[Problem] XP on ASUS Z77 Sabertooth + Samsung 950 Pro

Operating Systems Windows XP/2000/Server 2003
1

Hello, I am new here, and probably a little too long winded. This a problem with NVMe, but XP is involved. If this needs to move, so be it.

About the hardware I am working with:
ASUS Z77 Sabertooth Motherboard, UEFI Bios
Bios Ver. 2104 (modified, June 8, 2023)
Samsung 840 Pro SATA SSD
PCIe adapted:
Samsung NVMe 980 Pro
Samsung NVMe 950 Pro
PCIe adapters:
Generic M.2 3.0 X4
ASUS Hyper M.2 3.0 X4 Mini Rev 1.00
I have 2 Samsung 950s (One is new in factory sealed box)

Background:
I have installed Win 7 64bit on the 980 Pro. (Using Microsoft’s patch and NVMe driver, slipstreamed.) It boots to the desktop on all three of the adapters. (UEFI, GPT partition, CSM Auto, Other OS) I have installed Windows XP SP3 on the old Samsung 950 on an ASUS Maximus XI Hero motherboard. I slipstreamed a backported Win 7 Samsung NVMe driver, along with AHCI and USB3.0 drivers. Booted from the NVMe with no issues. My installation media was created from my own old XP SP2 ISO from an original CD. (SP3 slipstreamed.) I have abandoned USB drive installation; in favor the CD/DVD install. I also installed XP on the SATA SSD, booted to the desktop in AHCI mode, same installation media…

So all is good. Right? Well no. Set up testbench with the Z77, 840 Pro, and the 950 Pro (Wiped with 0 and 1) MBR, etc. Fire it up, with installation media in portable DVD, and poof: stops at the “Starting Setup” screen. Period, end of story. Well that’s a load of @&**^*&^!!! Finally got around to removing the 950, and poof–setup runs to completion, and boots to the desktop on the 840. Shut it down, and reattach the 950, fire it up–and poof: Black screen with blinking cursor. After a few fits, I replaced the 950 with the 980. System booted to desktop, recognized the 980, asked for a file (secnvme.sys) and loaded the driver. Can’t do anything with it in XP, as it is a GPT drive. I can boot the bench from either drive ( CSM Legacy and UEFI mode,) with both drives attached. Oddly, I see a Boot Manager in F8 boot menu, after removing the 980, but that is a separate issue–I think.

Well, driver is now fully installed. So, reattach the 950 Pro. Yeah, you guessed it: 840 boots to Black screen, with blinking cursor. Nicht, nada, nothing. (Did it again, after wiping the 840 and clean install of XP, same result.) Stand alone with just the 950 attached, install stops at the “Starting Setup” screen, and does nothing else. Period. Legacy Only, Auto, UEFI and Legacy, same results.

Offhand, only thing I can come up with, is the BIOS is not supporting an NVMe with an MBR partition scheme, and Legacy mode, and/or XP is looking at it like it is from a galaxy far far away. Doesn’t make sense.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, as I am still in a slight learning curve; and I apologize for the long post. I just wanted to cover as many bases as I could, and I don’t think it is as simple as ‘is it plugged in all the way.’

Thanks in advance.


Edit by Fernando: Thread moved into the “Windws XP” Category and title customized

2

@uncleof4
Welcome to the Win-Raid Forum!
According to your PM request I have moved this thread into the “Windows XP” Category.
To the topic: The Samsung 950 Pro SSD has an NVMe Option ROM in the box. So you should be able to boot off it in LEGACY mode (with MBR partition scheme).
Good luck and enjoy the Forum!
Dieter (alias Fernando)

3

Thanks again, Fernando.

EDIT: Post edited to avoid a redundant post.

To the topic: I agree, and it does. I installed 32bit Win 7 Pro on the Samsung 950 Pro yesterday, (8 days ago) and it installed/booted (MBR partition/Legacy mode,) on the Z77, just fine. I did it again today, (12/04/2025) using modded bios I did myself today. The original mod was probably one of yours (I don’t recall) from a while back. (The mod I did today, used the NvmExpressDxe_5.ffs, with an original Z77 bios from ASUS. Win 7 32bit/MBR Legacy mode install worked just fine, from the DVD boot through to the desktop. (Off topic, but it did not make a difference anyway.)

The XP install DVD will run with the Samsung 980 Pro PCIe attached, it will also run with the SATA SSD attached; and it will run with no drive attached. However, it will not even start with the 950 Pro attached, either RAW or formatted. Even the brand new 950 (never initialized) does not work. Yet I can install it over and over again on the Maximus XI. I got carried away, installed XP to the 950 on the Maximus XI, then moved it to the Z77. I expected a BSOD, but instead got a “Drive read error.”

I have spent hours reading, but I am at a loss with this. Apparently, no one else is working with this particular issue/setup. I have seen writings on it, but all for more modern OS.

Thanks.

4

@Fernando

See post above. Thanks.

5

@uncleof4
I am sorry, but I cannot help you.
Your efforts to get Windows XP booting and running on different NVMe SSDs by using a mainboard without any native NVMe support is applaudable, but you should keep in mind the following:

  1. The desired OS Windows XP is absolutely outdated and has natively no knowledge about NVMe as data transfer protocol.
  2. NVMe drivers, which have been designed and optimized for being used with an outdated OS like Windows XP, do not exist.
  3. Even the currently latest BIOS for your ASUS mainboard doesn’t support booting off an NVMe SSD. This may be an evidence for the problems to get it properly working.