Acronis Backup 11.5 & NVMe SSDs

Hello Richard,

We are constantly updating our Linux-based bootable media with the latest hardware support, so as the very first step, please make sure you are using the latest version to test this (build #43759 or above).

If this is the case and it still does not work, there are two ways forward:

1. You can create a WinPE media instead and inject the neccessary Windows drivers yourself.

2. Create a support ticket so that our developers can investigate your specific device incompatibility and add support to our Linux media (if possible).

Hi Igor,

I've used build #43956, so I'll have to look at using WinPE media to inject the driver. Will give this a go when I have some time in a few days.

Thanks for your support. Will file a support ticket if WinPE creation fails to address the issue.

Hello - Any news on this from the Acronis side? I'm running a Samsung NVMe drive on PCIe, and these are becoming more common.

Would be ideal is Acronis had a built-in solution. Thanks!

Hi robtoe,
thank you for your posting.
We do support NVMe generally. According to our database Linux kernel of bootable media was update accordingly about a year ago.
Please download a trial version of Acronis Backup, create a Linux-based bootable media and check if it works as expected on your hardware.
If there are any issues, don't hesitate to contact our support for investigation: http://www.acronis.com/support/contact-us.html
Thank you,

Hi Anna.
Planning a new PC build with Intel 750 NVMe SSD or Samsung NVMe SSD for the Win10 OS.
Have been a happy user of Acronis True Image for 10+ years, and as a PC Doctor recommend/sell it to many retail clients.
I see you reckon Acronis Backup 11.5 supports NVMe SSDs. I don't use AB 11.5, but I do use True Image. But how about NVMe support for Acronis True Image 2015, or should I wait till 2016? Is there NVMe support for ATI running in Windows and also using bootable media?
Cheers Bruce Rae.

Hi Bruce,
my comment is applicable to Acronis True Image too.
Acronis True Image 2016 is already available and you can find a trial version here: http://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/computer-backup/
Thank you,

I just downloaded Acronis 2016 and NVMe SSD (Intel DC P3600 400GB in my case) still does not show up as a disk using Acronis Bootable Rescue Builder to a USB memory stick. I have not tested Acronis with M.2 PCIe x4 SSD yet but I suspect that same problem exists. Do you have a fix yet for this?
Thanks
Paul

I have been asking for a year why ATI bootable media cannot see pcie drives. Windows image tool can, but not ATI. Pretty lame.

What I really expected from Acronis is a definite answer from someone who did use ABb&R with NVME SSDs. As a matter of fact I read in HP documentation that version 3.3 of Linox kernel is supposed to support NVME.

HP and SAMSUNG are both pushing the ״super SSD" so I expect somebody at Acronis to tell us how he actually did use the B&R on this type of hardware.

best regards

marcel

Hi Anna.

I can now be more specific regarding my new PC Win10 build hinted at in my post of 2015-08-17. It'll include the following:

Mobo Asus Z170-A in UEFI BIOS mode. OS drive will be Samsung SSD 950 Pro M2-PCIe4 NVMe. It'll be plugged into a mobo PCIe4 slot using an adapter for better cooling. (Lying flat in m2 slot on mobo it might get too hot and throttle speed). Windows install will create GPT drive with usual 3 partitions.

Scenario A. Installing TI16. True Image 16 supports UEFI Win10, right? So I should be able to install TI16 and do backups etc? Will TI16 recognise and use the SSD OK (remember, it's in a PCIe slot on the mobo, not in the M2-PCIe4 mobo slot) ?

Scenario B. I've made a portable version of AT16 on a DVD so I can insert the DVD and recover the troubled OS to a previous backup. Will the portable version of TI16 (which I assume still uses Linux OS) be able to see the SSD OK and do a restore made by the installed TI16 ?

Thanks for your help and guidance. Bruce.

Acronis does not see NVMe drives in a boot environment. You cannot do a restore from a from Acronis boot environment on an NVMe drive. This is the problem with Acronis. Your 950 Pro wont get too hot in an m.2 slot, but that doesnt matter because Acronis will not see the drive in a recovery environment whenter or not it is in a PCIe slot or an M.2 slot. To make images of an NVMe drive that can be recovered from a boot environment you will have to use windows image maker.

We know that's the way it is now (even with the brand new ATM 2016).   However this is not acceptable.  NVMe and M.2 NVMe is the future with very widespread support.  Intel and Micron's next generation SSDs will be much faster and will mandate PCIe transfers and protocol (not AHCI).   All major OS's support it now (with drivers) and Acronis must make this a big priority.   Acronis, what are your plans?

