@sibliss,
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge and advice you share here. I have a working instance of Clover but I’m unable to hide extraneous boot options in the Clover GUI. I’ve followed your suggestions on several posts here as well as the instructions at the official Clover configuration Wiki. But nothing seems to work. Here is a detailed writeup on my issue.
I’m using Clover bootloader release 5150 from https://github.com/CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader/releases/tag/5150 to boot from a NVMe SSD on an old Dell Precision T1700 mini-tower. The BIOS on this PC does not support booting from a NVMe drive. Clover is working great, and it’s given a new lease on life to this old PC.
My only challenge with Clover is to hide all the extraneous boot options under the GUI. I’m trying to hide all but the “Boot Microsoft EFI Boot from System” option. The other boot options are called
• Boot Windows from System
• Boot Windows from Legacy HD3
• Boot Windows from Legacy HD4
• Boot Windows from Legacy HD5
• Boot Windows from Legacy HD6
I tried the following methods to hide these boot options in the Clover GUI, but none of these had any effect.
As a last resort, I tried the following. “Legacy HD3” etc. are based upon the Clover GUI boot options that are called “Boot Windows from Legacy HD3” etc. In the system BIOS, I have the legacy boot option turned off. Only UEFI boot is allowed. Nevertheless, the boot options are called “Boot Windows from Legacy HD3” etc.
I’m using Plist Editor Pro to edit the config.plist file. I use diskpart to assign a letter to the CloverCD volume and then copy the edited plist from Windows to the CloverCD partition under \EFI\CLOVER.
What am I doing wrong? Why isn’t any of the above approaches working?
Wish there was a Windows version of the graphical Clover Configurator which, on a mac, shows you the boot options in a GUI, and lets you graphically remove any boot options.
Got it to work. The basic problem was my ignorance of the plist file format. I believe the question mark at the end of a key in the default config.plist simply indicates that there is zero or one occurrence of the key. One must include the “Hide” key without the trailing question mark and the desired array string values for this to work. Once I included the following in config.plist (while leaving the “Hide?” key declaration intact,) it worked.
I have included all the files necessary (im pretty sure), except for a windows disk, which i don’t think is allowed on this forum. NOTE: the BDU version i have was NOT given me by sibliss. Find his post in the collection of posts document I made.
Tutorial for loading Windows or Ubnutu on NVMe SSD for non-compatable Motherboard
Now, first thing’s first. This is how I did it. This is written with limited experimentation. Every system is different. If you run into an issue, then you must consult the collection of posts from the (“collection of post for Clover bootloader.docx” file included) and the forum on winraid.level1tech.com. It was one long road and full of pitfalls, but i felt posting my journey will help others, and this is the attempt to do so.
Going in blind will only hurt you. Unfortunately, you need to read up on as many posts to understand what is happening. You don’t need to read all of them but the main important ones which are in the file.
You will be using clover OS which is built with linux. You shouldn’t need to worry about that.
You do need to understand how to build a clover config file. It’s not hard. Don’t freak. It’s not that many settings you need to change. Make sure you use Notepad++.
Installing Ubuntu or other flavors of Linux is easy but I will show Windows 7 because that’s the only way to get a true genuine version of windows 10 and above. However, I just ended up using Win10 I couldn’t get Win7 to work.
This should work only using the MBR (legacy) booting. I’ve done it before using ubuntu.
Things needed.
• NVMe adapter. Will work in graphics card slot (PCI x 16) or that other PCI slot for sound cards… PCI x 4? I don’t know.
• NVMe SSD drive that’s Gpt activated ( this is done inside windows with DISKPART)
• 2 Flash drives(Note: A harddirve can be used, you just need to check the option within BDU) Note: a CD or DVD cannot be used with clover
• Linux Installation medium (this does not need to be prepared)
• The machine you are modding with a Windows OS already installed on it.
