Hi Fernando and others.
I’ve been following this thread for a couple of weeks.
I have recently bought an aorus master Z390 and cannot use USB or BT/Wireless on Win7 as you’d already know.
After mucking around with a few USB cards, it seems VIA is a bad chipset, and NEC is one of the better ones!
Continuing on, I have tried hacking an inf from another eXtensible install and it didn’t work as expected.
I have even tried faking the machine to accept the drivers… by adding some win 10 specific keys to the registry CurrentVersion. (CurrentMajorVersionNumber & CurrentMinorVersionNumber)
I’m beginning to suspect the drivers are locked to something win10 specific.
It might be useful to install win10, delete the specific drivers, have tracing software running and let win10 reinstall them… to see exactly what’s happening. process explorer might track?
I’ve ordered another aorus master board to replace another win7 machine 
I can imagine this problem is affecting anything with the Z390 chipset, so my motherboard is not specific. This problem needs to be fixed for everyone!
As such, and since I have wasted so much time on this already, without much clue what I’m doing, I’m giving up. … for now.
However, I will offer a real money reward of $50AUD for anyone who fixes the USB problem. Another $50AUD if you get the non-critical BT & Wireless working. ← Win 7 Only, XP is bonus points
An additional bit of information: The SM Bus Controller which installs from the CHIPSET INF driver package, might not be functional. Programs like Thaiphoon & SPDtool fail to find my RAM. So maybe there are other related drivers that may affect things?
EDIT: revised bounty due to having bought 6x PCI-E USB adapters.
@icycool :
Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum!
Since there are currently no original or modded Intel USB 3.0/3.1 drivers available for the newest Intel chipset systems while running Win7 (Win10 is no problem), I have moved your request into this OS specific Sub-Forum and hope, that this is ok for you.
I personally cannot help you, but maybe someone else (e.g. our Forum member @Mov_AX_0xDEAD ) will be able to find a solution for you and other affected Win7 users.
Good luck!
Dieter (alias Fernando)
Cheers Dieter, So long as it gets noticed somewhere, and hopefully the beer money is an incentive
@icycool :
With the help of @Mov_AX_0xDEAD or any other driver code Guru we may be able to solve the problem.
Which are the HardwareIDs of your on-board Intel USB 3.1 Controller and which architecture (32/64bit) has your OS?
The old favourites, A36D!
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A36D&SUBSYS_50071458&REV_10
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A36D&SUBSYS_50071458
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A36D&CC_0C0330
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A36D&CC_0C03
DriverHardwareID=PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A36D&REV_10
DriverHardwareID=PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A36D
DriverHardwareID=PCI\VEN_8086&CC_0C0330
DriverHardwareID=PCI\VEN_8086&CC_0C03
DriverHardwareID=PCI\VEN_8086
DriverHardwareID=PCI\CC_0C0330
DriverHardwareID=PCI\CC_0C03
@icycool :
Thanks for the HardwareIDs, but what about my other question? Do you use resp. want to use Win7 x86 or Win7 x64?
I chose not to answer that because it should be self evident. If I were using XP or Win98 SE, I might be only using 32bit, but generally, only 64bit here!
I’ll be watching this thread with great interest, I’m out of options as I’ve come to the same conclusion regarding that if the code is present in the existing .sys files, they are using Windows 10 specific codepaths (and as tested before hand, the generic xHCI drivers of 8/8.1/10 are completely incompatible.)
The ultimate fix would be to mod the Win 10 drivers to make it work, but good luck with that one…
We will need some time until the problem may be solved. So please be patient.
Furthermore we will need affected users, who are willing to test differently modded drivers.
To be fair, I get the feeling this isn’t possible at all - but I figured I’d comment in here anyway.
Anything is possible, it wouldn’t be the first time something was cracked to make it useful for legitimate buyers
I’ll be watching this thread as well,
I am going to get a new PC this month with the new Z390 chipset (Getting the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme motherboard) and I have found out that the USB drivers for Windows 7 (or lower) for this chipset are nowhere to be found,
My current setup has Multi-boot with Windows 10 & Windows 7 and I was pretty disappointed to find out that I won’t be able to fully move my old setup to the New PC nor enjoy the full specs of the motherboard on Windows 7.
This problem is being discussed a lot over the internet and no one has ever tried to convert/modify the win10 drivers to win7 yet, so I did think it was kinda “Impossible” to achieve.
