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I am testing Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 on VMWare first as right now I do not have real NVMe drive. After integrating MS hotfix KB2990941 & 3087873 the resulting Windows 7 SP1 64 ISO boots in EFI mode but does not proceed beyond Starting Windows logo screen on VMWare Workstation 14 when the disk controller is NVMe. It does not freeze as such as I see the slight steady movement of logo around itself, however it gets stuck there. Hotfixes are integrated into both Boot.wim and Install.wim

The main purpose of these fixes is to enable native NVMe driver support on Windows 7 SP1. Windows 10 ISO installs fine though with its built-in native NVMe driver. The slipstreamed Windows 7 ISO also installs fine if the virtual drive is IDE, SATA or SCSI. This step conforms that slipstreaming is fine.

Things I have tried so far but did not help

  • Integrated only KB2990941 and skipped 3087873
  • First install Windows 7 on SATA virtual drive then manually install hotfixes then add second NVME disk.
  • Found an OpenFabrics NVMe driver for Windows 7 64. Pushed it into Boot.Wim and Install.wim with DISM forceunsigned switch. Got BSOD for nvme.sys during boot.
  • As indicated on some sites, copied Boot.wim and Setup.exe from Windows 10 ISO into Windows 7 sources. This time it detects the drive and copies files but when it reboots, back to being stuck at starting windows!
  • Just for experimental purposes, tried my hands on an unofficial Windows 7 SP1 ISO available for download on third party sites. Still same result
  • Tried with both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 7 SP1 + April 2016 roll up updates. Same result

I am now exhausted with options. It appears to me that the above hotfixes somehow do not work with VMWare Virtual NVMe controller in Windows 7 64 SP1. Can someone point me to any further troubleshooting options or any possible solution? Host OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64 SP1 if that matters in anyway.

Thanks.

Update Following works, it’s close but still not what I expect.

-Integrate KB2534111 in Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate 64 Bit

-Install the OS in VMWare 14 on virtual SATA HDD. Install the NVMe hotfixs. Add NVMe virtual disk and restart VM. Now Windows 7 installs drivers and detects the virtual NVMe disk.

-However the moment I slipstream 2534111, 2990941 & 3087873 the resulting ISO stalls at Windows logo during first boot the moment it finds NVMe virtual disk.

Update Just for experimental purposes I tried Windows 7 32 bit with OpenFabrics NVMe driver. This time it detected the Virtual NVMe Drive, copied all files and when it rebooted, again stuck at Starting Windows.

I suspect there’s some sort of incompatibility between Windows 7 SP1 and VMWare NVMe controller that I am unable to explain.

I wanted to test the slipstreamed Windows 7 64 SP1 with MS Native NVMe drivers on VM first hoping that it will work, but it did not. Now I am not too sure if the same setup would work on real hardware or not. I have no clue now if the issue exists in Windows 7 SP1 or VMWare’s NVMe Controller.

rajeev
  • 1,984

2 Answers2

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The method described below apparently does not work with VMware Workstation version 14 for the installation of a Windows 7 x64 guest, and the problem seems to be with the drivers not working with the NVMe controller which is installed by VMware, and the problem appears during boot.

However, everything works perfectly when the boot is from a non-NVMe controller, where the secondary NVMe controller does not cause any problem. An attempt to extract the NVMe driver in this situation gave the stornvme driver, but it cannot be integrated into the boot since it is unsigned. However, even with pressed F8 during boot and disabling signature enforcement did not help with the boot.

I have suggested that perhaps the problem is with a 64-bit Window 7 guest, and suggested the use of a 32-bit version of Windows 7, and am currently waiting for an answer.

In any case, the NVMe controller can be used under Workstation 14, just not for booting.

The Dell article How to install Windows 7 on systems with Skylake chipset has this procedure described as :

Here you will learn how to get your Windows 7 Image ready for NVME-Drives and USB 3.0 and how to create an installation media with this image.

The summary of the procedure is as follows :

Preparations

  • Create a folder named temp on drive C with these subfolders: src, mount, winremount, hotfix, drivers.
  • Download the needed Intel RST and USB 3.0 drivers from this Link. Unzip and copy the included folders to C:\temp\drivers.
  • Download and unzip the following Microsoft Windows Hotfixes KB2990941, KB3087873.
  • Copy the .msu files from the unzipped hotfixes to C:\temp\hotfix.
  • Copy all files and folders from your Windows 7 DVD image to C:\temp\src.

Modify the Image

  • Run a Command Prompt (CMD) as administrator.

  • Execute the following commands :

    dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:c:\temp\src\sources\boot.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:c:\temp\mount
dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:c:\temp\hotfix
dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Add-Driver /Driver:c:\temp\drivers /Recurse
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\mount /Commit
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:c:\temp\src\sources\boot.wim /Index:2 /MountDir:c:\temp\mount
dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:c:\temp\hotfix
dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Add-Driver /Driver:c:\temp\drivers /Recurse

  • Open Windows Explorer for C:\temp\mount\sources, sort the files by Date modified, and copy all modified files to C:\temp\src\sources.

  • Execute the command

    dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\mount /commit

  • To identify the install.wim index to modify, use the command

    dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:c:\temp\src\sources\install.wim

  • Use this number in the following commands :

    dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:c:\temp\src\sources\install.wim /Index:[INDEXNUMBER] /MountDir:c:\temp\mount
dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:c:\temp\hotfix
dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Add-Driver /Driver:c:\temp\drivers /Recurse

  • Modify the recovery partition of index 1 :

    dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:c:\temp\mount\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:c:\temp\winremount
dism /Image:C:\temp\winremount /Add-Package /PackagePath:c:\temp\hotfix
dism /Image:C:\temp\winremount /Add-Driver /Driver:c:\temp\drivers /Recurse

  • Complete the modification process with these commands:

    dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\winremount /Commit
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\mount /Commit

Create the Installation Media

  • To create the ISO file, download the Microsoft tool oscdimg.

  • Unzip the file and copy oscdmig.exe to C:\Windows\System32\.

  • In the command prompt execute this command :

    oscdimg.exe -b[Path to]efisys.bin -u2 -udfver102 [Path to files] [Path to create the image]Win7_image.iso

  • To create the installation media, use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool.

harrymc
  • 498,455
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VMware's Virtual NVME Controller doesnt support Win7 through installation, The Virtual NVME controller will only work if Win7 through via installing the hotfixes, then migrating the VM's current drive mode (IDE, SATA or SCSI) to NVME you created in VMware using 3rd party tools. Windows 8.1 and greater Windows OS versions recognizes the NVME virtual disk, and installs it correctly.

2011Windows7SP1 ツ
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