Solved Update Win7x86 for USB3/nvme?

[joeyc100]

I want to update windows 7 32 bit with the USB3 and NVME drivers ( I have many legacy 16 bit programs to run). Is it possible?

 

[SIW2]

yes.

 

[joeyc100]

Using nvme-WIN7x86 the m.2 nvme appeared as a drive and could be partitioned, but it did not appear to the Win7 installer so I could not install it.

 

[SIW2]

If you want windows setup to see the nvme disk , the nvme updates need to be integrated into boot.wim image 2.

32 bit (x86) win7 does not support efi booting.

For efi boot you should use 64 bit (x64) win7.

 

[joeyc100]

I will retain win7x86 on the sata drive and prepare x64 for the new nvme drive as a start. I downloaded the Lenovo hotfix and made the nvme drive visible to x86 so I know it works. I have an x64 ISO which I will extract to a temp file next.

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Oops...7UPDATERv42A needs a 64bit machine, so everything was moved to one nearby and the task was run to an apparent completion. When the task completes where are the results?
Is the original file overwritten?

 

[SIW2]

whatever distribution folder you pointed it at will have been updated.

 

[flavallee]

I will retain win7x86 on the sata drive and prepare x64 for the new nvme drive as a start. I downloaded the Lenovo hotfix and made the nvme drive visible to x86 so I know it works. I have an x64 ISO which I will extract to a temp file next.
Oops...7UPDATERv42A needs a 64bit machine, so everything was moved to one nearby and the task was run to an apparent completion. When the task completes where are the results?
Is the original file overwritten?

Why are you using 3-year old version 42A instead of current version 64I of the integration tool?

Update your Win 7 installation media

 

[joeyc100]

I "read" 641 not 64I and after perusing 143 pages of thread I came across 42A, a logical update of 41, and so used it.

But, no matter, after copying a WIN7x64 dvd to a disk folder and using 641, I converted the resulting folder to an ISO using Imgburn. Rufus v3.11.1678 produced a USB which booted up nicely back on my WIN7X86 target machine and accepted a USB mouse (so the USB3 drivers were included). However, upon reaching the partition selection page the nvme drive did not appear and so I could go no further. All the sata partitions showed but no nvme partition.
I then tried all of this again using a WIN7X86 dvd on the nearby x64 o/s. Bringing the new USB back to my x86 and booting it fared no better. Even tho the current x86 o/s could use the nvme drive as data storage, the new x86 boot could not get to it.
What next, the world wonders....

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Ok...
I have tried:
1. WindowsImageTool from GA. It inserts the USB3 drivers but not the nvme driver, even when asked to do so.
2. Win7UsbPatcher(v2.0.21_Braswell) from Asrock. Same results as above.
3. 7UPv64I from SIW2 running on a 64bit machine, and ported back. Again, same results as above.

I'm beginning to think that I have been incorporating the wrong nvme driver. I am running a KabyLake I5 on an Asrock Z270M Pro4 m/b. But I don't see an nvme driver in all of the driver downloads from Asrock. The KB2990941 hotfix allows the nvme drive to be seen by Win7x86 and used as a data drive, but that's all.

I shall try Integrate7, altho I don't want to add the Win7 updates to the results just yet. I have to figure out how to stop this.

 

[SIW2]

the new x86 boot could not get to it.

what do you mean "get to it "

did you open a cmd prompt and type

diskpart
list disk

 

[joeyc100]

Yes. Copying by hand:
Disk 0 Online 465 GB (current o/s ssd)
Disk 1 Online 931 GB (current archives hdd)
Disk 2 Online 465 GB (new ct500p3pssd8 nvme)
Disk 3 Online 28 GB (Usb boot drive after Integrate7)

And so,
4. Integrate7 by Keller running on a 64bit machine and ported back. USB3 drivers were added ok, but no nvme.

 

[SIW2]

Disk 0 Online 465 GB (current o/s ssd)
Disk 1 Online 931 GB (current archives hdd)
Disk 2 Online 465 GB (new ct500p3pssd8 nvme)
Disk 3 Online 28 GB (Usb boot drive after Integrate7)

That indicates the booted media is aware of the nvme disk.

What do you mean by "could not get to it"

can you provide a screenshot of "could not get to it" ?

 

[joeyc100]

The display that I copied from running diskpart is of the currently running Win7x86 o/s. The nvme disk shows up there (after the hotfix was applied). I can read and write with it.
When I boot the newly made Win7x86, it goes thru the usual opening screens and reaches the "Where do you want to put it" screen showing a list of disk partitions. Disk 0, a sata ssd, appears with it's many partitions, one of which contains the current o/s. The next is disk 1, a sata hdd, with it's partitions. But disk 2, the nvme which appeared in diskpart, does not appear. So I cannot select a partition within it as a destination for the new o/s. (I cannot get to the nvme at this point during the installation). I want the new o/s to reside on the nvme disk, replacing the sata ssd which will eventually be used elsewhere.
I don't know how to do a screenshot during the windows installation.

 

[SIW2]

from the booted media press shift+F10 to open cmd prompt and type:

diskpart
list disk

 

[joeyc100]

Diskpart shows nvme missing. Only two sata disks and the usb drive are displayed.
A previous build using 64I shows the same: no nvme drive.

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The 64I build had an opening splash screen with a bunch of utilities, one of which was cmd. That's how I ran Diskpart.
I am going to build another USB boot with Win7x64 and see if the Z270 board is the problem by not allowing 32 bit builds, or Crucial does not allow 32 bit builds, for their products.

 

[joeyc100]

So ok...
I decided to see if I could clone the current o/s (Win7x86) to the nvme drive using Partition Master. A few hours later the entire contents of the sata ssd was copied to the nvme . I removed the sata ssd's data cable, and booted from the nvme. It worked, and I was now operating from the nvme. I backed up all to the hdd, and tried to do a normal install (in this case overwrite) of Win7x86 from the usb that I created on the nearby 64bit machine. It did not work. The USB3 drivers were ok, but there was no nvme driver in the installer itself, which could not see any of the partitions on the nvme, only those on the hdd.
Still thinking about it....

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So cloning is not the way to go.
I made room available on the sata ssd and installed Win7x64 as a dual boot system which allowed all of the work to be done on one machine. I researched Crucial and found that the Micron drivers in Integrate7 had to be replaced with Micron "legacy drivers". Finally, an installation was begun: the nvme drive appeared, was selected, and things proceeded nicely to the first restart. But that was all. The installation stopped with an error on mtinvme.sys: "cannot verify digital signature". It would go no further.
It has been 6 days now. I am tired. I am marking this thread as finished and will send the nvme stick back to Amazon.