cloned SSD in Boot manager but not Boot priority list

scrambler

I recently added an Intel 530 MSATA SSD in an Acer R7 running Windows 10.

 

I then used EaseUS Todo backup to clone the main drive to the SSD, all went well.

 

If I start using the Boot manager (F12), it shows both boot options, the old 1TB dirve, and the new 240GB SSD, I can select the SSD and boot on it, no problem.

 

If I enter the Bios, in the information age, both disks are in the harware list. HD0 the old 1TB drive, HD1 the new SSD

BUT If I go to the Bios Boot page, the SSD is nowhere in the boot priority list, so I cannot make it the default boot drive.

 

I know I could format the old drive and hope that once it is not bootable, the SSD will show up, but, for a while at least I would like to keep the old drive as is, so that in case something goes wrong with the SSD, I could easily switch back to the old drive.

 

Does anyone know what could be preventing the MSATA SSD to appear in the boot list, when it does appear in the boot manager, and if there is a fix?

 

Note: I also noticed that the priority list starts with Windows boot manager in position one just before the Old drive, yet, unless I press F12, it does not start with the boot manager but goes straight to the old drive (#2 in the list)

In the Windows boot manager, the old drive is on 1 and the SSD in 2. Any way to change the order in the Windows boot manager?

 

Thank you for any insight

padgett

Sorry BCDEdit is for selectig partitions on a single drive. For two different drives is it possible that one is MASTER and the other SLAVE or CSS. I suspect the one you want to boot may need to be designated as the MASTER but have never run into ths problem before.

 

That said you may be able to use DISKMGMT or DISKPART to change the one drive from ACTIVE (bootable) without reformatting. It is just a single bit.

scrambler

I was reading about that, but was getting the feeling this is to manage multiple boots off the same drive as it affect config files on the drive.

 

In my case I am speaking about different drives, so I would think any change has to be made in the Bios not the drive themeselves.

 

Do you know if this program can actually affect drive orders not just bootable OSes on a single drive ?

 

EDIT: Saw your edit which confirms what I was thinking

padgett

See latest edit please. Are both partitions marked as System, Boot, Active,...?

padgett

This may have your answer, I was thinking DISKPART (must run from an Admin command prompt). Just be very careful which drive you SELECT, it is a very powerful and dangerous tool but if you can boot then can be done from command prompt.

JordanB

Scrambler,

 

This is what I would do if I were in your shoes.  Please don't proceeed if you're not comfortable doing something like it because there's inherent risk to updating your firmware and repeatedly opening the case.

 

1. Make sure computer has latest BIOS.

 

2. Make sure SSD has latest firmware

 

3.  open your laptop up and disconnect the HDD from SATA power/data

 

4. Re-assemble computer

 

5. Hopefully it will boot to SSD

 

6. open laptop and re-connect HDD

 

7. Re-assemble

 

8.  Hopefully it will automatically continue to boot to your SSD.

 

I'm not a big fan of cloning, but that is what I would do.

scrambler

1- has the latest

2- has the latest

3-8 Is what I plan to do if I dont get any other answer

JordanB

Sounds good.  Yeah definitely save my method as a last resort.  

 

If you do end up using my dinosaur method, make sure you reboot the SSD a few times before you reconnect the HDD.....just to make sure it's continuing to boot to SSD without issue.

 

My method is a piece of cake on a Desktop.....not so simple on a laptop...

 

edited

scrambler

I tested two more things before reopening the laptop.

 

First I disabled secure boot in case this was the issue, but the SSD still did not show in the boot priority list.

 

Then I switched from UEFI to legacy boot, and when I did that the SSD shows in the boot priority list, but then so drive boots, I guess the boot loader for UEFI is not the same as legacy.

 

So I am wondering if cloning a drive setup to boot with UEFI requires something special. I am getting the feeling that the UEFI boot information that were copied from the Old Drive to the SSD may be causing the problem and making the SSD be seen as the old drive.

 

if so, I wonder if there is a way to regenerate the UEFI boot for the SSD.

JordanB

i dont know, microsoft recomends clean install. So i would create a USB factory default recovery drive and wipe the ssd and use my usb factory default recovery drive and start over fresh.....and not clone.  of course make sure your files are backed up and you wipe the ssd with dikpart clean first.

JordanB

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/upgrading-internal-hdd-to-ssd/d1ddf9d1-d88a-47b3-a9e6-ec49e636e28e

padgett

Part of the problem is that we cannot see exactly what you have. The second drive showing up in legacy implies it may not be GPT. See here.

 

Another issue is that I do not know if the BIOS is capable of showing more than one boot device of a partcular type. Did you say both were displayed in the F12 boot menu ?

 

 

 

scrambler

The SSD is a full clone of all the partitions of the original drive, it is GPT.

