Samsung SM951-AHCI 512GB on Z97 Extreme6

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   I see the device in the UEFI. However, I have not found a way to make the computer boot to the device. It doesn't detect a boot device after attempting to boot into Windows 8.1. I previously installed Windows 8.1 to a Samsung 850 PRO 256 GB, and I used Paragon Migrate OS to SSD 4.0 to migrate my data from the SSD to my new m.2 device.
This process appeared to complete successfully so I do not understand what did not work.

Has anyone gotten this to work?

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gniblack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 May 2015 Status: Offline Points: 76	Post Options Post Reply Quote gniblack Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Samsung SM951-AHCI 512GB on Z97 Extreme6 Posted: 21 May 2015 at 9:32am
	I see the device in the UEFI. However, I have not found a way to make the computer boot to the device. It doesn't detect a boot device after attempting to boot into Windows 8.1. I previously installed Windows 8.1 to a Samsung 850 PRO 256 GB, and I used Paragon Migrate OS to SSD 4.0 to migrate my data from the SSD to my new m.2 device. This process appeared to complete successfully so I do not understand what did not work. Has anyone gotten this to work?

parsec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 04 May 2015 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 4996	Post Options Post Reply Quote parsec Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 May 2015 at 2:09pm
	My SM951 is the OS drive in my Z97Extreme6 PC. I did a fresh installation that uses the EFI boot loader supplied with Windows 8/8.1, which is required to allow booting from a SM951. But there is another way to get it working, if your previous OS installation will cooperate. Was it and now the SM951 formatted as GPT? First, what UEFI version are you using? UEFI version 2.10 is the official update to allow booting from a SM951. You won't see that specifically in the description, but it is the UEFI version you must use. If that alone does not fix your booting problem, we'll see what the answer to my question is, and take it from there. The SM951 has very specific requirements that must be met or it won't work. It's not a plug and play device, which is why it is not sold in the usual retail channels. It seems you are not aware of this.

gniblack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 May 2015 Status: Offline Points: 76	Post Options Post Reply Quote gniblack Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 May 2015 at 11:49pm
	Thank you for the response. I am using the latest UEFI version 2.10. I have a feeling that I also set it up as a master boot record (MBR) rather than a GUID Partition Tabel (GPT). How do I confirm this? I was aware that it wasn't sold in the usual retail channels, but I didn't realize that I lacked the knowledge to configure this device successfully to boot into Windows. I really had just been looking forward to getting one of these devices after building my system with the ASRock Z97 Extreme6 motherboard and look forward to one day getting the NVMe version. Thanks for your help.

parsec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 04 May 2015 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 4996	Post Options Post Reply Quote parsec Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 May 2015 at 3:47pm
	Open Device Manager, and then Disk Drives, and open the Properties for your SM951. Select the Volumes tab, and click the Populate button near the bottom. You will see something similar to this: MBR partitioning is the default type used by the Windows installation program. If the drive you cloned from was partitioned as MBR, then your SM951 will be the same.

ASRock_TSD Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List ASRock_Official Joined: 20 Mar 2015 Status: Offline Points: 8727	Post Options Post Reply Quote ASRock_TSD Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 May 2015 at 9:44pm
	Greetings, this is ASRock Technical Support Department. Due to the SM951 limitation(also on XP941), please install the OS in SM951 with GPT(UEFI) mode. (Boot -> Press F11 -> Select the OS installation device(such as USB storage) title as UEFI) Kindest Regards, ASRock TSD

gniblack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 May 2015 Status: Offline Points: 76	Post Options Post Reply Quote gniblack Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 May 2015 at 3:15am
	You were correct in thinking that the partition was configured in the default style of a Master Boot Record (MBR). Do I need to start all over, or is there a trick to convert it to a GUID Partition Table?

gniblack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 May 2015 Status: Offline Points: 76	Post Options Post Reply Quote gniblack Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 May 2015 at 10:49am
	I used Rufus to create a bootable Windows 8 USB flash drive with a GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer. I have had no success in making the motherboard boot from this flash drive though, and I attempted using two devices. One I made used NTFS and the other FAT32. I looked through the BIOS settings and thought maybe that I needed to change the advanced USB setting to UEFI, but that did not help. I also changed everything from Legacy to UEFI. What settings do I need to use to make this work?

parsec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 04 May 2015 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 4996	Post Options Post Reply Quote parsec Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 May 2015 at 7:46pm
	Using Rufus should work, but use FAT32 for formatting. The USB flash drive should be in one of the USB ports on the board's IO panel on the back of the PC. Start over with the UEFI/BIOS settings, select Load UEFI Defaults in the Exit screen. Then in the Boot screen, at the bottom find the option CSM. Click on that to open that screen. Find the Launch Storage OpROM Policy option, and select UEFI Only. Go back to Exit screen, select Save and Exit. Then go right back into the UEFI/BIOS. Now select the entry for the USB flash drive that has "UEFI:" in it. Then select Save and Exit on the Exit screen and it should boot the Win 8 installer on the flash drive. It is important to ONLY have the SM951 connected to the board, all other SSDs or HDDs should have their power cables removed during the Win 8 installation. When the Win 8 installation begins, select the Custom Installation option. If the SM951 appears with any partitions on it, delete them with the options on that screen. After the SM951 has no partitions left, click the New button on that screen. You'll see a message about Windows creating extra partitions, just click Ok. You then should have four partitions on the SM 951. If the main partition is not highlighted, select it. Now continue the installation. Let us know how this works out for you.

gniblack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 21 May 2015 Status: Offline Points: 76	Post Options Post Reply Quote gniblack Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 May 2015 at 8:44pm
	Whoops! I meant to say UEFI settings. I am so used to dealing with BIOS. I actually only tried the front USB ports so I will follow your instructions this evening when I get home from work. Thank you.

TIJ Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 17 May 2015 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE Status: Offline Points: 16	Post Options Post Reply Quote TIJ Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 May 2015 at 3:03am
	I've got a similar question to ASRock Technical Support... I'm planning to use the Samsung SM951 drive with the ASRock X99E-ITX/ac system board. Will it be possible to boot from the SM951?