Question Mobo and Win10 not detect PCIe card and connected SATA drive (Solved)

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Hello,
I've searched around and can't seem to find the answer. I appreciate any help.

I bought several different types PCI-e cards to expand my storage capacity, but none of the cards are detected by my system (nothing in Device Manager or Disk/Partition Manager). I'm not sure what to do. Here's the more detailed summary:

OS: Win10 (all mandatory updates made; no optional updates seem relevant)
Mobo: ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (AM4)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Storage:
M2_1: Samsung 980 NVMe
M2_2: WDC WDS200T2B0B-00YS70 (SSD)
Sata ports 1-4: occupied
Sata ports 5-6: free (disabled due to occupying M2_2)

Trying to connect a 4GB Seagate Barracuda HDD via a PCI-e card (since my SATA ports 5-6 are disabled).
PCI-e cards that I tried:
(1) MHQJRH PCI Express SATA 3.0 Controller Card, 2-Port PCIe to SATA III 6GB https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M942LN9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
*This one worked fine on my previous computer as of a few weeks ago. The old computer had the Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z68XP-UD3 (Socket 1155) and Win10.
**On the current rig, when the card is installed without a connected drive, Win10 boots fine but the card is not detected. BUT when I attached a SATA drive, I am frozen on the BIOS load screen that tells me to press DEL or F2, but pressing either doesn't do anything. I've tried waiting up to 15 minutes. The LEDs on the Mobo light up fine suggesting that everything got initialized, but something clearly hangs.
(2) MHQJRH Dual M.2 PCIE Adapter for SATA or PCIE NVMe SSD https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JKH5VTL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
*BIOS and Win10 boot fine regardless of whether a drive is connected, but neither the drive nor the card are detected.
(3) ZEXMTE Dual M.2 PCIe Adapter Card for NVMe/SATA SSD https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MZGN1C5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
*Same as #2.

I tried connecting a different drive to these cards (a Crucial SSD) and no difference. When those drives are connected to SATA port 4, then they work. So it's an issue of the PCIe cards not being accepted by my system.

Am I missing a driver, but then why are the cards not even showing up as a problematic device in Device Manager? Does this mobo not support adding more SATA ports/drives via PCI-e beyond the built-in four SATA ports when both M2 slots are taken? That seems like a huge oversight for a modern board. I haven't tried connected my Western Digital SSD to the M2 slot on these PCIe cards. If that worked, that would free up SATA Ports 5-6, but that wouldn't address the underlying issue of what's going on? Plus, I'm not sure that'll work anyway.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT1: I also tried changing those PCI slots to GEN1 instead of AUTO in the BIOS, but that didn't do anything.
EDIT2: PCIEx16_1 has a GeForce RTX 3070. Tried connecting those PCI expansion cards #2 and #3 on PCIEx16_2 slot. Tried card #1 on the PCIEX1_2 slot.
EDIT3: Mobo has the latest BIOS as of a couple weeks ago. (I think 2407 but can verify if important; Armoury Crate confirms no new update available.)
 
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VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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(2) MHQJRH Dual M.2 PCIE Adapter for SATA or PCIE NVMe SSD https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JKH5VTL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
*BIOS and Win10 boot fine regardless of whether a drive is connected, but neither the drive nor the card are detected.
(3) ZEXMTE Dual M.2 PCIe Adapter Card for NVMe/SATA SSD https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08MZGN1C5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
*Same as #2.
"Converts one M.2 NVMe SSD (M Key) interface to PCIe 3.0 x4 interface (PCIe 2.0 Compatible), Converts one M.2 SATA SSD (B Key or B+M Key) interface to SATA 6Gbps interface (SATA cable connection required). "

Can you read?

Those dual M.2 adapters, ARE NOT SATA CONTROLLER CARDS.

Edit: The SATA port on those cards, is a (mechanical) pass-through to the M.2 SATA socket, and must be plugged into a REAL SATA controller port via a cable.
 
