Boot drive suddenly goes missing and machine starts in BIOS

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

So I've been building this machine and had it running fine. Windows is installed as are several apps. I just started it up and it goes directly to BIOS. In the BIOS I see the boot loader is missing and the OS drive (Samsung 990EVO Plus 2TB) not listed. The data Drive doe show in the BIOS. Any thoughts on how to proceed in rectifying this?

Components:
MOBO: ASUS ROG STRIX B850-I
PROSSOR: Ryzen 9 9900X
MEMORY: G.SKILL DDR5 Flare X5 64GB 6000
OS Drive: Samsung 990EVO Plus 2TB
Data Drive: Silocon Power UD90 2TB

Spunk · Mar 30, 2025

Download the most recent Bios update for your model

ROG STRIX B850-I GAMING WIFI | ROG Strix | Gaming Motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global

ROG Strix B850-I Gaming WiFi offers AMD Ryzen 9000 support, PCIe 5.0, DDR5, WiFi 7, USB 20Gbps, ASUS AI Advisor and powerful cooling for top gaming performance.

rog.asus.com

Reseat the Samsung SSD into the motherboard.
In the Bios, set it to Defaults, Save and Exit.
after reboot the Boot order should be first boot device Windows Boot Manager.

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

So I've been able to get the machine to start from a USB drive to see If I can repair the drive.
My Options are:
Startup Repair (This found nothing) -- UEFI Firmware Settings
Command Prompt -- System Restore
Uninstall Updates -- System Image Recovery

However, I figured since the OS drive is not listed in the BIOS, removing updates and system image recovery would be irrelevant? I went into the command prompt X:\ changed to C: which showed all the files in my Data drive which was the D: My D: drive is the USB Windows installer, and no E: can be found. As I said, this mach was running fine. (after much help from this forum) Could the brand new Samsung 2TB OS Drive have died? I guess my next step is to take apart the machine and try a different SSD and see if I shows up. Please let me know I that is stupid as a first fix. This is a SFF box and accessing any component is painful.

SIW2 · Mar 30, 2025

at cmd prompt:

diskpart
lis dis

see if it lists both disks
if you see the samsung

sel dis ( whatever number it is e.g. 0 or 1 )
lis par

post the results

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

Spunk said:
Download the most recent Bios update for your model

ROG STRIX B850-I GAMING WIFI | ROG Strix | Gaming Motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global

ROG Strix B850-I Gaming WiFi offers AMD Ryzen 9000 support, PCIe 5.0, DDR5, WiFi 7, USB 20Gbps, ASUS AI Advisor and powerful cooling for top gaming performance.

rog.asus.com

Reseat the Samsung SSD into the motherboard.
In the Bios, set it to Defaults, Save and Exit.
after reboot the Boot order should be first boot device Windows Boot Manager.

Already installed the most recent BIOS when I assembled two days ago. However, I just set the BIOS to defaults. Still no sign of the OS m.2 Drive. I guess removing it is the next step.

zbook · Mar 30, 2025

See if this Asus video is useful:

[Motherboard] Troubleshooting - Cannot find the hard disk drive or SSD(M.2) after motherboard powers on | Official Support | ASUS USA

gunrunnerjohn · Mar 30, 2025

Did you reseat the drive like was suggested?

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

SIW2 said:
at cmd prompt:

diskpart
lis dis

see if it lists both disks
if you see the samsung

sel dis ( whatever number it is e.g. 0 or 1 )
lis par

post the results

Followed the instructions. The Samsung disk was not found.

Spunk · Mar 30, 2025

In the Bios, make sure the M.2 nVME slot is enabled.
By default Some Bios 'will disable that Port if you have more then one nVME installed to the motherboard

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

zbook said:
See if this Asus video is useful:

[Motherboard] Troubleshooting - Cannot find the hard disk drive or SSD(M.2) after motherboard powers on | Official Support | ASUS USA

Thanks for that video link. I've done most of the suggestions except for enabling CSM because it is grayed out in my BIOS. The video explains that It is not available without an installed Graphic card. (I did not know this) I've been using the 9900x onboard graphics through the mobo HDMI port since first firing up the machine. My new Video Card for this machine arrives on Wednesday. Still, this all odd as the machine has been working fine for two days.

SIW2 · Mar 30, 2025

CalypsoArt said:
Followed the instructions. The Samsung disk was not found.

