Hi Dieter (aka Fernando), thanks for your very fast reply. Yes, I read your very good guide. I disabled the fast boot. I cannot disable the secure boot - in the secure boot options it is only possible to switch between UEFI-OS or Non-UEFI-OS (I tested both). I cannot found any drive named PATA SS. Btw - I disconnected all other devices, so I see no drive at all. The desired OS is Win 10 Pro 64. I created the Setup at a USB stick with the media creation tool of MS. Within the Win 10 setup I can access the drive, deleting and creating partitions, but I cannot install, because the setup say "no bootable Drive" First I use the modded BIOS "mak387" in the Topic "P9X79 PRO BIOS MODDED FOR NVMe SSD " Second I followed your guide and use the latest BIOS of ASUS and the UEFITool_0.22.1 and the NvmExpressDxe_3.ffs for modding. After inserting the ffs file I got a lot of chinese characters in the Name of the DXE Name. Only after the third try, I got a "good" Name. I used the ASUS AI Suite to Flash the BIOS I attach the BIOS Thanks Martin
@mazebaer : Hello Martin, your modded BIOS looks fine and should work, if you flash it via ASUS Flashback procedure (donāt forget to rename it according to the ASUS Flashback rules).
It would have been better, if you would have chosen to create an ISO file and let the tool Rufus do the rest (for details look into the start post). Good luck!
your are great!! Thanks a lot. The first tip to use RUFUS for a UEFI-Boot-USB-Stick solved the problem, that Windows Setup didnāt accepted the PCIe as a installable device. The second tip to use the ASUS Flashback function brought the full solution. After flashing again with this procedure I found the UEFI Boot Device in the BIOS and I was able to complete the Win 10 Setup and can now boot with the NVMe/M.2 PCIe A little problem was that the flashback function didnāt accept every USB stick, so I tried different ones until it started.
@mazebaer : Thanks for your feedback. It is fine, that you finally succeeded and I am glad, that my advices helped you to solve your problem. Enjoy the speed of your NVMe SSD!
Hello everyone, Iāve been following this thread for a while now. I have an Asus Z9PA-D8C mobo, with 2X Intel E5 2680 V2 CPUs running Windows 10 Pro 1709 (latest update), and a Samsung 950 Pro SSD mounted on an adapter in a PCIe x4 slot, it works fine, but of course, I canāt boot on it. Iāve tried the DUET metho and it works good. Iād like to know if anyone has succedded in creating a modded BIOS for this server mobo from ASUS?
REMARK: my Samsung 950 Pro SSD is an OEM version, so, no, no NvME bootcode in the firmwareā¦
@Strikerrocket : Since the Samsung 950 Pro SSD has an NVMe Option ROM within its chip, you will be able to boot off this specific SSD without the need of any BIOS modification. Only restriction: You have to install the OS in LEGACY mode. If you want to boot off the Samsung 950 Pro in UEFI mode, you have to insert an appropriate NVMe EFI module ("DXE Driver"). The problem is not the BIOS modification, but maybe the flashing of a modded BIOS.
@Fernando : Thanks for the reply Fernando, but if Iām not mistaken, as I stated in my previous post, the OEM version of the SAMSUNG 950 Pro does NOT have an option ROMā¦ so I canāt boot off itā¦
Iāve finally got a PCIE adaptor (the Asus one) and Samsung 960 EVO 250GB NVMe for my Asus P8-Z68V (original version).
No matter how many times I try I cannot get the board to boot in UEFI mode to install Windows via UEFI USB; DEL key and all function keys including F8 do not respond and the BIOS/UEFI splash screen stays visible for some moments before going to a blank screen with flashing cursor. I have an nVidia GTX960 in PCIEx16_1 and the Asus adaptor/NVME SSD in PCIE16_2 (running at x8 and x4 respectively). I have tried both updated GOP and original GOP in the graphics card with no effect. The NVMe device is detected in UEFI as PATA SS as it should be; cloning the SATA SSD also brings up the Windows Boot Manager option for the NVMe device but I cannot boot from it.
I also tried re-modding the BIOS from scratch (original version 3603 from 2012) with only RAID ROM v12, CPU Microcodes, JMicron ROM and insertion of the NvmExpressDxe_3.ffs file with no improvement. Removing all drives (SATA SSD and SATA HDD) other than the NVMe also had no effect. The system also has the latest ME (8.1.70.1590) installed. Can you advise what I may have done wrong or am I going to have to return my purchase?
