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Z77 Extreme 4 NVME PCI-E SSD BOOTING!

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zazzn View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote zazzn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Z77 Extreme 4 NVME PCI-E SSD BOOTING!
    Posted: 25 Aug 2016 at 10:53am
So I just wanted to share with everyone, that I was able to get my machine to boot a NVME PCI-E Intel.

You will need to install a modified BIOS which has the correct drivers to allow booting form the NVME drive however, once done, you are on a course for smooth sailing for 1000 MB+ of SSD bliss. 

You can find all the information you need here however, if you don't want to go though the trouble you can use my pre-modified BIOS here

I just wanted to share my excitement with my new found loved brand of motherboard. I also noticed they have their own BETA bios for NVME support here which is pretty sick considering the board is several years old. 

I'm a long term computer enthusiast and I can say without a shadow of a doubt my next board will be ASRock.

I've had ABIT, ASUS, GIGABYTE, SOYO, MSI and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, I will choose ASRock again next time. 

I'm waiting for ASRock to release a new z170 with Alpine ridge support and a configuration similar to the Z170x-UD3 which can support 3 NVME drives :))))


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote parsec Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Aug 2016 at 11:16pm
Originally posted by zazzn zazzn wrote:

So I just wanted to share with everyone, that I was able to get my machine to boot a NVME PCI-E Intel.

You will need to install a modified BIOS which has the correct drivers to allow booting form the NVME drive however, once done, you are on a course for smooth sailing for 1000 MB+ of SSD bliss. 

You can find all the information you need here however, if you don't want to go though the trouble you can use my pre-modified BIOS here

I just wanted to share my excitement with my new found loved brand of motherboard. I also noticed they have their own BETA bios for NVME support here which is pretty sick considering the board is several years old. 

I'm a long term computer enthusiast and I can say without a shadow of a doubt my next board will be ASRock.

I've had ABIT, ASUS, GIGABYTE, SOYO, MSI and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, I will choose ASRock again next time. 

I'm waiting for ASRock to release a new z170 with Alpine ridge support and a configuration similar to the Z170x-UD3 which can support 3 NVME drives :))))




My question for you about your modified UEFI with NVMe support for the Z77 Extreme4 board is this: Can you get into the UEFI/BIOS UI with your modified UEFI version, using the Restart to UEFI program, or the standard way with the Del or F2 key? That is, with an NVMe SSD as the OS/boot drive?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about waiting for ASRock to release a board that supports three NVMe SSDs?

ASRock currently has three Z170 mother boards that support three M.2 NVMe SSDs, the Z170 OC Formula, Z170 Extreme7+, and the Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7.

Plus you can always use M.2 to PCIe adapter cards to use more NVMe SSDs on any ASRock Z170 board, as well as standard PCIe NVMe SSDs like the Intel 750.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote zazzn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2016 at 7:37am
Yes, the only thing you modify with the tool is the modules that are loaded for the UEFI. IN this case I modified the driver for booting from PCI-E with the one that they have available. It doesn't change the BIOS code at all it's like updating the Intel ME drivers, similar to this you basically add modules and drivers for the UEFI shell to load so that it can read the hardware. 

I'm waiting for Asrock to use the Alpine ridge controller as well, basically the UD3 has everything I wantbut its not a Asrock board, so I'll hold out! UD3 is priced in the 120-150 range
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote parsec Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2016 at 11:06pm
Originally posted by zazzn zazzn wrote:

Yes, the only thing you modify with the tool is the modules that are loaded for the UEFI. IN this case I modified the driver for booting from PCI-E with the one that they have available. It doesn't change the BIOS code at all it's like updating the Intel ME drivers, similar to this you basically add modules and drivers for the UEFI shell to load so that it can read the hardware. 

I'm waiting for Asrock to use the Alpine ridge controller as well, basically the UD3 has everything I wantbut its not a Asrock board, so I'll hold out! UD3 is priced in the 120-150 range


I understand the UEFI/BIOS modification to provide NVMe support. You really did not answer my question.

When using an Intel 750 AIC PCIe NVMe SSD in my Z77 Extreme4 board, with the ASRock P2.90M Beta UEFI with NVMe support, the board will not go into the UEFI UI normally. I see a POST code of A9 IIRC, and an otherwise blank screen.

In order to get into the UEFI UI with that configuration, I must clear the UEFI first. This workaround works, but is not optimal.

My question was, when using the UEFI that you modified, and a similar configuration to mine, are you able to get into the UEFI UI normally?

Also, the Z170X-UD3 board has only two M.2 slots that supports PCIe 3.0 x4, not three.

That board has a Thunderbolt add in card connector, but does not seem to have an Intel Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller chip on the board itself.

The first Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt controller chip was released in Q3 2015, which is after boards like the ASRock Z170Extreme7+ were released.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BrettMc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Mar 2017 at 7:49am
Hello,

First post.

Can anyone tell me if the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 will support the NVMe protocol?

What kind of performance can I expect from a PCIe SSD with this board if the NVMe protocol is not supported?

Thanks much!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote parsec Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Mar 2017 at 8:41am
Originally posted by BrettMc BrettMc wrote:

Hello,

First post.

Can anyone tell me if the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 will support the NVMe protocol?