Hello Everyone,

Acronis definitely plans to fully support NVMe specification devices and we have been working on this for some time.

The delay here is explained by the fact that our default Linux bootable media is not an off the shelf third-party Linux distribution. It is a fully custom Acronis Linux distribution that requires a lot of under the hood effort to maintain and optimize. It is our own mini-OS that has a lot of very strict internal requirements. For example, it must boot and work correctly on machines with 512 RAM, it must support all the different products we make, it can't use pre-compiled drivers etc. etc.

So while the Linux NVMe driver has been added to the media for some time now, actually making it work within the sctict requirements and across all the many different hardware devices is a challange. 

For this very reason, we also provide the standard bootable media solution offered by most of our competitors: a WinPE media with our Acronis plugin. This bootable media requires more steps to create, but it supports all the functions of our own Linux media while using standard Microsoft drivers with their advanced hardware support.

Individually speaking, if you would like to get support for your device quicker, I would suggest opening a support ticket. It is physically impossible for us to test and validate every single storage device available on the market.  A support ticket will make sure we don't miss the idiosyncrasies of your specific device that might prevent it from otherwise working correctly.

Very informative response.   Thanks for the update.  I will open a support ticket with the specfic NVMe and M.2 NVMe devices and motherboards too.

Thanks Again

Paul

Hi Igor.

Yes. Good news. We'll have to wait. I'll also raise a ticket relating to support for the Samsung SSD 950 Pro M.2 MVMe which is bound to be a very popular drive.

Meanwhile I guess I stick with ATI 2016 and just have to use Windows Image Builder to make a WinPE with ATI 2016 plugin.

Cheers, Bruce.

Sounds good, Thank You

Can anyone with a working NVMe WinPE with Acronis 2016 plugin make an ISO of that and provide to me?   It would save me alot of time since I have not done that before for Acronis.  I sure would like to make a USB stick from that ISO.

Thanks

Paul 

Comments below from Bruce.

Hi Igor.

Yes. Good news. We'll have to wait. I'll also raise a ticket relating to support for the Samsung SSD 950 Pro M.2 MVMe which is bound to be a very popular drive.

Meanwhile I guess I stick with ATI 2016 and just have to use Windows Image Builder to make a WinPE with ATI 2016 plugin.

Cheers, Bruce.

Hello Paul,

Microsoft licensing terms don't allow the distrubution of pre-built WinPE images.

The actual process of creating a WinPE media shouldn't be more difficult than creating our Linux media -- you just have to choose that option from the Rescue Media Builder.

The only difference is that, before using this option, you need to install the following components:

• The Acronis Media Add-on.
• The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)

You can find full step-by-step instructions and download links in our KB: https://kb.acronis.com/content/48152 

The article is for True Image 2015, but it is the same process for True Image 2016.

Thanks again Igor.  I was suspecting their may be a license restriction.

Also tried Samsung 950 Pro PCIe NVMe with PCIe adapter, no luck for True Image boot media to see the drive. Wish that there would be update soon.

Hello,

I just made a True Image 2016 boot media for my brand new Dell XPS 15 with PCIe SSD (Samsung PM951 NVMe). After boot from the boot media i got the message: True Image has not found any hard disk drive.

A WinPE-media with Acronis plugin also fails with problems with the digital signature of snapman.sys! I made the WinPE-media under Win 10 Home with True Image 2016.
I think snapman.sys is from Acronis and it wasn´t tested with Win 10 in a WinPE-media!

The Acronis Startup Recovery Manager also fails to detect the Samsung PM951 NVMe.

 My Acronis ticket number is 02597103 and I´m waiting for a quick solution.

best regards
Joachim

Joachim - I was able to create and use a Win-PE solution, and it found my SM951 NVMe drive.   (Unsure if the PM951 differs.)   For reference, see my last post in this thread:

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/85130

Just tried WinPE + Acronis plugin from Windows 10 Pro, the boot media could see the NVMe drive, however, my first clone is fail to boot. After that I installed the SamSung NVMe driver first in the source Windows instead of using Microsoft Standard NVMe driver, and then clone to NVMe (950 Pro) drive. Now, it could boot successfully. 

