M.2.SSD (ADATA SX8200PNP) on ASRock Z170M Pro4S

M.2.SSD (ADATA SX8200PNP) on ASRock Z170M Pro4S

Hello, I recently bought myself a ADATA SX8200PNP, 1TB, NVMe M.2 drive. Unfortunately I didn?™t check mobo compatibility before buying, and now I?™ve learnt that the Z170M Pro4S isn?™t on the compatibility list.

I fitted it anyway. Windows 10 recognises it. It?™s super fast as advertised, and I can create partitions on it in Disk Management, etc. But BIOS doesn?™t seem to see it. Ideally I?™d like to clone my Windows system drive onto the ADATA and boot from that.

Is there anyway trick that I could get the BIOS to see the drive and boot from it? I have a very old version of the BIOS. Would updating that help? (I?™ve heard it?™s risky updating a bios). I?™m not an IT expert but I?™m fairly competent with basic/medium stuff.

Even if I can't boot from it, I'd like to use it as a super fast drive. Will it be stable?

Below is a summary of my system. For a more thorough report, the log file from HWiNFo64 is here:
[URL=http://www.norwichenglish.co.uk/images/MAITRISINGHA-PC.txt]http://www.norwichenglish.co.uk/images/MAITRISINGHA-PC.txt[/URL]

Many thanks,

Maitrisingha
Norwich, UK



CPU:           Intel Core i7-6700K (Skylake-S, R0)
               4000 MHz (40.00x100.0) @ 4401 MHz (44.00x100.0)
Motherboard:   ASRock Z170M Pro4S
BIOS:          P1.80, 09/03/2015
Chipset:       Intel Z170 (Skylake PCH-H)
Memory:        32768 MBytes @ 1066 MHz, 15-15-15-36
              4x    8192 MB PC17000 DDR4 SDRAM - Kingston 9905625-062.A00G
Graphics:      ASUS STRIX R7 370 DirectCU II OC
               AMD Radeon R7/R9 370, 4096 MB GDDR5 SDRAM
Drive:        SanDisk SD8SBAT256G1122, 250.1 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Drive:        ST2000VX000-1ES164, 1953.5 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Drive:        ADATA SX8200PNP, 1000.2 GB, NVMe
Drive:        TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224FB, DVD+R DL
Sound:        Intel Skylake PCH-H - High Definition Audio Controller
Sound:        ATI/AMD Verde/Heathrow/Chelsea - High Definition Audio Controller
Network:       Intel Ethernet Connection I219-V
Network:       Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter
OS:            Microsoft Windows 10 Home (x64) Build 18363.1256 (1909/November 2019 Update)

ASRock_TSD wrote: Try updating the BIOS to 7.40 to see if the M.2 will show under the BIOS. https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z170M%20Pro4S/index.us.asp#BIOS

Thank you very much for your quick response ASRock TSD. It worked! The updated BIOS (7.40) recoginises the M.2.

I then used Macrium Reflect to clone Windows 10 onto the new M.2 drive, changed the BIOS settings to boot from the M.2. It worked first time. Windows boot time is now 38 secs - down from 49 secs (which wasn't that bad to begin with). The 'C' drive is now on the M.2. which is what I wanted.

Very pleased. And I've learnt a few things about working under the hood and tweaking and flashing BIOS. Plus I've got a Windows backup on my old slower and smaller SSD!

Best wishes,
Maitrisingha