Booting to NVMe ON Z820 HP AND Z600

[DGroves]

please us this link for the windows version 2019 of DUET+REFIND

DUET (UDK2019) with REFIND included

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=12VaoZxSIGXYkB1CDS1kNn2j1TOMGZCZ4

help with duet/refind

https://www.win-raid.com/t3286f50-Guide-NVMe-boot-for-systems-with-legacy-BIOS-and-older-UEFI-DUET-R...

[Buffalo_Rider]

The writeup campdublanc posted (a link to) on 1-01-2020

Nice Write-up.  Pictures help. 

[Buffalo_Rider]

OK, back to it.  I finally have all the hardware pieces I need.  I have my Windows 10 Installer on a USB Flash Drive.  I have the REFIND code on another USB Flash Drive (used the campdublanc instructions for creating this).  I have my NVMe mounted on an Adapter card (with a Warship heatsink).  I got an internal header to attach to the motherboard's USB 2.0 connector.  I need to set my BIOS, then I am ready to install Windows 10.

I am now in the BIOS.  My BIOS is, apparently, a little different than what campdublanc posted.  Before trying things, thought I would post a couple questions - it may prevent headaches from doing the wrong thing out of ignorance. 

Here are campdublanc's instructions - which echo an earlier post from DGroves.

Here’s a How To with all the steps I took to make it work:
 

1. Set BIOS to "factory" defaults
2. In BIOS disable Intel "AMT"
3. In BIOS disable boot from network 
4. if not booting from the onboard LSI SAS/SATA controller, disable the LSI controller boot rom (do not disable the LSI controller unless you are using an add in Raid card)
5. In BIOS disable the boot from network card option
6. Check BIOS boot order section, and make the USB Hard Disk device the top most entry (you can leave the Legacy section as is). Also make sure the Select Boot device Option is enabled (F9 key).
7. Reboot
8. download[edit] included, and unzip the files to a desired location.

Now, my questions on these. 

- on disabling Intel AMT.  The acronym 'AMT' shows up in three places in my BIOS.  One is "NIC (AMT) Option ROM Download", the second is "NIC Controller (AMT)", and the third is here: "Advanced->Management Operations->AMT".   I believe it is the last one that needs to be disabled.  Your thoughts.

-  Steps 3 and 5 on disabling the boot from "network" and "network card option."  I found network boot in

"Security->Network Boot".  I don't have a "Network Card Option" anywhere in BIOS unless it goes by a different name.  Are Steps 3 and 5 the same?  Looks like there is no Step 5 for my Z620.

-  the "LSI controller boot ROM" of step 4.  I don't see LSI anywhere in my BIOS.   I assume I should, therefore, ignore this step.

To this point, I have not changed my BIOS.  

[DGroves]

if you disable AMT under the security section, then by default it also disables the other two

some builds of the z820/z620 included a optional network card, if you don't have a add-in nic then the network card option will not apply

the z820 has a onboard LSI ROC chip (Raid On Chip) that powers 7 SAS/SATA ports the z620 does not have this chip and disabling the boot rom of the LSI chip speeds the bootup time

step #3) boot from network, disable to speed up boot time (see below)

step# 5) you should also disable the onboard nic(s) boot rom in the bios since you will not be booting from a network but from a hard drive/SSD again, disabling his speeds up the boot sequence and gives you more bios space for other add-in cards

[Buffalo_Rider]

OK.  Updated the BIOS.  Done with that. 

Tried doing all the updates at once and they did not all go the first time.  (These were the updates in campdublanc's list for the Z820 - modified per DGroves comments since I have a z620.) 

Why did they not all go through?  I concluded the 'reset to factory defaults' caused the AMT to be enabled, and so on for the other BIOS updates.  So I did the 'reset to factory defaults' by itself - did a default save.  Turned off the computer.   Powered it back on, and entered BIOS a second time.  Then I did the other updates - and did a save changes.  

I then turned off the computer; the powered it back on, and entered BIOS a third time to ensure all the second pass updates were still there.  They were.

So it appears I am good to go on the BIOS updates.

[Buffalo_Rider]

Got the z620 to see my NVMe card (plugged into a PCIe slot), but not without some flak.

I turned off the computer, then unplugged it, so I could seat my PCIe Adapter card into a PCIe slot.   My Samsung 970 EVO PLUS card was mounted onto the PCIe Adapter.   I then plugged the computer in and turned it on. 

Computer went past BIOS and into Windows 10 briefly, then went back to the 'hp Logo' black setup screen.  Then the computer beeped and I got the message:

  928

  Fatal PCIe error

  PCIe error detected Slot 5

 Malformed TLP.

At the bottom of the black screen, in blue, was this:  F1 Boot.

Stared at this, looked up the 928 error on the Internet, and thought about it for a bit.  I then tapped my F1 Key, thinking what the heck, it shoudln't hurt anything, let's see where might this go.   My z620 then went through the IPL process one more time and this time it got to my Windows 10 desktop. 

