Windows – Why doesn’t the Intel Optane application recognize the Optane hardware

optanewindows 10

I am trying to use an Optane chip, and I believe I have installed it correctly, but the application for it says

Cannot Enable Intel Optane Memory

Your system appears to be Intel Optane memory ready but no Intel Optane memory modules were detected in your computer.

Windows device manager shows an item in the category "Disk drives" called "INTEL MEMPEK1W032GA", which is the part number for an Optane chip, so it is at least correctly attached to the motherboard.

My motherboard is an ASRock X299 Taichi, and I have flashed it to the latest stable BIOS release. The manufacturer's spec sheet says that each M2 slot "Supports Intel® Optane™ Technology".

I have also confirmed that

  • I am running Windows 10 on a SSD, and booting with UEFI.
  • The boot disk has more than 5MB of unallocated space, which I believe is at the end of the disk, based on the output of diskpart.
  • The SATA controllers are set to use Intel RST mode.

Best Answer

Cannot Enable Intel Optane Memory - Potential Solution

Go to the UEFI boot menu by pressing F2 or Del at system startup, and then from the Boot tab options, you will want to Disable the CSM option—see the 4.4.1 labeled section below and ensure these options and sub-options from 1-4 are configured accordingly as well if disabling the CSM option alone doesn't resolve.

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Why

According to Intel regarding the Intel Optane Memory

  • 4.4.1 Manual SATA Controller Mode Switch (Pg. 18)

    If your computer’s System BIOS does not support automatic SATA Controller switching, you will need to switch the SATA controller manually, pior to installing the OS. Consult your system or motherboard vendor’s User Manual for manual BIOS SATA controller mode switching procedures.

    1. Prepare the installation media as outlined in chapter 3 (recommended optional step)

    2. Power on your system and boot to the System BIOS (typically done by pressing F2 or Delete)

      Note: Make sure your System BIOS is up to date with support for Intel® Optane™ memory. Consult your vendors support website for the latest Intel® Optane™ memory supported System BIOS.

    3. Change the System BIOS settings to the following:

      i. SATA Mode = ‘Intel® RST Premium and System Acceleration with Intel® Optane™ Technology’ or ‘Intel® RST and System Acceleration with Intel® Optane™ Technology’

      ii. UEFI = Enabled

      iii. CSM = Disabled

      iv. Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) enabled

      v. M.2 Port Remapping enabled

    4. Install the Windows* 10 OS

      Note: After the second restart, the Intel® Optane™ memory application may take several seconds to pop up. If the the Intel® Optane™ memory application does not pop up automatically it can be launched by searching for ‘Intel® Optane™ memory in Windows* File Search.

      Consult your system or motherboard vendors User Manual and support site for details on how to update these settings.

    source

According to the ASRock X299 Taichi manual (Pg. 21 & 103)

    1. Enter UEFI by pressing or during system startup.
    2. Select “Boot > CSM” from the menu.
    3. Set "Launch Storage OpROM policy" to "UEFI only".
    4. Press F10 to Save and Exit.

    (Pg. 21)

    CSM

    Enable to launch the Compatibility Support Module. Please do not disable unless you’re running a WHCK test. If you are using Windows 8.1 64-bit and all of your devices support UEFI, you may also disable CSM for faster boot speed.

    (Pg. 103)

    source

According to the Cannot enable Optane Memory Intel community thread

  • DavidC2 May 26, 2017 2:12 PM (in response to weevilone)

    I may be able to help as well. I've had the same message during my Optane Memory install. The trick was to disable CSM, or Compatibility Support Module.

    On my motherboard which is Gigabyte H270-HD3 the way to show CSM menu was:

    BIOS tab --> Enable Windows 8/10 Features to Windows 10 WHQL --> Once that's done you see an option for CSM support --> Set to disable

    Their videos tell you to disable CSM in order for Optane Memory to work. Among others. Try this one though.

    source

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