• The correct version of BDU ( I think it is BDU 2.1.2019.024 beta)
• The correct version of the Clover ISO (CloverISO-4961.tar.lzma)
• Prepared Clover boot disk
• Prepared Windows 7 OS medium… if that’s your choice ( MS NVMe Hotfixes for win7/W2k8) (Note: if installing win 10, you don’t need to prepare it as it already has NVMe drivers)
◦ Windows ADK toolkit
◦ windows disk
◦ hotfixes
◦ drivers (I’m sorry. I do not know the necessary drivers required (Phase 1, Method 1)
• NVMe driver for Clover USB (NvmExpressDxe-64.efi) Note: it will be auto-generated for you.
PHASE 1 - Preparing windows (3 possible methods!)
METHOD 1
Note: this didn’t work for me, cause this pretty complex. I heard that there is a tool that can do this for you. I don’t know the name of it. Sorry. I think it was in a post somewhere.
You need to be able to find a driver as well. I really don’t understand what this part is about at all. There’s a whole post dedicated to this on winraid.level1tech.com somewhere.
Create local folders c:\temp\src c:\temp\mount, c:\temp\winremount, c:\temp\hotfix, and c:\temp\drivers.
Copy the setup files from the DVD or a mounted ISO to C:\temp\src.
Copy the hotfix (.msu or .cab files) to C:\temp\hotfix.
Copy the driver files to c:\temp\drivers.
Run Command Prompt as an administrative.
Running the following Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) commands will Insert the hotfixes and drivers to the boot.wim and update the sources folder. For more information about DISM, see the DISM Operating System Package Servicing Command-Line Options.
Now, copy this directory C:\temp\mount\sources to c:\temp\src\sources.
Now, run this command
dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:C:\temp\mount /commit
Obtain the index from the Install.wim information by running the following command, and then count how many indexes to see how many indexes have to be updated.
dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:c:\temp\src\sources\install.wim
Insert the hotfixes and drivers to install.wim and winre.wim by running the following commands:
dism /Mount-Image /ImageFile:c:\temp\src\sources\install.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 /Mount-Image /ImageFile:c:\temp\mount\windows\system32\recovery\winre.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:c:\temp\winremount
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\winremount /Commit
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\mount /Commit
Note If there are multiple indexes in step 8, then run all these for each one changing index number one by one.
(Note: if the 4th command down (second mounting command) does not work then you may not have any more indexes needing to be updated for the winre.wim file. but you still need to continue running the first 3 commands for each index (updating install.wim) then the last one to unmount the image.)
Run the second of the following oscdimg commands unless you are using MBR (legacy boot stlye). For more information about oscdimg, see the Oscdimg Command-Line Options.
Note: if oscdimg is not found then you need to put the oscdimg.exe file into your Systems 32 folder. you can find this at this directory if you did step 1 and installed ADK toolkit
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment Tools\amd64\Oscdimg
For Legacy and UEFI BIOS multiple Boot mode:
oscdimg -LTEST -m -u2 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bC:\temp\src\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bC:\temp\src\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin C:\temp\src C:\temp\Win7.NVME.ISO
12. Use Rufus to make a bootable USB.
Method 2 – Note: (FYI: This didn’t work for me, probably because my version of windows was not Genuine.)
Note: VERY IMPORTANT - If you do this method you will have to read Post #245 (MikeyLikesiT) of the collection of posts for NVMe installation on Windows 7 on winraid.level1techs.com
Doing this method will change how you do the rest of the process.
This is the condensed version
Follow NVME/Clover thread to set up Clover USB.
Install Win7 on SSD thru legacy BIOS.
Upgrade Win7 to Win10, in-place within Win7. (Note: use a genuine disk. Will help.)
Install cloner and clone Win10 SSD to NVME (clonezilla live boot cd works great)
Log into Win10 on SSD and convert NVME from MBR to GPT.
If MBR2GPT is not located you need WinPE. Either download(i could not find) or manually access with a WinPE boot disk, which is made with copype tool which is only installed with adk and adk PE addon (Search online for details)
Use Clover USB to boot into Clover and choose, start Windows EFI to boot into NVME.
