Solved Installed a NVMe SSD, but Win7 doesn't detect it.

[robra]

Thanks Simon. I went to that link and read the info (and also clicked on links within that forum as well). I downloaded chipset drivers for x470 (for Win7) from AMD that are reportedly identical to the chipset drivers for x570 (Win10 only). Within those X470 chipset drivers I found a SATA driver that matches my Hardware ID so I'm good to go there. I also already have a Win7 driver for my current video card. It looks like the big issue will be with the USB3 drivers. My Hardware IDs listed for my USB3 (per Win10 Device Mgr) are:

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_149C&REV_00
PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_149C
PCI\VEN_1022&CC_0C0330
PCI\VEN_1022&CC_0C03
PCI\VEN_1022
PCI\CC_0C0330
PCI\CC_0C03

I believe that this is the Matisse USB hardware. It looks like the closest Hardware ID in the USB3 inf files that are going around is PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_145C (rather than 149C that I need). I believe that this issue also pertains to your USB3 files so it appears this is where I'll have the issue.

It looks like some folks have had success modifying the "145C" reference to "149C" Hardware ID inf file but those instances were for AMD CPUs prior to 5000 series (mine is 5900X). I'll probably try the mod but not sure how that will turn out. The one thing that I have going for me is that I do have the PCIe StarTech PEXUSB4DP USB 2.0 card installed so at least I'll have keyboard & mouse connectivity while going through the Win7 installation process.

Is there anything here that jumps out at you?

 

[SIW2]

From what I have heard you should be able to get the mobo usb3 ports working, I think there are drivers for those in canonkongs download. You could manage without the extra matisse usb3 ports.

 

[robra]

Thanks Simon. I'll check more into the possibility of using canonkongs drivers this week.

 

[robra]

From what I have heard you should be able to get the mobo usb3 ports working, I think there are drivers for those in canonkongs download. You could manage without the extra matisse usb3 ports.

Hi Simon - you are correct that I need to use the canonkong USB3 drivers on my ASUS X570 motherboard (based on Hardware ID referenced in his driver files). I have been collecting necessary drivers from various sources such as MS Update Catalog. I think that I have everything that I need and would like to install Windows Server 2008 R2 directly onto SN850 NVME M2 drive (confirmed that this drive uses the standard MS drivers).

I will be using the NVME Hotfixes that you were so kind to provide (and further customize with some other cumulative updates, USB3 drivers, and NIC drivers). I am planning to add these into the install media (have already added SP1) and I'm slightly confused on process. I have done a ton of searching and can't seem to find the exact answer that I'm looking for.

Most specifically, to add a "package" (such as your NVME Hotfixes) do I simply need to run the DISM command to add package and needed drivers will also be added to installation as part of running the add package command or do I need to additionally extract all drivers from cab files then perform dism command separately to add drivers? I know that if I have specific driver files I can perform an add driver command but not sure how to handle things (drivers) when working with a HotFix package.

Also, when working with Install.wim, boot.wim, and winre.wim files is this the proper methodology with these files:
Install.wim - incorporate ALL desired updates and drivers?
Boot.wim - only add necessary drivers (NVME Hot Fixes, USB3 drivers, special NIC driver)?
Winre.wim - same as Install.wim?

Thanks for helping to clarify
Bob

 

[SIW2]

Install.wim - incorporate ALL desired updates and drivers?
Boot.wim - only add necessary drivers (NVME Hot Fixes, USB3 drivers, special NIC driver)?
Winre.wim - same as Install.wim?

yes

ms nvme updates are a bit more complicated.

1. Integrate both .msu files into boot.wim image 2.

2. Copy the updated sources folder from boot.wim image2 into the distribution folder (the folder you extracted the iso to ). That overwrites the old setup files with the new ones.

3. Integrate both nvme updates into install.wim ( whichever image you want to use )

If you skip step 2, the new setup files in boot.wim wont recognize the installation media.
It assumes the installation media must be on some other storage media it cant see.
Therefore it throws up a message asking for drivers for the other storage media it imagines you must have.


You can just do it manually.

You could integrate the two msu into mounted boot.wim image 2.

Then while it is still mounted copy the sources folder to the distribution folder.

Then save and unmount boot.wim image 2

 

[robra]

Thanks Simon. I'll include those steps and post back to let you know how it goes.

 

[robra]

Hello Simon - I'm confused about 1 thing. I was under the impression that running the "add-package" command in DISM would add both the HotFix as well as the drivers to the wim file. However, when I look at Microsoft's web site they seem to indicate that Hot Fixes need to be added using an "Add-Package" command and additionally drivers need to be added using an "Add-Driver" command.

