Z620 booting from Intel and Samsung NVMe drives (with OPROMs)

[DGroves]

for stubborn partition removal use the cmd line method, just be sure you select the correct drive!!!

1. At a command prompt, type diskpart.
2. At the DISKPART prompt, type select disk [number]. Choose the disk to modify.
3. At the DISKPART prompt, type list partition.
4. At the DISKPART prompt, type select partition [number]. Enter the partition number to modify.
5. At the DISKPART prompt, type delete partition.
6. At the DISKPART prompt, type exit.

[Rhothgar]

Tried all that. 

It didn’t work as the drive I bought had not been cleared by seller and it was formatted as a page file. Cannot remember now but think it was MBR. 

Either way, it simply would not clear so created W11 iso and selected Repair your PC option after changing BIOS settings and ran DISKPART from there.  Once cleared, everything went as smooth as expected. 

My last resort would have been this DBAN option. 

Thanks for your input. 

[SDH]

Just got another 800GB DC P3700 add in PCIe card via eBay that had earlier firmware from several generations back. As said before the newest firmware is important to have and can most reliably be installed via the x64 3.0.27 version of the Intel Data Center Tool. I provided its download LINK earlier in this long blog, near top of page 2. I downloaded it again and it worked perfectly again on W11 24H2. The most recent versions of the Solidigm Storage Tool (SST) have not detected or provided the true most recent firmware for the drives provided directly from Intel (8DV101H0). I'll not use that again.

This eBay P3700 drive cost 53.00 including shipping, was physically in excellent condition, has 98% life left when probed with CrystalDiskInfo, and is "Good" on all SMART attributes. It can be run for many more years to come. I wanted to show the Command Line Interface (CLI) use of the Intel Data Center Tool v. 3.0.27 after you have run its x64 version installer, downloaded from HERE . You get to that by invoking the program from within an "elevated CMD window" (by running CMD as administrator) and using it as shown below. Remember that you don't want one of these drives with HP or Dell or Lenovo firmware. You want one showing the firmware straight from Intel, an 8-alphanumeric something like FW: 8DV10171 or FW: 8DV10131 (or earlier). Those other drive's firmwares are shown on the top edge label as 3- or 4- alphanumerics and likely cannot be upgraded easily. The firmware ID is near the middle of the thin top label on the upper card edge. You don't want an "Engineering Sample" for sure. Below is from my use today, and the arrows show what you need to enter stepwise:

Steps to update firmware...

There is only one Intel DC P3700 present in this workstation so by default it shows up as drive Index 0. Running that first command results in a brief pause and then it shows the Bootloader to end in 131 and the firmware to end in 171... both are outdated, and it indicates that both can be updated. The "bootloader" includes the supplemental OPROM boot code that allows this NVMe drive to be booted on ZX20 and other HP computers that have early UEFI capabilities if that capability is turned on in BIOS. Intel did a lot of updating of the bootloader and firmware versions before finally working out the bugs. The latest are what you want. In fact, these P3700 drives are now working here perfectly under W11 24H2 also in several Elite 8300 SFF business class computers, just for fun. Their BIOS is very similar to that used in the ZX20 workstations.

The second command of isdct load -intelssd 0 installs both updates. Note that spaces in the command syntax are important, including the one at the beginning of the command after the >. I then ran the first command again before rebooting just to show that the bootloader and firmware were now both updated (but it is best to just exit and reboot rather than dink around at this stage).

Here is another very worthwhile update:   Use of DiskPart allows you to clean and efficiently GPT-partiton a disk in preparation for a W11 24H2 clean install or to clear a used drive leaving it in an unallocated raw state. Again, an elevated CMD window is used. At the end you will have an unallocated disk with GPT partitioning. This is the critical precondition for UEFI to work properly and to use Rufus 4.9 to install W11 24H2. Below are the commands and use no more or less. This example shows the Intel P3700 as disk 0 and a boot 1TB drive as disk 1:

Steps to clean and GPT partiton...

DiskPart can be a danger if you don't pay attention to what is disk 0 and disk 1 or disk 2... You can use the in-OS Microsoft utility "Disk Management" to figure out the disk numbers from their shown size and internal partitions. A thumb drive will be small, one of these 800GB DC P3700 drives will show up as a little under 800, etc. Don't choose the wrong drive, and don't have unnecessary drives in place that could confuse you. You can add those back in later.

Here is a very cool breakthrough: The bootable Rufus 4.9 thumb drive actually has DiskPart included (as does an unmodified W11 24H2 installer). When you boot from the Rufus drive it will auto-launch the W11 24H2 installer window but you can minimize that window with the "minus" at the top right corner and then hit Shift + F10. That launches an elevated CMD window which lets you run the sequence of commands shown above to clean and then GPT partition your target drive. You then exit out of DiskPart and exit out of the CMD window as shown, and de-minimize the still open Rufus 4.9 W11 24H2 installer window and proceed through the W11 install steps.

A few added tips:

I set BIOS to "Factory defaults" and make sure to save those changes on the way out if I'm offered that.

