Ultra fast - = dissappearing hard drives?

[ukppete]

Hello,

This is my first post.

I have a specific question regarding the Ultra fast boot up option on my new ASRock FM2A55 DGS motherboard.

I have managed to get the fast boot option to work but when i try the ultra fast boot option, i save and exit UEFI and instead of booting into windows 8 i boot into UEFI. When i check my boot options the hard-drives have dissappeared and the only option is to restore defaults, exit and boot to uefi to get hard drives back in boot options.

I dont know what is causing this problem. Im pretty sure my motherboard and computer support the ultra fast option as i have windows 8 pro and latest motheboard certified for windows 8. Im also sure that my motherboard supports GOP which is required for ultra fast.

I have read about various things that can be done to improve boot such as disabling CSM - i dont know if my motherboard has CSM and whether i can disable it - if so how can i check that i have this and how do i disable it. Also, i have checked the sata ports i used to install the hard drives and they are in slots 4,5 and 6 on my motherboard - does this make any difference?

I would appreciate help to see if i get the ultra fast option working. I have installed latest 2.20 firmware using internet flash and updated graphics card to latest driver.

Does ultra fast boot have anything to do with harddrive speed - my harddrive is SSD but runs on old DDR2 speed.

Thanks

Peter F

[parsec]

On Intel boards, with Windows 8 and Ultra Fast boot enabled, you cannot even get into the UEFI! That is considered normal, the ability to enter the UEFI is gone. But, there is a special utility that you must install that allows you to enter the UEFI on a reboot. Why the UEFI is started in Ultra Fast boot mode is weird, perhaps you do need to set the CSM option, if you can find it.

As I said, with Intel boards, Win 8, and UFBoot, you can't even get into the UEFI, given what I have seen posted in this forum, and what I have read about it. So it makes some sense that a partially functioning UEFI in your case is to be expected. Still, the result you get seems odd, but may be normal for your board. Your drives still work, although not seen in the UEFI, correct? So no real damage done.

I don't have experience with your board, so can't offer any specific advice. Check the Utilities section of your boards download page for that ASR utility, if it exists.

My ASR Z77 board has the CSM setting in a weird place, and I can't recall where it is.

[ukppete]

Thanks for your help Parsec,

My processor is an AMD processor though and i have already setup the restart to ueif utility talked about.

Maybe i need someone who has one of these type boards to help me find the CSM?

Pete F

[parsec]

I found CSM on my Intel board, not sure at all if yours will be in the same place.

It's in Advanced -> ATAPI settings, at the bottom.

[ukppete]

I looked in advanced but i don't have the option regarding the CSM.

Is there an Asrock God in these forums who may be able to tell me how to get ultra fast to work? Do i need to enable SMART harddrive in UEIF? Do i need to disable something? What could cause my hard drives to dissappear when i try to use it?

I have faith someone can tell me.

Thanks

Pete F

[rsheppick]

I looked in advanced but i don't have the option regarding the CSM.

Is there an Asrock God in these forums who may be able to tell me how to get ultra fast to work? Do i need to enable SMART harddrive in UEIF? Do i need to disable something? What could cause my hard drives to dissappear when i try to use it?

I have faith someone can tell me.

Thanks

Pete F

I am also having the same problem.

I am curious if you are trying to load it from the LSI in a raid?

It's odd to me also, I have gotten the new bios from eVGA for my GTX 690's to support the UEFI. I run the bios 2.0 on my Extreme 11. When I enable ultra fast it boots right into the UEFI wont go to windows...

[parsec]

In your boards UEFI, given the manual I checked, there is a CSM sub-menu in the Boot screen. Nothing else about CSM in the manual.

[ukppete]

I have contacted ASROCK tech support and they replied quickly with a response.

They said that to get ultra-fast boot I need to install Windows 8 in GPT mode and select UEFI: (HARD DRIVE NAME) in the boot menu after pressing F11.

I installed my Win 8 from a flash drive and im not usre if i was asked whether i wanted GPT or MBR but windows setup did create a small partition for Windows 8 - i dont kn9ow what this was for?

My question now is:

1) how do i know if my windows is installed on GPT mode
2) If it is installed on GPT how do i get the option in boot menu to come up UEFI (HARD DRIVE) - currently i only have UEFI-EFI shell as an option other than the harddrives in SATA format
3) If it is not installed on GPT - can i get the hardrive on GPT without reformatting the drive and reinstalling Win 8 - if I have to reinstall win 8 i cant be bothered with ultra fast - and the question is why dont they supply this as the stadard setup option for the drive if they know this is the only way to get ultra fast? Surely ultra fast boot is a key part of the the new Windows 8 system.

I would appreciate any help on this .

Thanks

Peter F

[parsec]

With one extra small partition, you are formatted as normal MBR, which is the default. If you formatted GPT in Windows, you would have three extra small partitions, two for the GPT format, and Windows includes a MBR partition, apparently so you can boot both ways. I'm not sure if that works.

You would definitely need to reformat for the disk to be formatted as GPT, and need to install Windows again. The Windows installation controls the disk format, your board has no control over that, unless you pre-format a disk as GPT in another Windows installation.

GPT formatting is new, and not without issues of its own, which is likely why GPT is not the default format type for Windows 8. I've read that Windows does not format in GPT correctly, since they include the MBR partition, which is not "by the book" for GPT. I've read that some third party programs will not work with GPT formatted disks, so that is another thing to consider.

Windows 8 boots quickly with MBR disks too, but it's really a trick. Instead of starting most of the Windows Services before the Desktop is displayed. as Windows 7 does, Windows 8 starts the Services after the Desktop is running. So you'll see the Desktop, but the CPU and OS disk are still working to get the Services started. Tablet PCs don't have all the Services that a Desktop PC does, so IMO this change is related to the use of Windows 8 on Tablets.

Ultra Fast Boot skips the ability to start the UEFI/BIOS, so that too is a trick, IMO. I'm also not sure of the need to be formatted as GPT for Ultra Fast Boot to work, I may be wrong, I've never used it.

If you use a SSD as the boot drive, the PC will boot fast anyway. I use Windows 7 on SSDs, and my ASR PC boots so fast, including POST, that buying a few more seconds is not worth it IMO.

[ukppete]

Thanks for your help Parsec,

I guess ill just have to be patient for the GPT on installations to be standard and wait until my next pc upgrade. It is not worth reinstalling for few seconds as you say. At the moment on fast boot i get to desktop in about 30-35 seconds and that is big impovement on my previous setup with win 7 which took about 2-3 minutes.

Pete F