Device fails to recognize the second M.2 storage card.
Device fails to recognize the second M.2 storage card.
Hey there, I'm facing a problem with my M.2 slots. My motherboard only recognizes one of them. I'm trying to connect two NVMe drives: the top slot (Slot 0) has a Samsung NVME Evo 970 1TB, and the bottom slot (Slot 1) has an ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro NVMe 1TB. It seems only one can be used at once. I think this might be due to a limitation in the board or a BIOS issue. I've tested other M.2 drives like the Intel 660P 1TB and the Kingston A4000 500GB, but nothing works properly. I've tried adjusting CSM support settings, but I'm not sure what else to do. Could you help? Thanks in advance. Motherboard model: Z390 GAMING X (rev.1.0). BIOS version: Z390 Gaming X F8 RTX 2080S Strix OC i7 9700k G.Skill Trident Z 3200Mhz 32GB 850W PSU, running Windows 10.
Are there any additional storage devices linked to the SATA ports? Typically, M.2 drives can cause conflicts, so avoid connecting anything in those ports. In the BIOS, look under Peripherals > SATA Controller Configuration—there should be an option for M.2 drives. You should also see a NVMe menu and SATA & RST settings where you can manage M.2 devices. The current BIOS version is F10; consider updating if possible.
I believe combining two NVMe controllers isn't feasible. Both devices would need SATA interfaces, even though they use M.2 form factors with mSATA ports. PCIe and SATA Dual Mode support is available on some boards. The CPU provides only 16 PCIe lanes, while the GPU consumes them all. The remaining PCIe connections are shared via the chipset, which communicates at DMI 3.0 speed equivalent to PCIe 4X. Because each NVMe drive operates at four times its speed, using two would strain the DMI lane, making mSATA drives a necessary alternative.
If someone can assist me with this problem, I’ll owe them a few beers.