Testing a new system and ABR 11.5 is scaring me.  After only doing a backup, now I've got TWO Windows 10 choices on the boot menu - in addition to the Windows 7 one.  All I did was a backup of Disk 1 & 2, Win7/Win10.  On top of that, check disk was run on boot.  

It's a PCIe Samsung 950 on a PCIe x4 controller and an 850 EVO M.2 on the MB.  Created WinPE 8.1 recovery using media builder - which allows me to see the 950 NVMe drive.

Got several warnings during the backup too.  Passing that info along in a support ticket soon.

Hello all,

The issue with nvme devices not shown in bootable media should be resolved in the next product update.

Thank you,

That's good to hear.  Wish they would let someone know when it's available.  I've never received any news on updates and I'm subscribed to everything I could find to subscribe to.  I just have to log in each month and drill down into my account to see what version is there. 

Hi Ekaterina:

I just bought Acronis 2016, and the only reason I bought it was for the bootable backup/recovery disk.  I have a PCIe NVME Intel 1.2gb boot disk, and your bootable media does not recognize it, either for a backup or for a disk clone.  Here is the last comment you posted:

Hello all,

The issue with nvme devices not shown in bootable media should be resolved in the next product update.

Thank you,

__________________

Ekaterina Surkova

When is the "next release"?  What is the "next release"?  Is it an update to the 2016 version, or will it be a newer version that we will have to pay for (again)?  I have every version of your software that has ever been issued, but it seems to have fallen behind the current technology.  These NVME PCIe drives have been available on Amazon since February of 2015 - about one year ago, and it appears that you still do not support them.

Please clarify this issue, as it is becoming increasingly important to the type of user to whom you appeal.

Thank You

Charles, when creating bootable media using TIH 2016, did you choose the WinPE option?  If not, try that.

I've been using the WinPE media created by TIH 2016 to image and restore my Samsung PCIe NVMe drive and it's worked perfectly.

I've been using the Linux (I think) disk that can be downloaded along with the installable software.  I have never actually installed Acronis on my PC, I just get it for the bootable media functionality.  I'll do a full install, make the boot disk from there, and let you know if it works.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Can you provide us with a time estimate on this? Q1?

I was able to successfully create the image using a WinPE with the device driver rolled into it, however as the WinPE does not include stand alone install, I was unable to install the image on another machine. This is due to the linux media not recongizing the drive.

Ekaterina Surkova wrote:

Hello all,

The issue with nvme devices not shown in bootable media should be resolved in the next product update.

Thank you,

When is the next update? Will ATI be able to detect nvme drives with bootable media? Will ATI 2015 ever work with NVMe or will I need to get ATI 2016? I do not use 11.5 I want to be sure ATI 2016 bootable media will support NVMe.

I've been using TIH 2016 from bootable PE media to create full images with zero issues.  Early on as I experimented in building this system I also made use of TIH 2016 to restore from full image backups without a single glitch.  I didn't have to add any drivers either.  The native PE media recognized the Samsung 950 NVMe drive. 

I'm using ABR (ABPC I guess now) 11.5 to do daily incrementals from Win10.  So the combination works fine for me. 

I suspect the use of Win10 PE media in TIH2016 does the trick.  Once AB is updated to use the same version of PE, I suspect it will work just as well.

I usually use multiple products to create backups just to have a fall back.  In testing another product, it backed up perfectly but gave me a failure in the middle of the restore.

There is a way how to do it. first restore desired system disk from backup to one Sata SSD, then instal windows 10 on another SATA SSD and update it, and install Acronis True Image 2015 last version, then connect only Nvme, and both SATA SSD discs, boot from clean installed WIN10 with installed ATI2015, and then clone from restored system on the second SSD to Nvme, that is the only way that acronis sees Nvme and can clone to it.

On th 15th of July 2015 an Acronis representative promised the next update will contain support for NVMe SSD.

Since almost nothing happened but for the ATIH 2016 PE beeing able to backup AND restore the NVMe disks.

Backup 11.5 has been updated a few time since and there are no news on this topic. I noticed it is not yet supporting the last PE...

It is shamefull Acronis is not adequate to deal with this technology and it is making potential users look elsewhere for a solution.

Not to mention the unplesant feelimg and frustration some of the customer feel now in view of the lack of response from Acronis teamn.

Regards

Marcel

Dell XPS 9550 Samsung SM951 NVMe SSD

I've read some users have been successful in recognizing Samsung SM951 NVMe SSD.

