Gigabyte AMI UEFI BIOS : M.2 drive name never appears in F12 Menu

[thestarman333]

I hope someone can provide a link to where I first saw this issue posted for another Gigabyte motherboard! I tried image searching, but that was a waste of time!
My data: "B460M DS3H V2" motherboard, 25Q series flash memory, 256M bits BIOS, was at F20, but updated to F23 to see if that made any difference; it did _not_. Same issue for both BIOS chip code.

PROBLEM: The name of my M.2 (NVMe) device never appears in the F12 boot menu; but if I click on the correct EMPTY (blank) selection slot, it will boot up from that device!  That was a big problem at first, never seeing the M.2 drive and the PC always booting to a SATA hdd instead; unless I removed them and had only the NVMe drive installed. At least I can now find ways to boot from the NVMe drive! ;-)

I believe this issue stems from some kind of perverted illogical person (or a manager who refused to have AMI BIOS do the code correctly for some cost overrun?) giving precedence to the SATA ports instead of the M.2 (NVMe) port!  Who in their right mind would think someone purchasing a motherboard with both SATA and M.2 ports would do so because they wanted to always boot from a SATA drive instead of the M.2 drive first?!?!?

Another curious quirk for both the F20 and F23 version of this BIOS: If you look under the Easy Mode, you will see the M.2 drive name correctly under the "M.2" button, and sometimes you can even get it to appear in the Boot Order menu in that BIOS screen.... BUT when I try booting that way for the first time, the board will always choose to boot from one of the SATA drives!!  And when I use the F12 boot menu, the M.2 drive name is never there... I have to click on or use keyboard to select the empty / blank slot that I had learn was actually for my M.2 drive!

Oh, lastly, I found a way to "disable" SATA drives from the Advanced Boot Order, but again, empty slot in F12 menu.

I'm starting to think that the intelligent people who used to work at Gigabyte (and/or AMI BIOS?) have all left the company (or sadly died).

[shadowsports]

Greetings,
The F12 one time boot menu is not intended to be used as a Boot Manager.  Unexpected behavior can result.

That said.  it may be helpful if you provide more background about your system, install and hardware config. 
Did this ever work?
Windows 10 or 11?
Has the drive ever appeared properly in BIOS?
In the one time boot menu (F12)?
Did you perform a fresh install of your OS to the m.2 or was the disk migrated from another system?
If a fresh install was performed did you provide a driver?
How was the m.2 formatted?  MBR or GPT?  Did you use diskpart during windows set up?
The issue may very well be BIOS related...
or
I suspect the above may reveal the issue

Will await your answers.

[thestarman333]

Hello shadowsports,

   To be clear: I didn't mean that I need to use F12 every single time I boot the PC; once I click on the empty slot in the F12 boot menu, it will boot from the M.2 drive on the next boot-up. But it took many tries to finally figure out that's what I had to do (see the picture I attached to initial post above). It basically comes down to the fact that GIGABYTE decided (somehow) to give priority to the SATA drives, AND HAS AN ERROR that even when I selected the M.2 drive as the first boot drive, it still would not make it so until AFTER I used the F12 menu to select the empty (no name) slot that booted it up!

   UPDATE: As I mentioned in my post, I finally found a setting to DISABLE booting from any SATA drives; which I suppose would be GIGABYTE's answer to this problem they created. I didn't need to go into the F12 menu again, PC has booted-up fine since doing that, but for thoroughness, I just did it again, and now the M.2 drive actually appears in the menu; with no SATA drive names! For the record, I have never seen the M.2 drive name appear with the SATA drive names at the same time.  (See new attached photo here.)

Dan, TheStarman.

Afterthought: Can't help wondering if the two empty slots in current boot menu would boot the SATA drives. Hahaha.

[dmdilks]

I might be wrong but what is happening here is you have other drives with the windows boot manager. What you have to do is if you want the M.2 to have a boot manager you have to disconnect the other 2 drives.

What is happening is when you installed the M.2 drive and installed windows on it. That drive is using the boot manager. from one of the other drives. I thought windows had fix that but I see it didn't.

To fix it right you have to start over on the M.2 drive. Do a clean install on it. Disconnect the 2 other drives. When you get to where see the M.2 drive delete all partition. Then click on New and that will setup the drive. Once it is done you should have 3 drives with boot manager on them. Then you should be able boot from it in the bios.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,
This is the direction I was heading in, but didn't want to speculate on how the m.2 drive was set up. 

