Samsung 950 pro M.2 SSD Cannot install on G501VW - solved

[karimaelo]

Hi,

I have G501VW and it has a 1TB HDD with Windows 10 home edition. When I received I did a clean install for WIndows 10 Home to make the laptop faster.
Then I just bought Samsung 950 pro M.2 SSD 256 GB I installed it and started laptop. I checked the BIOS I could not see the installed SSD showing under the boodt order. I could only see the 1TB HDD. I have boot security turned off and the SCM disabled as well.
When I boot into windows it fails showing MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error code. But sometimes it boots normally into Windows. One time I got to start Windows 10 with SSD on and I was able to see the SSD allocated space and I cloned the 1TB HDD into the new SSD using samsung migration application. I unplugged the 1TB HDD and tried to boot the laptop woth SSD on but it keeps booting into the BIOS and when I check the booting options I don't see the SSD at all.
I tried all combinations and I get the same issue. I also tried using Windows 10 installation using a USB with only the SSD on. I run into the same screen MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error code.

I really like this laptop and I got it from Bestbuy for a great price. And I don't want to return it. And I badly need an SSD on it since the 1TB HDD installed is so slow. I've read in other forums that people purchases exactly the same SSD and they got it working.

Thanks in advance.

[karimaelo]

I need help here please. I downgraded the BIOS to 204 feom 205 and the same thing I cannot see the ssd in the BIOS. This is the second ssd i am trying I returned the first one because I thought it has a problem. And this one is causing exactly tge same issu.

[cl-Albert]

Hi and welcome to the forums!

Like some of the GL notebook models looks like the G501JW will use either SATA3 M.2 SSDs or PCIE M.2 SSDs, but not both, so you want to figure out which one your units supports first.
I would ask you to send me a Private Message to cl-Albert with your serial number to check, but you may not have enough posts yet to be able to do this.

I may worry a bit too much, but it's a little safer for you if you don't post your notebook serial number for others to see.

Not sure how this will work, but another idea is to check with your local ASUS support to see if they can help you check this.
I'm really hoping they are able to do this now, but if they can't, you can always update your post to increase your number of posts?
http://www.asus.com/support/CallUs?_ga=1.166065719.86578497.1449686018

[karimaelo]

cl-Albert wrote:
Hi and welcome to the forums!

Like some of the GL notebook models looks like the G501JW will use either SATA3 M.2 SSDs or PCIE M.2 SSDs, but not both, so you want to figure out which one your units supports first.
I would ask you to send me a Private Message to cl-Albert with your serial number to check, but you may not have enough posts yet to be able to do this.

I may worry a bit too much, but it's a little safer for you if you don't post your notebook serial number for others to see.

Not sure how this will work, but another idea is to check with your local ASUS support to see if they can help you check this.
I'm really hoping they are able to do this now, but if they can't, you can always update your post to increase your number of posts?
http://www.asus.com/support/CallUs?_ga=1.166065719.86578497.1449686018

Thanks Albert, I really appreciate that you replied to me. I finally figured out how to fix it.

Cloning from my HDD to SSD didn't work.
Trying to do a fresh installation of windows from a USB with an ISO extracted using RUFUS didn't work either. I was running into MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error when trying to load the initial screen of windows setup.
So what worked for me was creating a Windows UEFI on a USB stick and do a fresh install on the SSD. This way I don't run into any issues and I could proceed with the installation screens normally.
Then when I restart I see the booting option is changed to Window Boot option I guess. It is not showing the SSD name as the HDD.

What steps or configurations I have to follow to get the best out of the SSD

-Thanks

[cl-Albert]

Glad you could figure it out karimaelo and thanks for sharing. Expect some others may run into similar issues and hopefully this can help them.

You might consider starting a new thread for your question below if you can't find anything by searching the forums (don't recall that it's a common topic) internet, or SSD manufacturer's site, and you can't get a reply from somebody else since I don't have very much information about this either.
The only things I remember is that you don't normally want to defrag your SSD if you ever get the choice and you want to install any programs that you can on your SSD instead of your mechanical hard drive for quicker access.

karimaelo wrote:

What steps or configurations I have to follow to get the best out of the SSD

[Gps3dx]

karimaelo wrote:
Trying to do a fresh installation of windows from a USB with an ISO extracted using RUFUS didn't work either. I was running into MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error when trying to load the initial screen of windows setup.
So what worked for me was creating a Windows UEFI on a USB stick and do a fresh install on the SSD. This way I don't run into any issues and I could proceed with the installation screens normally.

