mSATA SSD (Crucial M4) not showing in BIOS Boot Order (Y580, Win8 64)

[Ban Bot]

I hope someone here can assist.

I cannot select my new SSD in the boot order in the BIOS.

The information page in the BIOS recognizes the SSD but on the book configuration page it is absent.

• Computer: Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 with a 1TB HDD (i7, 660M, 8GB RAM, etc.)
  
• OS: Windows 8 64bit
  
• SSD: Crucial M4 mSATA 256GB

Windows shows the drive as operating correctly. After some fiddling I did use disk management to populate the volume (238GB available) and assigned a drive.

I have created a recovery DVD.

I have also removed the HDD and rebooted a number of times.

Any advice?

 

[Ban Bot]

A friend on another forum tried to help and here were my responses:

Have you tried the ssd as the only drive

Yes.

are both drives on the same sata contoller have you tried the ssd in the hdd port?

The SSD is mSATA and has a different port than the HDD (which plugs into the SATA port).

I have tried w/o the HDD plugged in,

could it be that the hdd has ahci and the ssd doesnt or vice versa

I have not tried disabling AHCI yet as a quick browsing showed this bricking some systems.

• See the Bootmenu of the BIOS setup utility. Make sure that the Boot
Device Priorityin the BIOS setup utility is set so that the computer
starts from the device you want.

Doesn't list it as an option on the priority screen,

BUT it is listed on the BIOS information page as recognized (HD0 I believe).

• Press F12 when the Lenovo logo appears on the screen while the
computer is starting up to select the device you want the computer
starts from.

Does not list the SSD drive as a boot option. Tried w/ and w/o the HDD installed.

 

[RU482]

Knowing Lenovo, they probably blacklisted any "non Lenovo supplied part" in the BIOS, like they do with WLAN adapters

 

[Bubbaleone]

I hope someone here can assist.

I cannot select my new SSD in the boot order in the BIOS.

The information page in the BIOS recognizes the SSD but on the book configuration page it is absent.

• Computer: Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 with a 1TB HDD (i7, 660M, 8GB RAM, etc.)
• OS: Windows 8 64bit
• SSD: Crucial M4 mSATA 256GB

Windows shows the drive as operating correctly. After some fiddling I did use disk management to populate the volume (238GB available) and assigned a drive.

I have created a recovery DVD.

I have also removed the HDD and rebooted a number of times.

Any advice?

The following quote is from this Crucial knowledge base article: Why did my SSD "disappear" from my system?

A sudden power loss is most common cause for a system to fail to recognize an SSD. In most cases, your SSD can be returned to normal operating condition by completing a power cycle, a process that will take approximately one hour.

We recommend you perform this procedure on a desktop computer because it allows you to only connect the SATA power connection, which improves the odds of the power cycle being successful. However, a USB enclosure with an external power source will also work. Apple and Windows desktop users follow the same steps.

1. Once you have the drive connected and sitting idle, simply power on the computer and wait for 20 minutes. We recommend that you don't use the computer during this process.

2. Power the computer down and disconnect the drive from the power connector for 30 seconds.

3. Reconnect the drive, and repeat steps 1 and 2 one more time.

4. Reconnect the drive normally, and boot the computer to your operating system.

5. If the latest firmware has not been updated to your drive, do so. You can find our firmware update page here.

A laptop computer will also work, but you’ll have to connect the drive and navigate to the system's BIOS menu. (Please refer to your system manufacturer’s documentation on how to access the BIOS.) Allowing the drive to sit in the BIOS will improve the odds that the power cycle will work. For laptops, we don’t recommended using a USB enclosure powered via USB. In addition, Apple users must hold the Option key while they power on the system (with the SSD installed). This will boot the Mac to the Startup Manager screen. The Startup Manager screen works like the BIOS screen on a laptop, in that it gives the drive power without any data throughput.

1. Laptop users will need to be in the BIOS menu, or Mac Startup Manager as stated above. The computer will need to stay powered for 20 minutes. We recommend you don’t use the laptop during this process.

2. Power the computer down and disconnect the drive for 30 seconds, by removing it from the drive bay. If you have an mSATA drive, remove it from the port.

3. Reconnect the drive, and repeat steps 1 and 2 one more time.

4. Reconnect the drive normally, and boot the computer to your operating system.

5. If the latest firmware has not been updated to your drive, do so. Click here for our firmware updates.

This is the "Click here" link from the last line (5.) of the quote. Select your m4 in the drop-down menu: Crucial m4 mSATA SSD Firmware Update

.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I have a Y580 and installed a Crucial msata 256gb. Worked wonderfully and I'm typing on it now. I love this machine.

I remember in my case, with an existing hard drive, you have to disable the Intel Rapid Storage Technology and separate the two drives (msata ssd and platter drive), but I don't remember where that comes in the process.

Good luck - I can promise you this works and you'll be a happy camper when it's done.

 

[Ban Bot]

I have a Y580 and installed a Crucial msata 256gb. Worked wonderfully and I'm typing on it now. I love this machine.

