Motherboard Issue
SolvedLuciel32 Posted messages 11 Status Member -
Hello,
I have a problem with my new ASUS B550M-A WIFI II motherboard, which has 2 M.2 connections:
The 2nd M.2 connection where I placed a KINGSTON SA1000M NVMe SSD worked fine on my old PC. On my new ASUS motherboard, it is only recognized intermittently.
Let me explain: When I start the PC after completely shutting it down, the SSD is not recognized: "Unknown disk, Not initialized." When I try to initialize it, it says "Unable, I/O device error."
When I use the "Restart" mode on the PC, the SSD becomes visible again and works fine. But if I put the PC to sleep and then wake it up, the same error returns and the SSD is unusable!
I updated the BIOS to version 3002, and nothing has changed.
Thank you for your help.
13 answers
Okay, the fact that there were two NVMe SSDs each with an OS slipped my mind.......
And if your Windows 10 was installed on the old PC, don't look further, for me that's it.
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Euskadi Ta Askatasuna
Hello
Make sure it is properly seated and positioned in its slot.
Is it visible in disk management?
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Euskadi Ta Askatasuna
Hello,
in the technical specifications of your motherboard, it mentions 2 M.2 slots
1 X M.2 - PCI-E 4.0 4x
1 X M.2 - PCI-E 3.0 4x
(unless there's a mistake on the site regarding your motherboard)
I can tell you this:
A PCI-E 4 M.2 SSD card is not compatible with an M.2 - PCI-E 3.0 4x slot
However, a PCI-E 3 card is compatible with the M.2 - PCI-E 4.0 4x slot
Check that you are not trying to insert a PCI-E 4 SSD into a PCI-E 3 slot
Sincerely.
Ps: If that is not the case,
the error message "I/O device error" is a technical issue that can be major.
(reading/writing)
in most cases, this means a failed SSD card
An M.2 PCIe 4 SSD card is not compatible with an M.2 - PCI-E 3.0 4x slot.
It is backward compatible in both directions; what doesn't work is an M.2 SATA (and still some controllers manage both like here).
Simply, a PCIe 4.0 SSD connected to a 3.0 port will behave like a PCIe 3.0 SSD.
Connecting a PCIe 4.0 device to a PCIe 3.0 port can cause compatibility issues, including I/O errors. The PCIe 3.0 port is designed to support a maximum bandwidth of 8 GT/s, while PCIe 4.0 supports a maximum bandwidth of 16 GT/s.
When you connect a PCIe 4.0 device to a PCIe 3.0 port, the bandwidth is limited to the maximum capacity of the port, which is 8 GT/s. This can lead to port saturation and I/O errors, especially if the device requires a higher bandwidth than that provided by the PCIe 3.0 port.
This can cause I/O errors (Input/Output).
Even if the intel site where you get the information about "full backward compatibility" seems "solid," in practice it can cause I/O errors.
Well, you couldn't be more wrong...
AMD chipsets release more or less PCIe lanes depending on the slot and the processor. On this particular motherboard, the m.2_1 is controlled by the CPU, it runs in PCIe 4.0 as long as you have a Ryzen 5xxx or 3xxx generation processor. With the 4xxx G CPUs, it operates in PCIe 3.0. The second M.2 port is controlled by the B550 chipset.
This behavior is found on all AMD motherboards, it is 100% backward compatible between PCIe 2.1, 3.0, and 4.0 and causes no issues. What usually causes I/O errors are the parity checks of the RAM, which is almost impossible with current operating systems.
Excerpt from the manual:
Storage
Supports 2 x M.2 slots and 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
AMD Ryzen™ 5000 Series/ 3000 Series Desktop Processors
M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 & SATA modes)
AMD Ryzen™ 4000 G-Series Desktop Processors
M.2_1 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (supports PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA modes)
AMD B550 Chipset
M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA modes)
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports
Support RAID 0, 1, 10
Here the issue luciel32 is something different.
Try the other M.2 slot, but if it's still not good, I don't see.... If this SSD was functional in another PC, it's surprising that it is not correctly recognized by Windows, but for me, the problem is not hardware; it's its operation under Windows that is problematic.
The SSD must also be firmly inserted into the slot; don't hesitate to push it in quite hard.
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Euskadi Ta Askatasuna
Have you tried updating the motherboard BIOS? You can download the latest version of the BIOS from the ASUS website.
Make sure that the SSDs you are using are compatible with the motherboard and properly seated as mentioned by @flo88 StatusContributor...
I did some research on your motherboard:
The first M.2 slot supports PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs, while the second M.2 slot supports PCIe 3.0 x4 SSDs. If you are using both M.2 slots with PCIe 4.0 SSDs, one in the main M.2 slot, the second in the M.2 slot will automatically be backward compatible to PCIe 3.0 x4. In this case, usually, the PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD will operate at the maximum speed of PCIe 3.0 x4 in this second M.2 slot. But I believe it is possible that the I/O errors are caused by this factor. (Note: especially if the SSD absolutely requires a bandwidth higher than that provided by the PCIe 3.0 port)
So, ensure that the BIOS settings are correctly configured to support PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs.
Also, check that the device drivers for the SSDs are up to date. You can download them, I believe, from the manufacturer's website of the SSD.
Check the motherboard's compatibility... It is possible that the motherboard is not compatible with two PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs at the same time... re-check (perhaps by contacting ASUS technical support) the specifications of the motherboard to ensure it supports this configuration... @flo88 says that this is perfectly the case... personally, I have my doubts (am I allowed... right...? ^^')
We can add our opinions and not subtract them ;-)
His BIOS is up to date, it is mentioned in his initial question; otherwise, a poorly seated SSD creates exactly the same symptoms as here, that's why I insisted on this point;
Here is the same case, resolved, not properly set up, seen in the BIOS, poorly in Windows
As explained earlier, I swapped the 2 SSDs between the 2 ports.
The Kingston is still recognized randomly.
Then, I installed win11 on the Kingston while keeping it in the 2nd slot and there: no more issues, it works normally.
The problem seems to come from win 10 and I don't want to switch to win 11.
Do you think I should reinstall win 10?
Thank you for your patience...