In my sticky-guide I wrote, that in order to have a UEFI bootable system you need to install your OS from a UEFI formatted USB, booted as UEFI device.
( all of the explanation is under "The "How to Guide" ?" ).
That above info is correct for any system, any HW configuration ( as long as your BIOS/UEFI-on-the-chip is working as it should -> I refer here to the early bios version of the G752 family ) that the user wishes its OS to work with UEFI.

karimaelo wrote:
Then when I restart I see the booting option is changed to Window Boot option I guess. It is not showing the SSD name as the HDD.

That is normal.
During windows installation it adds a "bootloader" - a component that directs the computer from where to boot the OS.
for example, if you'd install Ubuntu, you'd get "linux boot manager" or something similar.
the "bootloader" sits in a hidden partition ( ~100MB fat32 formatted ) before the OS partition on the same storage device you've chose to install the OS.
for complete partition map for Windows, please check my guide I linked above.

karimaelo wrote:
What steps or configurations I have to follow to get the best out of the SSD

Although I got the EVO 850 SATA III, but once you've installed your windows, from scratch onto SSD, windows make some changes to the OS so it work best as MS think it should ( in comparison to an OS that is installed on HDD then copied to SSD, which does NOT include those special settings which took place during windows installation ).
Anyway, who trust MS to do a complete work in our days....
I use Samsung's ssd app, Samsung Magician, which includes a simple "OS Optimization" which further tweaks the OS on that SSD.
I also use the "RAPID MODE" as it further improves the SSD I/O - but i'm not sure it should exist in your own case. ( cause of NVME may be ? )

Lastly, you should check that your SSD's "alignment offset" is correct.
see here more about it, check the last post ( mine ) for further explanation

[karimaelo]

Gps3dx wrote:

Although I got the EVO 850 SATA III, but once you've installed your windows, from scratch onto SSD, windows make some changes to the OS so it work best as MS think it should ( in comparison to an OS that is installed on HDD then copied to SSD, which does NOT include those special settings which took place during windows installation ).
Anyway, who trust MS to do a complete work in our days....
I use Samsung's ssd app, Samsung Magician, which includes a simple "OS Optimization" which further tweaks the OS on that SSD.
I also use the "RAPID MODE" as it further improves the SSD I/O - but i'm not sure it should exist in your own case. ( cause of NVME may be ? )

Lastly, you should check that your SSD's "alignment offset" is correct.
see here more about it, check the last post ( mine ) for further explanation

Samsung magician has Optimization and Rapid Mode options disabled. One says on Windows 8 and above it is disabled. I guess by having Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver updated thru ASUS drivers page will help keeping SSD performance good right?

[karimaelo]

How do I get notified if there is a new update for my Notebook's drivers? Does ASUS Live Update Utility work well for that?

[cl-Albert]

Sorry, looks like I mixed up my models, so disregard my previous reply about the G501JW since it doesn't apply to your G501VW.
Almost don't believe it myself, but I'm told your G501VW unit is able to support both SATA3 and PCIe M.2 SSDs, so sounds like you should be okay here at least.

Not sure why you are running into the problem, but honestly, I don't deal with upgrades too much, so we may want to see if others have better ideas, or there should be plenty of posts on the topic with other models though.
If you want to search and look through them, there might be some answers in them too.

Good luck!

[Jon_G]

Hi karimaelo,
I don't have the G501VW notebook, I have a G751JY & G752VY. I also don't have the
retail Samsung 950 Pro SSD but both my systems use the OEM Samsung SM951 (AHCI &/or NVMe) SSDs'
w/ Windows 10 OS. The only thing to set for your Samsung 950 Pro SSD in the Windows 10 Control Panel is
in the Optimize and Defragment your drives section. Simply make sure you select Optimize. Windows 10
will see the 950 Pro as an SSD so it won't try to Defragment it, but it will turn on TRIM which is what you want.
There are many other tweaks for SSD's using Windows 10, I've tried them all & they're a waste of time!