@snowl07 :
Thanks for the quick reply.
Since I cannot find any mod+signed OFA driver with that date, please put the related driver files into a *.ZIP or *RAR archive and attach it.
Hi,
"1 NOV 2018" refers to the date that I downloaded the .rar file from Win-Raidā¦ my mistake.
Attached is the .rar file that you posted, and that I downloaded, extracted and installed.
64bit OFA NVMe Driver v1.5.0.0 for Win10 x64 mod+signed by Fernando.rar (57.9 KB)
@snowl07 :
Thanks for having attached the related NVMe driver.
I will do some further tests with the OFA drivers and hope, that I can solve the boot/shutdown problems with my desktop and mobile systems.
Additional questiion:
Which Intel Management Engine driver and Firmware version do you use with your notebook?
Here are the Intel(R) ME code versions:
BIOS Version 1.19.3
MEBx Version 11.0.0.0010
GbE Version 0.8
Vendor ID 8086
PCH Version 31
FW Version 11.8.55.3510 H
Security Version (SVN) 3
LMS Version 11.7.0.1035
MEI Driver Version 12.0.0.2021
Wireless Hardware Version 2.1.77
Wireless Driver Version 20.70.4.2
FW Capabilities 0x31111140
Intel(R) Capability Licensing Service - PRESENT/ENABLED
Protect Audio Video Path - PRESENT/ENABLED
Intel(R) Dynamic Application Loader - PRESENT/ENABLED
Intel(R) Platform Trust Technology - PRESENT/DISABLED
SM961 FIRMWARE: CXZ7500Q (This is different from the firmware on the 960 EVO and 960 PRO, and it may be that it is well-behaved with the OFA driver. I have not been able to find any documentation of SM961 firmware versionsā¦ except the Lenovo posting, which I have not tried to use (and donāt plan to).
I tested the OFA drivers on my Asus Z170 Deluxe and AHCI Samsung 960 Pro. Reboot is fine, power off simply disconnects user. I havenāt tried forced power off, but if reboot is fine, I think boot will be OK. IDK if this is important, I have latest 17 Intel OROM in my bios, and latest MEI driver and firmware.
another positive experience with OFA here.
No boot and shutdown issues whatsoever.
Might be a āfeatureā of OEM drives: mine is a PM981.
full spec:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (x64) Build 17763.316 (1809/RS5)
Processor Name: Intel Core i5-8400
CPU ID: 000906EA
Motherboard Model: MSI Z370M MORTAR (MS-7B54)
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends
BIOS Date: 11/20/2018
BIOS Version: 1.50
BIOS Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version: 1.50
BIOS Release Date: 11/20/2018
BIOS Start Segment: F000
BIOS Size: 16 MBytes
System BIOS Version: 5.12
Intel ME Version: v11.8, Build 3510, Hotfix 55
uCode Version 0.0.0.154
TXT ACM Version 0.5.0.0
Reference Code - ME 11.0 3.6.3.0
Driver Description: Community OFA NVMe Storport Miniport
Driver Provider: Community
Driver Version: 1.5.0.0
Driver Date: 07-Apr-2017
Drive Model: SAMSUNG MZVLB512HAJQ-00000
Drive Firmware Revision: EXA7301Q
NVMe Version Supported: v1.2
Drive Capacity: 488,386 MBytes (512 GB)
@gpvecchi @elisw :
Thanks for your feedback regarding the OFA NVMe driver.
About which specific OFA NVMe driver were you writing (version and original/modded)? Has it been the same as snowl07 had used?
Just letting you know that Intel NVME 16.8.0.1000 is fully stable on my Z77 and Kingston KC 1000 SSD PCIe. Thanks for tip.
@elisw :
Since I have re-mod and signed the OFA NVMe drivers several times, please give me the date of the *.cat and *.inf file, which is shown by the Windows Explorer.
Is it 09/17/2018? If yes, it is the driver, which is linked within the start post of this thread.
@Fernando
I downloaded the driver yesterday from the link at the start of the thread.
replaced the Samsung driver via device manager and tried many times to start, shut down, reboot without any issues.
performance is much better than before and really good in absolute terms, even considered all the spectre/meltdown patches slowing it down.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/14810592
I used the drivers linked in the first post.
@elisw : @gpvecchi :
Thanks for your feedback.
I just have re-tested the same OFA NVMe driver myself with my Z170 system running Build 18334 of the upcoming v19H1 on a Samsung 970 EVO SSD.
Result: Booting and rebooting is fine, but it is impossible to shut down the computer from within Windows.
So if I compare your and my results, this issue seems to occur only to specific systems.
Until now I have no idea, whether it is caused by a hardware problem, a software problem or a combination of them both.
@Fernando
If I got it right gpvecchi is also having problems shutting down "normally" from within Windows.
Snowl07 on the other hand, seems to have it working fine also for shutduwn.
I have been able to replicate the shutdown failureā¦ and then return my system to normal boot/sleep/restart/shutdown behavior.
My normal system configuration allows for sleep/restart/shutdown. I always disable hibernate (powercfg /h off). When hibernate is disabled, Windows Fast Startup is also disabled and hiberfil.sys (if it exists) is deleted. Fast Startup affects the manner in which shutdown occurs, in order to set up the system for fast startup the next time it is booted. It is known to create problems with some systems, disk drives, and BIOS. I never pay any attention to it, or even see it as an option because I disable hibernate.
Soā¦ I re-enabled hibernate and checked that Fast Startup was also enabled, Then I performed a shutdown, which failed. I had to power off by holding down the power button.
After re-booting, I disabled hibernate and Fast Startup, and my system is behaving normally again.
I donāt know if this sheds light on the shutdown problems that @Fernando has documented, but it is worth checking.
@snowl07 :
Wow - that is a really good find! 
Meanwhile I reinstalled the mod+signed OFA NVMe driver, followed your advices and now can confirm:
Turning off the hibernation and the āFast Bootā options solves the shutdown problems.
I suspect, that the different individual hibernation/boot settings are the reason, why not all users, who had tested the OFA NVMe driver, ran into the shutdown problem.
Thank you for having found what I was seeking for.
So I donāt have to re-modify the OFA NVMe driver, but just to add the advice to turn off the hibernation and āFast Bootā options, if the user wants to enjoy the best possible NVMe SSD performance.
Hey Fernā¦I would like to give this a try on my Samsung 960 Pro M2 SSDā¦I disabled fast boot in the bios and hibernation is off.Do I have to uninstall the Samsung NVMe Drivers first or just update driver in device managerā¦
@Fernando Iām pleased to have made a contribution. Win-Raid is one of the very best forums on the internet, and I hope that you realize how much your expertise and commitment are appreciated.
pā¦s. I could put together a āstep by stepā if it would help folks that want to use the OFA driverā¦ but it will have to wait until I have walked my dogs 
@NIK1 :
If you want to replace a storage driver (no matter whether SATA or NVMe) by another one, you should always install the new driver on-top of the formerly used one and not try to uninstall the formerly used driver. Donāt worry about the residues or possible driver interactions.
These are the advantages of this kind of a storage driver update:
- If the freshly installed new storage driver should unexpectedly not work, it is no problem to return to the previously used driver.
- A later return to any of the previously installed storage drivers is very simple by choosing the driver update options āBrowse my computer ā¦ā > āLet me pick ā¦ā and clicking onto the related listed āCompatible deviceā resp. its listed driver version.
The only thing I recommend to do is to set a āRestore Pointā before you are going to change the storage driver of your system drive.
Thanks Fernā¦Just created a restore point now and will report back later with a bench if all goes goodā¦