Last edited:

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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"Converts one M.2 NVMe SSD (M Key) interface to PCIe 3.0 x4 interface (PCIe 2.0 Compatible), Converts one M.2 SATA SSD (B Key or B+M Key) interface to SATA 6Gbps interface (SATA cable connection required). "

Can you read?

Those dual M.2 adapters, ARE NOT SATA CONTROLLER CARDS.

Thanks?
(A) Those cards I called #2 and #3 both have SATA ports (see image below). Am I not supposed to use that? The MHQJRH card has the needed Marvell driver. What am I missing? I admit I'm no expert, but seems like it should work.
Capture.PNG

(B) Your friendly comment does not begin to address why card #1 doesn't work. That one unambiguously a PCI-e to SATA card.

EDIT: I think I see what you are saying about those cards #2 and #3. I'll ditch those. I'd prefer to use card #1 anyway. So what's going on with that then?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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(B) Your friendly comment does not begin to address why card #1 doesn't work. That one unambiguously a PCI-e to SATA card.

EDIT: I think I see what you are saying about those cards #2 and #3. I'll ditch those. I'd prefer to use card #1 anyway. So what's going on with that then?
Did you enable CSM mode for Boot, and enable the Storage Option ROM?

Edit: If the Marvell-chipset SATA controller card is acting up, use one with an ASMedia chipset, preferably with a recent BIOS.

I'm not aware of any SATA controller cards that explicitly have UEFI support, but like GPUs, another device with an option ROM, they should exist.

I've used these before:
 
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Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Did you enable CSM mode for Boot, and enable the Storage Option ROM?

Edit: If the Marvell-chipset SATA controller card is acting up, use one with an ASMedia chipset, preferably with a recent BIOS.

I'm not aware of any SATA controller cards that explicitly have UEFI support, but like GPUs, another device with an option ROM, they should exist.

I'll check about CSM and will get back to you later today. I know I'm loading the BIOS in UEFI mode, but not sure if it's set to be compatible with CSM. I think I know where to check that.
I'm not sure what you mean about "Storage Option ROM". Not much coming up in google for that. I'll look around the BIOS, but if you have any tip on that, I'd appreciate that.

In addition or alternatively, if you recommend any particular different PCIe card for my situation (e.g., with the "option ROM"; I know you generally noted looking for ASMedia chipset), then I would appreciate that. I'm can still return the M2 cards but the first one was only $18 so I'm fine with that sunk cost.

Thank you.
 

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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Note that setting CSM for Boot, may prevent your OS from booting, if it was installed UEFI. But I do believe that CSM must be at least partially-enabled, to allow the PCI-E SATA card's Legacy Option ROM to initialize the ports and detect the drive(s) connected.

I know that that ASMedia card is detected as a Standard AHCI SATA Controller in Windows, and thus should load the built-in drivers without a fuss.

Performance is not going to match modern native chipset SATA ports, however.
 

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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bump for edits

Note that setting CSM for Boot, may prevent your OS from booting, if it was installed UEFI. But I do believe that CSM must be at least partially-enabled, to allow the PCI-E SATA card's Legacy Option ROM to initialize the ports and detect the drive(s) connected.

Yea, I though there was something about CSM and UEFI to be careful with for Win10. Indeed, Win10 was installed with UEFI. Perhaps my mobo has some hybrid compatibility option. I'll check. Not sure if I need to do anything in BIOS settings about the option ROM. Thanks for the alternative card recommendation. For this card you recommend, would I need the same settings in BIOS (e.g., CSM disabled and something about option ROM?)
 

zir_blazer

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Jun 6, 2013
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An Option ROM is a Firmware Driver, and only matters if you want the card to be available for booting from it. An OS should load the card Drivers and get it to a working state regardless.

If you want to spend money, I actually suggest you to look into used SAS HBAs. They are less straightforward to use (Usually requires SATA breakout cables), may consume more power, uses PCIe 4x or 8x Slots, but they are enterprise class gear and may be potentially more useful than bottom of the barrel SATA Controllers.
 

