Sexy Samsung 250GB M.2 SSD drive - not recognized in Lenovo BIOS

Lenovo ThinkStation Probs: BIOS Issues & Windows7 Boot Install on M.2 SSD

posted in: Rants 4

Dead Giveaway Tip That Your BIOS Needs Updating: It Doesn’t Know The Boot Drive’s Name

Usually, installing any hard drive in any computer is not a daunting task, and takes about 10 minutes. But installing this SSD was one thing. Getting the computer to recognize it, another.

Sexy Samsung 250GB M.2 SSD drive - not recognized in Lenovo BIOS

This is the “after” pic of the boot sequence screen. Before, even when the OS was installed sort of successfully, the mezzanine drive wasn’t being named in BIOS. This is weird. There was an OS installed on it; when you pushed the power button, the computer booted into this drive. But the BIOS didn’t show that there was a drive installed at that port. It didn’t show anything at all. In this pic, after the BIOS upgrade, it now shows a description of the drive. If there’s no name assigned to your drive, you probably need to update your BIOS.

LENOVO THINKSTATION BIOS SAMSUNG M.2 SSD MEZZ1-PCIe-P1 RECOGNITION

What does “Mezz” mean? Because these Lenovo workstation computers have a new hardware expandability scheme of adding in certain components to the PCIe x4 bus, they use “Mezzanine cards” to create the interface do it. I’ve also seen them referred to as riser cards or daughter boards.

LENOVO WORKSTATION BIOS MEZZ1-PCIe-P1 Terminology Explainer

The first OS install was achieved after days of tries and calls to Lenovo tech support by our IT person. I then started to use the computer. When it wasn’t booting as fast as I expected, and I was having some new software errors, I got into the BIOS to change something that should’ve been minor and reversible. But the delicate sensibilities of the computer system were devastated nonetheless. It then would throw the “Error 1962: No operating system found. Boot sequence will automatically repeat.” It would no longer boot to the Windows install.

Error 1962 No operating system found Boot sequence will automatically repeat

Wondering why the OS would no longer boot after a simple BIOS option change that was then changed back, I started trying many other changes and researching the problem. There wasn’t much help out there, which is why I write this now.

It Matters Whether You Want to Install Windows 8.1 or 7 (UEFI vs. Legacy BIOS)

Fixing Lenovo ThinkStation M-2 Boot Disc 1 - Recovery Media Win7 x64 SP1

I’m assuming this would’ve been a different (shorter) story if I’d just deigned to use Windows 8.1, but I prefer 7. There came a point where I changed my mind and decided to try to install the 8.1 from some other Lenovo recovery discs I found lying around (lots of Lenovo machines in the office). But it didn’t want to work.

Why the distinction? Because the motherboard BIOS program has a fancy UEFI BIOS – I say “fancy” because if you’re not familiar, see the difference between UEFI BIOS and Legacy BIOS below. But UEFI (I say YOO-Fee) BIOS supposedly only works for Windows 8. Windows 7 needs to have the Legacy BIOS settings selected.

Here’s the age old legacy BIOS we’ve all known and loved.

"Award BIOS setup utility" by Award Software International Inc., recreated by User:Kephir - Self-made, by extracting the bitmap font from the video ROM and recreating the screen character by character. Based on an actual setup screen of a computer I (User:Kephir) once had. The color palette may be a bit inaccurate, but otherwise it is probably the closest thing to a screenshot one could ever get with this kind of software.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Award_BIOS_setup_utility.png#/media/File:Award_BIOS_setup_utility.png

Here’s the shiny new UEFI BIOS that Legacy BIOS looks at and shouts “YOU BIOS GET OFFA MY LAWN!!!”

After the Black Monolith visited Earth, BIOS screens started looking like this.

If you’re installing Win7, another thing to keep in mind: You’ll want to install a disc that is already up to date of Windows7 SP1 (Service Pack One). I think it’s got the drivers that can understand and install to an M.2 NGFF SSD (Next Generation Form Factor) interface.

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