m.2 slot 3 not working any more.

Hey everybody first time post here!

So I'm having trouble getting my m.2 slot 3 working had it going for a good 2 weeks then all of a sudden it stopped. using a 960 evo 1tb nvme. Also a heads up I'm using all available sata ports as well including a raid array on the dimm 2 slot. Please help! thanks

Hello there

Could you please provide me with a bit more information.


Your full system spec, how you cool the CPU? Is the CPU overclocked, is your ram running XMP profile and so on. More information makes it easier to problem solve.

But to try and help you without having that data - I assume you have powered your system down. Done a BIOS reset and then removed the M2 drive. Visually inspect it for any physical damage and if passed remount and boot up.

Did you make any changes just prior to the drive going missing? WIndows updates for example??? Install some software anything like that.

Hey thanks for the reply!

Feel dumb for not posting my spec but here they are

Asus x399 Zenith extreme
Amd 1950x at base clock 3.4ghz no OC
Corsair h100iv2 for cooling
32gb Trident z rgb @3200mhz
have 2 970 evo 500gb in raid 0 on the dimm 2 slot
EVGA GTX 1070 SC
3X Samsung 850 pro ssd sata
2X seagate 2tb barracudas

I have tried reseating the m.2 with no luck. though I did not rest the bios during that. Kinda hard getting to with it being under the heat sink for the southbridge.

Thanks for any help.

No worries mate, when we have an issue and we want it sorted that issue is all we focus on so nope not dumb to have forgotten your specs just human.

OK I would like you to do a reset of the bios please, either a full cmos clear or in bios reset. Cmos clear would be better.

Then report back if that has resolved your issue. I know that occasionally a windows update can mess with drivers so we will look in the system device manager next if that does not sort for you.

Alright I have done a cmos reset via the jumper. Re seated the drive once again to no avail. I did notice the drive was quite hot being under the south bridge heatsink. Unable to see it via bios as well. Maybe get a pcie adapter?

Thank you.

Could you test your two M2 drives on the working slot to ensure that they are both fully functional. And while you are at it do a quick test on the not working slot will the other slot is not populated.

Holding thumbs it is not a hardware fail.

Thanks again HiViz!

Sorry for the late response had and aio pump fail and just got me a noctua cooler!

So I narrowed it down to this today. When you enable nvme raid in order to make a raid 0 array. The mother board is assuming all my nvme drives are now raid only. I can see the 960 pro 1TB along with my 2 970 evos 500gb in the raid expert. The problem is the 1TB should be a standalone drive for storage only. Can't find a way around the nvme raid for just that one drive. any ideas or help would be appreciated!

I am assuming you want your OS on the RAID. If yes then I always tell folks to disconnect any and all other storage devices from their motherboard before installing OS. The reason is because the OS puts stuff where it wants, not where we always want stuff to go.

So in this case you want everything on your RAID. Remove all the other storage devices, install your OS after you have created the RAID you are looking for. Once finished with the OS install and you have checked out that everything is good to go. Power down the system and connect the other hard drives.

Hope I have understood what you are asking correctly. If not just let me know.

That's the problem. I've done exactly that and wanted to add a 3rd nvme drive for fast access to files that I use a lot. In adding the new drive after installation of the OS the Motherboard assumes the new drive is a new array. The only solution I can think of is to take this drive out and initialize it on my second computer tonight. I'll let you know after work.

If it doesn't work I'm at a loss.

Right got you. Ok keep me in the loop my board will be here on the 2nd November so will try and duplicate your situation and lets work out a solution together.