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HP Recommended

Hi,

Any update with this issue? We have the same problem.
We ordered 15 pcs from HP Probook 650 G1 with Adata 128 M.2 SSD, but it can't boot from SSD drive after Windows installed.

 

Thanks

HP Recommended

Same problem here.

I bought the Transcend TS256GMTS400 after having consulted with HP support.
Win 7 setup will recognize the M.2 ssd and I can install windows 7 up to the point where I have to restart the computer.
I am then unable to select the M.2 port in the boot order.
I'm not running a hdd in the sata port.

Formatted the ssd as GPT.

 

I can use the ssd as a secondary storage device, but appearently not as a primary storage device, contrary to the service guide.

 

Link to the Maintenance and Service Guide I refered to in my question to HP. The minicard ssd (aka M.2 ngff) is mentioned on page 12 in the pdf:  http://h20628.www2.hp.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c04030196-1.pdf




My question to HP support:
I read on page 12 in the Maintenance and Service Guide under 'MiniCard solid-state drive' that:
"SSD is set as primary storage if selected; hard drive becomes secondary storage"
I assume 'Minicard' refers to the wwan port, which supposedly supports M.2 sata ssd devices.
...
But how can I select the M.2 ssd as the boot device, I don't see it as a specific option in either boot mode.
Do I just choose 'OS boot manager' during boot-up? I assume this function refers to any active windows installation across all devices, such"as the sata harddrive, usb device, and so forth?

HP support's answer:
"We have read the manual of the unit, and we agree with that should be no issue with what you are attempting to do with the unit.
There should be no issue with the hardware supporting it.
But HP always reccomends that you reinstall the unit from the start."

HP Recommended

The ProBook 640/650 G1 m.2 adapter was developed to support Intel's SRT (Smart Response Techonology), which attempts to create a smart cache to a HDD along with a small SSD. With this, the Intel RAID controller sets up a RAID between the HDD and the SSD and the Intel storage drivers manage the drives as a unified disk volume. The BIOS in these laptops, therefore, did not have the ability to select 'just' the m.2 SSD as a bootable volume. In order to do that, an enhancement request needs to be done

 

There are workaround - isn't that always the case? - to allow the SSD to be booted from. These are not officially supported by HP since there are extra steps in setting things up that are not easily automated and which require knowledge and use of tools users don't typically have experience with. Also, it makes a difference if the m.2 SSD added is the ONLY drive in the system or if the HDD is also in the picture - in which case, the bios will always attempt to boot from.

 

Assuming both SSD + HDD in the laptop, then you can follow these steps

 

Install Windows 8.1 to M.2 volume

Make the HDD a GPT Volume

Create a small 100MB FAT32 partition for the boot info

Use the rest as NTFS DATA volume

Use BCDBOOT command to enable booting from the M.2 OD drive

 

Again, not for the faint at heart. Obviously an enhancement BIOS request would be best, i suppose

I work for HP. However, all opinions and comments are my own.
HP Recommended

I had a breakthrough.

 

And I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier - or that HP support didn't just suggest it right away.

It's a really simple solution.

You can't boot from a M.2 device directly.

But you can boot the M.2 windows installation from the sata connected device (hdd/ssd). So if you just install windows on the sata device first, you can utilize the 100mb system partition for all other windows versions, including any on the M.2 device.

 

No diskpart needed (assuming you have already initialized your M.2 ssd so it can be detected in windows)

No BCDboot commands needed.

 

Tested with windows 7 sp1 x64 professional.

Bios settings & my notes at the buttom.

Bios settings may need to be tweaked for win8/10.

 

Step 1: Install windows on your sata attached device (hdd/ssd).

Step 2: Boot into the newly installed windows*

Step 2.2: Install windows from inside your first windows installation on your M.2 device.

Step 3: Reboot, boot using the OS manager (which will appear in the boot order when more than 1 OS is detected). It should be top boot priority automatically.

Step 3.2: Select the correct windows installation when prompted, it should be the top one.

Step 4: Delete the windows installation from the boot list using cmd->msconfig.

 

*If you want to avoid having the optical drive taking up the 😧 drive-letter, change it before installing windows to the M.2 device. This is purely optional, and only meant for the drive-letter obsessive people, such as myself.

 

I have yet to find a way to end up having the M.2 windows installation as the C: drive.

Right now my M.2 SSD is the 😧 drive, and the HDD (containing the first windows installation) is the C: drive.

 

 

Bios settings & notes:

Fast boot: enabled

Boot mode: UEFI hybrid

Sata device mode: ACHI

 

For some reason 'startup menu delay' must not be set at 0, I have mine set at 5 seconds. At 0 seconds the system will boot 'too fast' and the M.2 device will appearently not have been switched on in time for windows booting. You will get a device-undetected error.

 

The partition style of the sata device and the M.2 device must be the same. Either both must be MBR, or both must be GPT.

I tested both MBR and GPT, they both work.

HP Recommended

Stumbled onto a similar resolution to blankspace's one, with a Probook 640 with a Transcend SSD installed in the M.2 slot.

 

Initially I'd created a bootable USB drive for installing Windows 10, pulled the HDD out, and left only the M.2 drive in the machine. Installed OK, everything looked good on reboots, but it fell apart when the USB drive wasn't present - it said 'no boot drive' . That's when I started looking at this thread. 

 

Next I put the HDD back in (M.2 drive still installed), booted from a Windows installation DVD (I'd downloaded the Win 10 ISO and put that on DVD), and proceeded to install to the HDD. As expected this installation booted just fine. It didn't seem to be aware of the M.2 drive as a bootable one, there was no sign of the OS loader offering alternatives. 

 

Next I thought it would be worth seeing what happened with installation from a read-only medium onto the M.2 SSD. I tried using the HP recovery DVD set for Win 8 and installing that onto the M.2 drive. When that was finished I removed the DVD media and booted and was pleasantly suprised to see the OS loader offering me the choice of Win 8 on the M.2 or Win 10 on the HDD. 

 

Temporarily removing the HDD as an experiment resulted in 'no boot drive' so clearly the OS loader is sitting on the HDD not the SSD.

 

I've subsequently upgraded Win 8 to 8.1 on the M.2 as I have decided not to use Win 10 on this machine until it matures a little.  

 

Final step was to use bcdedit to delete the Win 10 entry from the boot load options. The machine now effectively boots directly from SSD but in reality it's dependent on the HDD just for the OS loader. I've reformatted the main partition on the HDD for use as data storage but have left other partitions (including HP tools and HP recovery) alone for now. 

HP Recommended

I had the same issue on my HP EliteBook 840 G1: Installation of Ubuntu 16.04 went fine but I could not boot from my "SSD Adata Flash SP600, 256GB, M.2.2242".

SOLUTION: The issue respective solution was that my UEFI partition was too big around 512MB and when I reduced it to 450MB installation and booting worked fine!

BIOS: One potential additional reason that it worked smoothly was that I had upgraded my BIOS to the latest version (currently: "L71 Ver. 01.35 - Date: 01/26/2016)

HP Recommended
Do you can boot if you take apart your hdd?
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