Has anyone any suggestions other than the crap answer I received from Asus for a new Asus Z87-A mobo? Problem is in the BIOS-Boot section, the Boot Configuration is blanked out, so each time I re-boot, I have to hold down the F8 key and then select from a drop-down list the Samsung PRO SSD which is where the OS is installed as my 1st Boot Device. On previous Asus mobos, the option to to select which drive to boot from was always available, but not with this board. Asus' cop-out suggestion is to take the board back to Scan for an RMA. After the hassles I had with Microsoft just activating the OS, and time spent building the new rig, I'm loathe to go down that easy-for-Asus-cop-out road. Any easier solution/suggestions?
As it's certainly not a common fault, & assuming you've tried resetting the bios to ensure that you've not inadvertently altered something that's disabled it, the only sensible thing i can think of that 'might' solve it that springs to mind would be to re-flash the latest bios from Asus. Sometimes though, things are just faulty, & whilst you may well be able to buy a replacement bios chip online & flash it so that it works, that's obviously money out of your pocket & will pretty certainly invalidate the warranty.
Thanks for that reply. I have not inadvertently selected anything in the BIOS. Additionally, I can only load the SATA drives and the SSD drive by selecting IDE rather than AHCI. If I opt for AHCI, on boot-up, it blue screens.
i wasn't saying that you had, i was simply meaning that i couldn't see whether you had from my side of the Pennines... ...there's no point in my assuming that you know what you're doing in case you didn't. Now, unless you'd originally installed Windows with the SSD in ide mode - in which case it will blue screen without altering the reg or entering a command prior to changing to ahci, depending on which version of Windows you're using - then there'd need to be something up either with the bios chip or the bios that's flashed onto it. The 2nd you correct by reflashing the bios, whilst the 1st you swap the mobo as faulty (or find out what the chip is & buy one one eBay or wherever). if you want to try altering the reg then prior to Windows 8.1 (ie Win 7 & Win 8) then, using regedit in Windows, you want these entries to have the following DWORDs - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci "Error Control": DWORD = 0 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\StartOverride "0": DWORD = 0 Using Win 8.1 though this can fail, so an administrative command prompt is the better option - bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal - reboot & change to ahci, then reboot, another admin command prompt - bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot - & then reboot again.
@PocketDemon I was not in any way assuming that you thought I may have inadvertently done something in the BIOS. On the other hand, I really appreciated that you were covering every possible angle, so thanks for that. In fact the SSD that I was trying to use to install an upgrade Windows 7 x64 Professional was a Acronis-created image of the SSD that I was using with the Asus P5QE DeLuxe & Intel Q6600 as I had an exact similar Mobo+CPU abroad. When I tried to install that Windows 7 it'd not let me do it until I had installed Windows XP Professional SP3 on it, and only then allowed me to install that Windows 7 x64 Professional Upgrade. I cannot quite recall if at the Win XP stage I'd opted for AHCI or IDE, but when I tried to change it at the Win 7 Upgrade install, it blue-screened. Thanks for your explanation as to why it'd do this. I have contacted Asus as regards the BIOS not giving me the Boot Configuration option as it is greyed out, and Asus have come back with a reply that they think the Asus Z87-A MoBo is faulty and I should take it back to Scan for an RMA. But I'm a bit reluctant to go down that road as (a)I am not certain whether Scan will give me an RMA as I purchased the MoBo in April, but only built the system last week as I'd only just returned from the USA with the i5-4670k CPU(b)I am going to be without a computer system, and(c)trying to contact Microsoft to activate the OS was such a pain in the a--se. Can you kindly clarify your cures 'the 2nd' and 'the 1st'. I'm not quite getting the drift of that. Once more, I fully appreciate your assistance and want to thank you kindly for it. Wish I had never bothered upgrading form the rock-steady Q6600+Asus P5Q DeLuxe based system I was running before. This is so, so frustrating and maddening at the same time. But what really pigs me off is that this supposed to be a 4th Generation CPU, not O/cd, and yet every single application I open shows that blue circling wait instead of instantly opening a program/application.
