Samsung 950 Series SSDs do have an additional boot rom onboard… I wonder why they omitted for the following series.
If I get along with the Asrock and my NVMEs I would not need to figure out what it’s about this Dual M.2 switch chip card.
But if I’d get to run it on at least one system I’d be able to tell that it is functional at all and may not have a defect. So I could at least sell it afterwards.
Cool, I have been looking up so much of that stuff I really don’t know if I had seen that before or not 
But my worry is that these cards or risers are often designed to fit supermicro servers only. They have a huge stock of add-on cards, and risers and whatever, but a lot of them do work only on SM harware.
I will certainly take a look at this one as it would fit to populate the dedicated ×8 slots of the X79-boards.
Damn, when I look at it from amazon in germany, it costs more than I paid for the Asrock Ultra Quad.
Would I order it through amazon.com I’d have to add some import tax and higher postage fees.
But to get this SM Dual-Card for a more reasonable price would make it a great alternative for the ×8 slots!
Thats not true. I have sucessfully used a Supermicro Riser card m.2 split x8 card on my X99 and it works perfectly. Have read reports of some of their cards being proprietary but ymmv. Worked for me on another model. Mine was actually a x8 to x4x4 split pcie card. Worked for me.
I do use for a storage solution a PCIe V3.0 x16 add in card from High Point to plug 4 x M.2 NVMe SSDs
That is a controller, right? Maybe the 7101 or 7102?
I have an ASRock Ultra Quad in use on the Z9 board now.
I split the second CPUs Root Port2 in ×4×4×4×4. The stock bios offers this option already so I did not expect a problem there.
I placed my 970 evo on the second slot of the Ultra Quad Card to see if it gets recognized by the system.
And it is.
Interestingly that -according to HWInfo- the 970 is now located on PCIe Port 2C - whic is the third “slot” of the bitfurcated root port, and not the second one as I had expected.
I seems to me that the ports on the Ultra Quad Card are rooted kinda backwards by the system: the first port on the card seems to be located to PCIe slot 2D, while the second becomes slot 2C and so on.
[[File:Screenshot_HWInfo_IOU1-Port2-Bitfurcation_AsRock Ultra-Quad+Evo970_4_18feb19_ed.png|none|auto]]
No problems so far; just wanted to drop info on the progress.
The (very hypothetical) benchmark of Samsung’s SSD Magician reports a reduced maximum read speed however: While the 970 Evo was mounted via an PCIe ×4-to-M.2-Adapter, it had up to 3400MB/s read speed while now it has around 2800MB/s. I will observe this and try to run more reliable benchmarks once I find the time.
Next thing is -still!- to flash the NVME-mod bios on the Z9. After this it will get really interesting.
Nice to see it working!
The reduced speed may be because of the massive heatsink reducing temperatures too much, NVME drives like a temperature of 35-60c. I would consider testing without it. Tho when populating all slots with M.2’s heavy workloads might require the heatsink to prevent heat throtteling.
Good luck with the NVME flash.
I will unplug the cooler fan first - it’s way too noisy for my taste. Mabe that should be enough?
I looked up the NVME-Mod-Bios you provided. This one comes as .bin file, is that ok? Or do I have to rename it to .rom if I want to flash it?
Which method should I use for flashing? I got the AFU-Tools, but I don’t know if they’re working. When I tried to start AfuWin.exe for testing, it reported “no driver present”.
Do I have to look for a specific version of the AFU-Tools?
@JackSted ; @Lost_N_BIOS - AfuWinx64 method does not work on the Z9 board, the tool reports "flash type is not supported"…
@paranoid_android - If you cannot flash via flashback on the Z9, then I personally would dump via FPT then mod that, then reflash. Or, if you want, I can send you a bunch of AFUxxx for you to try and dig through to find a working version for Z9 AND mod BIOS (That does actually flash, and not just appear to flash).
That could take you hours and in the end maybe zero luck, this is why FPT dump, mod, reflash is best way.
@Lost_N_BIOS - I encountered some difficulties using FPT back on the X79-WS boards and win 7.
Creating a dump file did work, but I recall that trying to write into the bios region again was denied.
Of course we could give it a try on the Z9 again.
I’ll see if I can create a dump file. But you could send me that bunch of AFUs simultaniously…
I just found that the Intel MEI is not installed correctly under win10 on my Z9PE-D8 WS system??
