Cannot get M.2 PCIe SSD running on a Z800

[SDH]

The post was in the wrong HP forum branch.... here is his post, and I have edited it a bit for clarity.  I'll PM him with a link to this:

His question:

Product Name: z800    OS: Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)

HP Z800 with dual X5670 processors.  Thus, this is a version 2 Z800 with the later boot block date.  I am trying to install a Kingston HyperX Predator M2 SSD boot drive, inserted in its Kingston PCIe slot "carrier" card.  I can't get the computer to boot into Windows.  After it goes thru the BIOS screens, it suddenly resets and starts the boot process over again, in an endless cycle.  The Predator M.2 SSD drive does show up on the "boot order" screen in BIOS.

I have it installed into PCIe slot 4, and compute is enabled.  The Storage Controller is 9.6.0.1014.  Bios 786G5 v03.57.  Boot block date is 11/10/09 (the later version motherboard).  Both the vendor and Kingston says they don't support this, as the workstation is too old..... "these older motherboards....".

Here is the answer: 

I have posted in this forum about how to use the Kingston Predator M.2 in its PCIe carrier card with the Z400/Z600/Z800 workstations, and even with the xw workstations, and I have it working in the Z620 too.  Have the latest BIOS installed.  Have the proper Storage Controller driver installed on the build.... that is the key.  It is easiest to have the build all tuned up on a regular 2.5" form factor SSD with the proper storage controller driver present.  For the ZX00 workstations it is specifically that 9.6.0.1014 one.  Then use Acronis to capture the image of that build.  I use an eSATA attached external drive for that, but you can also use a USB attached external drive.  Then place the Predator (in its carrier card) in the chosen PCIe slot (a PCIe x16 slot that would be usable for a second video card would work fine).  Remove all other drives.  Boot into Acronis and load the image onto the Predator M.2 SSD.  Boot from the Predator.  Add in other HDD or SSD drives after.

He has the correct storage controller driver.  He should upgrade his BIOS to 3.60.

His key mistake:  the default for all the PCI/PCIe slots is to have load option ROM enabled and Compute disabled.  Either he or someone before him set that slot 4 in BIOS to Compute enable.  It needs to be set to disable.  You get to that in BIOS via the far right column, down under the PCI slot listing.

[Knight_Phi]

for this reason i specialy avoided a ms2 ssd and went  for more old fasion same era as the Z800 pci-e ssd like fusion drive and revo drive pci-e ssd's 

[SDH]

You are right.... not plug and play.  But I looked up the price on the Apple Fusion Drive the the OCZ RevoDrive... they're long gone from the mainstream sources, and very expensive.

I've bought my Kingston M.2 Predator drives with the interface card included straight from Kingston at big discounts, and the step up in speed was well worth the experiment.

[brettMc]

Hello,

First post.

I have an HP Z600 and I am trying to install a Samsung 860EVO SSD as the primary boot and software drive. I absolutely cannot get it to work.

Booting from a valid Windows 7 Pro disc I have tried the following:
-install via USB-SATA adapter. 
-install via internal SATA connection

-install via internal SATA connection to PCIe2 x8(4) card [current working hard drive is connected to this card)

-ive tried setting the BIOS to IDE

-i believe i have upgraded the BIOS (how do i verify this?)

At one point I seemed to get through the install process with the SSD, with the drive connected to the main motherboard SATA ports, but then I had an issue with the Nvidia Quadro 4000 display driver...I believe I updated that and then had a problem where the machine would boot but to a black screen where I could see the cursor and thats it.

I really could use some help here.

Thanks,

Brett

[Knight_Phi]

save your self the trouble, sell the Samsung 860EVO SSD , and get your self a pci-e ssd from the same era as the hpz800 where sold, like ocz drive or fusion io drive all you need is proper drivers from the manufacturer 

im using a pci-e ssd fusion io drive 160gb reads 800mb and writes 800 mb's

larger drives are faster 

[SDH · Accepted solution]

I've recently installed some of the Samsung EVO 860 SSDs as boot drives on xw6600s, and also have them running on Z400 and Z600 workstations.

