Can't install Win 7/10 on HP laptop's new SSD

[MDavis-PA]

HP Pavilion M7-1015dx, 2012 vintage, InsydeH20 BIOS (see pix) with no explicit setting for SATA mode, only the legacy mode choice for UEFI/CSM. It had run the OEM Win 7 fine, upgraded to Win 10 fine, reinstalled Win 10 clean from other media fine. Recently the factory HDD died. I've added SSDs to several desktop systems with no trouble, so I put in a new Kingston 240GB SSD -- and can't get to login with either Win10 *or* Win7 installation from DVD or USB, usually BSODing after the first restart with complaints about winload.efi or wlnload.exe. (I cleared all partitions between each attempt, and have tried both "legacy mode" settings.).

In frustration I got another laptop HDD and successfully installed Win 10, then cloned that to the SSD via a USB->SATA cable (don't have an internal cable for the second bay) -- and when I put the SSD in as the only drive, it still won't boot, saying either that there's no OS or that it's failing SMART. (It passes Kingston's and all other drive tests when attached to other systems.) Am I missing a step, or is there something about this hardware/BIOS that just doesn't like SSDs?

 

[MDavis-PA]

Oh -- and for what it's worth, the cloned installation *does* boot to Win 10 when I temporarily substitute it for my desktop system's boot SSD

 

[Fardringle]

Have you tried updating the BIOS to the most recent official version? It's possible that the version you have now doesn't properly support the SSD. It's also possible that the SSD and the laptop are simply incompatible. My wife has a Dell laptop that refuses to boot from one specific brand/model of SSD but it works just fine with other SSD drives.

 

[corkyg]

Oh -- and for what it's worth, the cloned installation *does* boot to Win 10 when I temporarily substitute it for my desktop system's boot SSD

That seems to me to be the answer. Only one boot drive in a system unless they are in a dual boot mode.

 

[MDavis-PA]

No, the failures I've been having with the SSD in the laptop were all with only the SSD installed.

 

[MDavis-PA]

There doesn't seem to be anything newer at Insyde, but I've got a query in at the BIOS Mods forum about possible third-party flashes that would give more specific control. I hadn't looked at the laptop's BIOS setup until this HDD died and this episode began. And after tweaking a lot of high-end desktop mobos over the years, it was a shock to see the scrawny, locked-down BIOS version HP chose.... for my own good, of course, I might break something

 

[VirtualLarry]

Have you tried a different brand of SSD? Kingston likes to use SandForce controllers, and those have had compatibility problems / "edge cases".

Also, are you using the MS or Intel AHCI driver, and have you disabled Link Power Management and DevSlp?

 

[daveybrat]

HP Pavilion M7-1015dx, 2012 vintage, InsydeH20 BIOS (see pix) with no explicit setting for SATA mode, only the legacy mode choice for UEFI/CSM. It had run the OEM Win 7 fine, upgraded to Win 10 fine, reinstalled Win 10 clean from other media fine. Recently the factory HDD died. I've added SSDs to several desktop systems with no trouble, so I put in a new Kingston 240GB SSD -- and can't get to login with either Win10 *or* Win7 installation from DVD or USB, usually BSODing after the first restart with complaints about winload.efi or wlnload.exe. (I cleared all partitions between each attempt, and have tried both "legacy mode" settings.).

In frustration I got another laptop HDD and successfully installed Win 10, then cloned that to the SSD via a USB->SATA cable (don't have an internal cable for the second bay) -- and when I put the SSD in as the only drive, it still won't boot, saying either that there's no OS or that it's failing SMART. (It passes Kingston's and all other drive tests when attached to other systems.) Am I missing a step, or is there something about this hardware/BIOS that just doesn't like SSDs?

It's that Kingston SSD. I've had some issues with those 240GB models as well on older laptops/desktops. They would actually say 'Smart' failure and just wouldn't work. The drives weren't failing though and tested and worked fine on my newer test system. I would try to return that Kingston and buy another brand that works and is more compatible.

 

[MDavis-PA]

Also, are you using the MS or Intel AHCI driver, and have you disabled Link Power Management and DevSlp?

Sorry, don't understand "are you using..?" Do you mean "which AHCI driver is Windows selecting during installation on the SSD?" I don't know, as it has yet to run from the SSD while that's in the HP laptop. As for LPM and DevSlp, how would I disable them? Not from this minimal BIOS, that's for sure.

