ASUS X99 WS/IMPI experiences problems recognizing my M.2 storage devices.
ASUS X99 WS/IMPI experiences problems recognizing my M.2 storage devices.
X99 boards appeared early in the development of M.2 NVMe storage solutions. On these platforms, the M.2 slot bandwidth shares with the SATA Express connector. If you connect a SATA Express device, it might affect performance. Depending on the processor, the number of PCIe lanes differs. Some PCIe slots may be blocked when others are used. Also, the X99 system attempted to run an NVMe M.2 drive only on PCIe 3.0 x2 interfaces. Most contemporary drivers support 3.0 x4, so it should function normally—just slower. This incompatibility might stem from M.2 being a relatively new technology at the time. Since the board was aimed at workstation or server configurations, it likely wasn’t intended to boot bootable M.2 drives. It could require specialized drivers that activate only after an operating system is installed. If you install an OS on a SATA drive, can the system detect the M.2 device? This should help you evaluate potential causes.
The motherboard doesn’t recognize the device at all. I’ve used both WD 500GB SATA M.2 and Seagate 500GB NVMe drives, but only one GPU is active in the main PCIe lane. It’s perplexing why there’s so little information about this board. I’m eager for some advice since I’m heading to Best Buy and need both SSDs. I’m planning to buy a 1TB SATA 2.5” drive instead. I didn’t expect this but seems to be my only option right now. Because I’ll be using this PC for Proxmox virtualization with several GPUs for Plex and similar tasks, I’m curious if there’s something missing in the BIOS. I’d be happy to share a video of the setup on my capture card with every setting listed. Additionally, I’m running a Xeon E5 2630L V3, while the SSDs worked fine on my Chinese MACHINIST board. It might just be bad luck on my end.
It's tough to pinpoint exactly what you're dealing with. You might want to check other forums for similar experiences. Level 1 techs could be helpful. If your board supports it, try serving updates on the community site. Getting someone who knows the specific model usually works best. I'm using a Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5 with an Xeon E5 2678 v3. Right now I only have a SATA setup. Previously, with an NVMe drive, I used a Gigabyte X99 Gaming G1 and an i7 5820k. After upgrading the CPU, I replaced part of the cooler on the socket, which I couldn't fix, so I ended up with a second-hand board at that time.