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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An Option ROM is a Firmware Driver, and only matters if you want the card to be available for booting from it. An OS should load the card Drivers and get it to a working state regardless.

If you want to spend money, I actually suggest you to look into used SAS HBAs. They are less straightforward to use (Usually requires SATA breakout cables), may consume more power, uses PCIe 4x or 8x Slots, but they are enterprise class gear and may be potentially more useful than bottom of the barrel SATA Controllers.

Thanks for that clarification. I am not going to boot from the drive connected to this expansion card, so sounds like I don't need to worry about the option ROM setting. This will be purely a file storage drive (I should have noted that earlier perhaps).

With that said, I appreciate your recommendation about SAS HBA, but those look much more expensive than what I'm looking to spend. For that money, I would instead consider a different motherboard that doesn't disable two of its SATA ports when using both M2 slots.
 

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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...
Hmm. I suppose another option to overcome all this might be to use a usb-to-sata adapter, plug the usb into the mobo's backpanel and route the cable inside the case to connect the internal drive. I definitely have more USB ports than I need and I'm only connecting an HDD, so usb speeds should suffice.

I'll try the BIOS settings tonight and/or buy the other card for now, but might end up with the USB option (unless any of you think that's not gonna work).

EDIT: most of those usb adapter cables have sata and power, but my HDD is already powered from the PSU. I presume just the data cable to the adapter should be fine.
 

VirtualLarry

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I wouldn't recommend a USB adapter for permanent installations. USB has a worse BER (Block Error Rate) than native SATA. It would be unreliable in the long term.
 
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Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
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After looking through this thread, I suspect there may just be some compatibility issue with the SATA controller card. That said, if you have not tried this already (it was not quite clear to me if you had with the SATA controller card, or only the other 2 cards) you could try the SATA controller card in a different PCIe slot, such as the x16_2.

If that does not work, you could try looking for support through Asus or the card seller/manufacturer. Though you may just have to get a different card. I know LSI cards can be pricey, even used, but you may still be able to get decent enterprise level cards of other brands for decent prices. For instance I have heard good things about Dell PERC cards in the past. Whatever card you switch to if needed, you may want to check compatibility first if possible.
 

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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I wouldn't recommend a USB adapter for permanent installations. USB has a worse BER (Block Error Rate) than native SATA. It would be unreliable in the long term.

Oh, wow I did not know that and doubt I would have ever known if you hadn't said that. Interesting.
Do you think that makes a significant difference for an HDD (vs. SSD) and on a non-boot/non-OS disk? I'm going to use this extra drive purely for storage.

After looking through this thread, I suspect there may just be some compatibility issue with the SATA controller card. That said, if you have not tried this already (it was not quite clear to me if you had with the SATA controller card, or only the other 2 cards) you could try the SATA controller card in a different PCIe slot, such as the x16_2.

If that does not work, you could try looking for support through Asus or the card seller/manufacturer. Though you may just have to get a different card. I know LSI cards can be pricey, even used, but you may still be able to get decent enterprise level cards of other brands for decent prices. For instance I have heard good things about Dell PERC cards in the past. Whatever card you switch to if needed, you may want to check compatibility first if possible.

I do believe I've tried other PCIe slots, but don't explicitly remember. I've been messing with this off-and-on slowly for a month or so.

I have not yet tried the CSM enablement suggested by VirtualLarry or buying the alternative card. I'll report back when I try those.
 

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Yes!
I enabled "Launch CSM" option, set "Boot Device Control" to both "UEFI and Legacy OPROM" and also set both "Boot from Storage Devices" and "Boot from PCI-E/PCI Expansion Devices" to "Legacy Only." The Storage Devices part probably could have stayed UEFI, but not sure.

This worked. I get the PCI card's boot screen ("OPROM"?) first and then the BIOS post/boot screen.

Thank you to all of you above, especially VirtualLarry.

