ASRock J5040-ITX Mini-ITX PCI-E M.2 boot

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   Hi everyone,

I can't boot from M.2 SSD connected to PCI-E via an adapter. Does this motherboard support boot from PCI-E slot?

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Kernel32 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 02 Aug 2022 Status: Offline Points: 20	Post Options Post Reply Quote Kernel32 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: ASRock J5040-ITX Mini-ITX PCI-E M.2 boot Posted: 02 Aug 2022 at 10:02pm
	Hi everyone, I can't boot from M.2 SSD connected to PCI-E via an adapter. Does this motherboard support boot from PCI-E slot?

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 25073	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Aug 2022 at 11:40pm
	I would send a support ticket to ASRock and ask: https://event.asrock.com/tsd.asp They will know for certain and what steps you need to follow if it is possible.


threadzipper1957 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 05 Mar 2022 Status: Offline Points: 9365	Post Options Post Reply Quote threadzipper1957 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Aug 2022 at 5:06pm
	The PCIE slot on the board has only one PCI Express 2.0 lane, for an M.2, you must have at least 4 lanes, so it will not work. The M.2 key E slot, is meant for Wifi cards, it cannot handle an M.2
	Kind Regards

jcoelho Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 29 Mar 2024 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcoelho Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Mar 2024 at 1:32am
	that is not true. I am currently running and booting a 250GB NVME Samsung 980 SSD from the 1x PCIE slot via a cheap Amazon adapter. The PCIe specs allows for you to run devices on less than the optimum number of PCIe lanes. There is of course a trade off since running a PCIe 4x device on a 1X lanes you lose 75% of your bandwidth. But for me the loss in performance is worth freeing up a sata port. Also I have confirmed that adding a card to the M.2 Wifi A/E keyed slot will work with one of those 2 port Sata adapters. I have not confirmed if it will boot from those ports but it is readable.

jcoelho Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 29 Mar 2024 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote jcoelho Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Mar 2024 at 1:34am
	I have been able to boot a Samsung NVME 250GB SSD from a 1x PCIe adapter which I purchased from amazon. this is how I am currently booting my Truenas box