Since the questions did not get answered, there are still too many unknowns as to the cause.

[dmdilks]

I just had something like that happen to me. I had to really boot the drive with windows on it from the other drive. The SSD didn't have a boot manager on it. When I install windows I never have another drive connected with with a boot manager on it. Windows has a bad habit of doing things like this.

One thing to prove the point. He should disconnect the 2 drives and see if the M.2 boots more likely not.

[thestarman333]

I might be wrong but what is happening here is you have other drives with the windows boot manager. What you have to do is if you want the M.2 to have a boot manager you have to disconnect the other 2 drives.

Hello dmdilks (and to shadowsports too), Well, that's not the issue. None of the drives had an OS installed on it with any other drive connected to the system! Each was done completely independent of the other, and each one has a totally different U/EFI partition; with its own entries and checksums, and an independent Windows boot manager for Win 10 in each drive.  I am well aware of the problems people can have when they forget to install Windows with only the drive they want to boot from connected to the PC.

I am as I stated, hoping "...someone [here] can provide a link to where I first saw this issue posted for another Gigabyte motherboard!" That post may be on another website, but it had the same camera images with blank slots that he had to click on in the F12 menu; which is why I tried doing an image search for it. I thought for sure I had saved the URL, but at like 3:30 AM, I was mistaken due to lack of sleep.

Dan

[dmdilks]

Ok I reread you 1st post and my brain chick in. I had something almost like that with a new Z690 board. I couldn't see the M.2 drive in the bios. When I 1st got the board I had to install the NMVe drivers before I installed windows. But even after I installed windows the drive still didn't show up in the Bios. But it did install the boot manager.

Contacted support and they gave me updated bios. Then everything was fine after that. Now if I wanted to do a clean install. I didn't need to install the NVMe drivers and now it showed up in the bios.

I would contact support and see what they can do. You might able to RMA it and they could fix it.   

[thestarman333]

Regarding the TITLE I gave this post: If I could alter it, I would add something at the end like: "...unless no bootable SATA drives are connected, or not disabled for booting!" (Which I did not figure out until after my initial post.)

As dmdilks signature says: "If it isn't broke don't fix it," would tend to make me not want to have anything to do with yet another GIGABYTE BIOS update, since I am able to boot up my PC as is, with all 3 drives connected, now that I know which blank line to select _if I need to do so_; which might be anytime I boot up the PC from a USB drive! It did so already, but that was before I found out how to "Disable" booting from either SATA drive in the BIOS.

I've attached a screen grab (which the BIOS itself will do, if you have a FAT32 USB drive connected, and press F12 only while you are inside the BIOS code; do not confuse this with the F12 Boot Menu) of how to do that in the BIOS; so I chose "Disable" for both "P4" and "P5"... which is how I finally got the M.2 drive to appear in the F12 Boot Menu!

As I wrote above, and believe it's worth stating again: GIGABYTE never should have signed off on a BIOS that gave SATA drives 'priority' over any M.2 (NVMe) drives when both types of ports are on the same motherboard!


Dan, TheStarman.

[dmdilks]

Just asking does the drive show up in these 2 places in the bios?

NVMe Configuration
Displays information on your M.2 NVME PCIe SSD if installed.

Boot Option Priorities

[thestarman333]

Just asking does the drive show up in these 2 places in the bios?

NVMe Configuration
Displays information on your M.2 NVME PCIe SSD if installed.

Boot Option Priorities

Yes, when selecting the "M.2" button in the BIOS, it always displays the NVMe drive there. And is also displays it in the "Easy Mode" as well. (Some day I may do a complete description on my website, using screen captures of every applicable setting in the BIOS, but I have other more pressing things to work on now.)

I have attached here screenshots which show the "Easy Mode" menu (which I had already described in replies above); which very clearly shows I had selected the M.2 NVMe as the first boot device, _BUT_ it still would not boot from it after saving the BIOS that way (unless I used the F12 Boot Menu), and then another shot showing it does not always appear in the "Advanced Mode" menu... Curiously, ONE TIME ONLY; after doing the BIOS flash (and possibly the very first time I went into the BIOS), it did appear in the "Advanced Menu," even as the FIRST drive to boot from, _BUT_ again, it still would not boot from it! ONLY after I learned later on, that there was a "Disable" choice for both SATA drives (as I showed in my last update above), would it boot directly after making those settings in the BIOS without having to use the F12 Boot Menu one time after whatever settings I made in the BIOS to try to get it to boot from the M.2 drive.  So, again, the second screenshot is before I did that, and when it would always boot from a SATA drive instead of the M.2 drive; in spite of having selecting the M.2 drive to be FIRST in the Easy Mode!