You will have to open it up and try reseating the disk

if still not found it could be a problem with the nvme connector or the disk. Unless there is some bios setting that has been turned off.

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

gunrunnerjohn said:
Did you reseat the drive like was suggested?

This is the next step. But it is a SFF build and I have to remove a lot to access the drive. It'll be a while before I can get it all back together to test. While it's apart I also have an unused m.2 drive that I'm going to install just to see if the BIOS sees it.

sdtag · Mar 30, 2025

I had a power outage this morning and all my computers came back on line, except for my own personal computer. Of course.
It did exactly the same thing as yours. It booted to the bios screen. I knew better then to press save and continue. I didn't want to boot to an external data drive lol. My boot drive wasn't even listed in bios. Its a Crucial MX500 2tb ssd. sata.
So I just unplugged it and waited a few minutes then powered it back up. Same thing. Same thing. After 2 or 3 attempts it came back to life and booted normally.
So I think my ssd might be starting to display signs of trouble.
But I am on it right now. So far so good.

BamaInArk · Mar 30, 2025

I suspect you've got a connection issue with that drive. Not sure of this specific motherboard hardware but I have an Asus X570-I and you have to be careful how you assemble things together. Although the drive could have died it also could simply be a lose connection somewhere and not necessarily with the NVMe drive socket itself.
I've replaced my Asus X570-I 2 times under warranty.(on the 3rd one now) The first one was replaced similar to yours where the drive quit working.

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

Actually, getting to the drive was way easier than I thought. This is what I did.

1. I removed the Samsung 2T drive, put it in a USB m.2 enclosure an plugged it into my other computer. It was not recognized by Explorer.
However, Running Disk Management found it. (Disk 2 in the pic) As you can see, It shows a healthy EFI system partition, a healthy recovery partition, and a healthy basic data partition. No boot, etc. This drive has Windows 11 and all my apps installed.

2. I took the Crucial drive that was in the USB enclosure and put it in the new machine. The BIOS found it immediately.

3. I then put the Samsung back in the computer, and again it was not found. Same with putting it back in the enclosure. I cannot access files or folders with explorer. I assume this means the drive is problematic?

gunrunnerjohn · Mar 30, 2025

I'd think more likely that it's the socket that's problematic.

CalypsoArt · Mar 30, 2025

gunrunnerjohn said:
I'd think more likely that it's the socket that's problematic.

Do you mean the m.2 socket on the motherboard? The The Crucial drive is recognized in both the computer m.2 slot and the enclosure plugged into a different computer. The Samsung is now not recognized in either.

gunrunnerjohn · Mar 30, 2025

CalypsoArt said:
Do you mean the m.2 socket on the motherboard? The The Crucial drive is recognized in both the computer m.2 slot and the enclosure plugged into a different computer. The Samsung is now not recognized in either.

OK, I missed a beat, that does sound like the Samsung drive. I thought it was recognized in one and not the other.

Spunk · Mar 30, 2025

There is no Boot file on the 2TB SSD. If there was, when you boot the computer with the drive inserted or even using a USB Adapter,. Windows would assign a drive letter. How did you install Windows on this new SSD?

You can attach the drive via your USB adapter, your can Assign a drive letter in Disk Management to view it in Explorer.
You can then browse the drive in Windows Explorer. You can copy any files you want to keep off of that drive to another drive.

Put the drive back into the troubled computer. Try Unplugging 'Removing any other drives other than this SSD. Swap the nVME to the other slot that was being used to troubleshoot if it is your motherboards M.2 slot that is the issue.

If the drive shows up in the Bios
Boot off of the the Windows installer USB Flash Drive.
Choose your language, then Repair Your Computer. This brings up the Troubleshooting menu.
Choose Advanced. First try a Startup Repair on that drive. There are other options to repair the boot file that can be done in the Command Prompt.

SIW2 · Mar 30, 2025

Same with putting it back in the enclosure. I cannot access files or folders with explorer. I assume this means the drive is problematic?

It needs a drive letter to see it in explorer

It shows a healthy EFI system partition, a healthy recovery partition, and a healthy basic data partition. No boot

The word Boot only shows in diskmgmt for the partition you are currently booted into. You wouldn't expect to see it on a different disk.

Boot drive suddenly goes missing and machine starts in BIOS

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