I remember in my case, with an existing hard drive, you have to disable the Intel Rapid Storage Technology and separate the two drives (msata ssd and platter drive), but I don't remember where that comes in the process.

Good luck - I can promise you this works and you'll be a happy camper when it's done.

The next time you do a reboot if you could tell me if you have UEFI or Legacy selected as well as Compatible or AHCI?

I have been plugging away at this all day. I cloned my primary partition over but still a no go.

I can get the BIOS to show the drive if I select Legacy *but* it then does a rolling reboot noting no drive found and I have to use my Win8 restore disk to go back into the Bios (F2 wont work at that point) and go back to UEFI. I have not touch AHCI (the default),

The drives are both GPT; Aomei wouldn't work because of this but I used Macrium and it seemed to work.

 

[Bubbaleone]

The next time you do a reboot if you could tell me if you have UEFI or Legacy selected as well as Compatible or AHCI?

I have been plugging away at this all day. I cloned my primary partition over but still a no go.

I can get the BIOS to show the drive if I select Legacy *but* it then does a rolling reboot noting no drive found and I have to use my Win8 restore disk to go back into the Bios (F2 wont work at that point) and go back to UEFI. I have not touch AHCI (the default),

The drives are both GPT; Aomei wouldn't work because of this but I used Macrium and it seemed to work.

Rio Rebel is referring to the fact that the original purpose of the mSATA is as a high-performance file cache, used to accelerate the HDD's I/O performance. That feature is enabled through the Intel Rapid Storage Technology management console (start menu>all programs>Intel). In order to use the mSATA as a normal drive, acceleration needs to be disabled first:

.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Knowing Lenovo, they probably blacklisted any "non Lenovo supplied part" in the BIOS, like they do with WLAN adapters

Yeah no kidding, just got bit by this recently. Bought some 6205 intel adapters that we had been using, but i didnt buy the lenovo branded ones so they refused to post until we paid 2x the price for the lenovo ones.

As for OPs question, try updating the firmware, the M4 had some boot issues with earlier firmwares, typically it would cause them to not show at all, but its worth trying.

 

[Rio Rebel]

UEFI is selected, and so is AHCI

 

[Ban Bot]

UEFI is selected, and so is AHCI

Thanks RIO. I started the Intel application and it doesn't offer a disable (doesn't appear to be enabled on the drives; PC shipped with only a HDD, no SSD or hybrid). I can take a screen grab of the app if needed.

At this point the HDD is not in the system. Only the SSD. (I have also taken out the SSD, rebooted w/o a drive, and reinstalled with no luck).

Let's assume I am an idiot.

Because maybe I am an idiot and missing something obvious--it has been a long time since I tried doing any of this.

I was sadly mistaken that I would pop in the new HDD, the BIOS would pick it up, and I would use my Win8 recovery disk to re-install or at worse copy a CLONED drive over. At this point I cannot even get the BIOS to see the drive on the BOOT screen but the INFO screen in the BIOS sees the drive. Frustrating.

I booted to Win8 on the HDD where Win8 is installed (not the SSD). I ran the DISK RECOVERY program and created both a DVD (less than 500MB) and then also used a USB HDD and did a full recovery (over 20GB).

I also tried cloning to the SSD (maybe I did this wrong?). I can see the M4 mSATA drive in Windows8 and can copy/open files on it. The challenge has been getting it to appear as a BOOT Drive.

-----------------------------
(1) Tried Following LenBlazer from the Lenovo forum link
-----------------------------
1. Removed hdd.
2. Start up and go to bios and set to AHCI and UEFI.
3. Insert Installer (DVD to ODD or plug USB into port)
4. Save settings and exit.
5. Press F12 or whatever to access the boot menu. Select the required installer drive using kb arrow keys. Then press Enter key.
6. Follow instruction until ask where to install your OS. Select the ssd.

==>This is where I get stuck. No matter what I cannot select the SSD.

-----------------------------
(2) I formatted from the command promt
-----------------------------
I formatted the drive from the command prompt using these steps:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary
select partion 1
format fs=ntfs quick label=system
assign letter=c
exit

I have also formatted while booted into Win8 on the HDD.

-----------------------------
(3) BIOS Screen Shots
-----------------------------

BIOS version 5DCN89WW (v8.00)
InsydeH20 Setup Utility

Bios Tab 1 Information (note the M4 is listed)
https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=6124580255C5A1BE&id=6124580255C5A1BE!211

Bios Tab 2 Configuration
https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=6124580255C5A1BE&id=6124580255C5A1BE!210

Bios Tab 3 Security
https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=6124580255C5A1BE&id=6124580255C5A1BE!212

Bios Tab 4 Boot (note the M4 will not show on this tab)
https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=6124580255C5A1BE&id=6124580255C5A1BE!213

Bios Tab 5 Exit (I have tried toggling from Win8 to OtherOS)
https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=6124580255C5A1BE&id=6124580255C5A1BE!214


Maybe I am missing something obvious.

After I format the drive I would think the BIOS would pick it up as a valid drive.

