AK2 boots into BIOS, won't boot from internal drive

[kenzo]

I've been running Windows 10 on my AK2 from the internal storage since it's initial setup last year - no other drives are installed. After a recent power-on, the AK2 boots directly into the Aptio Setup Utility, and won't boot from the internal storage. I have reset the BIOS to factory defaults and tried turning Secure Boot off and on but the issue persists.

This must mean that the Win10 install on the internal storage is corrupted and needs to be restored, although I'm open to other ideas about what's gone wrong. Here are my questions:

1) Is there some kind of a button on the case that will restore it to factory defaults?
2) Is there a link to a documented procedure to restore the factory install of Win10 on the internal storage?
3) How does the system refer to the internal storage that the initial install was booting from? In the BIOS I see these boot options, but nothing for booting from the internal storage:
UEFI Hard Disk (none installed)
UEFI CD/DVD (none attached)
UEFI SD (none inserted)
UEFI USB Device (none inserted)
UEFI Network (none connected)
4) Should I use the link to the AK1_2004_Pro_X64_3165D_en_de_es_fr_it_ru_zh_20201023 system image in the other post, or is there a better version of the system image for the AK2?

Thanks for your help!

[Gabe]

kenzo,

It's possible that it either corrupted the installation or did something to the drive itself. My BIOS is a bit more locked down than yours, but in mine, when you choose the first boot device, the only thing it shows for the onboard storage is 'Windows Boot Manager', as that's where I have Windows installed, rather than on a 2.5" HDD or SSD in the add on storage spot.

Your best bet it to either reinstall the system with the available download, or from installation media you've created with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool.

For the image from here, it's the one you mentioned...



System installation tutorial...



The drivers...



Unfortunately, I don't know of a driver installation tutorial for this system.

For reference, there's no button, either external or internal, that will restore the system to factory defaults, although the BIOS discharge/reset should reset the BIOS itself to factory defaults.

Lastly, if none of this works, it may very well be that the internal storage has been damaged. If it has, you do still have the option of running the system from the add on 2.5" storage, as long as nothing else has been damaged. And depending on what your system has for internal storage, especially if it's eMMC, having the system on the add on storage, especially if it's an SSD, may actually result in better system performance overall (this is what I did with my AK3). With that said, if you do decide to use the 2.5" storage for the system, you'll have to install W10 from media you either already have or need to create, as in with Microsoft's Media Creation Tool mentioned above, as the system files linked to above try to install on the internal storage, not the add on storage.

Hope this helps.

[kenzo]

I downloaded the image, created the USB drive and booted from it.
After this step:
"DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk."

...I got this error:
"DiskPart has encountered an error: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error."
"See the System Event Log for more information."
...followed by...
"The system cannot find the drive specified."
"Failed to make w:\recycler\scratch directory"

So I'm guessing that the internal 128GB ROM is corrupted or otherwise damaged; are you aware of any way to reset this?
(...I'm wondering if the "discharge" procedure I saw in another post is meant to address this...)

...or is installing and booting off of an internal SSD my only remaining option?

Thanks in advance!

[Gabe]

kenzo,

You can certainly try the BIOS discharge. It wouldn't hurt anything to do so, and it can actually help to 'cure' a number of issues, though whether it will with this I don't know. Again though, you can certainly try.

If even after this it's still experiencing the same problem, it's likely that the internal storage is done. I can't say this with 100% certainty, but from the message it's giving you it's more than likely. But again, the BIOS discharge may very well be worth the try. Just be careful with the WiFi antenna wires when you pull the board, as they aren't very long and they're somewhat delicate.

The following video is for the procedure on the AK3, but it's practically identical to what you'll need to do with the AK2...




If after trying this it doesn't help and you still get the same message when trying to install the OS, installing it on an add on 2.5" drive is probably your only other option. However, when you have it open check to see if there is an m.2 slot, and if so, the size, as in the length from the connector to the hold down screw. It's probably 30mm or 42mm length if it has one. Some of these models do have them, and if yours does it might give another option, as in an m.2 SATA drive. Still even if it does, if you have a spare 2.5" drive I'd go that way, as buying an m.2 drive only to find out it doesn't work, for whatever reason, would be a waste of money.

[kenzo]

I completed the discharge procedure, but all that did was crumble the battery connector. lol
and had the same error messages when I tried the re-imaging again.
I realized though that the ROM is just an M.2 SSD and it's replaceable, so I ordered one of these to replace it:


It will arrive Wednesday and will try the re-imaging again once I've installed the new M.2 SSD. If this doesn't resolve the issue then I'll just go with the 2.5" SSD option but would rather keep the OS on the ROM/SSD. I'll let you know how it goes.

[admin]

Hello, I read your post. Generally speaking, when booting into the BIOS interface or UEFI, we first consider the problem of setting the BIOS startup items.
This is easy to adjust, but if it says that the hard drive cannot be found, we assume it is terrible.
Sorry for such a problem with the product.

[Gabe]

kenzo,

Ah, so you've got one of the newer models. That's good. Hopefully the new drive does the trick.

[kenzo]

SUCCESS! I've confirmed the internal 128GB SSD (ROM) had failed by replacing it with the new one, then the system was able to boot from a USB thumb drive and load the system image from the link you provided. After the image was loaded and the system was powered down, I removed the USB thumb drive, powered up and the system booted Windows off the new SSD without issue.

Here's the link again for the replacement SSD I used. I opted for a 256GB to get some additional space, but it worked fine.
Kingshark Gamer mSATA 256GB Internal Solid State Drive High Performance Hard Drive for Desktop Laptop SATA III 6Gb/s Includes SSD (256GB, Msata)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Q137YJ?re ... tails&th=1

Being that I purchased my AK2 only 18 months ago and only use it as a backup and rarely have it powered on, I suggest the manufacturer source a different brand of SSD/ROM for newer systems. The "HooDisk" brand didn't seem to fair very well at all.

Hope this helps the next person!

[Gabe]

kenzo,

That's great news! I'm glad you were able to get it back up and running again.

[TJM]

Mine may have also failed at the 20 month mark.