Skip to main content

NVIe Key M M.2 SSD support

Thread needs solution

I am attempting a machine recovery to a new SSD, which I find is an NVIe Key M M.2 SSD. However, Acronis does not see the drive at all. I come to understand that there are 2 versions of M.2 SSDs one which uses SATA logical architecture (Key B) and one that uses PCIe logical architecture (key M) is there a roadmap for support on this? the true image product is useless to me without support for this.

0 Users found this helpful

Jeremy, welcome to these user forums.

There is no specific roadmap with regards to support for the various NVMe M.2 SSD drives that are available today.

The key to getting Acronis to see these types of drives is mainly to create and use the Windows PE version of the Acronis Rescue Media as support for these drives is lacking in the standard, Linux based, rescue media (which is also the same as used when rebooting from the Windows Acronis application or using the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager).

Another factor is the SATA controller mode used for the NVMe M.2 SSD drive - if this is set to RAID mode which is becoming more common in order to achieve higher performance from these drives, then it is necessary to either change the SATA controller mode to AHCI or to inject the Intel RST drivers into the WinPE Rescue Media.

Please see the link in my signature for the MVP Tool - Custom ATI WINPE Builder which can make the task of creating the custom WinPE media with the Intel RST drivers a whole lot easier.  You will still need to download and install the Windows 10 ADK software that is a prerequisite for Windows PE - this is a large download of over 3GB but when you install, you only need to select the top 3 options on the installer selection panel.

Note: If you select to create the Window PE Rescue Media from the Acronis Rescue Builder tool found in the ATIH GUI Tools section, this will automatically direct you to the download page for the Windows ADK software if it is not already installed.

WinPE solves the issue. 

However, it's the sata mode that is the issue with the Linux recovery media. Workaround is to temporarily change sata mode from RAID to AHCI, boot to Acronis and backup or restore. Then change the bios sata mode back to RAID before booting the OS. Linux is the hold up with the RAID driver support, nvme is fine.

highly encourage you to make a WinPE recovery with the MVP WinPE tool though. It's easy to run and already includes the IRST drivers to support NVME in RAID SATA mode.