Acronis Snap Deploy 5 issues with NVMe Samsung Drive
Hello, i am currently running Acronis Snap Deploy 5 (5.0.1, 660) to build my images. We recently received new Laptops from Dell Precision T7710's that have the NVMe PM951 Samsung SSD drives. I was trying to make an image out of the hard drive, but the drive does not even show as an option to image from. Is this because Acronis does not support these new drives? Is there an updated build to Snap Deploy or can you send me a test build I can use to solve this? I need to be able to images these machines.
Thanks!

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Are there any plans to support this type of SSD in the near future?
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Is there a How-To video on how to image using WinPE Bootable Media. I am having trouble understanding how to create an image of a machine using this method.
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Aaron. All you need to do is install the Windows 10 ADK (doesn't matter if your deployment system is Win 7, 8, 8.1, 10 or server whatever). Once the ADK is installed, during the Snap Deploy media builder, change to WinPE and it will do the rest. Windows 10 ADK already has the necessary drivers for these PCIE NVME hard drives.
HOWEVER, unfortunately, if the plan is to use the stand-a-lone bootable media, WinPE is not included for some reason! I have no idea why and it doesn't make sense to me as it is supposedly "by design". I can't figure out why that is since Acronis Workstation 11.7 can change SID and generalize hardware on the fly in Windows PE, but Snap Deploy can't?
WinPE-based bootable media
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I wanted to share my results of the extensive testing and troubleshooting I did after I encountered the no network interface available issue and my adventures in Acronis/WINPE as a result. They are as follows:
For best results, when creating a PE image within Acronis PE Bulider utility, plug a flash drive in first and choose the removable storage as the location to create the image. Now, my results with this were mixed. If you use the Win 7 AIK, the option to use removable media for the image target is not available. I do not care what flash drive you use, it will not be there. (Thanks Bobbo for helping me determine this.) You will have to create an ISO file and then burn it to a flash drive using Rufus or ISO2USB, both of which are freeware.
Now for my results when using the Windows 8 ADK. Following the usual process of creating an ISO and burning to flash drive with the two freeware utlities resulted in boot errors when WINPE tried to boot. Every time no matter what I did. However, specifying the flash drive as image target resolved the boot errors and after adding necessary network drivers, it seemed to work somewhat well.
Finally todays testing with Win 10 ADK has went nicely. I was able to create the PE image with acronis directly to a flash drive. I added a network driver in the process and my test HP Prodesk 600 mini has an ip address. Hope this helps.
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Hi, I have the same issue here, I tried to image an HP z230 and HPz240 with M.2 drive. The image won't go to the m.2 drive/ a PCIE flash drive, but when I put a spinning disk, the image will go through. Any suggestions on this? This has been an issue for me for over a month now. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
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John - a few things.
1) Make sure when you use the USB flash drive that you are booting in UEFI mode and not legacy mode - use your bios boot override/one time boot key after reboot (Esc, F1 or Del on most HP's).
2) Make sure your Bios has secure boot disabled. If not, you'll never be able to boot from a USB drive in UEFI mode.
3) If one and two haven't already solved the issue, make sure your BIOS boot order has your USB device listed first.
4) Your USB drive will need to be created as WinPE instead of the default linux bootable media using the Windows 10 ADK (see my signature for direct download from Microsoft). Currently, Acronis Linux bootable media does not have drivers for the PCIE NVME drivers so WinPE is the only options. Unfortunately, WinPE in Snap Deploy does not have stand-a-lone mode either - no idea why, please submit lots of feedback to have this as part of the WinPE!!!
If need be, and in your budget, you may want to purchase a single license of Acronis Backup for Workstation. It can deploy images with SID change and generalization using the offline media and already has driver support for the NVME drives - I imagine we'll see it in Snap Deploy at some time too, but for now, this has been worth the cost of a single license for me to have the offline bootable media be able to detect NVME drives and restore an image to it. If you have licenses for Snap Deploy and cannot push an image to it with stand-a-lone, but can with Workstation 11.7, I think that is a valid work-a-round even though the licensing for each system is supposed to be one for one with the bootable recovery media. I'm only reverting to this work-a-round because of the lack of driver support currently in Snap Deploy default bootable media and the inabilty to use stand-a-lone snap deploy in WinPE where the drivers would be available already.
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In reply to John - a by truwrikodrorow…

FYI , SD 4.0 had no issues initializing SSD drives and loads images with no issues. No idea why they changed it in SD 5.0. Also noted that SD 5.0 has no support for the new Intel NICs with NUC kits. Realtek drivers are ok and works with ASUS board etc.
Support tells me SSD drives act like Flash drives so cannot initialize, complete BS to me and I asked why SD 4.0 could do it. They had no answer for that. Also they reccommed using UEFI, which by the way does not work either.
I am always amazed by software developers who have no idea what hardware people like us are not consulted when they design or develop software.
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SSD (SATA) and PCIE/NVME are not the same types of drives, although they may share a similar m.2 form factor in some cases.
The latest versions of SD5 since beta 1660 have supported NVME drives and SSD drives have not been an issue in any versions I've used going back to SD4.
That said, bios settings can make a difference. Older versions of SD may not have drivers for systems using RAID/RAID-on in the bios for the SATA mode, instead of AHCI. In those cases, the default Linux media doesn't have the RAID drivers needed for the OS to load and detect an NVME drive or a SSD drive in RAID.
But, 1749 came out in August and has resolved most of that. If your drive or NIC is not being seen, then please create WinPE rescue media (.wim) instead of using the default Linux rescue media. During the build, you can add IRST drivers for RAID support (your laptop or tablet may be set to use RAID if you have an NVME drive - even if you're not aware or can't change that setting in the bios). Likewise, you can also inject NIC drivers at build too. For the most part though, if you build winpe rescue media with the Windows 10 ADK, all of drivers "out of the box" will work for "MOST" systems. If not, then add them when prompted during the build process.
Make sure you have the latest 1749 version to work with for the best support though.
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I'm having an issue with an HP Z240 not being able to take an image. I can connect using agent but not stand -alone ad it doesn't se the NIC. The PC connects and the image starts for a second maybe 2 seconds then ends. It returns me the screen with the IP address. Is there a different driver I need to load or in a special order to get this to take or do I just need to upgrade Snap Deploy?
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