My ASUS TUF motherboard does not read second M.2 SSD

[Grandee]

Hi,
Thought disk 1 was the m.2 oops :/

Guessing you're waiting for the builder to get back with you about rma ?

Hi,
No point of getting in touch with them at this time of the year (between Christmas and New year many people take time off here), I will contact them after the new year, there is better chance someone is actually working then

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Remove all but the os m.2
Then do clear cmos
Think the tuf boards have a jumper on the bottom of the boards you just switch over for a few minutes review the online manual.

 

[Grandee]

Hi,
Remove all but the os m.2
Then do clear cmos
Think the tuf boards have a jumper on the bottom of the boards you just switch over for a few minutes review the online manual.

Ok i will try this, what should be the result of this?

 

[ThrashZone]

Ok i will try this, what should be the result of this?

Hi,
This should truly reset your bios settings.

 

[Grandee]

Hi,
This should truly reset your bios settings.

Well it seems it did a thing when it still shows only my os m.2 just not as a bootable device so I cant boot in now

Hi,
This should truly reset your bios settings.

dont mind my previous response, I have used my knowledge I gained while dealing with this problem about BIOS and I can now boot in, there is just no second m.2 anywhere

 

[damric]

It's a setting for PCI in the BIOS. If you can take pictures I can find it.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
That's great but I said remove the larger m.2 and the hdd and only leave the os m.2 installed
Then do cmos jumpers to truly reset bios.

After the above is finally done see which mode the os m.2 is in
If in sata mode switch to pci-e mode.

Once again do not connect any hdd or second m.2 yet !

 

[Grandee]

Hi,
That's great but I said remove the larger m.2 and the hdd and only leave the os m.2 installed
Then do cmos jumpers to truly reset bios.

After the above is finally done see which mode the os m.2 is in
If in sata mode switch to pci-e mode.

Once again do not connect any hdd or second m.2 yet

I did everything as you said, only freaked out a little after I couldnt boot in, but the thing is even if i do this again correctly this time, I havent found anywhere in the bios option that would let me chose between sata and pcie mode specifically

It's a setting for PCI in the BIOS. If you can take pictures I can find it.

Hi, I just seem not to be able to find the correct setting. Here is a picture of the advanced tab in my bios

 

[damric]

Click on that PCI subsystem setting and take picture

 

[Grandee]

Click on that PCI subsystem setting and take picture

PCI subsystem would be obvious choice, but there is only this in there.

 

[damric]

Just start expanding all of the menus out. It's in there somewhere. I haven't messed with asus in a while so you'll have to dig.

 

[Grandee]

Just start expanding all of the menus out. It's in there somewhere. I haven't messed with asus in a while so you'll have to dig

Here are all the menus from the advanced tab. I think I looked through these too many times, but if you find something it would be great

 

[damric]

Ok I see a some things you can try.

On the first picture, did you try enabling any of that PCI express stuff? NVMe uses same bus, so it's worth a try.

If those don't work, go to third image and expand those menus out, even the ones for graphics. It might need to be put a mode where it shares lanes.

I'll be back in about 10 hours to check on this.

 

[Grandee]

Ok I see a some things you can try.

On the first picture, did you try enabling any of that PCI express stuff? NVMe uses same bus, so it's worth a try.

If those don't work, go to third image and expand those menus out, even the ones for graphics. It might need to be put a mode where it shares lanes.

I'll be back in about 10 hours to check on this.

I tried playing with the PCI Express stuff and nothing made a difference.
Here is picture of those menus from the third picture in detail.

 

[damric]

What I think is going on is something turned off the pci lane sharing for the slot. Try shutting off SATA.

Can you go to the boot menu tab? Just making 100% sure that the motherboard doesn't see the drive and it's not just needing to be enabled in Windows Disk Management

 

[Grandee]

What I think is going on is something turned off the pci lane sharing for the slot. Try shutting off SATA.

Can you go to the boot menu tab? Just making 100% sure that the motherboard doesn't see the drive and it's not just needing to be enabled in Windows Disk Management

By shutting off SATA you mean manually unplug the sata cable or in bios?
It really doesnt show up anywhere.

 

[damric]

By shutting off SATA you mean manually unplug the sata cable or in bios?
It really doesnt show up anywhere.

On the Advanced -> advanced storage configuration. Try shutting off the SATA controller. Might work if that's what was eating the other lanes. Does the old M.2 drive work when you put it back in?

 

[Grandee]

On the Advanced -> advanced storage configuration. Try shutting off the SATA controller. Might work if that's what was eating the other lanes. Does the old M.2 drive work when you put it back in?

Will try. Both drives work in M.2_2 port, none of them works in M.2_1 port.

On the Advanced -> advanced storage configuration. Try shutting off the SATA controller. Might work if that's what was eating the other lanes. Does the old M.2 drive work when you put it back in?

When I turn off SATA controller, then my HDD wont read and it doesnt make any other change than that.

 

[damric]

Will try. Both drives work in M.2_2 port, none of them works in M.2_1 port.