I have tried to install it several times now and the procedure seems to complete successfully.
But nope, there is no instance of Intel MEI visible in HWInfo though it appears in device manager.
Attempting to use the MEI Tools leads to error messages.
What’s that?? Is there a way to enable/disable/lock access to ME interface in Bios?
I can’t even get info which kind of ME or sku is installed, I can only suspect the the sku is the corporate version.
ME interface driver in device manager is version 11.0.5.1189 (version I got from the forum).
I have no idea which fw version I have, in Bios it says 2.17.xx(??) That does not fit in the version scheme for C600 chipset MEs, which should be either v7 or v8.Plus the console behaves different under win10: Any program I start from there gets opened in a separate window which closes instantly after the programm run is finished, so I cannot see the error messages.
@paranoid_ android
Sorry to hear flashing of the modded bios isn’t working, if a hardware flash device isn’t your cup of thea (isnt mine) you could also consider using another booting method like DUET or CLOVER boot. [Guide] How to get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS
The really easy way to make use of NVME would be to use a SATA SSD drive with windows then install the Swap-file and any software/database you need to go fast on NVME.
About Intel ME, the advantages of updated ME would be to secure ME more and get the latest workarounds implemented in ME.
Unless someone has physical access to your system using ME to gain access to EFI region does not appear to be possible/practical for hackers unless your bios has remote bios management enabled and open through firewall. A more secure ME when a hacker has physical access seems to me like it isnt worth the effort since there are somany other attack vectors.
So unless somthing is malfunctioning it might not be worth the effort.
To secure BIOS/EFI updating to latest windows should update to the latest microcode and using a good antivirus should protect you from known attack vectors of spectre/meltdown through the web.
@JackSted
Yep, leaving the bare OS on a sata ssd and installing/transferring the rest including swap files to nvme drives seems like the easiest alternative to me.
I have split my systems in diverse partitions/volumes anyway. And the heavy load that I’d need the mvme SSDs for is caused by third-party software and processing files anyway.
I just preferred the idea of omitting sata SSDs completley for the OS and core components, so I’d have the controller ports free for future “second-level highspeed” storage solutions like 4TB 860’s.
Quite ironic that the machine that allowas me to bitfurcate by default and that would support the use of 10 NVME SSDs without any compromises (cooling issues left aside) is the machine that most stubborn against any firmware or bios modifications.
Also at @Lost_N_BIOS , isn’t there a method to bypass these flash protections or security checks? Would a AFU version that supports the hidden bypass option be enough? Or ist it not suitable for aptio4 bios/fw anymore?
I could still go for a programmer though…
@paranoid_android - show me BIOS page showing ME version info, you can also check with HWINFO64 in the large window, expand motherboard section and find ME section then look at ME Firmware version. If it doesn’t show up, that may be due to it’s type, maybe HWINFO doesn’t recognize it.
V2 may be correct, it may be TXE or SPS. You can also drop BIOS onto ME Analyzer and it will show you ME version, if ME is included in your stock BIOS download ** Yes, I checked, it’s SPS 2.01.07.231 in BIOS 5802, for this use regular ME V7 tools package (at least FPT should work plutomaniac says for SPS V2)
What security are you needing to bypass, and what error are you getting (Show me if FPT) If it’s 25 or something that says protected range registers, then yes we can get around it, but you need to program a BIOS with that lock removed into the board first before it’s gone.
There is a tool that may remove it “live-on board” but I’ve not seen how high success rate of it is vs bricking BIOS, so not sure it’s 100% safe to use without programmer in hand. If you want the tool, and it is error 25 or similar, let me know I will link
And yes, many AFU would bypass stuff like that and flash a mod BIOS, but you need to find the correct one that works for this board/BIOS using the stock BIOS first.
See if any of these will work for you, first test saving current BIOS, then test flashing in stock BIOS. In several of the version folders there is a GUI.exe (w/ icon image) and a command line version exe (without icon image), try both for each version when both are present.
Once/if you find one that works to save your BIOS and flash stock, then it should flash mod too usually
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil…209713613634650
Also, try this method and the version included in the download package from this guide
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/592…r-motherboards/
And, if you find version of AFU that saves and flashes your stock BIOS, but wont flash the mod, then use that version but do it using above method
Hello. I apologize for my English, I used a translator.
