NVMe in a Z8-G4

[PC-profession]

My Z8 don't start with the built in NVMe (with installed WIN11)

What do I have to change in the bios......I tried a lot of different things.........

regards

HP

[NonSequitur777]

@PC-profession,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

If your HP Z8 G4 Workstation is not starting from the built-in NVMe drive with Windows 11, here are some BIOS settings to check:

1. Ensure NVMe Drive is Recognized:

• Enter the BIOS by pressing F10 during startup.
• Navigate to Advanced > Boot Options and check if your NVMe drive appears in the boot order.

 

2. Set Boot Mode to UEFI:

• In Advanced > Boot Options, set UEFI Boot Mode (not Legacy).
• Disable CSM (Compatibility Support Module) if enabled.

 

3. Enable Secure Boot (If Using GPT Partitioning):

• Go to Security > Secure Boot Configuration and enable Secure Boot.
• If Secure Boot was disabled, you may need to reset it by selecting Clear Secure Boot Keys and then setting it up again.

 

4. Verify Boot Order:

• Go to Advanced > Boot Order and move the NVMe drive to the top.

 

5. Check Storage Controller Mode:

• Under Advanced > Device Configuration, ensure the NVMe controller is enabled.

If the issue persists, let me know any error messages or behavior during startup, and I’d be happy to assist further.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[PC-profession]

HI NonSequitur 777,

tried also your recommendation, but didn't work. (But thank you for your idea)

When I go to the Bios (P60 v02.95) thhere are some entries in the advanced section---Slot settings----Intel VROC NVM...

but they are in grey, means not to activate.

Also the NVMe doesn't show up in the partition manager.

So I'm not able to switch to UEFI instead of Legacy.....when swiching to UEFI only, the system doesn't start....says no system drive found.......

The system now runs only with a standard SATA SSD drive, but not with the NVMe.

Any additional  ideas?

[NonSequitur777]

@PC-profession,

It sounds like your HP Z8 G4 Workstation isn’t properly recognizing the NVMe drive, which could be due to BIOS settings, drive compatibility, or a hardware issue. Let’s go through a few additional steps to troubleshoot:

1. Confirm NVMe Drive Detection in BIOS:

• Restart the workstation and enter BIOS (F10).
• Go to Advanced > System Information and check if the NVMe drive is listed.
• If it doesn’t appear, the system might not be recognizing the drive at all.

2. Verify PCIe Slot & Connection

• Ensure the NVMe drive is installed in a bootable PCIe slot (not just a storage-only slot).
• If using an M.2-to-PCIe adapter, try a different PCIe slot.
• If you have multiple NVMe slots, test another one.

 

3. BIOS Settings Adjustments:

Since switching to UEFI mode results in a "No system drive found" error, let's verify these settings:

• Boot Mode:
  • Try setting UEFI Hybrid Mode (if available).
  • Ensure CSM (Compatibility Support Module) is disabled.
• Storage Controller Mode:
  • Navigate to Advanced > Device Configuration and check if there’s an NVMe-related setting.
  • If RAID is enabled, switch to AHCI/NVMe mode.
• PCIe Link Speed:
  • Set the PCIe slot to Gen3 or Auto for better compatibility.
• Secure Boot:
  • If Secure Boot is enabled, try disabling it temporarily.

 

4. Check for NVMe Detection in Windows:

Since the drive isn’t appearing in Partition Manager, try this:

• Boot into Windows using the SATA SSD.
• Open Disk Management (Win + X > Disk Management) and check if the NVMe drive appears (it may need to be initialized).
• If it doesn’t show up, open Device Manager > Storage Controllers to check if an NVMe controller is listed.

 

5. Attempt a Windows 11 Installation:

• Try booting from a Windows 11 USB installer and see if the NVMe drive appears as an installation option.
• If not, you may need to load HP’s Intel RST/NVMe drivers during setup.

 

6. Update BIOS & Firmware:

• Check HP’s support site for the latest BIOS update and apply it.
• If HP provides an NVMe firmware update for your drive model, install it.