I tried with Win 10.1 PE but no dice.

I'm going to try WIN 8.1 version (Win PE 5) next...

Please post a step by step - Thanks in advance!

 All you guys with nvme drives ... Try this !!

 I am Using Acronis True Image 2016 With The PE Builder Extention..

You Will also Need The following...

A Usb Key Formatted Fat32 I Used a 32GB (One With an LED on is ideal to Visually see if its doing its stuff)

Windows ADK Setup For Windows 8 or 10 ....I Used 10 Installed 

A Download of the Free Version of NTLite from https://www.ntlite.com

Install NTLite

Your NVME Drivers .inf in a folder 

Create a Acronis Rescue Media Windows PE With acronis Plugin Onto The USB Key

Run NTLite Add Source & Point to the newly creadted usb key that has Windows PE With Acronis Plugin

Then load the WIM File With NTLite

Add Drivers Browse to yourNVME Drivers Folder and Add the folder

Do this again for Network Drivers Click Apply ..

NTLite Will Mount the WIM File From the Usb Key Add the Drivers you selected and Rebuild and Save the WIM Back to the Same Key !!

Boot the Modified USB Key to Test for Nvme Support... My 950 Pro Worked First Time 

Brilliant and only took 10 Mins 

Worked Very Well (I Managed to Image my Whole Clean Windows 10 Build Etc Onto The Same Key !!!  

So now i can boot from one 32gb Usb Key and Fully Restore My Nvme Drive In My Pc !!!

Enjoy 

Ekaterina Surkova wrote:

Hello all,

The issue with nvme devices not shown in bootable media should be resolved in the next product update.

Thank you,

When the next update ?

Thanks.

Hi,

I also had the same problem. I was able to create backups from my running Windows 10 but if I needed to restore a backup both boot media (linux and WinPE based) did not show my MVMe SSD so I couldnt restore the backup.

The problem of the Acronis WinPE boot media is, that the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) drivers which my NVMe SSD needs to work, are missing.

It took me some time but now I have a WinPE boot media with the Intel RST drivers with wich I can restore a backup to my NVMe SSD.

Here are the steps that worked for me:
Overview:
I. create a Acronis boot media
II. create my own WinPE
III. overwrite the boot.wim of my own WinPE with the one from the Acronis boot media
IV. add the needed Intel RST drivers to my own WinPE
V. create my own boot media (with Intel RST drivers)

Details:
1. install Acronis
2. download and extract (e.g. 7zip) Intel RST drivers -> C:\Intel_RST_Drivers
3. start Acronis -> Extras -> Create Rescue Media -> WinPE Media
4. download and install Acronis WinPE AddOn
5. download and install Windows ADK
6. create WinPE Media (ISO) -> C:\Acronis_original_WinPE.iso
7. extract (e.g. 7zip) C:\Acronis_original_WinPE.iso to C:\Acronis_original_WinPE
8. start C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Windows Kits\Windows ADK\ImageCreationEnvironment
9. create fresh WinPE (at C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64) -> enter the following inside the image creation environment console:
CopyPE amd64 C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64
10. overwrite C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64\media\sources\boot.wim with boot.wim from extracted Acronis_WinPE.iso (C:\Acronis_original_WinPE\sources\boot.wim)
11. mount boot.wim -> enter the following inside the image creation environment console:
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:"C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64\media\sources\boot.wim" /index:1 /mountdir:"C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64\mount"
12. add Intel RST Drivers to WinPE -> enter the following inside the image creation environment console:
dism /add-driver /driver:"C:\Intel_RST_Drivers" /image:"C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64\mount" /recurse
13. commit changes and unmount boot.wim -> enter the following inside the image creation environment console:
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:"C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64\mount" /commit
14.a. create bootable USB Stick -> enter the following inside the image creation environment console:
MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64 G:
14.b. create bootable Acronis_WinPE_with_IntelRST_drivers.iso -> enter the following inside the image creation environment console:
MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64 C:\Acronis_WinPE_amd64\Acronis_WinPE_with_IntelRST_drivers.iso

Let me know if it works for you aswell.

Sincerely
Stefan

PS: Hello Acronis Developer Team. Maybe you could add the possibility that the user can add custom drivers inside the WinPE boot media creation wizzard so that the custom drivers then would already be included in the Acronis WinPE boot media and in the future it would no longer be necessary to add the drivers manually afterwards.

