"no bootable device" on load - Acer Nitro 5

2

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    Press Ctrl+S in the ADVANCED tab to see if a hidden SATA mode option appears that can be changed from RST to AHCI. You can leave the VTx & VTd options enabled. If no hidden option, then open MAIN tab and press Ctrl+S again for any hidden options.

    Jack E/NJ

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    1. No hidden in ADVANCED.
    2. Yes, RST option appeared in MAIN tab after CTRL+S. (Note I needed to specifically use LEFT CTRL+S - just recording this for anyone reading this later).

    Options are AHCI, RST with Optane, RST Premium with Optane.

    I tried AHCI, and still got "no bootable device"
  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    edited May 2022
    I tried booting from a Windows recovery disc, which would fail before. This worked. I am currently recovering the PC from the recovery partition. The CTRL-S trick did it so far, thank you.

    Spoke too soon. "There was a problem recovering your PC".
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    You can restart the Windows recovery disk and try it again. If it still fails then we'll use the recovery disk to go into the troubleshooting mode. From there we should be able to check out what the problem is. I'm gonna guess the boot SSD card needs to be wiped clean.

    Jack E/NJ

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    edited May 2022
    Unfortunately all options in the recovery disk fail. This includes
    1. Tried "fix startup problems" which fails
    2. Tried resetting Windows without overwriting
    3. Tried resetting Windows and wiping the drive

    I can try restoring from an image, but need an image.

    Will see what I can accomplish in Command Prompt from this recovery disk. Diskpart shows
    disk 0 - 238 GB no partitions
    disk 1 - 2000 Gb - GPT partition
    disk 2 - 14 Gb no partitions

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    So, it seems the partitions on the SSD have been completely lost. No volumes there. The 14 Gb appears to be the USB recovery disk. At least one mystery solved.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    OK.
    DISKPART>Select disk 0
    DISKPART> clean
    DISKPART> convert gpt
    DISKPART> create partition primary size=240000 (this should leave about 10GB unallocated for the EFI partition and recovery partitions)
    DISKPART> select part 0
    DISKPART> active
    DISKPART> format fs=ntfs quick
    DISKPART> assign letter C

    Windows installation stick should be able to handle it now.



    Jack E/NJ

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    edited May 2022
    Yes, just have an issue that while using DISKPART the SSD disappeared, so rebooting to clear if still happens I will check connections. But yes, I need to select, clear, GPT, partition and then install. somehow the SSD got corrupted/wiped. The CTRL-S trick is a sneaky one, thanks. I see on other sites people are saying RST with Premium Optane is how the Nitro comes. Why would that be, do you know?

    Thanks kindly for your help with this, by the way.

    (p.s. Sadly, no sooner did I figure this out than I have three blue screens with three different "reasons" on my 17" Nitro. So, there seems to be hardware issues on this model. It's AN517-51 in case wondering. Perhaps more recent models are more stable, but I have not had that one so long so this development is concerning.)
  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Looks like CONVERT GPT results I/O device error, and refers me to System Event Log for more. I'll figure out how to see that.
  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Just recording this for anyone reading.

    My 256 Gb SSD is showing in BIOS. 

    1. Setting BIOS to use RST Premium with Optane and then trying to boot from Win recovery drive crashes the computer with DRIVER PNP WATCHDOG.

    2. Setting BISO to ACHI boots to Win recovery, but I cannot DISKPART the 256 Gb to make it a GPT drive. It fails with I/O error.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    >>>somehow the SSD got corrupted/wiped>>>

    Some machines came with a small-capacity Intel 16GB or 32GB optane SSD card to act like a built-in memory cache to help speed up a mechanical HDD boot drive. It's remotely possible the Hynix 256GB might've been used this way but not a particularly good idea. Can you access the Seagate HDD to see if has Windows & ProgramFiles directories?

    Jack E/NJ

  • zachD
    zachD Member Posts: 5

    Tinkerer

    If you are unable to fix the boot part using the FIX , Restore and Win Recovery options, then it might be the time to just re-partition the whole ssd and reinstall a clean windows
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    >>>>Setting BISO to ACHI boots to Win recovery, but I cannot DISKPART the 256 Gb to make it a GPT drive. It fails with I/O error. >>>


    First check your HDD for Windows and ProgramFiles directories. If none, then keep  SATA mode as AHCI. Then make a bootable GPartEd  Live USB stick using the manual Windows method and see if the SSD is accessbile and configurable.

    Jack E/NJ

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I will try a GPartEd USB to see if I can see the Hynix SSD. It kept dropping out of DISKPART so I could never convert to GPT. For ex, would show as drive 0, then would disappear after CLEAN command. Or half way through CONVERT GPT would fail with I/O error.

    So I shut drive 0 down in the BIOS and played around installing Windows.  I took an image of my 17" and installed it to the Seagate. That did not work (not that surprising). I then did a REPAIR on the Windows, and got Windows to boot. It was not very happy with the whole set-up.

    But this is all just fun and fooling around. I will eventually once I can access the SSD (or throw it out, if it is bad) just reformat, install Win 11 clean, activate, and off we go. Installing Win was just a chance to fool around.

    The only issue I need to work on is making sure the SSD is good, which I will do through the suggestion to use GPartEd. Or maybe a UEFI shell.

    One question I do have if anyone knows I see a lot of mention of changing the mode to ACHI vs RST. The computers seem to come out of the box using RST, but if I do clean install I see no reason to tie myself to Intel and would tend to use ACHI. Thoughts?

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    edited May 2022
    The SSD may  be failing or its connectors may be not be clean if it intermittently appears then disappears. Your might want to try wiping its contacts with a q-tip moistened in 91% rubbing alcohol or denatured ethyl alcohol from HomeDepot. Also reach in with the Q-tip to wipe the wire contacts in the m.2 socket.

    Intel RST, Intel RST with optane, and on newer laptops  VMD , pretty much restricts users to the Windows environment and offers little practical advantage over the more tried and true AHCI SATA mode. In my opinion, iRST not one of Intel's better ideas especially the optane HDD cache.  

    Jack E/NJ

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I was thinking it might be wise just to wash the whole thing in the bathtub with detergent and water, so I don't have to clean it again in a few months. Joking of course. Yeah, I have some alc and will swab everything. Will do that next.

    Agree with you re RST. I see a lot of issues with Optane on the web, esp when changing HD without wiping memory, etc. Just wanted thoughts. I think when I wipe I'll make sure to keep it AHCI.
  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Just reporting for interest. SSD in slot 0 recognized, but cannot be CLEANED or new GPT disk made on it. Moved it to slot 1, with cleaning, same thing. Cannot make GPT partition. Hard drive in slot 2 works fine in UEFI Shell. So, I suspect card dead. Buying new.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    So are you saying that neither diskpart nor gparted can operate on it?

    Jack E/NJ

  • samiam3
    samiam3 Member Posts: 37 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    edited May 2022
    1. Yes, Diskpart from UEFI Shell cannot operate on the SSD. Does not show anything for INSPECT and I cannot make a GPT partition on it.

    2. GParted boots and detects only the 2Tb hard disk and the rescue USB.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer
    >>>Diskpart from UEFI Shell >>>

    What do you mean by UEFI shell? Are you using Diskpart from the command prompt in the troubleshooting section of a bootable USB Windows rescue stick? Not Windows powershell. What does the GPartEd disk dropdown show?

    Jack E/NJ