Solved NVMe missing

Hello, I bought this NVMe

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093QL29RZ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1&pldnSite=1

Installed correctly onto the motherboard. When I boot to Windoze 11 installer, it does not detect. Linux can detect and use.
2022-UEFI only HP Laptop i3 8GBDDR3.
On Western Digital website, they do not have a specific downloadable driver available on the product page for this NVMe. So I downloaded a pack of drivers for all their NVMe models, booted the Win11 installer, and located the driver, but the Win11 installer says it is hiding it because it is not compatible with my hardware, I thought that was odd. The driver pack does include the same Model number ‎SN350, but instead of just saying "‎SN350" like my product detail says, the WD driver pack says "‎ULtrastar ‎SN350". Is that driver a slightly different NVMe drive type, even if the model number is the same? Anyway, how do I get the Win11 installer to recognize my NVMe, if WD does not provide a compatible driver?
To get around this, I booted into Linux, it detects my NVMe perfectly, then I did full disk clone using CloneZilla my old SSD Win11 installation to the NVMe, rebooted to the NVMe, which now had fully installed Win11 installation, but it crashes.
To get around that, I put a Win11 installation onto a USB drive, and booted to that, and installed the WD Dashboard, but it could not detect my NVMe, so instead I installed the WD driver program, and it did install the NVMe and it worked after that. Because this worked, perhaps I could solve this by recloning the Win11 installation from the USB drive to the NMVe now that the Win11 installation has the driver installed and working?

I contacted WD, spoke with senior support, and they confirmed there is no stand alone driver for this product.
What is the best and most elegant solution to this? Thank you.

Did you initialize the SSD? If not, do it.

WD SSDs use the standard NVMe Windows drivers, they don´t need special drivers.

WD Dashboard is a very picky software, it may not support your SSD.

Could you fill in "My Computer" details, it would help with troubleshooting the problem

Anibor_11 said:

Did you initialize the SSD? If not, do it.

WD SSDs use the standard NVMe Windows drivers, they don´t need special drivers.

WD Dashboard is a very picky software, it may not support your SSD.

Click to expand...

This is incorrect. Standard SATA SSD drivers are completely different to nvme drivers. Depending on NVME type, many require Intel IRST drivers which are not part of standard window iso.

cereberus said:

This is incorrect. Standard SATA SSD drivers are completely different to nvme drivers. Depending on NVME type, many require Intel IRST drivers which are not part of standard window iso.

Click to expand...

By stating "Depending on NMVe type" do you mean the controller? It's the motherboard's implementation of the PCIe controller that determines whether the Intel IRST drivers are required.

NavyLCDR said:

By stating "Depending on NMVe type" do you mean the controller? It's the motherboard's implementation of the PCIe controller that determines whether the Intel IRST drivers are required.

Click to expand...

Yeah that is more accurate.

One of my computers has an NVMe M.2 SSD [it's my HP Pavilion TP01-0026na].
Is there any means of checking whether or not I will face this problem if I ever need to reinstall Windows?

Denis

Try3 said:

One of my computers has an NVMe M.2 SSD [it's my HP Pavilion TP01-0026na].
Is there any means of checking whether or not I will face this problem if I ever need to reinstall Windows?

Click to expand...

The problem with the missing Intel RST drivers is on computers with Intel 11th generation CPUs or newer.

You can also test it by booting from the Windows installation medium and going to the point where the drive(s) are displayed.

As long as you don't delete or format any partitions there, nothing will happen.

If the partitions of your hard disk are visible there, there is no driver problem.

At this point, exit Windows Setup and boot back into Windows.

Tekkie Boy said:

The problem with the missing Intel RST drivers is on computers with Intel 11th generation CPUs or newer.

You can also test it by booting from the Windows installation medium and going to the point where the drive(s) are displayed.

As long as you don't delete or format any partitions there, nothing will happen.

If the partitions of your hard disk are visible there, there is no driver problem.

At this point, exit Windows Setup and boot back into Windows.

Click to expand...

Also, you can boot from the standard Windows 10/11 installation media and at the first screen press Shift + F10. That will open a command prompt and then run:
diskpart
list disk

See if the NVMe SSD shows up in the list.

