NVMe SSD not recognised in ASRock X99-WS

FIXED! Thanks Parsec 

CMG wrote: Hi Parsec, thanks for your quick response. So, I have the 2.5 inch version of the DC P3500 400Gb drive (http://ark.intel.com/products/82847/Intel-SSD-DC-P3500-Series-400GB-2_5in-PCIe-3_0-20nm-MLC ) and have installed it into a PCIe slot using one of these adaptor boards, just like in the picture of the item in Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/JZLL-SFF-8639-PCI-E-Adapter-Intel/dp/B01D9G03LW/ It was in the 2nd PCIe slot of the X99-WS, although I have now also tried reseating it and moving it to slot 3 and slot 6 with the same results. The green LED that is illuminated is on the adapter card. Yes, I have seen that PDF and was attempting to follow it. I have Windows Server 2012R2 already installed and working on a SATA SSD (happens to also be Intel brand). Note that this drive is MBR / Legacy BIOS boot. I powered off the machine after settling on BIOS 2.10. Installed the drive on the adapter card into PCIe slot 2. I then followed these instructions as in section 3.1.1. of the PDF. I downloaded version 1.7.0.1002 and ran the SetupNVME exe. The setup screen shown in 3.1.1 shows the message 'device not detected' in red. I then also tried the older version - 1.5.0.1002. Same result.  Whilst I am planning to install an OS on this drive later, I was first attempting to get it working as a non-system drive (I can see there are further complications with making it bootable!). In order to use the drive as a data drive, I'm not sure (a) which BIOS revision is required, (b) if the system needs to have booted through UEFI anyway (I believe NOT ??it doesn't say this in the Intel doc for instance). I see in the PDF it says: 'The P3700, P3600 and P3500 Series is bootable and supports installation of an operating system on platforms that support UEFI* 2.3.1 BIOS'. I'm not sure if the revision number they quote matches ASRock's but this is somewhat suspicious as I'm on 2.10. I have also now checked the system explorer in the UEFI. If i hover over the PCI slot in which the SSD is present, this says 'Empty'. I've also checked using SiSoft Sandra and there is no sign of it there either. I've read some other posts and it seems that it should work as a data drive following the steps i have taken. So my view is either: - BIOS issue - Faulty hardware ( an Intel enterprise grade drive... ) Thanks again CMG

The UEFI 2.3.1 mentioned in the Intel SSD manual is a UEFI specification number, and in no way related to the UEFI/BIOS version on your board. The UEFI version numbers for a mother board are completely arbitrary, and have no meaning except to differentiate the various versions.

You need at least UEFI/BIOS version 1.70, while I would suggest at least 2.10.


I highly doubt the Intel SSD is the problem. I have used Intel SSDs in many forms for years, never once had one that was bad. My old G2 SATA II Intel SSD still work.

BTW, the link in your post to the Intel page of your SSD does not work.

I don't trust that adapter card at all. Never seen one before, I know of no one that uses one. Do you have it connected to your power supply, as it says on the adapter card product page? The page you linked to has a picture where the card must be connected to "U.2 HDD power". It's the fifth picture from the top, the picture in the upper left in general. How do you even do that?

Our drive require both 12V and 3.3V connections, although the latter is barely used. The cable Intel provides with the 750 must be connected to a SATA power cable.

I have the 2.5" Intel 750, and use an U.2 to M.2 adapter, a tiny card. Works perfectly.

IMO, the problem is that adapter card, or it is not receiving the correct power.

One other possibility is the PCIe lane allocation. Notice I said lane, not slot. Your CPU has 40 PCIe lanes, so normally more than enough, but I don't understand the PCIe lane usage of your other cards.

CMG wrote: As per my other post (http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3394&title=asrock-x99ws-bios-upgrade-to-3x-fails) I have been trying to install an Intel DC-P3500 NVMe SSD without luck. The latest BIOS I can get running is 2.10. The SSD is installed in PCIe slot 2 using an x4 adapter board. There is a green LED lit on the board which I believe indicates the drive thinks it is healthy. I was expecting to be able to install the Intel drivers as a first step, before i tried the harder procedure of making it a boot drive and reinstalling the system. However, the installer UI shows a message "device not detected". In the log there is an error message "error in device matching". There is no corresponding device in Windows Device Manager or in the Disk Admin tool. The disk does not show in the BIOS HDD list but i believe that is normal for NVMe? I see this drive is listed as a supported drive on this site so I was very much expecting to at least get to the stage of using it as a non-system disk easily. The PCi slot config i have is: Adaptec 5404 (x8 1.1) - works OK Intel DC-P3500 (x4 3.0) HP H222 (x8 3.0) - works OK NVidia K620 (x16 2.0) - works OK Empty Empty M.2 empty. None of the existing cards will actually transfer much data in normal operation. Here are full details of my system: ASRock X99-WS motherboard, which originally had 1.30 BIOS installed. Intel Xeon 1620v3 with 16Gb ECC RAM SATA HDDs and SSDs: Intel, Samsung and WD. Windows Server 2012R2 on Intel DC3100 SATA Help!! CMG

Just to let you know, I use an Intel 750 NVMe 2.5" U.2 SSD in my ASRock X99 Extreme6/3.1 board, as the OS drive, with Windows 10.

You lost me on the, " The SSD is installed in PCIe slot 2 using an x4 adapter board. What is the point of the adapter card, since the DC P3500 SSD is either a PCIe slot Add In Card, or the 2.5" U.2 interface version.

http://ark.intel.com/products/series/79629/Data-Center-SSDs

I really need to understand this before I can offer more help.

Have you seen the NVMe driver installation instructions for your SSD:

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/ssdc/data-center-ssds/Intel%20NVMe%20Install%20Guide_330547-003.pdf

This guide states the procedure is install the SSD first, and then its driver.

Installing the NVMe driver (or driver for any device), which becomes part of, and is used by the OS, won't do you any good if you then install an OS on the P3500. The driver is not installed in a special area of the SSD, it is installed on the OS drive. If you install an OS on the P3500, you'll need to install the Intel NVMe driver again.


Edited by parsec - 08 Sep 2016 at 9:27am