When I turn off SATA controller, then my HDD wont read and it doesnt make any other change than that.

You have done more than the reasonable amount of troubleshooting. I would say it is most definitely a hardware problem.

Last thing you can possibly try is cleaning the contacts really good for that m.2 slot. If they have the slightest amount of dust or lint it could be blocking the connection. I'm not 100% sure what you should clean it with but I would start with blowing it out, and wiping with a q-tip with alcohol and blowing it out again. I seriously doubt the teeth are corroded but if you think they are then you could try something more aggressive like a toothbrush and vinegar.

But yeah, you have already bent over backwards trying to fix that m.2 slot. It might be time to start looking for your next motherboard and use slower SATA drives in the meantime.

 

[pressing on]

I have heard of this issue happening because of outdated Intel Management Engine (IME) interface drivers and/or firmware.

The latest IME driver - version 1914.12.0.1256 - can be downloaded from the Driver & Tools, Chipset section of the Asus TUF B360M-PLUS GAMING support site. It would also make sense to to install the latest Intel chipset driver - version 10.1.17809.8096 - from the same source.

The firmware update is under the Intel ME part of the BIOS and FIRMWARE section. You need the Intel MEUpdateTool, version 12.0.70.1652v3.

 

[Grandee]

You have done more than the reasonable amount of troubleshooting. I would say it is most definitely a hardware problem.

Last thing you can possibly try is cleaning the contacts really good for that m.2 slot. If they have the slightest amount of dust or lint it could be blocking the connection. I'm not 100% sure what you should clean it with but I would start with blowing it out, and wiping with a q-tip with alcohol and blowing it out again. I seriously doubt the teeth are corroded but if you think they are then you could try something more aggressive like a toothbrush and vinegar.

But yeah, you have already bent over backwards trying to fix that m.2 slot. It might be time to start looking for your next motherboard and use slower SATA drives in the meantime.

Yeah, and I am honestly tired of dealing with it. I will try cleaning the slot properly just to make sure. But thank you for trying to help out!

 

[ryan200]

well you don't need to buy a new mobo just cause your ssd slot is bad, they make adapters to put it into an open pci slot assuming that its not a disabled because of other ports you are using like what happens on my asus tuf, very annoying.

you wont be able to boot from it i dont think?, just put your nvme that you boot from in the working motherboard slot and put your other drive in something like that so you can use it in a pcie slot

Amazon.com: Bejavr M.2 NVME to PCIe 3.0/4.0 x4 Adapter, NVME/AHCI SSD to PCIe Expansion Card with Aluminum Heatsink Solution, Supports PCI-Express X4 X8 X16 Slots : Electronics


edit: so i just noticed your motherboard pic is different then the manual pic, you dont have a pcie port on your board that could use this after putting in your video card, i think they do make usb 3 nvme adapters but is it worth it at that point? i don't know how fast they are. if you dont want to buy a new mobo you can transfer your data onto the bigger drive and use that in your one working slot, other then that i am out of suggestions. or rma your mobo if you can.

 

[yapfei]

wont work because both are PCIe interface M2

for both m2 to work one is PCIe 4-lane interface in m2-2 the other SATA interface in m2-1

 

[Mussels]

M.2 is a size, and you should always remember that NVME and SATA are not compatible - they just share the same slot, compatibility is down to the slot itself


From the motherboard manual:

M.2 #1 shares with SATA port #2, and supports NVME

M.2 #2 is NVME only

 

[Grandee]

well you don't need to buy a new mobo just cause your ssd slot is bad, they make adapters to put it into an open pci slot assuming that its not a disabled because of other ports you are using like what happens on my asus tuf, very annoying.

you wont be able to boot from it i dont think?, just put your nvme that you boot from in the working motherboard slot and put your other drive in something like that so you can use it in a pcie slot

Amazon.com: Bejavr M.2 NVME to PCIe 3.0/4.0 x4 Adapter, NVME/AHCI SSD to PCIe Expansion Card with Aluminum Heatsink Solution, Supports PCI-Express X4 X8 X16 Slots : Electronics


edit: so i just noticed your motherboard pic is different then the manual pic, you dont have a pcie port on your board that could use this after putting in your video card, i think they do make usb 3 nvme adapters but is it worth it at that point? i don't know how fast they are. if you dont want to buy a new mobo you can transfer your data onto the bigger drive and use that in your one working slot, other then that i am out of suggestions. or rma your mobo if you can.

I was looking into usb adapters for nvme and it would be probably the only option to put that ssd to some use at least, since I am not planning to buy a new motherboard anytime soon.

M.2 is a size, and you should always remember that NVME and SATA are not compatible - they just share the same slot, compatibility is down to the slot itself


From the motherboard manual:
View attachment 277015


M.2 #1 shares with SATA port #2, and supports NVME

M.2 #2 is NVME only

Yes, I attached picture of this part of the manual when starting this thread I am just not educated on this topic so I didnt know what to really make of it.