What kind of performance can I expect from a PCIe SSD with this board if the NVMe protocol is not supported?


Thanks much!


Support of the NVMe protocol is provided by the NVMe driver. There is no reason you cannot install an NVMe driver in a Windows installation on a PC with your mother board. Windows 8.1 and 10 have a built in NVMe driver provided by Microsoft. Otherwise the NVMe SSD manufacture will provide an NVMe driver, most of them do.

What is loosely called "NVMe Support" in the UEFI/BIOS is required if an NVMe SSD will be used as the OS/boot drive. Your board does not have a UEFI/BIOS version that provides NVMe support, so in general an NVMe SSD cannot be used as the OS drive. An NVMe SSD could still be used as a data drive on your board.

Certain NVMe SSDs like the Samsung 950 Pro and possibly the 960 Pro and EVO series, have a built in Option ROM that takes the place of the NVMe support in a board's UEFI/BIOS, and are able to be used as the OS drive in PCs without NVMe support.

The performance of an NVMe SSD in your board depends upon the level of PCIe support you have, which depends upon the CPU you are using. Performance does not depend upon NVMe support as I described it above.

Most NVMe SSDs require a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface to provide their full performance. If you have an i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge processor in your board, then you have PCIe 3.0 support from the PCIE2 and PCIE4 slots. If you have a Sandy Bridge processor, you will have PCIe 2.0 support in the same slots.

The PCIE5 slot will be PCIe 2.0 x4 regardless of the CPU being used.

A PCIe 2.0 x4 interface will limit the large file sequential read and write speeds to ~2,000MB/s. You may also see a small reduction in the high queue depth 4K random read and write speeds.

Or what do you mean specifically by performance?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote Mr-Uve Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Nov 2017 at 2:32am

Hello,
after long tests and trials I`ve got the Asrock Z77 extrem4 boot from the Samsung 960 evo NVMe M.2 1TB!
First updated the BIOS to latest Beta 2.90P version found here: http://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/index.de.asp#Specification.
Following other posts I'd tried to install Windows 10 from the USB stick. yyBut in BIOS mode, don't start the system.
The workaround that helps is:
Go in BIOS in "Advanced" and ACPI Configuration: Last item in the Beta 2.90P is CSM. Turn it to ?œDisabled??


But now, you cannot start the windows 10 installation, the USB stick is no longer recognized.

Create a UEFI Windows 10 installation stick follow the instruction on this link:

https://www.thomas-krenn.com/de/wiki/Windows_UEFI_Boot-Stick_unter_Windows_erstellen


I?™ve done with the Rufus tool ??works great!


Now start your computer again ??CMS off, boot the UEFI-Stick and install windows 10 as you want on your samsung 960 evo.

After installation you find the Windows Boot Manager in Boot Option Priorities.


After the system runs stable, I?™ve changed the setting in BIOS back to CMS enabled. First boot device Windows Boot Manager.


Starting the computer, it boot the Windows10 from Samsung M.2 SSD on PCIe 3 slot. Pressing F11 while booting give the choice to boot from another hard drive. I?™ve still my old Windows7 on the old harddisc ??works still stable. Very helpful when you copie your old programs and settings.


I?™ve not tested, but I think can work also for other Z77 boards. Clear, the samsung M.2 SSD should be found from the board. This work around will help to get the drive as boot drive.


Have fun.

MU
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rock_solid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 May 2018 at 4:45am
Thank you for this!

I will be testing Z77 Extreme4 Q BIOS with an EVO 970 next week. I'll post results! I have heard general problems with IEEE1667 and NVMe boot, Samsung say they have fixed it with 970.

What I want to do it migrate my existing OS from AHCI SATA SSD, but obviously need NVMe driver active. Not really sure how I'm going to do this?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote rock_solid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 May 2018 at 6:47pm
Well I got it to work!

Samsung EVO 970 NVMe M.2 on ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 5.1.0 x64 (C) 2007-2015 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]
* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes

   Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) :  3128.912 MB/s Clap
  Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) :  1543.462 MB/s
  Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) :   259.745 MB/s [ 63414.3 IOPS]
 Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) :   225.687 MB/s [ 55099.4 IOPS]
         Sequential Read (T= 1) :  1650.298 MB/s
        Sequential Write (T= 1) :  1543.753 MB/s
   Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) :    44.831 MB/s [ 10945.1 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) :   145.799 MB/s [ 35595.5 IOPS]

  Test : 1024 MiB [C: 59.1% (137.1/231.8 GiB)] (x5)  [Interval=5 sec]
  Date : 2018/05/09 19:45:52
    OS : Windows 10 Professional [10.0 Build 17134] (x64)

 
Used Macrium Reflect to clone old C. Samsung Data Migration tool kept crashing.

UEFI would not boot until I booted from Win 10 Recovery drive and ran "bcdboot c:\windows /s Z: /f UEFI" as per link: https://superuser.com/questions/1187789/how-can-i-repair-windows-10-uefi-normal-boot

Blinding fast speeds!!!!!

AsRock Z77 Extreme4
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote majorpdd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Aug 2018 at 6:11am
Hey Rock,

For the Samsung EVO 970, which adapter did you use?

I am looking at the same thing for my Extreme6.
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