M.2 PCIe SSD connected incorrectly as an M.2 SATA

I have a brand new build using a SAMSUNG MZHPV256HDGL-00000 (M.2 PCIe 256Gb SSD) on an ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITXac.

I have connected it in the M_1 slot but instead of running as a PCIe card it is running as a SATA card.

These are the results from Speccy:

SAMSUNG MZHPV256HDGL-00000
    Manufacturer    SAMSUNG
    Heads    16
    Cylinders    31,130
    Tracks    7,938,150
    Sectors    500,103,450
    SATA type    SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
    Device type    Fixed
    ATA Standard    ACS2
    Serial Number    S1X2NYAH700410
    Firmware Version Number    BXW2500Q
    LBA Size    48-bit LBA
    Power On Count    224 times
    Power On Time    215.3 days
    Speed    Not used (SSD Drive)
    Features    S.M.A.R.T., NCQ, TRIM, SSD
    Max. Transfer Mode    SATA III 6.0Gb/s
    Used Transfer Mode    SATA III 6.0Gb/s
    Interface    SATA
    Capacity    238 GB
    Real size    256,060,514,304 bytes
    RAID Type    None

Every other utility I have used says the same and the speeds are slow as per SATA.

I have tried updating the driver, using a pure version of the Samsung NVMe driver (from here), but it didn't alter anything.

I have tried updating the BIOS but got an error saying the BIOS was incorrect for my motherboard!

EDIT: I have updated the BIOS! Still no change.

I'm a tad frustrated.


Edited by Marmite - 03 Jan 2018 at 11:30pm

where did you buy this SSD. it seems to be quite old, because it was already powered up 224 times for a total uptime of 213 days. this cannot be a new drive.
    Power On Count    224 times
    Power On Time    215.3 days

if the computer thinks. that it is connected to SATA, I am sure, it is.
there exist Samsung SSD M.2 drives with SATA only, not PCIe. not drive can have both, SATA and PCIe.

your SAMSUNG MZHPV256HDGL-00000 should be PCIe x4 SSD, not SATA (and is listed as a compatible SSD module).
Th M.2 Ultra slot of the board supports both types of SSD.

to which SATA controller is the SSD connected? if M.2 slot is used with SATA device, SATA3_0 (first device) will be used (and is not available for SATA drives). If a device is connected to SATA3_0 then, it will be not available.

Ok, if its from a NUC, then it is defnitly a PCIe x4 SSD, since the M.2 is there PCIe only. Maybe Speccy is wrong due to the fact, that the SSD is AHCI (not NMVE).
can you try to some SATA device on SATA3_0 port. If you can see it, then the SSD is definitly PCIe.

hace you checked the device view from Windows. it has a connection view. how does it show up there?


Edited by wtuppa - 04 Jan 2018 at 6:58pm