Update to add native driver support in NVM Express in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

They seem to imply that drivers need to somehow be extracted from the Hot Fix and placed into a separate drivers folder so that an "Add-Driver" command can be performed and then to run a "Add-Package" command. Do drivers need to first be extracted? If so, what is best way to do this?

Can you clarify this for me? I think that I can proceed once I understand this.

Thanks!

 

[SIW2]

Just integrate the two .msu files . They are standalone update packages.

If you are doing it from within windows dble click on an msu and it installs itself.

To integrate offline, use dism commands or dism++ to integrate them. The package command is for .msu or .cab

That is all that is required.

Driver integration is different, you would do that for inf, sys and cat files. Some manufacturers have driver files you can integrate (optional), which they claim provide better performance. So they can ( optionally) be integrated after the two ms .msu files.

 

[robra]

Hi Simon

In attempting the new installation of Windows Server 2008R2 directly to a Western Digital SN850 NVME drive I'm running into an issue. For background, my motherboard is an ASUS with X570 chipset and a 5900X AMD CPU.
I started the process by updating Install.wim file to include SP1 for Windows Server 2008R2 (the GetWimInfo command now reflects the Install.wim as being SP1).
The items that I've applied to the wim files using DISM are:
Applied to Boot.wim & Install.wim
-KB2990941 Update to add native driver support in NVM Express in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
-KB3087873 prevents “0x0000007E” Stop error after you install hotfix 2990941 in Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
-canonkong's USB3 drivers
-Intel I225-V NIC driver

Applied to Install.wim ONLY
-KB4474419 SHA-2 code signing support (9/9/2019) - no prerequisites
-KB4490628 Servicing Stack Update (SSU) 2019 (3/11/2019) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 - no prerequisites
-KB5006749 (10/2021) Servicing Stack Update (SSU) - prerequisites are KB4474419, Servicing Stack Update (SSU)
(KB5006749 (10/2021) replaced 3020369 April 2015 servicing stack update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2)
-KB3125574 Convenience rollup update (5/2016) for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
-KB3172605 July 2016 update rollup for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 - prerequisites are SP1 & -KB3020369 (KB3020369 replaced by KB5006749)

After committing changes I used IMGBurn to create an iso then used Rufus to create the bootable flash drive. I made sure that there was a bootx64.efi file in the efi\boot folder (placed there by Rufus). I have both USB2.0 ports as well as USB 3.0 and have attempted installation with both. After the flash drive failed to install I tried using the instructions I found in the Windows Eight forum (for working with a Windows 7 iso from within a Windows 7 PC) to manually prep the flash drive and copy installation folders/files from my hard drive directly to the USB flash drive then manually copying efi\microsoft\boot folder to efi\boot then extracting bootmgfw.efi from the Install.wim file on the flash drive changing its name to bootx64.efi and placing in the efi\boot folder on the flash drive.

I also created an iso using the oscdimg command - same results.

No matter what I did when I tried to boot to the installation USB flash drive I received the "Windows is loading files" message then the multi-color Windows logo comes on the screen along with the "Windows Starting" message at the bottom of the screen. It just stays like this and doesn't progress further. I even tried placing the installation on a USB 2.0 flash drive but receive same results.

Just for grins I then booted up the PC with a Windows 10 WinPE flash drive. From this environment I then attempted to launch setup.exe on Windows 7/2008R2 installation flash drive. Installation begins to proceed up to the point of choosing a hard drive/partitions. It shows the NVME drive along with currently existing partitions on that drive but there is a note at the bottom of the screen saying there are no drivers for the NVM Storage Controller (my assumption is that the installation can see the NVME driver due to the Windows 10 WinPE being loaded). I then insert another flash drive with extracted folders/files from NVME HotFixes (along with additional drivers for USB3, etc) and when I point the installation at this flash drive with drivers I receive the message that there are unsigned drivers. I'm pretty sure this again has something to do with the Windows 10 WinPE being loaded. I was able to remove all partitions and have them be unallocated using the installation program but things will not progress past this point. I didn't necessarily expect the installation to proceed from within the Windows 10 WinPE environment but just wanted to at least partially validate that at least the setup.exe would launch.

I then created an installation DVD thinking that this might go easier (than using flash drive). I used IMGBurn to burn the installation folders/files directly to a DVD (requested the option of making the DVD bootable). However, upon booting, the UEFI BIOS recognizes the DVD drive but apparently doesn't recognize either the DVD drive nor the media as being bootable

My understanding is that Windows 7 (Server 2008R2) will install and run on UEFI so I'm unsure what the issue is. I'm sure that the issue could be one of a million things but is there anything that jumps out at you or some different/better tools that I should be using?
Thanks!

 

[robra]

Hello Simon - I've made some BIOS adjustments and I am at the point where the installation begins as it is supposed to. However, when I reach the point where I am to choose which disk to install to the installation still cannot see the NVME drive.

I performed detailed analysis on the boot.wim & install.wim files and, except for the Microsoft nvme driver, all other drivers (USB3 & NIC) that I'm trying to add to the installation are now there. The good news is that the NVME driver is in the install.wim file. It is just missing from the boot.wim file.

Tonight I have performed the "Add-Package" DISM command using both an elevated command prompt and the deployment tool. In every case I am receiving positive feedback that the packages are being added and that the operations completed successfully but the driver is still not in the boot.wim file (I tried both indexes with no luck).

Do you have any suggestions as to what the problem may be?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[SIW2]

How do you know it is not there?

What are you looking for?

Forum - x570 motherboard recommendations for ryzen 5000 series & windows 7


Pure drivers for mainboards and CPUs: AMD_AM4_X399_TRX40_Drivers_B12_Win7_8.1_SHA256.7z — Яндекс.Диск

Forum - [Solution] Win 7/Win8.1 x64 Ryzen APU Video driver.

 

[robra]

My MB is an X570 by ASUS. It is the TUF Gaming X570-PRO (WI-FI). The Wi-fi and Bluetooth may not work with Windows 7 (Server 2008 R2) but I'm not really concerned about that. When I first received the MB in September it was pretty straightforward to get Windows 7 running on a non-NVME drive.

I mainly purchased the Windows 7 Pro just to get the free upgrade to Windows 10 so I wasn't on Windows 7 for long. Once I went to Windows 10 I couldn't stand it and decided to go back to my bullet-proof Windows Server 2008 R2 (Win7 equivalent). That's what I'm dealing with now. When I was on Windows 7 for that short time I ran a speed test on my Western Digital SN850 (Gen 4) and it turns out that it performs even better on Win7 than on Win10.

Even though ASUS says that the MB won't support Win7 I know for a fact that it does. My big challenge has been to be able to install 2008 R2 directly on the NVME. I'm pretty sure that I can and I feel that I'm now really close to doing it. As far as chipset drivers there is a guy somewhere on the web (YouTube, I think) that figured out that the download ASUS chipset file is exactly the same as the file for X570 but the X570 chipset install is dumbed down so that it won't allow chipset installation with Win7. But the guy has installed the X470 chipset software on his X570 ASUS board.

You pointed out the issue with the APU. Fortunately, my 5900X CPU does not have an APU so that's not an issue that I have to deal with.

You asked about how I know that the NVME driver is missing from boot.wim. I used the DISM command (example: Dism /image:C:\temp\mount /Get-Drivers /all /Format:Table>C:\Drivers_New_Install_1.txt) on an older Win7 PC that I've been using to build the 2008 R2 installation package and compared results between install.wim and boot.wim files (thid provides a listing of inf files loaded in the install & boot wim files) and I can see that the primary driver file that I need is the generic Microsoft stornvme.inf driver and performed some queries with those resulting lists in MS Access and can see that the stornvme.inf driver (inf file) is the only one that is in the install.wim but not in the boot.wim file. The text in the inf file corresponds with the Compatible ID of my Storage Controller (PCI\CC_010802) so I know it is the generic MS driver that I need.

As I mentioned, I think that I'm just 1 step away from this thing coming together. I just can't figure out why the driver goes into the install.wim just fine but won't go into the boot.wim. Do you happen to know how I can completely extract inf (and associated files) out of those HotFixes? If I can get my hands on the inf and associated files maybe I can do just a driver installation on the boot.wim file (I'm so close). The stuff I've read explains how to "expand" msu and cab files but it looks like I need to break them down further than that to get to the inf level.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[robra]

FYI - I was finally able to install my Windows Server 2008 R2 directly onto the NVME drive as I had hoped. From reading posts of folks not having success doing this I thought that it was probably driver related but couldn't quite nail down what the problem was. I was applying both NVME Hotfixes (KB2990941 &
KB3087873) to both the install.wim file as well as the boot.wim file but regardless of whether I was trying to install from USB or DVD the installation refused to see the NVME. I knew that the Hotfixes worked (to some degree) because several weeks ago I was playing around with a Windows 7 installation, and, like most, I resorted to installing Windows 7 to a regular SSD then ran the Hotfixes from the SSD and it allowed the PC to see the NVME drive which then allowed me to move the already installed Windows 7 OS to the NVME.

