X99 Extreme4 does not detect Samsung Pro 950 M.2

OK i kinda figured it out myself and got windows 8.1 installed after i disabled CSM and disabled my sata controllers temporarily.

It does not show up in my bios either but is available for Os install for w10. Pretty sure at this point it does not show up in any of our bios's  except as you mentioned the system browser.

Edited by DooRules - 30 Dec 2015 at 7:59pm

Hello guys
I have a X99m ext4, my bios does not show the 950 pro, but the slot M.2 x4 lines was already 'prepared for ssd M.2 when they built the motherboard ...

GODenergy wrote: ITKosta829 wrote: OK i kinda figured it out myself and got windows 8.1 installed after i disabled CSM and disabled my sata controllers temporarily. this video helped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No-ct8pQcIg I still want to know why the M.2 Drive isnt detected in BIOS... Ugh, well I just installed my Samsung 950 Pro 256GB into my ASROCK X99 Extreme4 aswell. It was NOT detected in the BIOS under storage but however was in the "BOOT OPTIONS" for some reason. Of course, when I booted off my USB external CD/DVD drive and launched Windows 8, it was NOT detected there either. I followed the instructions off that youtube video and managed to atleast install Windows 8 on the M.2 Samsung 950 using the USB Windows 8 UEFI per the video and disabling the CSM option in BIOS and deleting the boot keys. The m.2 samsung 950 is still not showing up in BIOS though. I even installed the Samsung 950 PRO driver off the samsung website, but that seem to do literally nothing ( what does it even do?) Can anyone explain why does CSM need to be disabled and what does deleting the secure boot keys do? I had some buggy stuff too happen where I went to power down the PC after installing Windows 8 on the M.2 drive and the screen went black and never powered down. And upon booting up i had some visual glitches (LAN icon got duplciated bottom left): http://i.imgur.com/PrhS0Tz.jpg

Why does CSM need to be disabled? That takes some explanation.

The main reason is, disabling CSM will cause Windows to use the EFI Boot Loader instead of the Legacy Boot loader. This is also called UEFI or EFI Booting. Use of the EFI Boot Loader is required in order for a PCIe NVMe SSD to be able to be an OS drive. If you want more technical explanation than that, I could do so but it won't make much difference in understanding all this.

We have been spoiled for a long time now with plug and play storage drives. NVMe SSDs are not plug and play storage drives, particularly when used as OS drives.

Deleting the Secure Boot keys in general is not related to disabling CSM, unless a board's UEFI has the two connected for some reason. I have never done anything with Secure Boot or secure boot keys on my ASRock boards to configure UEFI booting, never deleted a key or created one. Enabling the Secure Boot option (that uses the keys) has a side affect of disabling CSM, since Secure Boot only works with the EFI Boot Loader. I suppose a UEFI that does not have the CSM option available (older boards) would force you to enable Secure Boot so CSM will be disabled automatically.

As I said above, NVMe is a different storage and interface protocol than SATA. We can't expect a device that has a different interface to be listed with SATA devices. USB flash drives are not SATA devices, do we see those listed in the Storage Configuration screen? Where do we see USB flash drives listed in the UEFI/BIOS? Only two places, in the Boot Order, and in the System Browser tool.

Yes, the M.2 ports are listed in the SATA Storage Configuration screen. But SATA M.2 SSDs exist, Samsung makes M.2 850 EVO equivalent SSDs. Intel also makes SATA M.2 SSDs, as well as Crucial, Plextor, and others. If you used one, it would be listed in the SATA Storage Configuration screen.

If you did not have an NVMe storage driver installed, you could not use your NVMe SSD. Same thing is true for a SATA driver and SATA SSD or HDD. Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 have a built in NVMe driver. So if you don't install the Samsung NVMe driver with the Install Driver option in a Windows Custom installation, the Windows NVMe driver is used. Samsung does not provide the typical "F6" type driver files with their NVMe driver, used for the Install Driver option. Intel has their own NVMe driver, and includes the "F6" drivers.

Windows provides standard SATA IDE and AHCI drivers, which are installed automatically if we don't install one ourselves. Believe me, if ANY of these drivers did not exist, we would not be using these drives, SATA or NVMe. You said the NVMe driver seems to do nothing. What does a SATA driver do?

I understand the frustration of things not being the same when using NVMe SSDs. But consider this, does Samsung (for example) provide any information about how their NMVe SSDs must be installed, and how they will interact with a board's UEFI/BIOS? Do they provide any information about the Windows installation configuration needed to make these drives able to boot an OS?

The answer to both of those questions is a simple NO, they don't. Samsung has a guide to installing their NMVe driver, but it all does is walk you through the driver installation prompts. In other words, worthless.

Does Microsoft have a guide to installing NVMe SSDs on their products? I've never found one. I learned about it by studying UEFI booting a few years ago. I picked up a piece of information here and there, that when put together, works. I have a guide to installing Windows on PCIe SSDs as a sticky in this forum.

Yes, you can use UEFI booting with SATA SSDs, and it is the only way I install Windows if I can (AMD... OMG get with it ) By coincidence, UEFI booting is required for using an NVMe SSD as an OS drive. There are other reasons for using UEFI booting, but that is another topic.

Intel is no better in providing a guide than Samsung and Microsoft.

So then what happens? Who gets to deal with it? Mother board manufactures, that don't manufacture NVMe SSDs.

You may then say, where is a guide from ASRock on this topic? So a mother board manufacture is then responsible to provide a guide for two products (NVMe SSD and OS software) that they neither manufacture or sell, while the manufactures of those two products themselves do not provide that information?

Plug and play means very little or nothing to deal with when using a device. Again, NVMe SSDs are not plug and play devices. No one told you that? Me too!

parsec wrote: GODenergy wrote: ITKosta829 wrote: OK i kinda figured it out myself and got windows 8.1 installed after i disabled CSM and disabled my sata controllers temporarily. this video helped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No-ct8pQcIg I still want to know why the M.2 Drive isnt detected in BIOS... Ugh, well I just installed my Samsung 950 Pro 256GB into my ASROCK X99 Extreme4 aswell. It was NOT detected in the BIOS under storage but however was in the "BOOT OPTIONS" for some reason. Of course, when I booted off my USB external CD/DVD drive and launched Windows 8, it was NOT detected there either. I followed the instructions off that youtube video and managed to atleast install Windows 8 on the M.2 Samsung 950 using the USB Windows 8 UEFI per the video and disabling the CSM option in BIOS and deleting the boot keys. The m.2 samsung 950 is still not showing up in BIOS though. I even installed the Samsung 950 PRO driver off the samsung website, but that seem to do literally nothing ( what does it even do?) Can anyone explain why does CSM need to be disabled and what does deleting the secure boot keys do? I had some buggy stuff too happen where I went to power down the PC after installing Windows 8 on the M.2 drive and the screen went black and never powered down. And upon booting up i had some visual glitches (LAN icon got duplciated bottom left): http://i.imgur.com/PrhS0Tz.jpg Why does CSM need to be disabled? That takes some explanation. The main reason is, disabling CSM will cause Windows to use the EFI Boot Loader instead of the Legacy Boot loader. This is also called UEFI or EFI Booting. Use of the EFI Boot Loader is required in order for a PCIe NVMe SSD to be able to be an OS drive. If you want more technical explanation than that, I could do so but it won't make much difference in understanding all this. We have been spoiled for a long time now with plug and play storage drives. NVMe SSDs are not plug and play storage drives, particularly when used as OS drives. Deleting the Secure Boot keys in general is not related to disabling CSM, unless a board's UEFI has the two connected for some reason. I have never done anything with Secure Boot or secure boot keys on my ASRock boards to configure UEFI booting, never deleted a key or created one. Enabling the Secure Boot option (that uses the keys) has a side affect of disabling CSM, since Secure Boot only works with the EFI Boot Loader. I suppose a UEFI that does not have the CSM option available (older boards) would force you to enable Secure Boot so CSM will be disabled automatically. As I said above, NVMe is a different storage and interface protocol than SATA. We can't expect a device that has a different interface to be listed with SATA devices. USB flash drives are not SATA devices, do we see those listed in the Storage Configuration screen? Where do we see USB flash drives listed in the UEFI/BIOS? Only two places, in the Boot Order, and in the System Browser tool. Yes, the M.2 ports are listed in the SATA Storage Configuration screen. But SATA M.2 SSDs exist, Samsung makes M.2 850 EVO equivalent SSDs. Intel also makes SATA M.2 SSDs, as well as Crucial, Plextor, and others. If you used one, it would be listed in the SATA Storage Configuration screen. If you did not have an NVMe storage driver installed, you could not use your NVMe SSD. Same thing is true for a SATA driver and SATA SSD or HDD. Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 have a built in NVMe driver. So if you don't install the Samsung NVMe driver with the Install Driver option in a Windows Custom installation, the Windows NVMe driver is used. Samsung does not provide the typical "F6" type driver files with their NVMe driver, used for the Install Driver option. Intel has their own NVMe driver, and includes the "F6" drivers. Windows provides standard SATA IDE and AHCI drivers, which are installed automatically if we don't install one ourselves. Believe me, if ANY of these drivers did not exist, we would not be using these drives, SATA or NVMe. You said the NVMe driver seems to do nothing. What does a SATA driver do? I understand the frustration of things not being the same when using NVMe SSDs. But consider this, does Samsung (for example) provide any information about how their NMVe SSDs must be installed, and how they will interact with a board's UEFI/BIOS? Do they provide any information about the Windows installation configuration needed to make these drives able to boot an OS? The answer to both of those questions is a simple NO, they don't. Samsung has a guide to installing their NMVe driver, but it all does is walk you through the driver installation prompts. In other words, worthless. Does Microsoft have a guide to installing NVMe SSDs on their products? I've never found one. I learned about it by studying UEFI booting a few years ago. I picked up a piece of information here and there, that when put together, works. I have a guide to installing Windows on PCIe SSDs as a sticky in this forum. Yes, you can use UEFI booting with SATA SSDs, and it is the only way I install Windows if I can (AMD... OMG get with it ) By coincidence, UEFI booting is required for using an NVMe SSD as an OS drive. There are other reasons for using UEFI booting, but that is another topic. Intel is no better in providing a guide than Samsung and Microsoft. So then what happens? Who gets to deal with it? Mother board manufactures, that don't manufacture NVMe SSDs. You may then say, where is a guide from ASRock on this topic? So a mother board manufacture is then responsible to provide a guide for two products (NVMe SSD and OS software) that they neither manufacture or sell, while the manufactures of those two products themselves do not provide that information? Plug and play means very little or nothing to deal with when using a device. Again, NVMe SSDs are not plug and play devices. No one told you that? Me too!