NavyLCDR said:

Also, you can boot from the standard Windows 10/11 installation media and at the first screen press Shift + F10.

Click to expand...

That's right.

But not everyone is familiar with using the command prompt. Or likes to do it.

Thanks for that. I'll run the test when that computer finishes its current chores.

All the best,
Denis

Thanks for explaining. I've tested that computer now and my NVMe M.2 is indeed listed when I boot from the InstallUSB so I won't have this problem when/if I clean install in the future.

All the best,
Denis

Yes, your hunches are right: this is an Intel 11th Generation CPU i3, and when I go into the UEFI, it lists the disk as a "non-RAID RST" drive. So you are saying that if I browse for an Intel RST driver during Win11 setup, it will detect the NVMe?

Both my old (2014) Dell and my new (2021) Dell require the Intel IRST drivers for me to be able to clean install Windows. These pre-boot drivers have always been called f6 drivers but MS now calls them boot-start drivers. I have them on external media and have to insert them during the installation process. They can also be added to the iso but since isos change so often I just load them from a second usb drive.

2Savage said:

Yes, your hunches are right: this is an Intel 11th Generation CPU i3, and when I go into the UEFI, it lists the disk as a "non-RAID RST" drive. So you are saying that if I browse for an Intel RST driver during Win11 setup, it will detect the NVMe?

Click to expand...

Yes. You need:

You need one of the zip files - depending on whether or not you have VMD enabled.

2Savage said:

Yes, your hunches are right: this is an Intel 11th Generation CPU i3, and when I go into the UEFI, it lists the disk as a "non-RAID RST" drive. So you are saying that if I browse for an Intel RST driver during Win11 setup, it will detect the NVMe?

Click to expand...

Yes, look at this Knowledge Base post:


Other manufacturers such as Asus and Dell have also published one on the issue.

glasskuter said:

Both my old (2014) Dell and my new (2021) Dell require the Intel IRST drivers for me to be able to clean install Windows. These pre-boot drivers have always been called f6 drivers but MS now calls them boot-start drivers. I have them on external media and have to insert them during the installation process. They can also be added to the iso but since isos change so often I just load them from a second usb drive.

Click to expand...

I just have a batch file that takes iso, makes temporary copy of files on hard drive, injects key drivers into boot.wim and install.wim, and creates new iso. Takes about 5 minutes on my pc.

I often reuse same isos to create different native vhdx files.

The other advantage of doing it this way is I also inject graphics, wifi, usb 3 drivers etc, so when I do first boot, all the key drivers are pre-installed and I do not have to faff around sorting thrm out in device manager.

I never clean install my host OS but I do periodically export my key drivers so I have a reasonably up to date set.

Going one stage further, I sometimes create a custom iso of existing pc, do same as above using drivers for NEW pc, and hey presto - I can transfer OS from one pc to another and it just works first time.

I find this easier than using Macrium Reflect Redeploy option.

Try3 said:

Is there any means of checking whether or not I will face this problem if I ever need to reinstall Windows

Click to expand...

Denis, I have only run into this issue with Dell systems (usually Optiplex and Precision)using raid. In relation to the 11th gen i3, I can not say as I haven't worked on one.

@Brink,

I bet I am not the only one who had never heard of this issue before the current threads started [this one & Unusual User name pecularity - post #45 onwards - TenForums].

Perhaps you could add an explanation & a reference to NavyLCdr's suggested test in post #9 above to both the TenForums & ElevenForum tutorials on
- Making an InstallUSB
- Clean install
so that people are warned about what to check before they get stuck into these procedures.
You might also want to include a reference to the HP article TekkieBoy linked to in post #16 above; it has quite a decent explanation of both the situation & the action required.

All the best,
Denis

2Savage said:

So you are saying that if I browse for an Intel RST driver during Win11 setup, it will detect the NVMe?

Click to expand...

Just in case it is not clear from the other [perfectly correct] responses to your post, you need to take the additional steps described in order to put an IRST driver on your InstallUSB in order to use that browse command to find it.

All the best,
Denis