SOLUTION (11/21/2015): WHEW! Over two weeks of frustration finally conquered. Note that the motherboard I am using is the ASRock Z170 OC Formula. The UEFI discussion is unique to the ASrock UEFI, but the remaining steps appear to work regardless of motherboard. I wanted Windows 7 all along, so I wound up uninstalling Win10 and installing Win7 from the DVD. Here's how I fixed it:
1. In the UEFI there are two boot settings for the ODD, one of which begins in "UEFI:." That's the one you want, as that causes the "UEFI installation" of your OS that people frequently mention.
2. I couldn't get the Samsung 950 Pro to show as a drive even when it was the only other drive installed, so I had to install Win7 to my secondary drive (a Samsung 850 EVO SATA III SSD).
3. Download EaseUS Todo Backup Home 8.9. This new version supports UEFI. (Although I have read a couple reviews indicating Samsung's Data Migration worked for them using the process I'm using here, it cloned the disk so perfectly in my case it caused a "Disk Signature Collision" and I found it was easier to start over from scratch than to risk messing something up playing in the registry with the disk signatures. I've seen references to this being an issue from several others across the web as well.)
3a. Install the 950 Pro if you have not already done so.
4. Install Samsung's proprietary NVMe driver if you have not done so already: Samsung NVMe Driver.
5, Click the Windows Start button. In the command/search line type "disk management" and click the entry that pops up.
6. When disk management comes up you should see the 950 Pro. It may show as a single, unallocated partition. Regardless, format the disk using the default methods (unless you know what you're doing and a different method is superior for your use.)
7. Once the space is allocated Windows should assign the drive a drive letter. If it doesn't, though, I believe you can still proceed.
8. Use the clone tool in EaseUS Todo backup to clone your boot drive to the 950 Pro. (Note EaseUS will not partition the 950 as Windows did on your current boot drive; nevertheless, the process still works.)
9. Close EaseUS and reboot your computer.
10. Enter the UEFI on reboot. Go to the Boot screen and select "Windows Boot Manager" with no other elaboration as the first boot drive. Save and exit the UEFI. Note your system manager will still show the 950 Pro as "mass storage controller," the storage configuration screen will still show the slot your 950 Pro is on as empty, and the 950 Pro may not even appear as a boot option in your boot menu (it doesn't in mine).
11. Windows will now boot from your 950 Pro, and your 950 Pro will be listed as your C: drive instead of the drive you originally installed Windows to. You may now format the original drive and use it for data.
I hope this helps someone out there and saves them the pain and frustration I've just suffered for the better part of three weeks!
Best,
HC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: I've attached a Dropbox link (no account required) with a series of photos showing what I think are relevant settings/conditions for troubleshooting. The highlights are: Samsung 950 proprietary driver successfully installed; Win10 sees the drive and had a letter allocated to it before I deleted the volume to restore the drive to more "like new" status; UEFI sees there is a "mass storage controller" on M2_1 (the slot the 950 is in) in the UEFI system manager, but the storage configuration screen does not show a drive attached to that slot, while the UEFI universally recognizes my M.2 SATAIII 850 EVO on M2_3 just fine. CSM is enabled with all three subheadings set to UEFI Only.
The problem is that I want to use Samsung's data migration software to copy the 850EVO's Win10 installation to the 950 Pro so it is the boot drive and use the 850EVO for storage. However, when I tried that previously the computer began freezing 10 seconds after booting in to Windows 10 and I could not find a way around it other than to do a fresh install. I suppose I could've used a restore point, though.
I think the problem is the UEFI not seeing the 950. Samsung tech support claims they've had no reports of their latest software locking up Win10, for what that's worth.
Thanks again for your help!
BEGIN ORIGINAL POST:
I have the Z170 OC Formula but cannot get it to recognize the Samsung 950 Pro NVMe hard drive. I have the 950 Pro on M.2_1, an 850 EVO SATAIII on M.2_3, and my only other drive is a DVD drive on ASMedia SATA port A3 (not shared with the M.2 ports).
In system screen in the UEFI the ASRock recognizes the 850 and displays its name, capactiy, and serial number. It only sees the 950 Pro as "Mass storage controller." In the storage configuration screen it does not detect a drive in the M2_1 slot (the 950 Pro) but detects the 850 on M2_3 with no problem. Windows 10 sees the 950 drive and assigns it a driver letter. However, after installing the Samsung Magician or Samsung Data Migration software the system freezes on reboot.
I've tried turning compatibility mode off, turning it on and setting each of the three settings under it to "legacy only" and I've tried all three in "UEFI only", and none of those settings cause the ASRock OC Formula to recognize the 950 Pro. I read a review somewhere recently that mentioned the ASRock has to be configured a specific way for the 950 Pro to work, but it inexplicably failed to share those details, opting instead to merely say it hoped Samsung would include directions for installation the drive and configuring the UEFI in its manual.
I've installed W10 on the 850, and hope to use the Samsung Data Migration software to copy everything over to the 950 and make it the boot drive, but it seems I have two separate issues: first, getting the UEFI to recognize and play well with the 950 Pro, and second, trying to figure out how to pull everything over from the 850 to the 950.
