[Request] HP 8704 (HP Z490) Motherboard MOD with CSM support

Hello, I have a HP Omen 30L PC with a Intel HP 8704 Motherboard. I haven’t found much about this MoBo, but I would appreciate it if someone could take a look and mod that BIOS so I could run older Editions of Windows on it and more. BIOS Link: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp134001-134500/sp134332.exe
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@scottpilgrim It looks like your motherboard is a Class 3 UEFI device and as such the AMI Aptio 5 BIOS does not contain the option to run in legacy mode (and therefore does not have CSM support).

Here is the main boot options menu;

If you compare this to a Z370 BIOS with legacy boot and CSM;

You can see the difference.

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Thank you very much! So there’s no option besides swapping the motherboard with a different one?

Could you suggest any that I could swap it with on that case? Thank you so much!

@scottpilgrim Yes, that is correct, you will need a different motherboard as HP seems to have phased out legacy boot from it’s newer products.

One of the cheapest options I could find is the Gigabyte Z490 UD, you can likely find one on ebay if you can’t source one locally.

I have opened the latest BIOS in AMIBCP and can see the options for legacy boot and CSM;

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Hi, the motherboard you suggested I don’t have anywhere close to I live but I was looking and saw that the Asus ROG Maximus XII Hero WiFi or Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master would be possible (also has CSM) would that work?

@scottpilgrim Both of those boards should have CSM support in the BIOS.

For the Asus ROG Maximus XII Hero WiFi;

And for the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master;

The bigger problem will be getting drivers for the onboard USB 3.0, ethernet and WIFI adapters.

Note that you can always get a cheap PCIe USB 2.0 card, ethernet adapter and/or WIFI card that is compatible with other older OS if there are no drivers for the newer onboard hardware.

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Thank you very much, any other mobos you could recommend me? as long as it works with the i7 10700f and my rtx 2060, i dont mind which one it is
i just want most drivers to work on 7 but if the one I suggested (Aorus Master, found it for 150 new) and its some drivers i cant get to work thats fine, i think Ethernet should work, wifi i can easily replace with a wifi intel card

@scottpilgrim Yeah the Gigabyte Aorus Master sounds like a good option for 150 new.

The Realtek ALC 1220-VB audio drivers shouldn’t be too hard to find.

I did find this modded driver that I have not verified it in any way (so make sure to scan for virus etc) → Realtek_HDA_6.0.1.8272_DTS_DDL_experimental.zip

The Intel i225 driver mod for Windows 7 is mentioned in this thread → Installing i225-v ethernet drivers (W10 drivers) on windows 7?

The Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 driver for WIndows 7 on Softpedia → Intel PROSet/Wireless Driver (IT Administrators) 21.40.5 for Windows 7 64-bit

I am not 100% sure if it will have the exact Device ID, but you could potentially modify the .inf file if it is not included.

For the USB 3.0 drivers it may be a bit trickier, you may want to look at the Simplix project (warning, Russian language) which may be easier to follow on MDL fourms.

I believe it should be possible to get everything working but it may be a bit time consuming.

I would suggest to make an image of your OS drive with Macrium Reflect (or similar) one you have all drivers installed and devices working.

I just checked and ATX doesn’t fit in the case, only mATX… any suggestion there?

Sorry for late reply. It’s probably easier if you list some ITX boards that are available to you and together we can determine if the BIOS has what you require.

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Gigabyte AORUS ELITE B560

Gigabyte B560M Aorus Elite

AsRock Z590M Pro4

ASROCK Z590M

ASUS ROG Strix Z490-G Gaming

MSI MPG Z590M Gaming Edge WiFi

  1. Gigabyte B560M AORUS ELITE - I can’t see all the menu options for this motherboard BIOS in AMIBCP however the manual does state;

Initial Display Output - This item is configurable only when CSM Support is set to Enabled

I found a screenshot of the BIOS in Russian that has CSM listed in the boot menu (the arrows are not mine, they were already on the image);

  1. AsRock Z590M Pro4 - It appears to have CSM support in the BIOS but beware as Z590 motherboards may have newer ethernet and WIFI adapters that don’t have any Windows 7 (or Windows 8.1) drivers.

  1. ASUS ROG Strix Z490-G Gaming - It appears to have CSM support in the BIOS.

  1. MSI MPG Z590M Gaming Edge WiFi - I can’t see all the menu options for this motherboard BIOS in AMIBCP.

The manual does state;

Fast booting - UEFI can directly boot the operating system and save the BIOS self test process. And also eliminates the time to switch to CSM mode during POST.

I can’t really recommend this motherboard as I can’t find much info about it and as with all Z590 motherboards, it may have newer ethernet and WIFI adapters that don’t have any Windows 7 drivers.