Question X470 Taichi not seeing NVME disk

[Sunaiac]

Hey guys,

little help needed on my side.
Got a whole new system with x470 taichi, r9 3900x, 32gb mem and a sx8200 pro 1TB adata XPG NVME stick.
After mounting everything, I cannot get the drive to appear in the BIOS or be visible to the windows 10 1903 installer.
Which is a tad annoying

Here are the facts :

• x470 taichi with bios 3.43 (factory patched, ryzen 3000 ready sticker on box), then patched to 3.60. Both BIOS can't see drive
• drive in first m.2 port (cpu connected one)
• CSM and secure boot off in BIOS
• win10 1903 boot usb stick made from a computer with "install on another computer" option
• 3900x
• ram detected no pb by both bioses
• 5700XT in PCIE1 port.

What do you think I should test next ?

• the NVME stick in the second m.2 port ?
• a SATA SSD ?
• my stick in another system with known working m.2 ?
• another known working m.2 NVME stick in my setup ?
• another CPU (found a few instances on the net of ppl loosing their HDD after moving to 3900x from 2700x)
• another motherboard ?
• I did not create a correct windows boot disk ?
• I did not setup the BIOS correctly ?
• PSU could have an impact here ?

I'm asking for the best debug order because it's my first "modern" system, the last one being x58/SATA. So I don't have spare, and each test will imply either finding someone who has the HW to test or buying stuff ..

Thanks for your ideas !

 

[Mr Evil]

I have an X370 Taichi and two NVME drives, one of which will only work in the second M.2 slot. So, I think you should try the other slot next.

 

[Sunaiac]

I have an X370 Taichi and two NVME drives, one of which will only work in the second M.2 slot. So, I think you should try the other slot next.

Hello,

thank you for your suggestion.

Did you have any special setup to do in BIOS or should any NVME drive appear in the storage section as soon as connected ?

I've read on tomshardware thant NVMe drives can appear in BIOS only as soon as windows has been installed, and that a driver for the drive is present on the drive, which windows is supposed to be able to extract by itself. Has this been your experience ?

 

[Mr Evil]

I didn't have to do anything special - just plug the drive(s) in, and the BIOS could see them. It shouldn't care about what's installed on the drive.

 

[Sunaiac]

Okey thanks, I'll do that first then

 

[Shmee]

I have the same board, your SSD should work fine in the top m.2 slot. Only think of is double check you are using a UEFI boot to install the windows 10, and maybe the drive is defective if it is not showing up in either slot. I doubt your SSD needs a firmware update, but you could try re-seating it, and trying in another computer or USB / Thunderbolt NVMe enclosure.

Also, you could try a linux boot USB, and see if it can see it.

 

[Shmee]

Oh one thing to try in BIOS: try enabling CSM but having UEFI boot be first priority. You could try fiddling around with things like that in BIOS, and make sure RAID mode is off for instance.

 

[Sunaiac]

I have tried putting the disk in the second slot.

First, I must say, m.2 is cool when working, but when debugging, it's kinda easier to move the sata cable than to remove the graphic card to be able to reach the m.2

Anyways, the disk is not recognized in the second slot either.
The A0 code stays printed on the Dr Debug thingy for a long time during boot.
I'll bring the disk to a friend tomorrow so she ca see if it is recognized in her m.2 slot, I think she has an intel system with an already working NVMe setup.

But a DOA disk is my main suspect now.
I wonder if I should try another brand for the next one...
Worst case, next disk still doesn't work or that one works at my friend, then I'll have to try another CPU and to contact ASrock.

@Shmee : I tried with CSM on and the SATA controller is set to AHCI. Boot options only appear with bootable components, so I can't really set UEFI first as long as I have no bootable stuff in it. When I have the USB key with the windows installer, then I can start ordering boot options, UEFI and another one that escapes me, but only for the USB key.

Thanks for the inputs !

 

[Topweasel]

Another option would be to get a $15-20 external enclosure. I have one for M.2 NVME PCIe drives and one for Msata (still need to get one for M.2 Sata). You take a lot of boot questions out of the equation that way.

 

[vailr]

If you can install Windows (latest version 1903) on a normal 2.5" SSD & with CSM disabled in bios, that would be helpful information to know. After getting Windows installed and booted to desktop, then plug in the NVMe SSD (as a secondary drive) and check for a possible firmware update and for correct read/write functionality.
Also possible: the particular brand of USB thumb drive used as the Windows installation boot drive can sometimes make a difference in how the Windows installation process operates.

 

[Sunaiac]

Hi,

that drive has been tested in a PCIe card adapter on a totally different PC.
When inserted, the PC won't even boot to BIOS. It does with anoterh m.2 drive.
In my x470, the A0 Dr.Debug LED stays very long and the drive is not visible.

So I ordered a second drive (a Sabrent Rocket NVME m.2) and requested a RMA for this first drive, which I think was DOA.
I think its too late to get the ADATA reimbursed, but I will most probably get an exchange and I guess I'll end up with 2TB in the computer.

 

[Sunaiac]

Hello

so the second NVME (Sabrent rocket) works like a charm.
Problem was simply a DOA NVME.

PC running fine now, thanks all !