Hello Everyone,

We have an Acronis Backup 115 update scheduled for release very soon (most probably tomorrow). This update will fix the majority of NVMe compatibility problems in our default Linux media. 

The WinPE media still remains an option for anyone wanting to use the Microsoft bootable media.

Thank you.

Glad to hear that.

I noticed that a new Acronis 11.7 44179 was released on the 25th of February.

Is this a version that will "see" NVMe drives?

Thanks,

MK

Hello Moty,

Yes, please update to 11.7 and check if NVMe drives are recognised correctly.

Thank you,

Hi Igor, Ekatarina, Anna and other respondents to my original post,

Thanks for keeping us all informed throughout the lengthy period it has taken to update the Acronis bootable media to resolve the NVMe compatibility issues.

I have updated to Acronis Backup 11.7 and can confirm the Acronis bootable media now fully supports my Intel 750 Series NVMe 1.2GB SSD, which I am using as my system drive.  All drives now show exactly as they should.

Thanks for finally resolving this issue.

Rick Hughes

And True Image, when the update please ?

And True Image, when the update please ?

Hello Jonathan,

Unfortuantely we cannot provide the exact ETA, I would recommend to subscribe to the newsletters under account and use WinPE as workaround.

Thank you,

Another of your customers with the same issue.

I have 2 license, one for my desktop pc and one for my new laptop. Both have this M2 SSD disks.
Well didn't expect that I had to read the forum before I upgraded me true image.
I have also upgraded my disk director, have tried, but asume it is the same issue.

Since it is 17 days ago, this chat has been updated, do you have any news regarding solving the issue.
If it isn't on the comming time, is it possible to convert the current licenses to backup 11.7.
I also like the UI better. Not so much graphics and wizart noise. It more look like acronic for many years ago +/-2010.
Much more easy and "clean".

Will you send mails to us, when you have news regarding a solution and/or the question above. (beside the auto notification).

Br

Bent Kristensen

Hello Bent,

Thank you for your posting! I would ask you for little bit more patience, the major update for Acronis True Image with the fix for NVMe issue will be released very soon. 

Thank you,

I just bought Liz for Snap Deploy 5 and now I mentioned the same Problem all of you have.

It does note "See"  the M2.PCIe NVMe Drive of our Dell Latitude E7470 (They do not have an SATA Drive option anymore on this model)

I opened a ticket.

But as Acronis is aware about these problemes over 1 year now WHY are the drivers still not implemented to ALL Acronis Backup, Ture IMage, Disk Director and Snap Deploy Versions which are downloadable for Acronis LIZ Users ??

BR

Holger

My original post on the NVMe PCIe SSD issue was way back at the end of 2015.  Its now been over 8 months and I still see that most acronis products still do not have native support for this.  At a bare minimum I think Acronis should make a script file of some easier sort to add the driver to the WinPE environment.  I know posts have been made that try to document this long process.   I have tried and wasted a bunch of time in the past attempting this with no success.  This complex time consuming workaround is unacceptable anyway which is why I am asking Acronis to do the work and provide an image of this environment with better documentation.  

I'm at the Intel Developers Conference this week and the popularity of NVMe PCIe M.2 and U.2 system SSDs in going to increase rapidly.   It is embarrising not to be able to suggest a solution to OUR customers much less not being able to do it ourselves.

I also notice that Acronis has not communicated any real update on this subject in MONTHS on this forum at least.   Its getting really old that so many versions of True Image are so fragile.  I have experienced problems with the latest True Image not displaying the menu after the initial boot on current generation motherboards.  Does Acronis not have current generation motherboards to test your releases with?   Sorry to be  so hard on you but Acronis really needs to step up and solve a multitude of problems.

Please create another ticket for me on these issues.  Other users please chime in as you always do.

Thanks

Paul

I just tested NVMe (M.2 PCIex4) again this time on a Supermicro X10SRM-F socket 2011 motherboard.  Using an Acronis 2016 boot USB stick (build 6571) after selecting Acronis True Image on the menu I got a blank screen and system lockup before getting into Acronis.  Every modern motherboard we use in our business Z170, Q170, C612 (socket 2011 XEON E5-26XX v4 family) based motherboard do not work with either Acronis 2015 or 2016.  My Acronis 2016 is the latest version.  I was going to try another attempt at using Acronis with NVMe again but could not get that far.   Have others had this same problem on getting a blank screen after selecting Acronis True Image?  Post replies or PM.

Thanks

Paul