People have suggested getting a PCI-E card with a driver that supports windows 7 so that’s what I am going to do meanwhile hopefully, there will be a better solution.
I also do not have any PS2 i/o (or a keyboard that uses PS2 lol) available, so I am going to inject the PCI-E USB drivers and VNC (as a fail-safe method) to the Win7 Image and I will be deploying it via a local PXE server to make the install - hoping for success.
I was thinking about taking the Win10 driver and modifying it to work with Win7 as well but I am lacking the knowledge to create one - luckily enough I have found this forum over a few hardcore google searches.
Anyways, I am here to also provide information and test any drivers you’ll throw at me once I get the new computer.
Good luck, Fingers crossed for this one.
@OutLoud :
Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum!
This is not true. I have tried to do it and have offered some test versions, but unfortunately they didn’t work.
Thanks for your willingness to help us.
Good luck!
Dieter (alias Fernando)
This is not true. I have tried to do it and have offered some test versions, but unfortunately they didn’t work.
Oi Vey! Typing mistake, sorry.
Let me fix myself as I have typed quickly and didn’t overlook at what I was typing
I meant, This problem is being discussed a lot over the internet and no one has ever succeeded converting/modifying the win10 drivers to win7 yet.
Thank you for helping the community, I am just a tester - you guys are basically, the gods ^^
@icycool
Although I don’t have time to dig another hole in a Windows 7 thread at the moment but will create a Vista/Windows 7 Guide in the future.
What exactly is the problem you are having?
You can’t get the Intel USB 3.0 xHCI ports to work in Windows 7?
Or are you trying to Install Windows 7 on your Z390 MB and failing?
As for using Windows 10 USB drivers in Windows 7 that is going to be a hard no. You can’t reverse engineer this driver from a different more updated kernel to work on a much older one dating back to Vista/W7. I think Windows 8.X and 10 are code based to be compatible only just like Windows 2000 and XP are and the same reason why Windows 7 USB 3.0 drivers will not work in 2K/XP/2K3.
I think if you are trying to get Windows 7 to work on your Z390 you need to use the Intel Windows 7 drivers instead or try looking at the Z370 MB models for the driver and modify those to match your hardware ID. That is the only way it could possibly work.
I’m not sure if $150 AUD bounty is enough to divert all my time to such a project since my own loans are close to $1000 per month so this would be equal to roughly $1500 AUD.
I noticed your Z390 MB showed no Windows 7 Driver support which was a bit shocking that they did that. I would probably suggest getting a Z370 MB instead that has Windows 7 USB drivers already in their driver support section which would make things much easier for someone new to USB frustrations. This is a strong indicator Windows 7 will suffer the same fate as XP when Intel USB v4.0 is released intentionally without Windows 7 driver support. If the Z470 Cannon Lake releases with built in Intel USB v4.0 support there is a good chance they will out of demand port a Windows 7 driver for it while the marketshare is still pretty high. But 5 years from now most likely it’s not going to happen if MS forces everyone to Windows 10.
With a Z370 MB you will need to update the BIOS to support a 2nd Gen Coffee Lake CPU if you’re using an i9-9900K octacore like myself. So a cheap i3-8100 quadcore CPU might be required just to update the BIOS of a Z370 or find a MB BIOS that is preupdated to support 2nd Gen Coffee Lake CPUs. The assumption is using a Z390 you aren’t getting it for anything but an i9-9900K to max it out because this is a dead end MB most likely for future CPUs unless Intel releases the Cannon Lake 10nm socket 1151 CPU for it in 1 years’ time and make it Z370 compatible with a BIOS update if they don’t want AMD to crush them with a bunch of Intel jumpshippers to AMD.
Another way might be to ask Lost_N_BIOS to help you flash your BIOS chip to avoid needing to get the i3-8100 CPU first so the i9-9900K will work on your Z370.
If you want to use Windows 7 on a Z370 with USB support I would suggest to make sure they have Asmedia USB 3.0 xHCI controllers on there in case the Intel ones do not function for whatever reason even with modding and you can then use this Asmedia USB driver slipstreamed to install Windows 7. Then use a USB PCIe card that supports Windows 7 to hook up your devices if you can’t get the Intel USB 3.0 xHCI ones to work.
