Boot from M.2 SSD

[crawford_69]

I have an M.2 socket 3, Key M on the motherboard.  It is a Lubin mother board, SSID: 82F2.  If I put a SSD in the M.2 socket, will I be able to boot from it?  If so, will I have to make any changes in the BIOS?  Also, does the motherboard support a SATA or PCIe M.2 SSD?

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

Open up a command prompt (admin) and enter: MSINFO32

If the BIOS Level in your PC is F.14 then a m.2 NVME SSD should work.

HP stocks this NVME SSD for the Lubin motherboard. PN: 916223-800  128 GB NVME SSD

128 GB is a little small so you might want to consider a 3rd party m.2 NVMe SSD such as a Samsung EVO 960 EVO which come in various sizes.

[crawford_69]

Yes, the BIOS Level is F.14.  Thanks so much.

Is there any change that needs to be made in the BIOS for the computer to boot from the M.2 drive?

[Big_Dave · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Backup your data up to external media. Be sure to create the HP external recovery media.

You may need to change the boot order in the BIOS to make the m.2 NVMe boot before the existing HD. However, if you should wipe the entire HD then you will not have to change anything. If you don't wipe the HD then you might end up with two UEFI Windows boot loaders with the HD being first. In this case you could reorder the boot priority and retain the HD as a backup boot device.

You can use an imaging tool from Acronis or Paragon to image across the existing HD. You might need to reduce down the C partition and the D partition (user data partition) in order to make the HD fit on the NVMe.

If you do go ahead with the NVMe SSD and successfully image across the HD, then temporarily unplug the HD and test the NVMe SSD for boot up.

Another alternative to the above is to buy a NVME m.2 SSD large enough to allow the HP external recovery media to do a full HP day one recovery to the NVMe SSD. Unplug the HD when attempting a full HP recovery to the NVMe SSD.  A 1 TB m.2 NVMe SSD is large enough for sure but a smaller size may also work depending on how flexible the HP recovery program is with sizes less than the size of the original HD.  I haven't seen anyone comment about trying the HP recovery media originating from a 1TB HD and then loading a smaller SSD/HD and still get all of the partitions loaded to the smaller device.  I wouldn't try a NVMe m.2 SSD that is smaller than 256 GB.

Once you are comfortable with the NVMe m.2 SSD as a boot device then you should decide what to do with the HD. Perhaps nothing and leave it unplugged or wipe it completely and use it for the common user folder storage such as data, music, video, favorites, contacts, documents and photos or just for backup of your files that you deem critical.  HDs are more prone to failure compared to SSDs so take that in consideration.  All of my devices being used daily are SSDs.

[crawford_69]

Will this drive work? https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820250085&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL0...

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

I don't see any reason off hand that your selected m.2 NVMe SSD will not work.

[crawford_69]

We installed this hard drive, but the computer did not recognize it.  Do you know why?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820147399

[gumy]

I have found a solution to the problem that happens to many, and that is when we buy an M.2 disk. We do not see that it is PCI-e and many of them are SATA, so they are not comptable.

Always check that it is an NVMe disk, if we buy a disk M.2 sata it will not work.

[Mikaeel]

I'm having a similar problem. I Purchased the Slimline 270-p024 with the 82F2 motherboard. I installed a M key Samsung 960 EVO into the board's M.2 slot but it's not being recognized. When I try to install the NVM Express Driver I get the message "NVM Express Device not Connected", and I can not see it in the BIOS.

The  Driver Manual says:

Windows Operating System shall successfully load the driver only when Samsung NVMe SSD 960 PRO, 960 EVO or 950 PRO is installed to

 PCIe slot directly connected to CPU or

 M.2 or PCIe slot connected to PCH.

However, in the PCH case, Windows Operating System cannot load the driver under following BIOS configurations where

 PCH Storage Configuration is set to “Raid Mode, or

 NAND/Storage Remapping option*” is enabled.
* The option name can be different according to M/B manufacturers. Please refer to your M/B manual.  

Can anyone tell me what I sholud do from here. I'm trying to clone my hard drive onto the ssd using Samgung's Migration software.