There are people here, on the Lenovo, and Crucial forums who all have the M4 mSATA SSD 256GB working on the Lenovo Y580. So I am pretty sure this is a ID10T user error!

 

[denis280]

WOW! reading all above and and just starting to think the ssd is defect.or just clear cmos.

 

[Ban Bot]

And for giggles I uninstalled the Intel Rapid Storage Tech application. Still a no go.

 

[Bubbaleone]

Good of you to post the BIOS screenshots. Look at the Security settings screen; it shows that "Secure Boot Status" is Enabled. Disable it, and I believe your problem will be solved. It appears you may need to set an Administrator password in order to have access to the Secure Boot setting. Enter a simple Admin password, disable Secure Boot, then go back and remove that Admin password by deleting the asterisks and leaving the box blank.

 

[Ban Bot]

Good of you to post the BIOS screenshots. Look at the Security settings screen; it shows that "Secure Boot Status" is Enabled. Disable it, and I believe your problem will be solved. It appears you may need to set an Administrator password in order to have access to the Secure Boot setting. Enter a simple Admin password, disable Secure Boot, then go back and remove that Admin password by deleting the asterisks and leaving the box blank.

Good suggestion! I am unfamiliar with Secure Boot but after reading up on it, indeed, this could be what is locking the SSD out from the boot. I hope this works!

Thanks Bubbaleone!

 

[Ban Bot]

Removing Secure Boot didn't work Nice try though.

I tinkered and removed the HDD and changed the settings to "Other OS", Secure Boot Disabled, and changed the Boot from UEFI to Legacy.

When I do this the M4 mSATA is an option to boot from per the BIOS but a boot says check the wires and the Windows 8 recovery cannot see the drive--and I am pretty sure this is not the right way to go about this as others have UEFI and the Win8 64bit OS option checked.

 

[Ban Bot]

UPDATE: Solved!

The TLDR version: I purchased Paragon Disk Copy 12 Professional ($20 on sale) and used the OS to SSD migration tool. It aligned and resized partitions and everything works exceedingly well (7 second boot, 10 seconds to desktop). If not on sale just get the “OS to SSD” software if moving the drive is all you need to do ($20, sometimes goes on sale).

So I took all the advice I was getting, including Crucials. Initializing via the processes they recommended (what I did previously but I followed their exact steps) did not make the drive selectable by the Boot Order and refused to be seen by Windows Recovery. I went back through and made sure I used the ‘Active’ command in the manual format and partitioning (I had done this but left that out of my notes I posted). Still nothing. I tried switching over to Legacy as Crucial suggested but that posed an issue with getting the data from a GPT drive to an MBR formatted SSD, especially as the Lenovo comes with a default 5 partitions (only 1 with a drive letter). The kicker was they were suggesting a clean instead from an ISO / DVD which Lenovo does NOT offer.

After some more reading I decided to give Macrium Reflect another go as I believe I did it wrong. Namely I grabbed the wrong partition and left out the EFI data partition. So I moved all 5 partitions this time. Guess what?

Good News: The SSD was now viewable in the Bios Boot Order!

Bad News: Windows crashed on start up.

I was prepared for this as some users have reported issues—Reflect works for some, not for others. (Some claim this is an alignment issue; Reflect’s knowledge base says this shouldn’t be an issue—I may have done something wrong?) I had seen quite a few people who had success with Paragon products, specifically an Amazon.com review of the same M4 mSATA I bought who had the same issues I did, so I decided to give it a chance. I bought the Drive Copy 12 version as it includes the “OS to SSD” tools and seeing as they were the same price (sale) I picked up the more robust software. But all you need is the “Paragon Migrate OS to SSD 3.0” which you have to hunt to find on their site (easier to google it). The rest was very simple.

# I did the Lenovo One Key Recovery to get the Y580 back into its base configuration.

# Downloaded all the Windows 8 updates.

# Made a new recovery drive.

# I ordered the Paragon Disk Copy software.

# Downloaded the software.

# Created the WinPE DVD.

# Opened Disk Copy and ran the OS to SSD Wizard.

# Restarted the Y580 and in the BIOS the M4 mSATA was *available* in the Boot Order.

# Set the M4 as the 1st boot option, moved the HDD to last option, saved, shut down, and removed the HDD.

# Started and Booted into Windows without any issues.

A week’s worth of testing and the machine works excellent. No more than 7 seconds to the log in from a cold boot and 10 seconds to the desktop at most. Everything is speed up substantially. The laptop was quick before, but now everything is instantly snappy.

Thank you for EVERYONE’S help. MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Clearly I was must have made some disk formatting/partitioning errors along the way; the lack of an ISO / Windows Install made this extra complicated as the Windows recovery could not see the drive (again, probably because I did not format/partition correctly). As being booted into Windows 8 I could see the M4 (just not select it in the BIOS as a bootable drive) I have a suspicion a Windows 8 install disk would have seen the drive without issue.

Now off to find a reputable guide into what I should, and shouldn’t do, to optimize the system to run well with the SSD and avoid unnecessary wear and tear.