The other issue might you may also encounter on a Z390 would be ACPI related but if installing Windows 7 on it has given you no problems with Shutdown or Hyperthreading then you can report back and let us know it’s working on the Z390. I do recall reading some MB manufacturers were working on a fully ACPI compliant Windows 7 OS MB so maybe the Z390 could have some ACPI issues?
@OutLoud
I wouldn’t suggest you get a Z390 MB w/o at least one physical PS/2 port for a keyboard input as a fall back.
You can use a USB keyboard if you use a proper USB female to PS/2 male adapter to plug into the motherboard’s PS/2 female rear port.
But otherwise a real physical PS/2 keyboard will allow you to complete the setup process manually without a USB mouse. You could also use the swap technique that I use in XP during the setup mode but it’s not as elegant and it’s much easier to just use a keyboard to complete the setup or just do an unattended from the start to bypass it which might work in your case.
Actually any motherboard that works with XP will work with Windows 7. The reason is XP requires a bit more compatibility to work and it’s easier to get anything that comes later to work on it such as Vista, Windows 7, 8.X, and 10.
>>I also do not have any PS2 i/o (or a keyboard that uses PS2 lol) available, so I am going to inject the PCI-E USB drivers and VNC (as a fail-safe method) to the Win7 Image and I will be deploying it via a local PXE server to make the install - hoping for success.
I don’t know if this method will work but I will be curious as to your step by step on how you are going to transfer this image from a PXE server and do a write up for us as maybe this technique might work with XP or Vista.
@XPLives
Wow, that’s a lot to read!
“You can’t get the Intel USB 3.0 xHCI ports to work in Windows 7?” <- this.
I have since purchased another Z390 to go with a 9700K, so I’ll certainly not be downgrading to a Z370 just for USB.
I’ve found no problems with shutdown or hyperthreading, so I guess at least those work
Yes if that’s your problem then look at all Z370 MB of Asus that supports Intel USB 3.0 drivers in their driver section. Download it and modify it to add Z390 USB Hardware IDs. If this works/doesn’t work report back. That’s the easiest solution while keeping Z390 MB.
I would also add boot into Windows 10 first to identify the Intel USB 3.0 xHCI device so you know which Hardware ID you are adding to the modded driver.
I don’t know on your MB if they are all Intel or other Branded USB controllers and if they are USB 3.0 or 3.1 as that might make a difference in driver compatibility.
I don’t think Intel officially made Windows 7 drivers for USB 3.1 so that might be the problem of incompatibility.
You could also try to find a beta copy of Windows 8.0 early stage if it even exists or one of those early Windows 8 Evaluation versions that Windows allowed to download and extract that USB driver and hope it has Windows 7 compatibility still within it. But if all fails your best bet is to use a USB 3.0 xHCI PCIe card and consider those Intel USB ports dead to you.
I have just tried that, by extracting the relevant files from SW_EZ_Installer_W7_32_64_VER10321_20180503R.
Modified the inf with the HW IDs, and installed it.
Same error as I got on previous attempts. There was a problem installing the drivers, the device cannot start.
It does appear in the device manager correctly, it just isn’t running. Yellow (!)
I have already ordered that motherboard and anyways - I won’t get an other motherboard just because Windows 7 does not support it… I prefer getting a PCI-E USB card and not an other motherboard - that’s the tl;dr anyways, there are a lot of reasons why I won’t switch over with an other motherboard/chipset (or even with an other Z390 motherboard type)
As a Sys Admin, I am pretty confident it will work - also made some tests over a virtual machine and I could connect remotely to the Installation Media and continue the process through a remote PC and I am also adding VNC to the Windows operating system so it will be already installed when the operating system first boots so if those USB drivers won’t work and I’ll have to install them manually I will have the option to do so using VNC,
That VNC method will be familiar to this one (mute the cancer music) :
I am using Serva as a PXE deployment server as I do not have a WDS server running at home right now and Serva will save me the time with installing one anyways
I am also injecting the PCI-E USB drivers to the Win7 Image so I might not need that VNC at all, we’ll see - if it works out I’ll be happy to make a guide on how to do it yourself.
I have found some reference to a Z390 motherboard on a website called "station-drivers.com" - I am unsure of its legitimacy yet but you can download Z390 USB drivers for Windows 7 from there (seems too good to be true tho)
I was going to wait and try it myself but if you want to try it yourself and report back you are welcomed to do so - The drivers are located here.
NOTE: Be careful when installing this, run a scan over virustotal / other malware analysis website. As I said, I am unsure if this website is legit yet.