My workstation:
- asus P9X79E-WS
- i7-4930k
- 8X8 Kingstone hyperx 1600
- palit geforce gtx 1080 ti gamerock
- sata ssd 256 samsung pro
- and 8 hard drives of different capacities
What is available:
Corsair Neutron NX500 NVMe SSD 800 GB.
What do I want:
I want to download Windows 10 from the Corsair Neutron NX500 NVMe SSD 800 GB.
What is done:
Corsair is installed physically installed in the PCIe 4 slot.
1) used different versions of bios from this thread of the forum
- P9X79-E-WS-NVME-PCI-ADV-IOH-Mod4
- P9X79-WS & P9X79E-WS_BiosMods_NVME-Bifurcation_latest_2019-01-13
- P9X79-E-WS-NVME-PCI-ADV-IOH-Mod4 + UEFI BIOS Updater (made by myself)
2) Advanced >> System Agent Config >> IOH Config7
IOU1-PCIe Port x4x4 or x8
PORT 1A Link Speed - auto \ gen1 \ gen2 \ gen3
PORT 1B Link Speed - gen1 \ gen2 \ gen3
3) Advanced >> PCI Subsystem Settings
Above 4G Decoding - enable \ disable
4) Advanced >> System Agent Config
memory mode - independent \ mirroring
5) Advanced >> Onboard devices configuration
enable \ disable all devices
6) boot
Fast boot - enable \ disable
CSM - enable \ disable (UEFI, legacy, both)
secure boot - os type - windows UEFI \ Other OS
secure boot - os type - windows UEFI - key management - clear secure boot keys
7) usb flash drive with Windows 10 is made correctly, FAT32, GPT. Works on other computers on regular disks (hdd or ssd).
8) before installing windows all drives were physically disabled.
What did you get:
1) In different configurations of bios settings - sometimes in the boot section, my disk is seen as Pata SS
2) In different configurations of bios settings - my disk does not appear
3) In different configurations of bios settings - when installing Windows 10, my disk is seen \ not visible.
if seen, it gives the opportunity to delete \ create a partition.
BUT never managed to install windows, it reaches either 0% or 1% and error 0x80070001 pops up
4) from under my old system (with sata ssd) - sometimes my disk is seen \ not seen
if seen, it is sometimes defined in the device manager as Neutron NX500
BUT always, when it seems to work incorrectly (some buffer seems to overflow)
5) from under my old system (with sata ssd) - with the help of a proprietary utility, it was possible to update the firmware on the Corsair disk.
I do not know where to dig. Perhaps missed something, ask a leading question.
A week trying to solve this issue. Soon the wife will drive out of the house (
There is an option to change the motherboard on the P9X79-WS…
@skaf - Hmm, at least Slot4 is the one wich makes most sense since it’s the only one directly rooted to the CPU.
On my X79E-WS, (and X79-WS), the nvme ssd appeared as “PATA SS” after post.
However I did not yet install a win 7 or 10 to boot from the NVMe SSD.
But I recall it was at least visible in the windows setup window.
Some loose thoughts on the topic:
As far as I understand, secure boot should be set to “other” or custom, not "windows"
What happens if you deactivate the csm, so that the system may boot only from uefi compliant devices?
And if you simply want to run one single NVMe SSD, you would not need to make use of bitfurcation on Port4 (IOU1).
If you left these settings untouced (×8) you could eliminate some source of error.
Maybe it could help to use a bios without the system agent mod, just with the nvme boot mod for the first attempts.
If that works better we could go on.
What about the possibility of installing the new windows system on a Sata SSD first (without windows secure boot) and then clone that installation onto the Corsair NVMe?
Then disconnect all other storage devices and try to let the system boot from the NVMe?
@skaf
Did you follow [Guide] How to get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS
especialy “Step 4. Installation of the OS onto the NVMe SSD:” ?
In my expierience changing the unlocked BIOS options exept for bifurcation (wich I doubt you need with your SSD) can cause instability. So i recommend a CMOS clear and reflash.
Also after CMOS clear you could also try stock BIOS and use CLOVER or DUET method mentioned in above guide.
The easiest option would be installing windows on a small (64-128 GB) SSD and optionally install programs and data you would need to be quick on the new NVME SSD. This also gives an added benefit of smaller system drive backups. This is my current setup.
@skaf ^^ you have to install like that, clean, following all things mentioned in post #4 and the USB media install source needs to be GPT formatting as well.