The Microsoft Pluton FTPM vanished unexpectedly from the BIOS.
The Microsoft Pluton FTPM vanished unexpectedly from the BIOS.
After the system reboot last week, I encountered the Microsoft Bitlocker recovery interface. It seemed the TPM I relied on was completely absent from the BIOS—despite being fully supported and functioning properly earlier. I didn’t make any significant changes to my hardware. My uncertainty centers around whether the motherboard or CPU is at fault. I managed to enter the recovery key and restored access to my Win 11 Pro installation, but the TPM wasn’t detected by tpm.msc or Windows Security. When I re-entered into BIOS, only the AMD fTPM appeared correctly enabled. Since October 2023, no unusual problems have arisen, and the PC has remained stable for months without any hardware or software updates. I verified all BIOS configurations, and everything appears to be set correctly. I attempted several fixes: resetting BIOS to defaults, updating to the latest BIOS for my motherboard (F11 → F22), manually selecting Pluton TPM in BIOS, performing a CMOS reset, and even tried re-seating the CPU after removing thermal paste. The CMOS reset worked successfully, but the system still labeled TPM as NONE under Trusted Computing. I’m considering a CPU mount pressure issue or socket misalignment, though it seems unlikely. TL;DR: Despite efforts, Pluton isn’t showing up in BIOS, and I can’t locate it anywhere.
I'm working with BitLocker. The internal TPM just vanished on its own, like it was turned off from the BIOS, even though I didn't change anything. This seems to have caused the BitLocker recovery to fail—no TPM left, no keys. After that, I can't force the Pluton TPM to be enabled, no matter what I do. It's an option in the BIOS but doesn't work.
this appears to be a work system. for a domain environment, retrieve the BitLocker key from Active Directory. for a personal computer, access www.microsoft.com, log in under 'user' and locate your devices—your BitLocker key should be there. i wouldn't rely on BitLocker unless you have sensitive information; it tends to slow down performance due to constant encryption.
It's a home PC setup. The BitLocker recovery key worked without any problems as described in the original post. The main concern is where the original TPM ended up—Pluton offers better security since it supports automated firmware updates via Windows Update. Regarding BitLocker, performance issues aren't real on modern hardware; newer CPUs handle AES encryption much faster than PCI-E 4.0 NVMe devices can manage. I see less than a 1% slowdown on my 980 Pro before and after using XTS-AES 256 encryption.
This might be accurate for you. I only tried it on a SATA SSD back then and dismissed any concerns since my board had TPM 2.0 and was configured separately. However, that was just to install Windows 11. It’s possible the issue arose from corruption, or you might want to test different BIOS versions between F11 and F22.
I've attempted to reset CMOS, update the latest F30 firmware, reinsert the memory and CPU, and hope for the best. Pluton appears in the BIOS but doesn't activate at all—it just fails to respond. Even though the firmware lists it as enabled, the Trusted Computing section still displays "NO Security Device Found." Many entries repeat across different sections, and the guidance text often gets obscured by other visuals. Gigabyte seems to have fundamental problems with their UEFI setup. I'm going to give up and stick with the AMD fTPM, which functions as expected by default.