When the installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 failed to see the NVME I looked closer at the boot.wim and install.wim files. Initially, I thought that the NVME driver files consisted only of stornvme.inf & stornvme.sys because those were the only driver files for NVME Controller on my Windows 10 installation.

I had applied both NVME Hotfixes (KB2990941 & KB3087873) to the boot.wim file but I could find no evidence of either a stornvme.inf or stornvme.sys file being within that mounted file.

Then I looked within the install.wim file. I found references to the stornvme.inf and stornvme.sys files. I thought that these were all that were needed for the NVME. Then I ran across a great post by Tal Aloni at Installing Windows 7 on an m.2 NVMe drive? - Super User. Tal Aloni explained that stornvme.inf & stornvme.sys were indeed needed driver files but that ALSO Classpnp.sys & Storport.sys dependency files are needed as well. In all, 4 different files are needed. They are:

Stornvme.inf
Stornvme.sys
Classpnp.sys
Storport.sys

It is important that all 4 files are also of the same version.

I again looked in the boot.wim file. The only files that I found there were:

windows\System32\drivers folder
classpnp.sys (pre-NVME version 6.1.7600.16385 from 7/13/2009)
storport.sys (pre-NVME version 6.1.7600.16385 from 7/13/2009)

There was no sign of any needed NVME drivers being installed in the boot.wim file from applying the Hotfixes. The dependency files noted immediately above are a version from the original Windows installation were not the more current versions needed to support NVME.

I then again looked in the install.wim file and found the following files:

windows\inf folder
stornvme.inf (latest version 6.1.7601.23403)

windows\System32\drivers folder
clsspnp.sys (latest version 6.1.7601.23403)
stornvme.sys (latest version 6.1.7601.23403)
storport.sys (latest version 6.1.7601.23403)

Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\stornvme.inf_amd64_neutral_3aaea1304c708cc4 folder
stornvme.inf (latest version 6.1.7601.23403)
stornvme.sys (latest version 6.1.7601.23403)

Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\stornvme.inf_amd64_neutral_e956dafdaed58a8c
stornvme.inf (older version 6.1.7601.18615)
stornvme.sys (older version 6.1.7601.18615)

I believe that the version 18615 files were from the Hotfixes but the version 23403 files were more recent and were the ones that I needed. Thankfully, Simon had stated earlier that it is important that the needed NVME drivers not only exist in the install.wim file but also that they should be in the boot.wim file. If he had not mentioned this I don't think that I would have solved this. I had applied the Hotfixes to both the install.wim and boot.wim files using the "Add-Package" feature in DISM. That action placed the 2 version 18615 files in the install.wim file but apparently had absolutely no effect at all on the boot.wim file. The Hotfixes seem to work well when implementing them on a system with the OS already installed but don't seem to work correctly when trying to build installation media.

Once I saw that the version 23403 files noted above were apparently properly installed in the install.wim file I realized that they were contained as part of the KB3125574 Convenience rollup that I had added to the install.wim file but had not added into the boot.wim file. At this point I then performed an "Add-Driver" DISM command to add the 4 driver files that I had now extracted from the install.wim file. After doing this everything looked good except that the classpnp.sys and storport.sys files were still the original 16385 version files and not the version 23403 files that I wanted. Per the post by Tal Aloni I then manually replaced these 2 version 16385 files with the current 23403 ones.

I committed the changes to the boot.wim file and I was done (no additional changes were needed for the install.wim). The key to the whole thing was that all 4 of the version 23403 driver files were contained in the KB3125574 Convenience rollup. I have a theory that for creating installation media that the Hotfixes aren't even needed (but I haven't proven this theory).

