Using a M.2 nvme ssd drive with a pci-e adapter in a multiboot system

[SardusX]

Hi All,
I have to update my multiboot system with a Gigabyte Z390 Designare motherboard. In this motherboard the two M.2 connectors share the bandwidth with the SATA3 connectors. In this way, using both M.2 connectors I would lose the possibility of using three SATA3 connectors.
Is it possible to overcome this problem by installing a nvme SSD on a PCIe adapter and installing MacOS Mojave/Clover bootloader on it or, alternatively, install Windows 10 on it (and install macOS/Clover bootloader on a nvme SSD on a M.2 connector)?
Thanks in advance for Your help

 

[Going Bald]

Does the UEFI/BIOS of the Designaire allow you to boot from a PCIe SSD?

 

[SardusX]

Does the UEFI/BIOS of the Designaire allow you to boot from a PCIe SSD?

Thanks for Your reply.
Sorry, you're referring to this option (from Gigabyte Z390 Designate User's Manual)?

 

[Going Bald]

Thanks for Your reply.
Sorry, you're referring to this option (from Gigabyte Z390 Designate User's Manual)?
View attachment 392401

I do not think this is it. Chances are if you have an m.2 slot connected to the PCIe bridge directly then you should be able to boot from a m.2 SSD installed on a PCIe bridge card. If the m.2 slot connects through the SATA bridge like the earliest models, then no, it probably would not work. On a Z390 board your chance are good that you can bot from a PCIe SSD.

 

[SardusX]

I do not think this is it. Chances are if you have an m.2 slot connected to the PCIe bridge directly then you should be able to boot from a m.2 SSD installed on a PCIe bridge card. If the m.2 slot connects through the SATA bridge like the earliest models, then no, it probably would not work. On a Z390 board your chance are good that you can bot from a PCIe SSD.

So, if I understand correctly, to start macOS mojave/Clover from a pcie x4 connector I could use a native pcie SSD drive and not an SSD nvme M.2 drive inside a pcie card adapter?
Do you think it would be possible, alternatively, install Windows 10 (on a m.2 SSD nvme installed on a PCIe card adapter) and install macOS Mojave with Clover bootloader on a nvme SSD drive in the M.2 connector avalaible?

 

[Going Bald]

Either way should work on a Z300 series board. I cannot say for certain as I do not have one to experiment with, but the tech is there and the capability for each OS is there, so it should be possible

 

[GoaSkin]

As long as there is any other harddisk in your computer containing an EFI partition, it is possible to boot from the M.2 disk even if the BIOS does not support it.

Then... just install CLOVER into the EFI partition of your other (supported) harddisk and place NvmExpressDxe-64.efi into the drivers64uefi subfolder of your clover installation on this EFI partition. Then, Clover will include the M.2 disk in it's scanning procedure and generate icons for anything bootable there.

I am not sure if the clover installer includes this but the file may be found here:

Clover-GA-HA65M-D2H-B3/EFI/CLOVER/drivers-Off/drivers64/NvmExpressDxe-64.efi at master · Ardentwheel/Clover-GA-HA65M-D2H-B3

Hackintosh for GA-HA65M-D2H-B3. Contribute to Ardentwheel/Clover-GA-HA65M-D2H-B3 development by creating an account on GitHub.

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