PCIe3 was released don't necessarily have it. Also, what's the processor? If you're planning to boot, processors prior to certain architectures can't do that. With Intel, I believe either the starting point was third-gen, or it was the cutoff point at which they couldn't do it yet. Not sure which Ryzens can and can't.

So, NVMe booting requires UEFI based on 2.3.1 or later, which is most systems post 2012. That being said, you need to have the system in UEFI mode, a supported OS (Windows 7 needs a hotfix/extra drivers and has limited compatibility, Windows XP and older is unsupported), you need a PCIe Gen 3.0 or newer slot, your BIOS needs to have an NVMe boot module in it (not all do), and for chips any Ryzen chip works and for Intel it is anything supported by a Z-series chipset that Z97 or newer. Some Server-side C-series chips support it, but you NEED to talk with the manufacturer of the board to be certain. 

Granted, none of that really matters for a supplemental data driver. Only the PCIe Gen, and supported OS matters at that point.

[SaintIvaldi]

18 hours ago, SlayerOfHellWyrm said:

So, NVMe booting requires UEFI based on 2.3.1 or later, which is most systems post 2012. That being said, you need to have the system in UEFI mode, a supported OS (Windows 7 needs a hotfix/extra drivers and has limited compatibility, Windows XP and older is unsupported), you need a PCIe Gen 3.0 or newer slot, your BIOS needs to have an NVMe boot module in it (not all do), and for chips any Ryzen chip works and for Intel it is anything supported by a Z-series chipset that Z97 or newer. Some Server-side C-series chips support it, but you NEED to talk with the manufacturer of the board to be certain. 

Granted, none of that really matters for a supplemental data driver. Only the PCIe Gen, and supported OS matters at that point.

My pc specs are
8700k
1080ti
MSI gaming plus x370
1 tb WD M,2
1tb SATA ssd
650 gold + psu

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

3 hours ago, SaintIvaldi said:

My pc specs are
8700k
1080ti
MSI gaming plus x370
1 tb WD M,2
1tb SATA ssd
650 gold + psu

So, that's not possible. 8700K = Intel CPU and the board's AMD X370 which is for AMD Ryzen chips... 

[SaintIvaldi]

17 hours ago, SlayerOfHellWyrm said:

So, that's not possible. 8700K = Intel CPU and the board's AMD X370 which is for AMD Ryzen chips... 

Apologies, I was very tired when writing these.
I have an 
msi gaming plus z370
32gb 3200 ram
650 psu
1080ti
i7-8700k

 

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

34 minutes ago, SaintIvaldi said:

Apologies, I was very tired when writing these.
I have an 
msi gaming plus z370
32gb 3200 ram
650 psu
1080ti
i7-8700k

 

I assume you have this in slot PCI_E4? What colour tis the LED for that slot? For reference, manual page 38:

 If it's white, it's possible it's operating in PCIe x1 mode for some reason, instead of x4, x8, or x16. In which case, poke around in the BIOS to find the speed, and make sure it's at x4 or higher. Outside of that, please confirm if the drive's being seen in Disk Management.

[SaintIvaldi]

46 minutes ago, SlayerOfHellWyrm said:

I assume you have this in slot PCI_E4? What colour tis the LED for that slot? For reference, manual page 38:

 If it's white, it's possible it's operating in PCIe x1 mode for some reason, instead of x4, x8, or x16. In which case, poke around in the BIOS to find the speed, and make sure it's at x4 or higher. Outside of that, please confirm if the drive's being seen in Disk Management.

It is white, the adapter is in PCI_E4
The disk WAS showing up with the error "A DEVICE WHICH DOES NOT EXIST WAS SPECIFIED"
But now nothing shows up, I've tried reseating the adapter and the ssd and to no avail
Could it be the adapter that's the issue?

[SlayerOfHellWyrm]

8 minutes ago, SaintIvaldi said:

It is white, the adapter is in PCI_E4
The disk WAS showing up with the error "A DEVICE WHICH DOES NOT EXIST WAS SPECIFIED"
But now nothing shows up, I've tried reseating the adapter and the ssd and to no avail
Could it be the adapter that's the issue?

Possibly. You aren't making the mistake of confusing M.2 SAT and M.2 PCIe which a lot of folks do, and would certainly cause the issue. If the slot's at x1, that's also an issue. Outside of that, either a dud drive, or, dud adapter possibly. Any other computer you might be able to test in, perhaps a friend's? Ideally one whom you can put the M.2 into directly to make sure it's not dead.

[SaintIvaldi]

12 minutes ago, SlayerOfHellWyrm said:

Possibly. You aren't making the mistake of confusing M.2 SAT and M.2 PCIe which a lot of folks do, and would certainly cause the issue. If the slot's at x1, that's also an issue. Outside of that, either a dud drive, or, dud adapter possibly. Any other computer you might be able to test in, perhaps a friend's? Ideally one whom you can put the M.2 into directly to make sure it's not dead.

Thank you for all the assistance, I didn't figure it out with the adapter and that exact drive.
Instead I took your advice and switched the two ssd's and the 970 evo popped up and was ready to be initialized 
The other drive showed up as well, so IDK what the fuck is going on