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> the only M.2 drives it’ll boot from are non-NVMe PCIe drives This is not as rare, there were some drives which are logically seen as a PCI AHCI device (aka S
by AshamedCaptain 3y ago
> the only M.2 drives it’ll boot from are non-NVMe PCIe drives
This is not as rare, there were some drives which are logically seen as a PCI AHCI device (aka SATA controller). It is also possible to directly use actual SATA signaling in M.2 socket. This was way more common, and has a slightly different key position in the connector so it is easy to see visually. However I find it more likely it is a NVMe driver but with the proper option BIOS that makes it bootable.
- Tijdreiziger 3y agoYes, you are correct that they are PCIe AHCI drives. Looking on eBay again, they are only available as the aforementioned HP (or Lenovo) OEM parts directly from China (so you can’t really know if they aren’t fake), and they’re very overpriced (around €50 for a 256GB drive, which is the only available size). Contrast this to NVMe drives, which are ubiquitous and cheap. The laptop unfortunately doesn’t support M.2 SATA, but it does have a regular 2.5” SATA bay, so that’s what I’m using (it still has the OEM drive from the factory :))
- AshamedCaptain 3y agoNote that if you are 100% sure it is an PCIe AHCI drive, an PCIe NVME drive with the correct option ROM will also work, and be bootable. The first NVMe drives all had working option ROMs; you can google around and you'll find people compiling lists.
- RulerOf 3y agoI was pretty astounded this wasn't part of the standard. When did they make these, and was it common?
- AshamedCaptain 3y agoI know for sure the Samsung 950 Pro has a working option ROM, and it was pretty common at the time. The successor apparently doesn't have it but I don't know that for sure.
- Tijdreiziger 3y agoAh, that's interesting. Perhaps if I get around to upgrading some other parts, I'll take a look at that too. Thanks!