Z790-P WIFI won't boot anymore

[pjdemmitt]

Z790-P WIFI doesn't recognize NVMe drives on motherboard.  The system was running fine. I tried to boot from a bootable USB drive and when it didn't boot, not really knowing what I was doing, I went into the BIOS and turned off the UFEI password protection of runtime variables, thinking that that would allow the USB to boot. It didn't and the system no longer recognizes the  attached drive that had been booting the system for months. Of course, I changed the setting back to Enabled, but it still won't boot. The drive is listed on the main screen as being present; I can see that it's inthe system, but the boot menu doesn't list it. I'm at a  loss as to how to re-enable this drive. Please help and thank you in advance.

I did take photos of screens in the UFEI.

Paul Demmitt

[Jiaszzz_ASUS]

Hello, @pjdemmitt 

May I ask if the situation you described happened after any changes were made? For example, adjusting the BIOS settings or connecting an external device
When unable to boot, are there any Q-LED indicator lights on?
If so, please refer to the corresponding steps outlined in "[Motherboard] ASUS motherboard troubleshooting via Q-LED indicators."
For issues related to SSD recognition, please consult the guidance provided in "[Motherboard] Troubleshooting - Cannot find the hard disk drive or SSD(M.2) after motherboard powers..."
Meanwhile, if you have not yet updated to the latest BIOS version 1641, released on February 29, 2024, for the PRIME Z790-P WIFI, kindly consider performing the update and clearing CMOS before reevaluating the situation.

Thank you.

[pjdemmitt]

Thank you for responding.

I changed a setting in the BIOS. I described what I did in my post. I disabled the UEFI password protection in Advanced Mode. I re-enabled it when it didn't work. But still won't work

I did update the BIOS to the most recent 1641.

I cleared the BIOS several times by removing the battery and shorting the headers.

I have put 2 different NVMe drives in. The main BIOS page will show them, but they are not recognized in the Advanced settings by the drive controller. They work as I tested them in another system.

I was on a chat with Tech support last night for 3+ hours, who had me remove drives, add drives, clear the BIOS 3 times, all to no avail.

I will check out the link you provided in case there is something I've missed.

Tech support escalated my issued and is supposed to get back to me within 3 days.

I watched the video and I've done all the things.

Thank you for your help.

Paul

[Jiaszzz_ASUS]

Hello, @pjdemmitt 

Thank you for your response.
Since you have already submitted it for technical support, we recommend that you await the relevant personnel's subsequent diagnosis or further assistance.
If you encounter any difficulties or concerns, please feel free to DM me with detailed context at any time.
Thank you.

[pjdemmitt]

Thank you for following up about my issue. 

I have not heard back for two days about what the solution might be. I did send screen shots of the BIOS to them and they said they would look into it and get back to me in 48-72 business hours. So I'm still waiting to hear back.

I can send the screen shots to you as well if you think it might help. 

I am getting really frustrated and upset as this has been going on for two weeks now. I can usually figure out what's going on, but this has got be baffled. Any suggestions or ideas as to what I can do to get the system to recognize NVMe drives would be appreciated.

The NVMe driver is enabled. The main screen of the BIOS shows it. It is not listed in Advanced settings NVMe drives. I originally made one change, which I reverted. Nothing has worked to get this back to being operational. Fortunately I can boot into the BIOS, but that's it.

Do you have any ideas?  Thank you for any help you can give. I am at a loss as to what to do next.

Paul

Paul