 

[MDavis-PA]

It's that Kingston SSD. I've had some issues with those 240GB models as well on older laptops/desktops. They would actually say 'Smart' failure and just wouldn't work. The drives weren't failing though and tested and worked fine on my newer test system. I would try to return that Kingston and buy another brand that works and is more compatible.

It may come to that -- or could be something funky in the laptop's SATA implementation, as I've been trolling lots of forums on this and have yet to see *any* account of *any* successful HDD->SSD move on this model.

 

[Shmee]

Have you tried installing windows 10 in UEFI mode? Of course, the disk will need to be initialized GPT

 

[MDavis-PA]

Have you tried installing windows 10 in UEFI mode? Of course, the disk will need to be initialized GPT

I did see the 4-partition default GPT layout several times, which tells me that on the previous attempts the Win 10 installer had sensed the BIOS was set to "legacy support disabled" -- i.e. UEFI. I've been assuming that sensing is reliable, but will run again and bring up BIOS setup again to make sure.

 

[MDavis-PA]

Have you tried installing windows 10 in UEFI mode? Of course, the disk will need to be initialized GPT

Nope, just tried it again: definitely GPT formattimg and definirtely legacy support disabled (i.e. UEFI) in BIOS all the way through -- after installation finished and it restarted, came up with "boot device not found"; tried looking for an EFI file via BIOS and got ASCII garbage. I'm now convinced this SSD and this system are hardware and/or firmware incompatible.

 

[corkyg]

It is also possible that your cloning job did not produce proper alignment. What cloneware?

 

[Ketchup]

So what are you using to switch the drive between gpt and mbr?

Because it seems like the drive worked fine with mbr, so using a utility to get the deive back to mbr may fix your issue.

 

[Ketchup]

Also what BIOS are you running? The latest one for your model was released less than a year ago.

 

[MDavis-PA]

Also what BIOS are you running? The latest one for your model was released less than a year ago.

Insydeh2O BIOS F.29, 10/3/2013. Damned if i (or the HP Support Assistant sw) can find any BIOS update (or any drivers, or the OEM recovery discs that I never had) for this Pavilion M7-1015dx, product # B4T70UA, on the HP site. If you have a link to that BIOS update "less than a year ago," please share it.

 

[MDavis-PA]

So what are you using to switch the drive between gpt and mbr? Because it seems like the drive worked fine with mbr, so using a utility to get the deive back to mbr may fix your issue.

Umm, no... the SSD worked fine with an MBR Win10 installation done on the HP laptop, then installed temporarily to replace the (MBR) boot SSD in my desktop system. Windows scrambled around adapting to the very different environment, loading drivers like mad, then ran fine.

But the SSD has never yet gotten to Win 10 (or Win 7) login when installed in the HP laptop I want it in:

Not with "legacy support" (CSM vs. UEFI) enabled OR disabled in the skimpy BIOS...
Not when installed from standard OR UEFI (-> GPT partitioning) Windows installation DVD or USB stick, BIOS set appropriately for each...
And not when cloned from a working Win 10 HDD created on the HP laptop (and yes, disconnected before booting from the cloned SSD)..

I've installed Crucial and Samsung SSDs in successive desktop systems of my own, and helped friends install several more, some with fresh Win installs and some cloned from preceding HDD installations. I have never encountered such an unbroken string of blue-screen startups (none repairable, automatically or manually) interspersed with occasional "no OS found" BIOS messages. And since the SSD behaves perfectly well attached to my desktop, I'm going to assume that the Kingston SUV400 is simply incompatible with this particular hardware/BIOS, return it (god bless Amazon Prime), and try another make of SSD.

 

[Ketchup]

https://support.hp.com/us-en/driver...ment-notebook-pc-series/5262615/model/5273911

F.2E Rev. A dated 9/9/16.

Fix and enhancements:

- Provides improved security of UEFI code and variables.

 

[MDavis-PA]

https://support.hp.com/us-en/driver...ment-notebook-pc-series/5262615/model/5273911

Thank you! I hadn't been clicking the 'Change' button after selecting Win 7x64 as OS. [f/x heel of hand to forehead] D'oh! Will definitely flash before attempting migration to the replacement SSD on its way now.