Can anyone tell me how to configure my UEFI so the 950 will work?
Many thanks,
HC
1. In the UEFI there are two boot settings for the ODD, one of which begins in "UEFI:." That's the one you want, as that causes the "UEFI installation" of your OS that people frequently mention.
2. I couldn't get the Samsung 950 Pro to show as a drive even when it was the only other drive installed, so I had to install Win7 to my secondary drive (a Samsung 850 EVO SATA III SSD).
3. Download EaseUS Todo Backup Home 8.9. This new version supports UEFI. (Although I have read a couple reviews indicating Samsung's Data Migration worked for them using the process I'm using here, it cloned the disk so perfectly in my case it caused a "Disk Signature Collision" and I found it was easier to start over from scratch than to risk messing something up playing in the registry with the disk signatures. I've seen references to this being an issue from several others across the web as well.)
3a. Install the 950 Pro if you have not already done so.
4. Install Samsung's proprietary NVMe driver if you have not done so already: Samsung NVMe Driver.
5, Click the Windows Start button. In the command/search line type "disk management" and click the entry that pops up.
6. When disk management comes up you should see the 950 Pro. It may show as a single, unallocated partition. Regardless, format the disk using the default methods (unless you know what you're doing and a different method is superior for your use.)
7. Once the space is allocated Windows should assign the drive a drive letter. If it doesn't, though, I believe you can still proceed.
8. Use the clone tool in EaseUS Todo backup to clone your boot drive to the 950 Pro. (Note EaseUS will not partition the 950 as Windows did on your current boot drive; nevertheless, the process still works.)
9. Close EaseUS and reboot your computer.
10. Enter the UEFI on reboot. Go to the Boot screen and select "Windows Boot Manager" with no other elaboration as the first boot drive. Save and exit the UEFI. Note your system manager will still show the 950 Pro as "mass storage controller," the storage configuration screen will still show the slot your 950 Pro is on as empty, and the 950 Pro may not even appear as a boot option in your boot menu (it doesn't in mine).
11. Windows will now boot from your 950 Pro, and your 950 Pro will be listed as your C: drive instead of the drive you originally installed Windows to. You may now format the original drive and use it for data.
I hope this helps someone out there and saves them the pain and frustration I've just suffered for the better part of three weeks!
Best,
HC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: I've attached a Dropbox link (no account required) with a series of photos showing what I think are relevant settings/conditions for troubleshooting. The highlights are: Samsung 950 proprietary driver successfully installed; Win10 sees the drive and had a letter allocated to it before I deleted the volume to restore the drive to more "like new" status; UEFI sees there is a "mass storage controller" on M2_1 (the slot the 950 is in) in the UEFI system manager, but the storage configuration screen does not show a drive attached to that slot, while the UEFI universally recognizes my M.2 SATAIII 850 EVO on M2_3 just fine. CSM is enabled with all three subheadings set to UEFI Only.
The problem is that I want to use Samsung's data migration software to copy the 850EVO's Win10 installation to the 950 Pro so it is the boot drive and use the 850EVO for storage. However, when I tried that previously the computer began freezing 10 seconds after booting in to Windows 10 and I could not find a way around it other than to do a fresh install. I suppose I could've used a restore point, though.
I think the problem is the UEFI not seeing the 950. Samsung tech support claims they've had no reports of their latest software locking up Win10, for what that's worth.
Thanks again for your help!
BEGIN ORIGINAL POST:
I have the Z170 OC Formula but cannot get it to recognize the Samsung 950 Pro NVMe hard drive. I have the 950 Pro on M.2_1, an 850 EVO SATAIII on M.2_3, and my only other drive is a DVD drive on ASMedia SATA port A3 (not shared with the M.2 ports).
In system screen in the UEFI the ASRock recognizes the 850 and displays its name, capactiy, and serial number. It only sees the 950 Pro as "Mass storage controller." In the storage configuration screen it does not detect a drive in the M2_1 slot (the 950 Pro) but detects the 850 on M2_3 with no problem. Windows 10 sees the 950 drive and assigns it a driver letter. However, after installing the Samsung Magician or Samsung Data Migration software the system freezes on reboot.
I've tried turning compatibility mode off, turning it on and setting each of the three settings under it to "legacy only" and I've tried all three in "UEFI only", and none of those settings cause the ASRock OC Formula to recognize the 950 Pro. I read a review somewhere recently that mentioned the ASRock has to be configured a specific way for the 950 Pro to work, but it inexplicably failed to share those details, opting instead to merely say it hoped Samsung would include directions for installation the drive and configuring the UEFI in its manual.
I've installed W10 on the 850, and hope to use the Samsung Data Migration software to copy everything over to the 950 and make it the boot drive, but it seems I have two separate issues: first, getting the UEFI to recognize and play well with the 950 Pro, and second, trying to figure out how to pull everything over from the 850 to the 950.
Can anyone tell me how to configure my UEFI so the 950 will work?
Many thanks,
HC
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