I had troubles with the Samsung SSDs untl I went back to my favored prep method I've posted about here:

1.  Boot off a DBAN CD with the SSD in port 0 of the motherboard and run DBAN at its defaults.  Sometimes I need to change SATA emulation to IDE Separate but always remember to shift it back to RAID + AHCI when you're done.

2.  Have the SSD as a drive in a workstation you can boot and have the SSD as a secondary drive there.... it is RAW after step 1.  NTFS format it using the built in MS Disk Management, using defaults, use MBR partition type, use the long type format (not "quick").

3.  Now you can load the W7Pro64 or W10Pro64 OS onto it......

There seems to be some deeper things on the Samsung drives that get cleared off by this method, and every time I use this it works.  I'm very comfortable with updating to the latest Samsung firmware for these SSDs.... I always do that too, after the steps above.

[PrinceRe]

Hello guys. I would like to ask a question as I got for free this PCIe SSD (won it and waiting for it to be delivered) : 

Kingston Technology KC1000 NVMe PCIe SSD 960GB, HHHL 960GB HHHL (CEM2.0) PCI Express 3.0|SKC1000H/960G.

I read everything in previous posts and my only question is how to see if I have the correct storage controller in my HPZ800.  I tried searching in system information and tried via registry but either I am looking in the wrong place or I am blind 🙂 Can you direct me how to find which version I use? Also, how to find the 9.6.0.1014 so I can make it boot from there. I already have as a system driver a Samsung SSD 240GB and it works great but the Kingston is a lot faster 🙂 (And its SATA connected).  

BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard 786G5 v03.61, 5/3/2018
 The driver in SYstem drive is 6.1.7601.19133 (don't know if it's the same I am looking for  :?,

Thank you for your time.

PrinceRE

P.S. Sorry for any mistakes in grammar or syntax. I am not an English native speaker 😕

[DGroves]

almost all NVME drives will not work in a z800 as a boot drive (will work as data drive) there were one or two models where the ssd maker included the nessary nvme oprom code in the ssd'd sirmware but thes are no longer easy to find the sm950 was one such ssd 

the z800 does not have the nessary Bios code to enable NVME booting, there are some  Hacks that attempt to load the missing bios code before the z800 bios loads, as such your KC1000 NVMe PCIe SSD can not be used as a boot device

also note that the z800 has pci-e 2.0 (no 3.0) as such the listed speeds of any pci-e 3.0 device will be a bit slower under pci-e 2.0 nothing drastic so it's not a major problem.

Bios mod to allow NVME drive to work on older computers:

https://www.win-raid.com/t2375f50-Guide-NVMe-boot-without-modding-your-UEFI-BIOS-Clover-EFI-bootload...

and another way to load the nessary code:

https://www.win-raid.com/t3286f50-Guide-NVMe-boot-for-systems-with-legacy-BIOS-and-older-UEFI-DUET-R...

the intel RST driver you mention (v9.6.0.1014 ) along with other windows drivers can be found on the HP web site

if the bios modding does not work for you consider a SATA based SSD

[PrinceRe]

Thank you for the reply. I will try the hacks when I get the disk. Again thank you for the detailed answer. 🙂

A friend game me this solution to try, she has done it so I am copy pasting the way for others:

Make a usb with linux Mint 18 and above.  Run as legacy mode in bios and then proceed with the installation. After is done download with apt-get nvmei.dfog.zip for reporsity and then run it. Set all as default and power off. Install in slot 0 (where your video card is the pcie ssd and move the card one slot down. Then boot and from system split (Mint system application) install windows 7 from usb or win 10 to ssd.  (She used win7 pro) restart and change back to default the legacy mode from bios. And choose ssd pcie to boot and restart and you should see the dual boot screen. Then choose Mint or Windows and you are set to go.  (If you cant see the ssd please check that compute is off in bios. 

Hope it helps. I will try both ways and hopefully one will work.  🙂

[DGroves]

with your z800/z820 if you try your friends method, note that it is not nessary to remove the video card since the SSD should be in the slot just above the video slot

most motherboards have the video slot as slot 0 which is the first slot the system checks

the z800/z820 video slot is in position number two, with the pci-e slot just above it being slot 0