Now, there are a couple extra quirks I thought I'd mention without starting a new thread (though I might for the second one).
First, I got this to work with the #1 card I earlier listed (MHQJRH PCI Express SATA 3.0 Controller Card, 2-Port PCIe to SATA III 6GB https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M942LN9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ). I thought it was a Marvell card but based on the post screen, it's an Asmedia 106X controller Ver. 4.20. The amazon page advertises SATA3, but it loads Gen2 regardless of whether I set the respective slot to "Auto" or "Gen3". I find that odd. But I'm connecting a 5400RPM HDD to it, so I don't care much.

Second, my BIOS knows that M2_1 is where I have the NVME installed and the M2_2 is where I have a SATA SSD. The NVME has the Win10. No other drive has Win on it. Yet, I get a blue screen telling me it can't find/load Win when I force M2_1, which has Win10, to be the boot priority. Instead, I have to select the SSD on M2_2, which does not have Win10, as the #1 boot drive for Win10 to load. Odd!
The background to that is I did initially build this computer with the drives flipped, the NVME with Win10 being on the M2_2 slot and ran Windows that way. However, I subsequently/eventually decided to flip the two when I realized that the M2_1 slot is faster. So I flipped the two M2 drives. It seems that the BIOS got confused? I thought it would read the information on the disks rather than permanently encode what was the initial configuration. Is there a way to have the BIOS reread/refresh this situation? Would re-installing the firmware (I already have latest) help the situation, and is that the only means?

Thanks again.
 

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
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For NVMe drives, which I believe require UEFI generally to boot, you should select "windows boot manager" as the first boot priority for booting windows. This may be the issue, if you are selecting the NVMe drive in legacy mode?
 
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Insert_Nickname

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This worked. I get the PCI card's boot screen ("OPROM"?) first and then the BIOS post/boot screen.

OPROM or OROM (Option ROM) is a sort of plug-in to the BIOS, or in this case the BIOS interpreter in the UEFI, that tells it there are drives available and that it can boot from them. It's needed as a legacy BIOS is very, very limited in what it can hold and process.

Similarly, a graphics card has a VBIOS, which tells the BIOS that it's there and what capabilities it has. These days it's UEFI of course.

I thought it was a Marvell card but based on the post screen, it's an Asmedia 106X controller Ver. 4.20. The amazon page advertises SATA3, but it loads Gen2 regardless of whether I set the respective slot to "Auto" or "Gen3". I find that odd. But I'm connecting a 5400RPM HDD to it, so I don't care much.

ASM106x are PCIe 2.0 only. But that hardly matters unless you're using an SSD. In which case you'd want something JMB582 or 585 based.
 

Yaramir

Junior Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Try changing that setting to "Legacy and UEFI", that might fix your not booting from NVMe anymore error.
Hm. For that sub-setting, I only have the options of Ignore, Legacy, or UEFI. Not both. Only the top level option of "Boot Device Control" has the option for both and there I do have both set.

For NVMe drives, which I believe require UEFI generally to boot, you should select "windows boot manager" as the first boot priority for booting windows. This may be the issue, if you are selecting the NVMe drive in legacy mode?
I'll double check and send a screenshot a little later. But I think I tried that. I have the option of Windows Boot Manager for each drive, but it only works when set to the "wrong" drive.

OPROM or OROM (Option ROM) is a sort of plug-in to the BIOS, or in this case the BIOS interpreter in the UEFI, that tells it there are drives available and that it can boot from them. It's needed as a legacy BIOS is very, very limited in what it can hold and process.

Similarly, a graphics card has a VBIOS, which tells the BIOS that it's there and what capabilities it has. These days it's UEFI of course.



ASM106x are PCIe 2.0 only. But that hardly matters unless you're using an SSD. In which case you'd want something JMB582 or 585 based.
Thanks for the explanation! EDIT: And sounds like false advertising on Amazon, or misleading if they just meant it's compatible with a SATA3 cable perhaps.