Use reagentc.exe commands to rebuild Recovery Partition on Win10 NVME.
Clean up Clover boot USB files and leave the USB key in for every boot.
Note: (FYI: This didn’t work for me, probably because my version of windows was NOT Genuine.)
Method 3 – just Find and download a UEFI ready Windows 7 or 10 disk. I think windows 10 automatically comes with NVMe drivers.
Note:( this DID work for me even though it was not genuine.)
PHASE 2 - Get a working Clover key (bootable usb)
You shouldn’t have to enter the clover shell and pray you do not because that is a rabbit hole that leads to nowhere.
Steps
1. insert blank NVMe and start-up
2. boot into windows and format the NVMe
a. goto command line type diskpart
b. List disk > select disk (the one that is the NVMe)
c. Run clean
d. Run convert gpt
e. Then format it to NTFS if installing windows. ext4 for linux (note: you may have to format the whole drive first then convert to gpt)
3. copy the Clover ISO to wherever the root of the BDU folder that you downloaded (CloverISO-4961.tar.lzma)
4. Run BDU 2.1.2019.024b this version exactly!!
5. go into configuration and make sure that it is using the ISO in local folder
6. hit Format
7. now make sure the flash drive has a partition in it that is 200 MB, if not hit format again until it does
8. When it does work, Create these new directories on flash drive if they do not already exist
a. Efi\CLOVER\drivers\bios
b. Efi\CLOVER\drivers\uefi
c. EFI\CLOVER\dirvers64
d. EFI\CLOVER\drivers32uefi
e. EFI\CLOVER\dirvers64uefi
9. enter this location CLOVER :\EFI\CLOVER\drivers-Off\ and look for the NVMe driver
a. Note: this folder should contain the auto generated drivers for your system.
Note: NvmExpressDxe-64.efi is the only file you need. But in case it does not work for you then find and use all of the ones below. I think these are the important drivers you need to look for (ii and iii most important) they should be in the drivers-Off folder. So I just dumped them all in all 5 folders hoping for the best. It won’t hurt anything putting them in there. I believe that I only needed NvmExpressDxe-64.efi UEFI, not sure with MBR.
i. i. nvm.efi
ii. ii. NvmExpressDxe.efi
iii. iii. NvmExpressDxe-64.efi
iv. iv. GrubEXFAT-64.efi
v. v. GrubISO9660-64.efi
vi. vi. GrubNTFS-64.efi
vii. vii. GrubLDF-64.efi
Note: the last 4 should be in the Drivers-off folder as well, somewhere.
10. copy the driver into all 5 directories made in step 7
11. Edit \EFI\CLOVER\config.plist with notepad ++ or another sophisticated editor (Note:using window’s notepad will destroy it).
Change the value:
<key>Timeout</key>
<integer>5</integer>
To <integer>3</integer>
12. insert OS installation medium
13. enter bios and turn on UEFI mode. If you are running this in Legacy then skip this step.
14. boot into clover(you might have to turn on and off the UEFI settings if it doesn’t first boot up)
15. If you got in then you have successfully made a clover key BUT you will not see your harddrive until you install an OS!
PHASE 3 – Installation and Finalization (configuring clover)
NOTE:If you chose method 2 in Phase 1 then these final steps will be a little different, not much different tho.
Just insert clover, and installation medium and make sure it boots into clover.
If you cannot boot the installation medium from within clover then you have to just boot directly into the installation medium. This is NOT preferred but it will most likely work anyways, so don’t freak, lol.
Everything should be done this is really just tiding things up and making it smooth. If you had issues im sorry. you have to read as many posts as you can to understand what to do next.
Here are some reminders if it’s not working for you. clover does not find harddrives only installed OSes. You have to run BDU on the computer with the NVMe. The drive needs to be in gpt even if you are booting clover in MBR. And get your rest. That will help a lot!
1. Find out the name of the bootable harddrive within clover. The name might be a weird name like EFI or Boot or something. It shouldn’t be a GUID address. If it is then something is wrong and I don’t think you’ll be able to boot into it. Let alone select it.