Once in the Windows 10 desktop, I pulled up my System Information Window.  I went to Components->Storage->Disks.  In there it showed as one of the Disk Drive Models, a 'Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB'.  Just to make sure, I went to the Disk Manager - it showed up there also (my Disk 2) and asked if I wanted this to be an MBR or GPT disk.  I backed out w/o doing anything.  I then did a restart, and this worked also - still could see the 970 EVO Plus.  Do it looks like I am ready to install the OS.   

[Buffalo_Rider]

OK, I am stuck.  Before trying anything, thought I would post what I am seeing here.

So where am I?  I am installing Windows 10 per the post of campudublanc. 

I had already changed the Boot Order in the BIOS so that "USB Hard Drive" is the top-most entry in the "UEFI Boot Sources" section. 

I then started with the z620 off.  I plugged my Win10 USB Drive into a USB port on the front of the computer. Powered up the computer.  It found the USB Drive and began the Windows installation.  Got to the screen asking me which Drive to put Win10 onto, and I chose Disk 2, which is my NVMe card.  The transfer of files to the NVMe card, or preparation of this transfer, then began.  After some time passed, the screen went black for a few seconds, then came back light blue. 

At the top of the light blue screen it said "RECOVERY."   And under that...

Your PC/Device needs to be repaired

The application of OS couldn’t be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.

File: \Windows\system32\winload.efi

Error Code 0xC000000e

You will need to use recover tools.  If you don’t have any installation media contact your PC administrator.

Press Enter to try again

Press F1 for Startup Settings

Press Esc for UEFI Firmware Settings

Press F9 to use a different OS

So, is this the place that I pull out the Win10 USB Drive and replace it with my REFIND USB Drive?  Or do I need to do something else first? 

I will note that when I viewed my "Disk 2" in Disk Management - which is my 970 EVO Plus card - it was not yet formatted, nor were partitions set up on it.  I was given the choice to format it in UEFI mode or MBR mode, and I did neither.  I just backed out thinking the Win10 install would take care of it.  Now, with an install error in front of me, I am thinking I should back up, and power up using the Win10 OS already on my Disk Drive.  Then I could go in and format the 970 EVO Plus card with UEFI partitioning.  After doing this, I could try installing Windows 10 again. 

I will add, both campdublanc and DGroves emphasized doing a UEFI install.  So far, no where in the process - not in the process of making my Win10 USB Drive, and not while installing Windows 10 on my NVMe card - was I asked about UEFI. 

[DGroves]

which version of refind+duet did you use?  

did you download the refind+duet from the link i posted?

did you download the MS win 10 x64 version of windows

did you create a UEFI win 10 x64 USB install key

if you remove the win 10 install usb key, and boot the system does refind+duet load and show the loader screen?

[Buffalo_Rider]

Responses to your questions

which version of refind+duet did you use?  Me: The name of the zip folder is "Duet_UDK2019_REFIND"

did you download the refind+duet from the link i posted? Me: Yes.  I got this from rodsbooks.com

did you download the MS win 10 x64 version of windows.  Me: Yes.

did you create a UEFI win 10 x64 USB install key.  Me: I was not prompted anywhere about UEFI when I created the 10 x64 USB install key (Flash Drive).  I used Microsoft's tool for creating my USB Drive; I did not use RUFUS.    I was looking for a UEFI option..  It never came up. Also it did not come up, I was not asked if I wanted UEFI/GPT or MBR, during the Windows 10 install.

if you remove the win 10 install usb key, and boot the system does refind+duet load and show the loader screen?  Me: I did not plug in the REFIND USB Drive yet.  Per campdublanc's instruction list, I did not get to the point in the installation, far enough into the installation, where I was supposed to remove the Win10 USB Drive' and replace it with the REFIND USB Drive.  Would you suggest I try this?

[DGroves]

you did NOT download it from the link i posted please use this link

https://www.win-raid.com/t3286f50-Guide-NVMe-boot-for-systems-with-legacy-BIOS-and-older-UEFI-DUET-R...

athe z600 will most likely REQUIRE the older 2015 version that works with the z800 since the z600/z800 systems are similar

this is why i told you to use the link i posted previously

OLD Updated download link for DUET (UDK2015) with REFIND included - for board with memory/boot issue:
  ASRock X58 Extreme rev 1.02 | Hp Z800

now,......................................... what does the below mean?

if you remove the win 10 install usb key, and boot the system does refind+duet load and show the loader screen?  Me: I did not plug in the REFIND USB Drive yet.  Per campdublanc's instruction list, I did not get to the point in the installation, far enough into the installation, where I was supposed to remove the Win10 USB Drive' and replace it with the REFIND USB Drive.  Would you suggest I try this?

the directions are fairly plain i said   I PREVIOUSLY POSTED directions on how to install refind+duet on a z800 which is NOT uefi enabled the z820 is uefi enabled, and does not require duet only refind

i recommend you read my post on this forum on booting the z800 with nvme and also read the link in this post