Unable to boot after removal and reinsert NVMe SSD with bitlocker

[TVanE2]

This is about a NUC8i7BEH wit 32GB RAM where I have an NVMe SSD installed as boot drive with Windows 10 Enterprise which is secured with bitlocker. In contrast to what I read I do not need an additional USB-stick or anything else to let the system boot normal, even with bitlocker enabled. A few days ago I removed the SSD and replaced it temporarily with a smaller NVMe SSD to test the newest build of ESXi 6.7. However now that I put the original SSD with Win 10 on it back it won't boot. I did not change anything in the BIOS during the entire operation. In BIOS (latest version 0074) I can see the SSD as being connected to the M.2-port and in the boot sequence it shows the Windows Boot Loader as the first to be used, but it does not show the SSD and goes immediately to the network boot. If I use F10 for the boot menu it does not show the SSD. Is this the BIOS that no longer decrypts the SSD? Many thanks in advance for assistance from someone!

[David_V_Intel]

Hello TVanE2,

Thank you for posting on the Intel ® communities.

I would like to know if there is a way you can test using another drive and installing the O.S in that one without bitlocker, once done, repeat the steps by swapping the drives and see if you are able to boot back to Windows* after the swap. 

If so, then this would mean it is not the NVMe itself but rather something external and I would be able to run some tests on-site to check this.

I would also like to request some hardware information:

Hard drive/NVMe part and model numbers: 

RAM part and model numbers:

Please, if able to test, let me know the results.

David V

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel

[TVanE2]

Hello David,

First of all thanks for the assistance! Below are the specs requested. It seems something has resolved my issue. So I had a spare NVMe SSD of 128GB lying around where I installed Windows 10, then swapped for the SSD with ESXi, reswapped to Win 10 and it booted without issue. Then I enabled bitlocker, swapped SSD's once more, booted into ESXi, reswapped again and it still booted into Windows 10. After that I reset the secure boot key pair because I thought that was the initial problem and then at boot it indeed asked for the recovery key of bitlocker. Then I installed my first SSD of 512GB again and miraculously it also asked for my bitlocker recovery key. So by installing Windows 10 on another SSD I must have reset or repaired something in the NUC so my SSD is again recognized as bootable. This can be marked as closed and thanks again!

SSD: Toshiba THNSN5512GPUK 512GB PCIe x4 NVMe

RAM: 2x 16GB Kingston HyperX Impact 2400MHz CL14 non-ECC

Best regards,

Tom

[David_V_Intel]

Hello TVanE2,

Thank you for your response.

I am really glad that your issue seems to have been addressed with the drive swap. Remember that for issues with Bitlocker it is recommended to contact Microsoft* for support and report the issue so they can check and fix if applicable.

David V

Intel Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel