F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Problem with MSI B550 Tomahawk not booting from NVMe drive.

Problem with MSI B550 Tomahawk not booting from NVMe drive.

Problem with MSI B550 Tomahawk not booting from NVMe drive.

L
Liamharazi
Junior Member
39
07-12-2022, 07:08 PM
#1
Hey everyone. Yesterday I went to sleep and left the computer running. When I woke up, everything was blank—just the GPU light on inside the PC, with no other lights or fans active. I restarted and checked my BIOS; nothing booted, even after unplugging all SATA except the NVMe slot. After resetting the BIOS and swapping the battery, I still couldn’t get it to start. When I opened the NVMe port, I saw black moisture likely from melted buffer material, but inside the BIOS flash menu it showed no issues. The BIOS recognized the NVMe but didn’t place it in the boot priority list. I switched from UEFI to CMS during this process while unplugging other SATA ports, but it still didn’t work. I tried using my Ubuntu USB compact version, but it didn’t run at all—something unusual for me. I can format the NVMe drive with Windows, though backing up files is tricky since my Ubuntu stick isn’t working either. My Windows stick lacks a repair mode, and I’m unsure if fixing the boot partition would help. I updated the BIOS to the latest version. I managed to access an older Windows 8.1 installation after cleaning up drives and changing the OS settings to CMS, but in UEFI it still wouldn’t boot. I’ve been here for about eight hours now. From what I understand, I’ll need to securely erase the NVMe drive via BIOS (a special option in MSI Click Bios 5) and then reinstall Windows, which will be quite a task. I should back up my Chrome profiles first—they’re essential for my work. It would be great if I could finish without formatting the drive at all. No issues with any peripherals, including RAM and NVMe.

Other notes:
- Board model: b550 Tomahawk
- NVMe device: Samsung Evo 950 (1 TB)
- BIOS version: 7C91vAA
- CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X
- Desired outcome: Avoid formatting the drive
L
Liamharazi
07-12-2022, 07:08 PM #1

Hey everyone. Yesterday I went to sleep and left the computer running. When I woke up, everything was blank—just the GPU light on inside the PC, with no other lights or fans active. I restarted and checked my BIOS; nothing booted, even after unplugging all SATA except the NVMe slot. After resetting the BIOS and swapping the battery, I still couldn’t get it to start. When I opened the NVMe port, I saw black moisture likely from melted buffer material, but inside the BIOS flash menu it showed no issues. The BIOS recognized the NVMe but didn’t place it in the boot priority list. I switched from UEFI to CMS during this process while unplugging other SATA ports, but it still didn’t work. I tried using my Ubuntu USB compact version, but it didn’t run at all—something unusual for me. I can format the NVMe drive with Windows, though backing up files is tricky since my Ubuntu stick isn’t working either. My Windows stick lacks a repair mode, and I’m unsure if fixing the boot partition would help. I updated the BIOS to the latest version. I managed to access an older Windows 8.1 installation after cleaning up drives and changing the OS settings to CMS, but in UEFI it still wouldn’t boot. I’ve been here for about eight hours now. From what I understand, I’ll need to securely erase the NVMe drive via BIOS (a special option in MSI Click Bios 5) and then reinstall Windows, which will be quite a task. I should back up my Chrome profiles first—they’re essential for my work. It would be great if I could finish without formatting the drive at all. No issues with any peripherals, including RAM and NVMe.

Other notes:
- Board model: b550 Tomahawk
- NVMe device: Samsung Evo 950 (1 TB)
- BIOS version: 7C91vAA
- CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X
- Desired outcome: Avoid formatting the drive

A
Ariiiiiii
Member
63
07-12-2022, 07:08 PM
#2
I attempted the Windows 10 setup via USB, but it can't write or format the NVMe drive—it reports a write protection. I plan to force a format while still using Windows 8.1.
A
Ariiiiiii
07-12-2022, 07:08 PM #2

I attempted the Windows 10 setup via USB, but it can't write or format the NVMe drive—it reports a write protection. I plan to force a format while still using Windows 8.1.

J
Justin9401
Member
211
07-12-2022, 07:08 PM
#3
Attempted to set up Windows 11 using a third-party NVME drive, but it failed. The error reads: "We couldn't install Windows in the location you chose. Please check your media drive." Additional details are available at the provided link. This issue persists even when watching the tutorial video.
J
Justin9401
07-12-2022, 07:08 PM #3

Attempted to set up Windows 11 using a third-party NVME drive, but it failed. The error reads: "We couldn't install Windows in the location you chose. Please check your media drive." Additional details are available at the provided link. This issue persists even when watching the tutorial video.