New NVME (WD SN720) Not Recognised in 15S-FQ4553na F33 Bios

[BL4CK_R4T]

Ladies and gents,

I have tried to upgrade the 256 KIOXIA SSD that my HP laptop came with to a 1TB WD SN720.  I was well aware of the Intel driver thing to view the drive in the Windows 11 installation media (works a treat).  Unfortunately on the first reboot of the drive, the bios fails to see the drive to allow it to boot and finish the install.  I have formatted the drive as NTFS using both MBR and GPT partitioning but this makes no difference.  People have mentioned secure boot & keys etc etc but as I am installing Windows 11, I assume that needs to stay on (and I assume if I screw it up, even the original 256 drive wont boot).  If anyone could let me know what settings need to be changed or if my 1TB (Gen 4) drive is incompatible that would save me a lot of scratching my head.

Simon

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Simon:

What I suggest you do is to use the HP cloud recovery tool to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall Windows, the drivers and the software that originally came with your PC on the new SSD.

Here is an info link for how to use the utility.  You will need a 32 GB USB flash drive to create the recovery media with.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Customer Support

You can download the software from the Microsoft Store.

HP Cloud Recovery Tool - Microsoft Store Apps

Since you have to use the utility on another PC, you will need to enter your notebook's product number in the tool's search window in order to proceed to make the recovery media. 

Your PC's product number is 54C84EA#ABU

BTW, the SN720 is a PCIe Gen 3.0 SSD.

I've attached the datasheet below:

[BL4CK_R4T]

Hi Paul,

That does seem like a great idea 💡.....The only reason I was hoping for a clean Win 11 instal was that the HP build comes with a fair bit of bloat wear and worse admin rights seem to be impinged when it comes to antivirus/admin tools (all appear to hidden from user similar to work/school account)....I was hoping if possible to dodge the bloat and reinstate the heightened admin rights.

Thank you so much for your speedy response.

Simon

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else you can try because if you installed the Intel RST drivers and that worked but then the installation failed to complete after restarting the notebook, I've never come across that issue before.

In order to install Windows with secure boot enabled, the drive must be formatted with the GPT partition table, not MBR.

Now, if you want to try the latest version of the IRST driver and attempt another clean install, I have zipped the driver up and attached it below.

Copy all of the files in both folders in the attached file to a USB flash drive.

Have the flash drive and your Windows installation media plugged into USB ports.

Boot from the Windows installation flash drive.

When you get to the screen where no drives can be found, click on the Load driver option, browse to the flash drive with the storage controller drivers on it.

If you check the box, it will only include the compatible driver.

[BL4CK_R4T]

Hi Paul,

Like I tried to say previously.....The Windows 11 instal goes well.....The usb loads the Windows 11 instal which after loading the drivers from the website loads the boot partition on the nvme.  The issue is that the F33 bios fails to see the name drive.  This is why I thought it must be a setting in the F33 bios or that the SN720 was incompatible with the laptop 💻.  I must admit, I'm not a novice but these Secure Boot options are new to me and drives that don't show in the pc bios is definitely new to me.  Wondered if cryptographic keys are installed on the drive so only that particular drive is seen by the bios (literally only an educated guess).

Again thank you for you input and speedy responses.

Simon

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Simon.

Folks upgrade the storage in their notebooks all the time, so I doubt it is something to do with the drive being rejected by the BIOS or secure boot.

Does the BIOS 'see' the original drive?

For some strange reason not all HP notebooks detect the presence of a NVMe drive in the BIOS or in the boot options menu.

[BL4CK_R4T]

That's my issue... the original dive is detected in the bios.  I racked my head over how and drive /motherboard compatibility and secure shared drive/motherboard keys were the two variables that came to mind....many other posts also mentioned that when they disabled secure boot that their drive was available in bios....Like I said previously, I thought I would need it for a Win 11 install (as secure boot is a pre requisite for a Win 11 install).

Bothers me that I can't pin it down to one setting/variable.

Thank you

Simon

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You can disable secure boot and install W11, but you have to use a hardware check bypass method to do it.

See if this works...

Download the Windows 11 ISO file from the link below, 3rd option.

Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com)

Use the free Rufus v3.18 utility that I zipped up and attached below to transfer the ISO file to a USB flash drive so that it is bootable.  It has to be that version.

On the right side of the program window click on the Select button and select the W11 ISO file you downloaded.

Then right under the boot selection line where you see the ISO file listed, select the Extended Windows 11 installation (no TPM/no secure boot)

Partition scheme GPT (since your notebook is running W10 in UEFI mode).

Target system is the default (UEFI non CSM).

Click on the Start button on the lower right side of the screen and it will take a while for Rufus to build the bootable USB flash drive.

When it reports 'Ready,' close out of the Rufus utility.

Go into the BIOS and disable secure boot.

Save the setting.

Then insert the USB installation flash drive and boot from it.

Select the EFI USB boot source, and hopefully W11 will install without a hitch.

Then you can enable secure boot again.

[BL4CK_R4T]

Morning Paul

I think if I am going to circumvent the Win 11 prerequisites, I will just do the right thing and install Windows 10.  I think all drivers should be interchangable as chipset is a few years old and I can't think of any features of Win 11 that I can't live without.  I have heard stories from friends that Win 11 won't get seasonal/major updates when going down the bypass method whereas Win 10 will sort me out until 2025 at least.

You have been a font of knowledge and with a plethora of ideas 💡.....Shame we couldn't of met in person and disected the laptop 💻 on the bench.

Much appreciated

Simon

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Good morning, Simon.

Yes, I would have enjoyed trying to help you solve the puzzle, very baffling.

Yes, you can definitely try installing W10 and then take the free upgrade back to W11.

Cheers,

Paul