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[jklansang]

Hello there, 

I have recently upgraded my motherboard from an ASUS Prime B450M-A II to a B550M PRO-VDH WIFI - MSI. Also, I have decided to add an extra 500 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 as storage, though I already have 1 TB of the same storage mentioned. 

Now, I have already replaced my motherboard when I noticed that the M2_1 slot from my B550M is not working, it doesn't read the M.2 that I placed in there, I already tried swapping out the drives, but only the M2_2 works, I have done resetting the CMOS battery, the only option I have right now is to update my Bios (I still haven't done it yet). 

Does anyone here had the same problem before? If so, what have you done to resolve this? Any help would be appreciated. 

I am using a Ryzen 5 5600GT as my processor.

PS: The motherboard I bought is a brand-new one. 

[BigAl01]

I haven't heard of an M.2 slot not working in a new motherboard before this, but I suppose it is possible.  Perhaps it is working, but in the BIOS something isn't configured properly for the M.2-1 slot.  I don't know if you have an issue with the number of PCIe lanes being allocated to the M.2 slots and the video card, but that's another possibility.  An easy thing to try first is to clear the CMOS, by unplugging the PSU, removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes and then replacing it and booting into the current BIOS to see if it recognizes your M.2-1 slot being occupied.

If that doesn't work, I would boot up with your system drive in the M.2-2 slot (that works) and update the BIOS.  I would then clear the CMOS again before checking the M.2 drive slots to see if they now work.

[jklansang]

Hello, Einstein. 

I have tried to reset the CMOS, did not work. I just flashed my bios just now and did not work either. But, I haven't tried to flash my bios and do a CMOS reset again. 

I have searched the internet and found a lot of similar situations like mine, mostly with the exact same motherboard and others had the problem with a different model from the same manufacturer (MSI). 

I am not really sure what to do now, I have upgraded my MoBo from B450M-A II to B550M so I could have 2 M2 slots, but now it seems like I have just wasted money and could've just kept my B450M-A II and just used 2.5" SSDs. 

[elstaci]

Your Kingston M.2 Gen 4.0 should work in the M.2 -1 slot but at Gen 3.0 speeds since as mentioned by FunkZ the 5600GT supports PCIe 3.0 lanes only.

If the same SSD worked in M.2-2 which according to your motherboard specs is a enabled by AMD CHIPSET  PCIe 3.0 strictly port than it should also work in M.2-1 with PCIe 3.0 speeds.

Have you checked in BIOS and make sure that M.2-1 lane is enabled for Gen 3.0 PCIe and not enabled for PCIe gen 4.0?

If in BIOS M.2-1 is enabled for gen 4.0 that could be why it isn't recognized since the processor doesn't support Gen 4.0 unless it is on "Auto" then it should automatically switch to Gen 3.0 lane.

Otherwise it sounds like a motherboard issue more than anything else unless you have a defective processor that is not enabling the M.2-1 lane.

EDIT: From your Motherboard's Manual:

When you install both M.2 SSD go to BIOS and see if both are being recognized:

I believe here is where you can set the M.2 PCIe slot to Gen 4.0 or 3.0 in BIOS:

[FunkZ]

M2_1 is connected to the CPU. As the 5600GT is a Cezanne die it only supports PCIe gen 3.0

M2_2 is connected to the B550 chipset. It only supports PCIe gen 3.0

Any drives you have that are PCIe 4.0 should work at 3.0 but throughput will be reduced.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B550M-PRO-VDH-WIFI/Specification

Make sure the BIOS version is at least 7C95v2I (2023-10-12) or newer.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B550M-PRO-VDH-WIFI/support#bios

You can also check the list of MSI tested storage devices.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B550M-PRO-VDH-WIFI/support#hdd

[jklansang]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have checked their supported storage list and my storage is not included on the list. I am using a Kingston SNV2S1000G (OS is in here) and another one with 500GB.

If their website is correct, then I cannot use my storage on the M2_1 slot? I have tried swapping the slots, and everytime I do that, either one of the storage is being detected by the M2_2 slot, meaning we can remove the possibility of one of the storage being faulty.

I have tried resetting CMOS, I have flashed my bios just now as well, but still it doesn't solve the problem.

[BigAl01]

Go to the AMD website and update your chipset drivers.  Use the Windows 10/11 drivers tool on the left of the website.

[jklansang]

I will try this now

[FunkZ]

Contact MSI Support to see if they have any other solutions. They may have a newer (beta) BIOS than what is available on the website.

https://www.msi.com/support/mb

It could also be a case of your Kingston PCIe 4.0 drive not working/identified correctly off the PCIe 3.0 CPU lanes. Install the Kingston SSD Manager and check the drive(s) for firmware updates, or open a Kingston Support ticket.

https://www.kingston.com/en/support/technical/ksm-firmware-update

[jklansang]

I will try this now

[jklansang]

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all of your replies here. I think I have found what causes the issue. I forgot to mention that I was occupying 4 RAM slots. I tried to remove two of the four sticks, and suddenly, the storage was detected instantly. 

Though I am not 100% sure that this was the cause of the issue, for now, I will settle for 16 GB of RAM instead of 32. If I can prove that having 4 occupied RAM slots causes the problem, I will let you know here and I will just buy a 16x2 kit. 

Again, thank you so much for all of your responses here!

[BigAl01]

Well, you should also check your current RAM to see if it's on the motherboards list of acceptable RAM sticks.  Especially do this if you go and purchase the 16 x 2 = 32GB of DDR4 RAM as the final solution.

This could be a problem in the BIOS too; did you install the latest BIOS update for your motherboard?

[jklansang]

I've already updated the BIOS to its latest.

[jklansang]

I have confirmed that it wasn't the RAM at all. I am not sure what caused the issue, I just inserted my two extra sticks into the slots available, and lo and behold, both of my M.2 were detected just like nothing had happened. 

I will monitor if there'll be any changes. 

[elstaci]

Really surprised that incompatible RAM would prevent the processor from recognizing a drive on M.2_1 slot of the motherboard.

If you still decide to try and use 32GB, as mentioned by BigAL01, purchase a RAM Set with 32GB which has already be tested and proven to be 100% compatible with each other.

You will be taken a chance by installing 2 sets of 16x2 RAM Sets which may end up not be totally compatible with each other.

I would open a MSI SUPPORT ticket and see if your motherboard needs to be checked under Warranty or if incompatible RAM can prevent M.2_1 slot from recognizing installed hardware.

by the way, good troubleshooting.

[jklansang]

I have already contacted MSI regarding this. Since I just purchased the board 3 days ago, I was told to contact the store I purchased it from and they will be the one who's going to replace the board. But, since I already got it working, what I will do is to check if my ram sticks cause the issue. 

[jklansang]

I can confirm that it wasn't the RAM that caused the issue. I just inserted my two extra RAM sticks on my board and the board still detects my TWO M.2 storage.

[BigAl01]

Very strange problem.  Maybe one of the two sticks of RAM wasn't fully inserted initially and the motherboard was a bit confused of the configuration.  Anyway, I would stop moving components around and instead - start gaming!

[jklansang]

That would be the plan lol! Unless I have to make an upgrade again, then, I'll probably just throw this board.