Weird Booting Problem with M.2

[Clenoic]

Hi All,

 

I can't seem to find an issue similar to mine, so any help is appreciated.

 

I just bought a Samsung M.2 (950 PRO), and want to clone my existing boot drive onto it.

 

So I plugged in my M.2, and booted the computer up into Windows. Everything worked fine, and I was about to start the cloning process, but I wanted to take an extra precaution and remove my backup HDD just in case.

 

I shut down my computer, unplugged my HDDs, and tried booting the computer up. When I tried, I get this error: 

 

Fortunately, if I remove my M.2 drive, everything boots just fine. I've ensured in BIOS (an manually selected) that I'm not booting from my M.2.

 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 SLI Krait edition Motherboard

M.2 SSD: Samsung 950 PRO NVM Express

 

tl;dr: Plugged in my M.2, worked fine. Shut my computer down, boot up again, stopped working. If I have my M.2 plugged in, I can't boot up. If I remove the M.2, everything boots fine. Both times I boot from my old bootup SSD.

[Inf3cted_Worm]

I've had a similar thing happen while cloning to an M.2 also, turned out that Windows had installed the boot partition onto one of my mechanicals and the rest of the OS on another SSD. Installing the M.2 just messed up the order in which BIOS detected the drives.

 

Try going into boot manager without the SSD and check what order your drives are listed, then install the m.2 and just make sure it's the same order?

[Inf3cted_Worm]

Lesson learned, only install windows with a single drive in the machine or it can do weird stuff

[Clenoic]

1 minute ago, Inf3cted_Worm said:

I've had a similar thing happen while cloning to an M.2 also, turned out that Windows had installed the boot partition onto one of my mechanicals and the rest of the OS on another SSD. Installing the M.2 just messed up the order in which BIOS detected the drives.

 

Try going into boot manager without the SSD and check what order your drives are listed, then install the m.2 and just make sure it's the same order?

The BIOS has the M.2 at lowest priority.

 

Also, I did not start the cloning process. It was ready to go, but I didn't click start, so the M.2 is empty.

[itsmyjobtoknow]

3 minutes ago, Clenoic said:

The BIOS has the M.2 at lowest priority.

 

Also, I did not start the cloning process. It was ready to go, but I didn't click start, so the M.2 is empty.

You couldn't boot up into windows after you unplugged the HDD because the Windows Boot Partition was on the HDD itself/ 

[Inf3cted_Worm]

Well that's my solution dead haha. I'm keen to follow this and find out what fixes it. Have you got a windows ios to boot from?

[Clenoic]

1 minute ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

You couldn't boot up into windows after you unplugged the HDD because the Windows Boot Partition was on the HDD itself/ 

I unplugged my backup HDDs. My actual boot SSDs are still connected.

 

If it's confusing, here's the breakdown:

 

Bootup SSD alone: Bootup ok

Bootup SSD + M.2 plugged in: Bootup not ok, and confused person

[Clenoic]

2 minutes ago, Inf3cted_Worm said:

Well that's my solution dead haha. I'm keen to follow this and find out what fixes it. Have you got a windows ios to boot from?

Yeah, if I remove the M.2 completely my computer runs just fine. It's just the act of plugging the M.2 in is what messes it up

[Inf3cted_Worm]

Okay, plug your back up HDD's back in with the M.2 as well and see what happens. I found my boot partition on one of my storage mechanicals. wasn't supposed to be there, don't know how it got there but that was what cause the boot issues

[Clenoic]

2 minutes ago, Inf3cted_Worm said:

Okay, plug your back up HDD's back in with the M.2 as well and see what happens. I found my boot partition on one of my storage mechanicals. wasn't supposed to be there, don't know how it got there but that was what cause the boot issues

I'll give it a try tomorrow. Taking out my graphics cards is a pain in the butt.

[Inf3cted_Worm]

Yeah, I'm curious so let me know how you get on. If that fails, try run the Windows repair from an iso and see if it helps, it's pretty hit and miss though

[Clenoic]

14 hours ago, Inf3cted_Worm said:

Yeah, I'm curious so let me know how you get on. If that fails, try run the Windows repair from an iso and see if it helps, it's pretty hit and miss though

Fixed [not]:

 

I had to change a BIOS setting:

 

For MSI boards: Settings->Advanced->Integrated Peripherals->Pcie NAND Config: Disabled change to Enabled.

 

I guess the first successful boot was either 1) a fluke or 2) after I restarted the machine it decided to change my BIOS settings.

 

EDIT: I'm totally kidding, now my computer boots up fine but it can't detect the M.2 Drive at all

[Clenoic]

I've tried everything at this point, and nothing is working.

 

I think I'll hold onto my M.2 until I need to do a clean OS install.

 

If anyone finds out a solution, let me know.