Ah. So if this is a cloned disk and not a clean install your problem lies here: Since your BIOS is working in IDE mode then you won't be given this advanced boot configuration menu - in short this is because IDE relied on Master / Slave drives and the physical ribbon cabling choice would tell the BIOS which drive to boot from, hence the BIOS options you're trying to access are currently greyed out as they are non-applicable. Switching to AHCI would no doubt enable them (go ahead and try). If your Windows install is still in IDE mode that 100% explains the BSODs on boot if you try to select AHCI. I have never tried converting an install from IDE to AHCI, instead always having clean installed; though that is a nicely detailed regedit solution from PocketDemon. In any case, having moved from a completely different platform I'd be tempted to clean install anyway (sure you'll have to reinstall your games/ programs but it's less hassle than you think once you get started).
i am sorry. it was the middle of the night & i was tired, & i'd clearly misread your first sentence as being snarky. Right, what 'could' be the case is that, as the new mobo's default setup is for uefi rather than non-uefi (there's normally an option somewhere in the boot menu), that's causing problems with the boot options as you're using a cloned installation from a board with only a standard (non-uefi) bios. Now, to test this, i believe that you'd need to be looking in the 'Boot' sub-menu & altering the OS Type under Secure Boot from 'windows uefi mode' to 'other os'... (page 2-40 of your mobo manual) ...then rebooting & going into the bios to see if you can select the boot option. This won't solve the ide vs ahci issue, but at least it should help to establish if it's the mobo at fault. Moving on, whether or not the previous test works, i would then change the setting back to 'windows uefi mode' & the controller to ahci, & then attempt a clean install with only the SSD & optical drive connected... ...well, if nothing else, the clone will have bunches of random stuff installed that may well have been updated or is irrelevant to your new board or whatever - & Windows does tend to slow down over time so it's better to start fresh. This should explain how to do it, though with Win7 i was using a full Ultimate version (via TechNet), so i can only assume that it works.
Completely fresh Windows XP Professional SP3 install on a formatted SSD drive followed immediately after by an Upgrade Windows 7 x64 Professional
Hey PocketDemon No sweat and absolutely no need to say sorry.We've all been there when bushed. Besides, I may have been at fault not phrasing my response to your suggestions, well. Bang on. That is what I keep seeing all the time, a choice of 'UEFI' but when I try to select the SSD drive, its does not show under the 2 choices I have for UEFI plus the DVD optical drive. All the drives are SATA, not one single IDE drive there. As just explained to somebody else, the cloned SSD had a Win7 x64 Pro OS on it and I thought I could just re-install the Upgrade Win7 x64 Pro on top of it. When that did not work, I then formatted the SSD, and installed a fresh Win XP Pro x32 SP3 OS on it, booted it up to check it was all okay, then installed the Upgrade Win7 x64 Pro on that SSD. Okay, will try out all your suggestions before I take up Asus' recommendation to get the MoBo RMA'd at Scan. Luckily I have not re-installed everything back just the OS and Office2007, so I could if the push-comes-to-the-shove do a complete fresh OS re-install. Many thanks to you and others for your inputs. This Forum beats the pants off other so-called Tech Forums.
@PocketDemon Tried your tips. Boot Priority shows the following 3 options: Optical Drive(Samsung SATA DVD-R/RW)-----UEFI(Samsung SATA SpinPoint HDD)---P4Another Samsung SATA HDD). Not a dickie-bird about the Samsung SSD, so had to revert to pressing F8 to get the list of drives attached to select the SSD.
That was just what appeared to be the logical setting from your mobo manual - not a definite fix. As said, i'd now try a clean install of Win7 (not installing XP first - link with instructions given previously), onto the SSD with - (a) both that setting changed back to the default & ahci enabled (or just reset the bios to the default & then check that ahci is enabled) (b) & only the SSD & the optical drive connected. The reason for the 2nd bit is that pre-Win8 then there was a tendency for part of the Windows installation (basically the files for it booting) to randomly be placed onto another drive. Whilst it wouldn't cause the boot problem, another advantage of not installing XP first is that it 'may' be causing the partitions on the SSD to be misaligned - which would make the SSD noticeably slower. With all of this, that's not to say that it wouldn't also be worthwhile (re)flashing the bios with the lastest one from Asus - if you've not done so already of course.
I really appreciate all your help. Am going to do precisely what you have advocated after first backing up my files. No, have not flashed the BIOS. Have always been faint-hearted at attempting that thinking I'd screw it up, but it seems that Asus have made the task easier these days. So, taking your lead from that link you posted earlier, I should be good to go installing a clean Win 7 on the SSD? Once again, Many Thanks for all your considerable help. I feel heaps better now.
