Windows 10 Pro will not install to HP ssd ex920 m.2 512GB

[jeffstenn]

I just installed a new HP EX920 m.2 512GB  SSD in my new Ryzen machine being run on an MSI B350 Tomahawk Arctic motherboard...latest Bios as of April 2018. . Up til then, I had a working Win10 Pro installation on a Micron SATA 520 SSD.  Both drives were recognized fine and the system booted into Win10 Pro from the existing Micron SATA SSD.

Then I tried adjusting the drive geometry of the Micron 520 SATA SSD using Win10 Pro's "shrink drive" partition adjustment to reduce the boot partition's size, so I could clone over to my new HP EX920 m.2 512GB  SSD and boot from the HP nVME SSD. Clonezilla wouldn't clone from the Micron to the HP SSD because the HP was about 20 gig smaller,

The Win10 Pro's partition adjustment was useless, though it did work to reduce the partition size, cloning still would not procede, still getting the message that target was smaller than source drive.  But when I gave up and went back to just booting from the Micron 520 SSD, it's boot parameters had been corrupted and would no longer boot Win10 Pro.

In booting from a bootable Win10 USB drive created from the Microsoft tool, from that previously working system, to repair the previous Win10 Pro installation, it failed to recognize anything, so I resigned myself to a clean reinstall of Win10 Pro directly to the new HP EX920 m.2 512GB  SSD.

Despite the motherboard and the Win10 USB media both recognizing the HP nVME drive, Win10 refused to install to it, advising it was a GPT partition and could not install.

I used the Win10 Pro USB installation to delete the existing partition on the HP EX920 m.2 512GB  SSD and create a new partition, which it did, formatted fine, then still refused to install Win10 Pro to my new HP EX920 m.2 512GB  SSD !!??  

[edit]

Now I have a brand new, state of the art system that Windows refuses to install to, though all hardware is recognized!!

[Grzwacz]

Greetings jeffstenn,

Welcome back to the forum.

Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble.

One tip to possibly help you reinstall Windows:

Tap "Esc" at system start.

Select the Boot Menu.

Select the USB stick having the W10 installation media under UEFI Boot Devices. Selecting the USB boot device within the Legacy boot option will only work if the HDD is using MBR. Let W10 installation media partition and format the HDD or SSD.

UEFI must be used when installing W10 on a GPT HDD or SSD.

Regards

[mdklassen]

> Clonezilla wouldn't clone from the Micron to the HP SSD because the HP was about 20 gig smaller.

Was there any "disk-cloning" software supplied with either of your 2 SSDs?

Or, downloadable from their web-site?

Or, temporarily attach a SEAGATE disk-drive as a 3rd disk-drive, and download SEATOOLS from www.SEAGATE.com

Use it to "resize-and-copy" from your "source" device to your "target" device.

Note that the SEAGATE disk-drive must be "detected", but it does not need to participate in the "cloning" process. 

Yes, it can "resize" as it copies to the target.

[Grzwacz]

Hi jeffstenn,

Wishing you resolve your issues with success.

Best wishes.

Regards

[jeffstenn]

Thanks GRZ...yes, as I mentioned, Win10 install recognized the drive just fine, but wouldn't install to it. I let the Windows install delete and recreate the partition and format, still got message that Win10 would not install to my new HP nVME SSD.

However, there has been success. I downoaded the Win10 ISO on another computer last night, burned that image, and booted from that instead of the Win10 USB that the Microsoft Install Tool created...

....The ISO also recognized the HP nVME M.2 512G SSD fine, and, to my surprise, DID install Win10 to it successfully.

My guess is my Win10 USB I created back in March or April did not support installing to the new HP nVME SSD, so the new ISO from yesterday must have an update on it my 2 months-older USB tool didn't have.

[jeffstenn]

P.S.  You asked previously "...Was there any "disk-cloning" software supplied with either of your 2 SSDs?

Or, downloadable from their web-site? "

This is the official HP Support site right ?  And we're talking about my new HP nVME EX920 SSD, right ?

So check HP's product info and downloads, and you'll be as shocked as I was....NO, there is NOTHING in the way of cloning software, not even Drive Management software that monitors error-rates/bad addresses, and temperature....like pretty much EVERY SSD I've seen so far....my Micron SSD came with Micron software....

....so WHY does my new state-of-the-art HP nVME have NOTHING ???

I noticed in a web-review of these new HP SSD's that they actually use Samsung chips, which explains why their performance meets or even exceeds Samsung's, so I wonder if the Samsung monitoring software will work until HP realizes they're selling these great drives and starts supporting them ? 

[Grzwacz]

Hi jeffstenn,

You're very welcome.

Hey, all kinds of strange stuff happens with computers.

Good to see you got W10 up and running.

Regards

[saunupe1911]

I just purchased an EX920 and attempted to register for my warranty. This product can't found in HP's system. The serial numer and product number won't pull it up therefore I can't even register for my warranty? What's  the deal with these hard drives???

[danny-r]

@saunupe1911

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[saunupe1911]

Thank you Danny-R. I've responded to the PM. I still don't understand why the product can't even be found on your site. I should have checked this before I made my purchase. Lack of firmware support for M.2 SDD is bad support.