Here is the portion of the post from Tal Aloni that showed me what to do to complete the boot.wim file:

Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:"C:\WinPE_amd64\winpe.wim" /index:1 /MountDir:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount"
Dism /image:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount" /Add-Driver /Driver:"C:\Drivers\NVMe\Windows 7 x64" /ForceUnsigned
copy "C:\Drivers\NVMe\Windows 7 x64\Dependencies\Classpnp.sys" "C:\WinPE_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\drivers\Classpnp.sys" /y
copy "C:\Drivers\NVMe\Windows 7 x64\Dependencies\storport.sys" "C:\WinPE_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\drivers\storport.sys" /y
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:"C:\WinPE_amd64\mount" /commit

The end result needed is the 6.1.7601.23403 version of the following files in the noted boot.wim folders below:

Windows\System32\drivers folder
Classpnp.sys
Stornvme.sys
Storport.sys

Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\stornvme.inf_amd64_neutral_3aaea1304c708cc4 folder
Stornvme.inf
Stornvme.sys

Thanks Simon for the info that you provided on this project!

Bob

 

[SIW2]

I dont know why you had that difficulty.

The usual way is to use dism ( or dism++ ) to install the two hotfixes into boot.wim and install.wim ( whichever image number is to be installed ).

Then copy the sources folder from the updated boot.wim into the distribution folder to ensure matching setup files.

That last step is presumably not needed if you are doing it manually as per your post.

By using the msu files. the setup files in the sources folder are also updated to version 18015 which is why they need to be copied to the distribution folder to match.

as explained by MS

Manually sort the folder C:\temp\mount\sources by date, and then copy the updated files to c:\temp\src\sources.

there is no need to bother sorting by date, copying the entire folder is quicker.

Update to add native driver support in NVM Express in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

 

[robra]

as explained by MS
there is no need to bother sorting by date, copying the entire folder is quicker.
Update to add native driver support in NVM Express in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Actually, I did run across that MS Hotfix description and tried to do it their way. I sorted the folder as they suggested and the only files with newer dates were boot.wim and install.wim. I was expecting there to be more than just those 2 files that changed.

Also, on that page where they say "Copy the driver files to c:\temp\drivers" I didn't know what "driver files" they were talking about since the topic was adding 2 msu files to the installation media. It seemed to me there were 2 packages to use the "Add-Packages" command with and it didn't seem to me there would be any additional drivers to run a "Add-Drivers" command with. What separate drivers would there be when just adding 2 Hotfix packages?

 

[SIW2]

I sorted the folder as they suggested and the only files with newer dates were boot.wim and install.wim.

You were looking in the distribution sources folder. That is the wrong place

The folder to look in is the mounted boot.wim sources folder. While it is still mounted and after integrating the two msu files.

Copy the updated files from mount\sources to distribution\sources

Also, on that page where they say "Copy the driver files to c:\temp\drivers" I didn't know what "driver files" they were talking about

That is only if you are adding drivers as well, e.g. network drivers. Some people also like to include the manufacturer drivers, eg the samsung nvme drivers, which allegedly are optimized for that specific brand.

The way you did it works ok - as you now know, though it doesn't include all the other updated files that are in the two msu. There is a long list of them on the link I posted earlier. Perhaps those other updated files are not needed for winpe.wim/boot.wim/winre.wim.

If you like, you could try these in a fresh copy of boot.wim View attachment msvme_Win7x86x64.zip instead of stornvme.inf and stornvme.sys

I expect the dependencies Classpnp.sys and Storport.sys would still need to be copied to the drivers folder as you did before

 

[robra]

Thanks for answering those 2 questions. On doing the sort I see now that, as you said, I was looking in the wrong place. Luckily, as you suggested earlier, I did copy the entire folder (rather than just files that had changed) so am thankful that I ended up in the right place.

On the Add-Drivers question, I was hoping that the handling drivers separately procedure was only if I were adding unrelated drivers. That question was bugging me throughout the entire process.

It was you very early on that suggested that my Western Digital NVME may just need the MS generic drivers. This turned out to be the case after seeing that is what my Win10 setup was using on this drive and I also checked with Western Digital. I'll keep this point in mind if/when I ever go with a different manufacturer.

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge on all of this. I am very happy where all of this ended up and am extremely happy that I can now put off "downgrading" to Windows 10/11 for some amount of time. Even with all of the research that I did getting this done I can tell you that I wouldn't have even attempted it without your guidance.

Bob

 

[Illogixx]

Install both KB2990941-v3 and KB3087873-v2

NVME-UPDATES-WIN7x64.ZIP

NVME-UPDATES-WIN7x86.ZIP

Awesome. Thanks for this! My Intel M.2 drive appeared right away once I applied the patches.

 

[SIW2]

 

[Markus64]

my reply :

Awesome. Thanks for this! My WD SN550 M.2 drive appeared right away once I applied the patches.

i wonder, this patches are from 2015, but why is this not included in an actual installation of Windows 7 ?

THANKS for this great tip