After SSD upgrade, "No bootable device" error - but only on cold boot

I've installed a 180GB SSD in an Acer Aspire V5-473P, and when it's first turned on I get a "No bootable device" error. If I then do a [Ctrl-Alt-Del], it reboots from the SSD reliably. Once in Windows, the system works perfectly well and the SSD passes all the diagnostics I can throw at it... I just updated the Acer's BIOS to v2.30 and the Intel SSD's BIOS is also current.

Back-storey and more details -

The Acer V5-473P is my daughter's and it has been running fine for just over a year now. I replaced the stock WD5000LPVX 500GB hard disk with a hand-me-down Intel 520 Series 180GB SSD that came from my own laptop which just got a newer/faster 500GB SSD :-).

On the Acer, I cloned the factory Windows 8.1 install from the stock HD to the new SSD using the EZ Gig IV software from Apricorn that came in a cloning kit with a USB v3 --> SATA cable. This went surprisingly smooth (and also on my own laptop from the Intel SSD to my new Crucial 500GB SSD).

Again, this "no bootable device" error occurs only on a cold boot after a shutdown (not on warm restarts), and the machine will boot correctly with a [Ctrl-Alt-Del] immediately after the error. It's like the SSD isn't quite ready by the time the Acer wants to boot after power on - but this is just speculation from the behavior... Any thoughts?

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bmeek

Is there a way to slow down the POST? Maybe a RAM test (it's been upgraded to 8GB).

JordanB

I don't think it's really a cold boot since it's a Haswell and they are basically always on unless you shutdown, remove power, and remove laptop battery.....but anyway...

I would try the following:

1. Disable fast start

2. Go in to BIOS settings and reset the BIOS to defaults (usually it's F9, but not sure on yours) and save and exit (probably F-10)

3. Power down computer, remove power, and take out laptop battery for 1 minute.

If that doesn't work, I would check for SSD firmware update from SSD manufacturer.

And if all else fails, save all your (her) files to a backup drive, and also make a USB recovery drive (for added insurance), and then at the Acer screen, hit ALT-F10 and do a complete factory default reset. If that didn't work, I would use the USB recovery drive for a factory reset, and when it asks you if you want to re-partition the drive, say yes.

http://acer--uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/26286/~/create-a-acer-factory-default-backup-in-windows-8.1

Edit: to access the bios settings when it boots too fast, you can hit <<shift>> restart....to get in to advanced options for UEFI upon restart

bmeek

thanks, @JordanB. Interesting about haswell, etc. It's not a fast start issue - since that doesn't come into play until after it starts reading the boot device... My issue is that it doesn't see the boot device on 1st boot after a shutdown ("cold" or otherwise :-). I'll go ahead and reset the BIOS to defaults (although I suspect that's where they were to begin with). Can't pull the battery on this model without breaking out the tiny screwdriver and ignoring the warnings :-). BIOSes are up-to-date.

It does feel as if the SSD is starting up too slowly or the laptop is being too impatient... I'll post the question to the Intel folks too.

Thanks again,

-- brian

JordanB

Ok sounds good. Let us know what you figure out. As general good habit, you should always load the BIOS defaults after updating BIOS.
I'm running a crucial SSD in one of my Acer desktops and don't have problems either. Although I didn't clone the drive.

IronFly

from a cold boot i would try to enter BIOS instead of booting to windows, just to check if SSD is recognised on BIOS and if the first bootable device is windows boot manager.

as JordanB said, it looks like a "wake up" issue on SSD or handshaking between SATA controller and SSD controller.

bmeek

thanks to all of those offering suggestions.

I ended up removing the Intel 520 series (180GB) SSD, and replaced it with a new 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD which is now working fine in the Aspire V5-473P. I cloned the 500GB original drive/Windows image to the new 256GB SSD using the EZ Gig IV software I had used earlier and all seems perfect!

For those who are interested, I decided to put the Intel SSD that was failing in the V5-473P in another laptop, and my attempt to clone a disk image to it (again using the EZ Gig IV software)reported a slew of write errors at the beginning of the process and ultimately failed. When I rebooted (with the Intel SSD attached via a USB 3.0 --> SATA cable), I loaded up Windows Disk Manager and it immediated prompted me to initialize what appeared to be a blank drive - so I initialized it using the newer GUID Partition Table method. Windows then seemed completely happy with the disk, and another attempt at clong a system disk image to it succeeded smoothly. It's now working fine in the other laptop.

Short version: I suspect this older Intel SSD had an older MBR-style partition table that didn't jibe 100% with the WIM partition setup from the V5-473P Windows 8.1 factory disk image... I now wonder if, given a fresh GPT (GUID Partition Table) before my intial drive image clone attempt, the older SSD would have worked just fine in the Acer. Since all is well with me now and I'm too lazy to test this theory for academic purposes, I can't say for sure. In any case, kudos to @JordanB for the suggestion to repartition the drive (as that proved necessary before the same SSD worked flawlessly in another machine).

Cheers,

-- brian

JordanB

Glad you figured it out.

Last winter when I was using Windows 10 TP, I would occasionally attempt to do a clean re-install of Windows 8.1 and/or a clean re-install of Acer's OEM Windows 8.1.

And I did have some problems getting the crucial bx100 250 GB to load the OS.

I'm not overly knowledgeable when it comes to that stuff...but I tried everything in the book. Used diskpart clean multiple times, powered down, powered down and unplugged the desktop electical cord, powered down and removed the SATA power cable and/or sata data cable, reset BIOS to defaults (although my BIOS has always been UEFI/GPT mode...since day 1). Used the command diskpart>convert GPT. I always let the installer automatically partition and format the entire unallocated space on the drive. I'm pretty sure the command diskpart>clean (or similar command) is critical however to get it back in the factory, uninitialized state.

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/The-Cru/Reset-your-SSD-to-factory-settings-Windows-DiskPart/ba-p/162503

I got it to work every time, but I always tried too many things at once for me to be able to narrow it down to exactly what put the SSD back in an uninitialized state and ready to play nice.

And like you, I was never in the mood to go back and try to methodically reproduce anything.

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