@Iken : Since I have done my first tests (look >here< and >here<) with exactly the same mainboard model ASUS P8-Z68V, I am absolutely sure, that you will be able to get Win10 installed onto your Samsung NVMe SSD and be able to boot off it. This is what I recommend to do: 1. Remove the discrete graphics card (just temporarily until you got the OS installed onto the NVMe SSD). 2. Follow exactly my guide (= start post of this thread). Donāt clone the system drive, do a fresh OS install in UEFI mode by using the tool Rufus. 3. Before you start with the OS installation, unplug all HDDs/SSDs (except the NVMe SSD) and do the required BIOS settings as written within my guide. Good luck!
@i2ocketron : Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum! We generally do not modify BIOSes upon request, but if you want, I will do a look into the self-modded BIOS file before you are going to flash it. Regards Dieter (alias Fernando)
Thanks Fernando, my mb was a pain and I almost gave up. At the end of the day I used the modified bios but had limited luck, even doing everything you recommended. What eventually worked in the end was setting my bios to auto detect everything and that worked, even thou this seemed to completely contradict everything in your guide.
Holy smokes this is a long thread! Anyways first post and wanted to thank Fernando for all of the hard work! As an aside this is what Iām going to attemptā¦ To mod a Dell Precision T3610 bios to insert the NVME files. The T3610 is a odd one and fought me just to get the .hdr bios extracted from the exe. AMIUCP does not recognize the exe version at all like on many other Dell bios updates. I finally got it extracted though and the tools can all open the hdr file just fine. The T3610 used the C602 chipset (X79) and it has full UEFI support with secure mode, etc but simply does not have NVMe support. I also have a slightly newer T7910 which has the C610 (X99) chipset and it does have full NVMe support and works great. I actually have the quad port M.2 card from Dell in it. I was thinking on extracting the NVMe files from the T7910 and inserting that or using the generic NVMe files available from the links here. Just not sure which would be the better option. In the T3610 I can put an NVMe SSD in and install Windows 10 just fine onto it even but of course it will just not boot from it since the BIOS does not see it. Also annoyingly the T3610 BIOS stops on every boot complaining that it cannot find any installed hard drives unless a SATA hard drive is connected as well not too worried about that bit though as I will eventually install a spinner in it too. I actually have 4 of these T3610 machines that Iād like to update to NVMe SSDās.
I did do a search and cannot really find where anyone has done this on a Dell at all. I know others have done SLP/SLIC mods on Dells (I have in the past).
Once I get some more free time Iāll update with the results. Iām not a total noob as Iāve done plenty of SLP bios mods but this will be my first try at adding an actual module like this and on a tricky Dell bios at thatā¦ Should be fun.
@Danatola : Because it is not easy to understand your statements, whether you finally gave up or succeeded, please explain, what you have tried and what exactly happened. I am almost certain, that it should be not a big problem to get full NVMe support with your X79 chipset mainboard. By the way: Thanks for the attached YouTube video about me (or hasnāt it been me???).
@MixManSC : Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum and thanks for your comments regarding the modification of Dell BIOSes!
Both methods may work, but I recommend to insert just the NvmExpressDxe_3.ffs module according to my guide, because 1. this method worked for nearly everyone in the past, 2. it is easier to insert just 1 already available module than to extract and insert 3 of them, 3. it needs less free space within the BIOSās "DXE Driver" Volume and 4. the other 2 NVMe modules may not be usable by a BIOS without native NVMe support (whose system BIOS files do not know anything about NVMe).
I tried my preferred option (cloned drive - Windows reinstall would take too long) and removed the GTX960. Result: IT BOOTED!
I used my Macrium Reflect UEFI boot USB to fix the EFI partition on the cloned NVMe install (I resized the Windows partition to use the extra space on the 250GB drive from the original 120GB SATA SSD). Unfortunately, Windows hung on start-up as the integrated Intel HD3000 graphics drivers were not installed; no logon screen so I couldnāt get to Windows Update.
I reinstated the SATA SSD, rebooted, updated the HD3000 drivers via Windows Update (along with the other Patch Tuesday updates) and used Reflect to create a new SSD image which was then restored to the NVMe drive.
I then shut down the PC, unplugged the SATA SSD, booted with the Reflect UEFI USB and fixed the EFI partition again. On normal restart, the system booted via NVMe with no issues, BIOS settings as you previously advised (limited though they are on this board).
HOWEVER, reinstating the discrete graphics card caused the same boot failure as before.
Therefore, I can only conclude that this board will not work with NVMe and a discrete graphics card in UEFI mode.
I may sell the discrete card and invest in some additional RAM to mitigate the use of the integrated graphics as the NVMe is now working and is noticeably faster in operation.
