SSD No Longer Bootable After BIOS Update

[StalemateBlack]

Preamble: this is for curiosity only, since the system works fine with a previous version of the BIOS. I just want to bounce this issue around to see if anyone has explanations or theories.

Last night, seeing that my custom rig's motherboard (MSI's Z77A-GD65) had an out of date BIOS I attempted to update it.

During my last attempt several months ago, using the MSI Live Update app from within Windows, the BIOS upgrade failed and I had to switch over to the backup BIOS to restore functionality. This time, I opted for the USB key method.

Taking down the last 3 BIOS versions from the supplier's website, I flashed the latest version, then was stuck right after POST and Windows (7, x64, Ultimate) never loaded up. A message requesting a viable boot device eventually appears.

I tried again, this time making sure that the BIOS recognized my Samsung SSD (model 240), and it did. I looked around to make sure the boot order was correct, swapped the WD Red 3TB back into 2nd position and the Samsung SSD into 1st, but the result was the same.

Checked that AHCI was enabled, made sure the boot device control was set to UEFI and Legacy, etc. Still no go.

I then tried to manually select the boot device, picked the aforementioned SSD, and again got nowhere further.

Same thing happened with the second-to-last BIOS version. I made sure to recheck everything again this time too, in terms of BIOS settings, just in case.

I reverted back to re-installing the version I had before, the third-to-last, and Windows booted up as if nothing happened.


Anyone have any ideas as to what was happening there?

 

[LPettay]

I'm just a newbie buying time until someone answers my own issue, and I know you said you double-checked BIOS settings, but did you try disabling Secure Boot and enabling Launch CSM?

 

[StalemateBlack]

Thanks for the suggestions LPettay. I'll look into that in the next few days and see if it works out.

I also tracked down a MSI Forums discussion on the topic, and apparently moving the SSD to SATA port 7 has resolved the issue for others. No explanation why though, which was what I was looking for.

 

[carnageX]

I'm guessing it's just a bug in the BIOS. If you can, see if there's a way to report it. I assume it's been reported already, but the more people that report it, the higher priority it would receive in getting a fix put out.