2. Clover should automagically boot into any OS that works. So the default should have been changed to 3 seconds but if you want it instant, do this.
3. boot into windows
4. Find config.plst file on clover USB and open it
5. Ctrl+F for the boot section. It should be in the same location as the timeout in step 11 phase 2
6. Don’t be scared, what you are seeing are basic settings you can change. Just instead of clicking a mouse you are typing numbers and such.
7. If timeout it at 0 it will be instant
8. Make sure the name of the drive (as it appears in CLOVER) is entered into the default volume.
9. More information at sourceforge.com . Google “clover sourceforge” click on it then > Wiki > Table of contents > configuration > boot. This will give you the info you need.
Going through the instructions for clover I got stuck at copying the nvmedriver in the new version there doesn’t seem to be a driver64 directory so I just copied the driver from off to Bios and Uefi directories instead. Now when I am trying to boot from the USB it just gets stuck on a blank screen indefinitely. Is there something I am missing?
First, could you provide some details about your system platform ?
Then, did you use the exact following files from the Clover.zip attachment which I posted in post # 833 ? • BDUtility.exe (v2.1.2018.023b) • CloverISO-4961.tar.lzma
If you did, both directories EFI/CLOVER/drivers64 and EFI/CLOVER/drivers64UEFI should have been automatically created in your Clover USB key.
If these directories are missing, then something obviously went wrong during the Clover key creation process.
Install Clover on Usb disk using clover boot disk utility from here cvad-mac.narod.ru - BootDiskUtility.exe (clover boot disk to install on fixed sata disk or usb disk)
Copy NVMExpress.efi from EFI/CLOVER/drivers/OFF to both directories EFI/CLOVER/drivers/BIOS and EFI/CLOVER/drivers/UEFI
Then boot from clover installed on USB disk drive and then install windows 11 in emulated UEFI mode on nvme disks with gpt partition.
or follow few other options from this post for X58 motherboards(lga 1366) to mod bios to support nvme disks natively to boot windows without usb disk.
Hi, thanks a lot for the effort of this project. I tried to implement it and ran into a interesting issue. I can start Clover from my USB key and I can see 4 Windows boot options. However, none of them actually boot. When I try to boot any of them them I see a weird symbol in the middle of the screen, a square with diagonal yellow and blue (or grey?) lines and nothing happens.
My system:
HP G1 with an i7-4770.
SATAIII SSD with working Windows installation (boots fine without Clover)
NVMe SSD connected via PCIe 4x with the cloned Windows installation from the SATAIII SSD. Visible in Windows, but not bootable.
Issue: Clover starts, but nothing is bootable.
I have one SATAIII SSD with Windows installed that boots fine if I do not plug in the Clover USB key. My NVMe SSD is visible in Windows, but I cannot boot from it, because my Legacy Bios does not recognize it. Hence, I am trying to boot from the NVMe SSD via Clover. My Clover USB key can boot Windows successfully on my other computer (HP G4 with an i7-8700 CPU). This second computer also runs a Legacy Bios.
I tried both the newest version of the BDU from the instructions on top with downloading the latest Clover and the BDU+Clover ISO from Morbius’ post #833. The result was the same, with the only difference that the weird symbol I see only appears for the older Clover version. In the newest version I just see a black screen when I try to boot any of the windows boot options in Clover.
I disabled all security options in the Bios since I thought it might be some security issue. But that also did not help.
Happy to hear your ideas what might be going wrong.
Thank you for the suggestion. It was indeed MBR and I formatted it to GPT. Sadly I get the same behavior. Seems like this was a necessary but not a sufficient change.
Did you convert from MBR to GPT or do a complete format of the NVMe drive?
If you converted the issue may be using a cloned drive with clover. Try do a fresh install of windows on your NVMe formatted as GPT. Try do this within the clover environment. Boot the windows installation media from within clover if possible. If not possible then boot directly from the windows installation media.
I did just convert the cloned drive before. Then, starting the installation key from Clover caused the same error I always got, but it worked when I installed Windows again from the USB installation drive on the previously GPT formated NVMe SSD.