 

So I went ahead and removed the old HD, leaving the HD0 slot empty, and the SSD in the HD1 MSATA slot.

 

Computer boots fine on the SSD no problem. In the BIOS it showed

1-Windows Boot manager

2- USB HDD

3-ATAPI CDROM

4-USF FDD

5-Network boot IPV4

6-USB CDROM

7-Network Boot IPV6

8-Unknown device:

9-HDD0: (before the full model number of the old drive would show here)

 

This tells me the following.:

• That list shows even devices that are not present.
• It is possible that the MSATA slot is the unknown device

 

After booting several time on the SSD, I tried putting the old HD back.

Oddly enough the first time I rebooted it still booted on the SSD.

But the second time I rebooted, it went back to the Old HD.

 

So it looks like as far as booting on internal HD, the actual device name in the boot priority list does not really matter, what matters is the order of the bootable devices Inside the Windows Boot manager.

At startup, it appears to load the first windows boot manager and start with the device that in number one in there.

 

When I open the boot manager at startup with F12, both disks are in there but the old HD0 is #1 and the HD1: SSD is #2, therefore it boots on HD0 by default.

 

So the questions are:

Where is the Windows Boot manager taking its information from. If this information is stored on the hard drive, It would mean that when I added the second drive, it automatically added that device inside the boot manager on the HD0, but as #2.

If this is what happened, the question would be to know if there is a way to edit the boot manager and change the physical device order in there.

 

But for now, as I don’t need the extra storage, I will just leave the drive out and keep it as a backup.

If down the road I need the extra storage, I will format the drive so it is not bootable anymore and does not interfere with the SSD.

 

 

padgett

OK back to a previous post: does the original disk have jumper selection for Master/Slave/CSS (cable select). If it is MASTER it may be taking priority from the second disk. In general a PC will boot from the first disk it finds in the chain with an active partition unless specifically told differently.

scrambler

This is a laptop and the old drive is a SATA 2.5" WD10JPVX

 

My understanding is that there is no slave/master jumper setting on a SATA drive and these where only on IDE drives.

WD documentation reports no master / slave jumper setting for its SATA drives.

 

But it is on the first port HD0 and the MSATA is the second port HD1. So unless we can change the boot manager order, it would always default to the first bootable drive which would be the old SATA drive in the HD0 port (unless I make it non bootable).

 

EDIT: One thing I dd not check when the two drives were in was to go to advanced system settings > Startup and recovery, and check if there was two windows 10 OS in the OS list. If that would be the case, I could change the order there. But I doubt it would have as if it had detected two OSes, my default settings would have prompted me for a choice

padgett

Well since you have two bootable drives I would use DISKPART to change the primary partition on the one you do not want to boot to INACTIVE. That shoud render it non-bootable but visible.

 

See here.

scrambler

In terms of workaround, right now I dont need the drive so it is out, problem solved. If the SSD dies in the first few weeks, I can just plug the old drive back.

 

In the future if I need the storage I will reformat the old drive so it is not bootable.

 

So at this point my question were purely theoratical, trying to undersand the intricacies of the new UEFI windows boot manager and how it would cope with the "unusual" case of two bootable drives with the same OS.

Granted there is very little practical need for such a configuration, which probbaly explain why it appears not to be very solid

 

I believe I dont need to waste any more of your time with that, as I dont really want to spend any more time opening and closing the laptop.

 

Thanks to all for pitching in !

 

 

padgett

NP, I am always learning things. Hadn't looked at DISKPART since 2013 and never for active vs inactive.

Nosoteki

Hi, Sorry for bringing this thread back up but I'm having the same problem and don't want to create another thread. - But if I need to create another thread please let me know.

Laptop - Acer E5 475g-30ky

To summarize:

1. Cloned HDD to M.2 SSD.
1.a - Pressing F12 and choosing m.2 ssd to boot works fine. - Clone success.
2. Bios Boot priority 1 is SSD but the laptop still boot the HDD first after saving and restarting.

I already did the diskpart, secure boot disabled but still no go.

*I already called the Local Acer technical support but they said they call me back if they have the solution (no return call yet).

Any update on how to fix this? Laptop is still prioritizing the Old HDD as first boot instead of the M.2 SSD. Thanks!

Nosoteki

Update on my case:

1. Downloaded the software minitool partition wizard free edition
2. Formatted the HDD's partition that's named recovery and another blank one (Mainly 100mb at 1gb partition that is separate from the default 980gb hdd).

Thanks!

eyric

Nosoteki said:

Update on my case:

1. Downloaded the software minitool partition wizard free edition
2. Formatted the HDD's partition that's named recovery and another blank one (Mainly 100mb at 1gb partition that is separate from the default 980gb hdd).

Thanks!

hey man what type of m.2 ssd did 30KY supports? thanks