Intel Motherboards : UNCLE! Samsung 960 EVO M.2 on X99 Extreme3

Author: parsec
Subject: UNCLE! Samsung 960 EVO M.2 on X99 Extreme3
Posted: 03 Jan 2017 at 12:38am

kdeuser wrote: I am about to give up on trying to get my X99 Extreme3 to recognize the 500GB M.2 drive... My configuration: Windows 10 X99 Extreme3 - latest bios I-7 5820 32GB RAM Quad Channel MSI R9-290 Gaming (currently in slot 3) Asus wireless networking card in slot 2 At one point the bios recognized the drive, but ever since then no dice.  I have read through all the sticky posts and tried various things, including moving my graphics card to slot 3.  (I prefer to leave it in slot 3 so it is not on top of the M.2 drive.)  There is nothing connected SSATA3_2 and it is set to "SSD" in bios. Regardless of what I try and do in the bios settings, including removing all the other drives and booting from a Windows ISO on a USB drive, I can't get visibility to the drive.  Any suggestions on bios config to try before I return the drive?  I have this feeling I am missing something. Thanks, Kurt

There is most likely nothing wrong with the 960 EVO. Don't return it yet. You're using an NVMe SSD, which is not like SATA drives, and needs a few different techniques for installing Windows.

You have UEFI/BIOS version 3.50 in your board?

You are using Windows 10, right?

The wireless card is in the PCIE2 x1 slot, correct?

If you're looking for the 960 EVO in the Storage Configuration screen, it won't be shown there when using an X99 board. Only SATA drives will be recognized in that screen.

Have you checked the System Browser tool in the Tools screen in the UEFI? You should see the 960 EVO in the M.2 slot in that screen.

Check the Advanced screen in the UEFI, you may have an entry for an NVMe Configuration screen. All it does is list any NVMe drives in the board. I'm not certain if your board has that screen or not.

In the boot order when you have the Windows 10 ISO in a USB port on the board's IO panel, which entry did you select? You must select the entry that is, "UEFI: <flash drive name>".

In the UEFI, the Boot screen, at the very bottom, find the CSM option. Click on it to display its sub-option. Find the Launch Storage OpROM Policy option, and set it to UEFI Only. You'll need to Save and Exit the UEFI to apply that setting. Go right back into the UEFI, and select the entry in the boot order for the Windows 10 USB flash drive that is "UEFI: <flash drive name>".

What size is the USB flash drive you are using? USB flash drives larger than 16GB don't seem to work well as Windows installation drives.

When you install Windows with any drive, you should not have any other drives in the PC besides the target OS drive.