I kind of hoped that would not work, so that I would not have to set up my Windows again from scratch
Greetings!
Optiplex 9010, W10, i5 3.20ghz, booting from PCIe NVMe M.2 adapter using a WD SN850X 1TB and a $14 PCIe adapter 3.0 that included a heat sink.
Problem:
Boot from PCIe NVMe M.2 adapter from Optiplex 9010.
Resolution:
Attempted to update BIOS using W10. Failed.
Attempted to update BIOS using FREEDOS USB. Failed. My MBE is #3 if that matter.
Created a bootable USB with Clover. It failed until I removed the HDD.
Before removing the HDD, I created a USB Windows 10 installer.
Attempted to install the W10 on NVM2 M.2 but it was partioned with the copied info from my current HDD and it was not going to install it there, W10 said.
I was already booting from Clover USB and selecting the 2nd or 3rd image (it is normally the second one, but it was reading the USB W10 installer and place it with an image of SSD on the first image/option).
I decided to remove the HDD. And let it boot the NVMe M.2. It failed and it shows a bunch of little lines horizontally, then, the DELL logo and it attempted to boot from the USB W10 installed as planned and selected from the Boot sequence.
Attempted to install W10 from zero. Failed. Didn’t like the partitions. So, I used the Problem Solver from the installer and opened the CMD symbol and used Diskpart, List Disk, Select Disk #, Clean and I let the machine reboot.
Attempted to go same route to boot from NVMe M.2 but nothing was found there (HDD cables disconnected already), so, the USB W10 installer booted and asked me to install W10. I did.
I must say that during the restarting process, I was not sure what to do, but I let it attempt to boot from the NVMe M.2 and it kept with the instalation process.
It restarted like 3 times.
Yes, I have removed the Virtualization from the Boot commands and turned of Security Boot for this purpose and allowed it to boot from Legacy ROM devices. But keeping the UEFI.
I did try to update the BIOS while using Legacy Boot mode. Failed.
Conclusion:
It is currently working. I just have to solve the reason why I cannot see my HDD when booting from NVMe M.2 SSD, but when I boot from HDD, I was able to see the NVM2 M.2, So, I started to transfer the files that were important to me.
Notes:
For some reason, the second display is kind of enlarged, when booting from NVM2, unable to fix that right now.
After I attempted to update the BIOS using W10, the internet sometimes does not work using cable for some reason. Sometimes, it reads the adapter and others it won’t. Sometimes, it shows it is desabled and I am able to enabled it. Others, it does not shows anything.
The different on the speed are day and night. I was waiting around 9 minutes to have the machine capable of doing my request.
Now, everything is ready within 1 minute.
Try to learn a bit about a Legacy machine and OS vs a PURE UEFI environment machine and OS… who knows…you may get a surprise and find a lot of answers to your “issues” well know of all…here by you presented.
I will. Thanks for the advice. I fixed the screen, I didn’t remember the resolution. And I downloaded the controler for the network adapter and it is working well. I am now able to see the old HDD when booting from the NVMe M.2.
Thanks once more for all the info placed here. Helped me a lot.
Thanks for posting the best Clover guide I’ve seen! I followed each step meticulously using the software versions you specified to create the Clover usb. My Clover boot usb seems to work properly, showing me two Windows icons with the Windows Installation Media usb drive plugged in. When I select what I believe to be my Windows Installation Media usb drive, I get the message “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD”. After a few seconds the screen goes to all black. I’ve waited as long as 10 minutes with nor further activity on the computer.
The Details
MB: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 (X58 motherboard, no native NVME or UEFI
support)
Drive: WD Blue SN570 1GB NVME on PCIe 3 x 4 adapter. Drive configured as
GPT, one 100% drive size partition, unformatted. Works perfectly as a
data drive in Windows 10.
Memory: 24GB DDR3
OS: Trying to install Windows 10
Any hints as to what I may be missing?
Thank you very much for any advice.