Flashing the bios is dead simple these days - well you'd have to have a power cut in a very limited window within the whole flashing & verification process in order for anything to go wrong, & even then, as you'd be doing it under warranty & it's normal usage, you're covered if that did happen. indeed the only issue i've had with a bios update in maybe 10-12 years was with a P8P67 Deluxe - where the last official bios update process worked perfectly but the new bios itself stopped a raid card from working at all. Whilst Asus were prepared to do a swap if i paid shipping, even though it was over a year old at the time, Dabs took the board back, covered the shipping & gave me a full refund - & i bought a newer Asus ivy bridge board instead. That was a really unusual situation though, & there were no other reports of the issue at the time ttbomk... & i've flashed bunches of proper & modded bioses on different boards that i've owned over the years. The point being is that you are legally covered if anything went wrong - but the chances are incredibly slight that you'd have any issues. Anyway, obviously i'm not promising that a clean install will solve the issue - simply that, with the extra info given, this could well be the cause & it's worth trying before rma'ing the board... ...which, if it comes to that, 'should' be straight forward, unless Scan arse about - as, with the board being less than 6 months old, they'd have to prove that you misused the thing; not that you have to prove that it was faulty on arrival. Oh, & whilst it's clearly linked to on the webpage from earlier - i'd also read this regarding Win7 & uefi. it's not complicated, & i'm simply making sure that you definitely have seen all of the relevant instructions.
@PocketDemon Many thanks for that confidence-booster re:Flashing the BIOS. Coincidentally, that Asus P8P67 is the exact mobo I still have, totally unopened, as I was going to build a SB system with the i5-2500k CPU which is also in its pristine box, unopened, but by the time I got our of my comfort zone to build that system, the 4th Generation has come along, and as I got the i5-4670k pretty cheap in the USA, I opted for that instead. Will get back to you after I've done an absolutely clean re-install as per your instructions. Thanks.
The P8P67 Deluxe was a great board until the new bios (that wasn't downgradeable from) stopped it working for my needs... ...though the P8Z77V Deluxe that i kind of replaced it with (i bought a 3770K & then got a cheaper Pro to stick my old 2600K on) is even better. Yeah, thinking on since last night, the only actual flashing problems i've ever had were when trying odd things - - so with a 4870x2 graphics card, many moons ago when they were high end, where the updated f/w simply didn't work - & so had to flash it back to the original, from a dos prompt, with a black screen (that was, admittedly, a bit scary as it was a stupidly expensive card at the time) - & there was an orom - i think a Marvell one - that i used in a modded bios that caused bsods until i flashed it back but in both cases that's me doing things that weren't sanctioned by Sapphire & Asus respectively - so if anything had permanently screwed things then it would have been my fault. Whereas you're actively supposed to update your mobo's bios when new ones are released, as they contain bug fixes &/or additional features/compatibility options. Anyway, good luck with it all, & i do hope the clean install solves things for you.
Dear PocketDemon I do wish you were the other side of The Penines, because(a) it'd give me an opportunity to shake your hand, and (b) buy you champagne. After saving all my data(Outook profile, etc, etc), followed all your instructions to the tee after printing them off. And guess what? Managed a Clean Windows 7 Upgrade x64 install, and managed to get the BIOS to boot as an AHCI, and it boots straight into that Samsung SSD drive, and unbelievably FAST. To say that I'm in Seventh Heaven thanks to all your tips, links, etc, would be an understatement. You are a genius. I know where I'll be coming to in future for any advice. Just going to do all the Windows Updates before I head for the Activation. Fingers crossed with that, in that I do not have to talk to a call-centre in India with a person that barely can communicate in English. Once more, Muchas Gracias!!
@PocketDemon Help! Everything went smoothly, installing all 149 Windows Updates. However, when I come to activating, it flashes an error saying it cannot be activated for a Clean Install only for an Upgrade. Where do I go next?
Some "hacks" in the link: http://winsupersite.com/article/windows-7/clean-install-windows-7-with-upgrade-media-128512 In any case mate, google is your best friend for anything computer related. The above link was only the first hit on google for "how to activate windows 7 upgrade". There are thousands of webpages explaining this in detail.
@workingclass Many thanks for that. It worked.Now activated, successfully. At last, I can now re-connect my other SATA drives, etc.No more leaving side panel off just in case I'd to repeat the whole scenario from Post #1