 

7. Test the NVMe Drive in Another System:

• If possible, try installing the NVMe drive in another computer to see if it’s detected.
• If another NVMe drive is available, test it in the Z8 G4 to rule out a hardware issue.

Since your system works with a SATA SSD but not the NVMe drive, we need to determine whether the issue is with BIOS settings, drive compatibility, or a hardware failure. Let me know what you find after these steps, and we can troubleshoot further!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[PC-profession]

ok, will try this recommendations one after the other......

FYI: the system has: HP Z8 G4 Dual M2 SSD adapter PCI-E 933576-001  844779-001

and HP NVMe SSD PC601 1TB M2 2280 PCI-E 3.0 x 4 - L64828-001   HFS001TD9TNG

all specialy for the Z8 G4.......

best regards

[Ermalkoci]

did you find a solution? I have your same problem and the same adapter. Thanks

[SDH]

To the OP and Ermalkoci,

I've had quite a bit of experience with the Z Turbo Drives in the ZX40 and ZX G4 workstations and these run very well. I discovered in the ZX40 generation that there is an odd BIOS setting you need to know about. But first I'd recommend having BIOS set to factory defaults after first preparing your NVMe M.2 drives by making sure they are GPT partitioned and NTFS formatted. I use Diskpart with CMD run as administrator to first select the drive, then clean the drive and I also use the  convert gpt command each time even if the disk had been GPT partitioned before. I then make sure to go to Windows Disk Management and select this now-unallocated drive and use the default steps to NTFS format (except I uncheck the "Quick" box). Make sure you have only one M.2 drive in place in the Z Turbo Drive Dual Pro or Quad Pro. Make sure that no other HDD/SSD drives of any type are present elsewhere.

In the Z Turbo Drive Dual Pro and Quad Pro cards the top M.2 socket is the "primary" socket. Insert your intended boot M.2 drive there. Have no M.2 in the lower socket(s) yet... you add those if you wish later after all is up and running first with your boot M.2 drive. There now is a first and second generation ZTD Dual Pro, and I like the first generation better. The second generation is HP-certified for PCIe Gen4 drives but I can run those also in the original. Still only 1 ZTD Quad Pro version.

In both of these workstation series you need to navigate in BIOS/ Advanced/ go to the PCIe slot section, and navigate to the specific slot number you have your ZTD Dual Pro or your ZTD Quad Pro inserted into. Set the "bifurcation" for that socket to x4x4 if it is a x8 socket and set it to x4x4x4x4 if it is a x16 socket. That is not the default... "Auto" is. Save on the way out of BIOS as this will be a change from the factory defaults. Now you should be able to select the M.2 target boot drive during OS install.

in our ZX40 workstations the BIOS setting change to bifurcation was a necessary change from the default of "Auto". In the ZX G4 workstations here I've seen Auto work and also my recommended bifurcation settings work too... to keep things simple to remember I just manually set bifurcation as I noted above in all cases.

EDIT: An interesting BIOS Gotcha is that in the ZX40 workstations if BIOS is changed to factory defaults the bifurcation setting for the slot will switch back to Auto from x4x4, for example. I don't know if the HP engineers fixed that issue in their more recent BIOS versions... I told them about that.  It is easy to change back from the reset default of Auto to what works within BIOS if you remember this Gotcha... it sure got me the first time around.

HP advises to change the Z Turbo Drive card ID jumpers if you have more than one Z Turbo Drive of any type in one workstation. If you have multiple M.2 drives in one ZTD Quad Pro or two M.2 drives one ZTD Dual Pro and no other ZTD cards in place you don't need to change anything from the default jumper positions the one ZTD card came with.

A very good post to review is HERE and google can get you more on HP and bifurcation and Z Turbo Drive jumpers and on... our forum's search feature can do an OK job too but won't get you a good number of posts here that google finds.

[NonSequitur777]

@SDH,

Outstanding feedback, thank you!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777