I always disconnect from the net before doing this... MS will try to rope you into things you may not want if you leave internet access open at this stage. You can plug the cable back in later or re-enable your wireless adapter.

I don't check for updates when it tries to get me to... I'm disconnected from the net on purpose and I just choose the option that "I don't have internet".

I don't check devices when it tries to get me to.... I've already done all the updates for my current install if I'm doing an in-place upgrade to W11 24H2, or I'll use Windows Update later if I'm doing a clean install.

When I'm making the Rufus 4.9 thumb drive I do it exactly the way the excellent 12 minute video shows from the link Paul Tikkanen found for us... HERE .   Important... as shown in the video at 5:33 in, check all the option boxes in the window that opens after you click on START near the end of configuring the Rufus program.

I don't mess with the main page that is about 4 pages in during the initiation of the W11 24H2 install. I just let the installer work with the "unallocated" drive I created with DiskPart at the very beginning of a Rufus 4.9 clean install. The installer will pause for a bit as it chooses what to do but then it will proceed.

You have all the basics now. Note that if you're going to use the OPROM NVMe boot-enabling code inside these special NVMe drives you'll need to change that single setting in BIOS too. Don't change the other 2 next to it... just change that one to EFI, then F10 to accept, and save on the way out of BIOS. However, if I wanted to use a DC P3700 as a boot or data drive in a more modern ZX40 or ZX G4 or ZX G5 I'd just do everything as explained here but not turn on the BIOS option to add in OPROM boot code (if that option is even included in the BIOS of those newer workstations). I've recently found that option does exist in the latest 3.08 BIOS of the E8300 HP business class computers and have had the Samsung 950 Pro and Intel DC P3700 NVMe drives booting in the E8300s here. Very fast. More details are in a recent post HERE.

[Rhothgar]

Hi.

I'm so sorry that you have taken the time to respond as I did get it working.

I did post an update soon after on the day to say I had had success but it doesn't appear to have appeared in the thread.

I am sure this will still all be useful to others.

The addition Rufus information iro Diskpart is good to know for future reference.

OH! And how on earth you can source these drives so cheap is beyond me.  Prices in the UK are ridiculous.  They are asking $170 for an 800Gb P3700.

I might have to opt for the lesser P3600.  Even they are asking £50+ ($65+).

And as for Samsung 950 Pro, I did manage to drop on a 256Gb one for £20!!!  Others are asking £135 for those.

[SDH]

Rhothgar,

Good to hear from you again. I did understand your prior post regarding success. I should have been more clear that my newest post was a followup with new and updated findings.  The discovery of success of this method working also on the older E8300 business implies that other more recent HP business class computers without full-fledged UEFI capabilities will be able to use the same method.

I was also surprised to find that transplanting an i7-3770 processor into the E8300 SFF actually unlocked PCIe3 x16 instead of the more common PCIe2 speeds seen from its black full length PCIe slot. This happens because that processor provides the 2x faster PCIe3 technology (as does the cheaper i5-3570 processor). Both of those are HP-approved for the E8300 series. The processor controls that specific slot. So, I insert the P3700 drive there and a nVidia K620 card into the long white slot next to it (which runs on PCIe2 technology very well).

The eBay sources here in the US have continued to drop their prices for the P3700, and I've benefited from that. Maybe you can contact some of the sellers and request a slow boat across the pond? Worth the wait...

[Rhothgar]

It's a REAL shame that I cannot use a Lenovo one as I have the potential opportunity for one on auction which is currently at sensible money.  It's a 2017 model.  Maybe its firmware would work because it is such a late model.  Maybe I will take a flyer and see what happens.

[DGroves]

you can use the lenovo p3700 ssd's  in normal windows 10/11 OS'S 

 the intel updater may not update the ssd automagically

due to it possibly having a lenovo mfg device ID

if looking for updates, these p3700 ssd's were used in ThinkServer RD550, RD650 systems

[Rhothgar]

Cool. Thank you.

I have found this updater:-

https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/downloads/ds119265

I've tried to install it and it finds my two Samsung ACHI drives OK so I am guessing that it will run on a Z420 OK to enable the Lenovo PC3700 to be update if necessary.

[SDH]

Rhothgar,

I've bought used Lenovo M.2 drives off eBay. Interesting discovery... got some great deals on virtually unused 1TB Lenovo-ID drives because the executives who got handed new laptops every X months felt the bigger the M.2 drive the higher they were on the pecking order. 1TB was just too tiny for them...

Lenovo has done a great job with making M.2 firmware updates available for their Lenovo-ID NVMe drives but their FW updater package does not work on non-Lenovo-ID M.2 SSDs. Nor does it include FW for datacenter NVMe drives, sorry to say.

Please let us all know if you finally find the Lenovo version of the DC P3700 FW updater... I spent an hour this morning looking too without success.

[Rhothgar]

Looks  like I drew a blank then with that link I posted. 

This is the label on the item which didn’t curry great hope.