ANOTHER Important UPDATE: Today on boot-up, I decided to click on one of the 'empty slots' above the now visible M.2 drive name (after I had "Disabled" the booting of both SATA drives in the BIOS), and just as I had thought it might happen, doing so caused the PC to boot from one of the SATA drives!  Conclusion: You can attempt to boot from any drive connected to the PC; and if whatever you click on is bootable, it will do so, but the BIOS F12 Boot Menu will only show the names of either SATA drives or of an M.2 drive, but _not_ both types at the same time!

Dan, TheStarman.

PS: I better describe the circumstances of each screenshot here, since they can be confusing:
1) "M.2NVMeInEasyMode.jpg" -- The M.2 drive name always appears under the "M.2" drive button, and always in the "Easy Mode" of the BIOS. Here you can see that I chose the M.2 drive to be the First to boot.
2) "EasyModeBootOrder.jpg" -- Here's an actual view of choosing the Easy Mode Boot Order; with M.2 drive First.

[thestarman333]

Due to 'restrictions' on total size of attachments (or only 2 pics per post), I have to add two more here:

3) "OneTimeOnlyInAdvanced.jpg" -- Immediately after flashing BIOS to latest update, just this one time only, did the M.2 drive name appear in the "Advanced Mode" Boot Order screen... BUT even so, after "Saving the BIOS" like this, it still booted into one of the SATA drives instead of the M.2 drive!
4) "WhatNormallyAppearsInAdvanced.jpg" -- Every other time I looked and have still looked at the "Advanced Mode" Boot Order screen, just like here, the M.2 drive does _not_ appear... EVEN THOUGH it DOES appear in the "Easy Mode".

[thestarman333]

HIDDEN FUNCTION!?  SOLUTION which boots M.2 drive and shows all 3 drives on F12 Menu!

So, as I'd written above, I had found that by setting both SATA drives to "Disable" in the Boot Order, that would always show the M.2 NVMe drive in the F12 Boot Menu and boot from it; unless I clicked on one of the two 'empty slots' above its name... which would then boot up from a SATA drive.

Well, today, I finally decided to click on something I hadn't before, BECAUSE what the instructions say about it, do not imply at all what it actually did:

"Boot Override
Allows you to select a device to boot immediately. Press <Enter> on the device you select and select Yes to confirm. Your system will restart automatically and boot from that device."

First picture attached shows that screen, and after doing so, it not only booted into the M.2 NVMe drive, but after shutdown and then pressing F12 Key next time, it now shows the M.2 NVMe drive in what I believe is the First boot drive position! (With the two SATA drives appearing above it... Second attached picture. So now, all 3 drives appear at the same time, and ever since I clicked on the M.2 NVMe drive in that F12 Menu, it is still booting into only it.

So, that's why I believe I had to choose the M.2 MVMe drive in the "Boot Override" Menu.... Because if I did not do that, it would boot from one of the SATA drives, and never show the M.2 NVMe drive in the F12 Boot Menu. Again, I still believe this kind of crazy way of having to do this was because either: 1) GIGABYTE and/or AMI BIOS really messed up by giving SATA drives the boot priority over the M.2 NVMe drive, and/or 2) There's some 'flaky' messed up code in the BIOS.

Dan, TheStarman.

[dmdilks]

Looking at your screenshots. The two other drives are regular hard drives right? Do they have OS on them? If they don't why do you have a boot manager on them?

I had a gigabyte board one time that I had windows 10 and 7 on it. Windows 7 at times would screw with windows 10. I had other regular hard drives in there too. What I had to do was set it up where the windows 7 was at the end of the line. Not the 2nd boot option.

If you have boot manager on drives that don't need it. They always screw with you main drive. Been doing this for over 40 yrs and I have see basically everything out there.

Maybe I'm missing something on why you need a boot manager on a drive that doesn't need it. Mother boards do some funny things. That is if have something like this it really doesn't know what to do. It is like if you spin the wheel where it will boot nobody knows.

I have one last question if you disconnect the two other drives will the M.2 boot normal?