SOLVED: NVME Boot on Supermicro X9 Motherboard w/o Bios mod or USB

[ziggygt]

SOLVED: After days of chasing this, I finally made a breakthrough using Clover in a short time. The Supermicro X9 is very picky, and previous attempts at using Clover were unsuccessful. In this implementation, the system boots from an M.2 SATA drive not a USB. It uses Clover to load the NVMe drivers and boot the Windows OS stored on the NVMe. The system is very responsive, and all of this happens invisibly.

I used this optional card to install an M.2 SATA drive and an NVMe drive in the same PCIe card. The M.2 SATA drive is connected to the motherboard via a SATA cable. It boots like any other SATA device. The NVMe drive is the only thing attached to the PCIe. It's like making any NVMe drive bootable on almost anything.

Copilot and I created a CMD script and a USB image that will update the SATA to install the Clover components and enable the capability. I'll post the script and files soon. The USB is only used to do the install. Unlike other Clover impementation no USB is needed beyond the install. I like this card because it keeps the boot device and NVMe drive as a package. It is not necessary as long as the SATA drive stays in the system; it can be any SATA drive. The SATA drive can be used as a data drive.

USB should contain files from CloverV2-5169 repository:
nvme.cmd (attached)
EFI\CLOVER\
EFI\CLOVER\CLOVERX64.efi
EFI\CLOVER\config.plist (attached)
EFI\CLOVER\Drivers\UEFI\NvmExpressDxe.efi
EFI\CLOVER\Drivers\UEFI\VBoxHfs.efi
EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi
README.txt (attached)

rename plist and cmd to eliminate the "txt" extension

I previously posted my quest in an 2018 thread. I decided best to start a new one.

Here is the old one.
Old thread
I deleted the scripts I had here because I had some issues reproducing. I will repost when I get the script to reproduce reliably. If you are interested, please reply to the post.

.

 

[AlexandreFNR]

SOLVED: After days of chasing this, I finally made a breakthrough using Clover in a short time. The Supermicro X9 is very picky, and previous attempts at using Clover were unsuccessful. In this implementation, the system boots from an M.2 SATA drive not a USB. It uses Clover to load the NVMe drivers and boot the Windows OS stored on the NVMe. The system is very responsive, and all of this happens invisibly.

I used this optional card to install an M.2 SATA drive and an NVMe drive in the same PCIe card. The M.2 SATA drive is connected to the motherboard via a SATA cable. It boots like any other SATA device. The NVMe drive is the only thing attached to the PCIe. It's like making any NVMe drive bootable on almost anything.

Copilot and I created a CMD script and a USB image that will update the SATA to install the Clover components and enable the capability. I'll post the script and files soon. The USB is only used to do the install. Unlike other Clover impementation no USB is needed beyond the install. I like this card because it keeps the boot device and NVMe drive as a package. It is not necessary as long as the SATA drive stays in the system; it can be any SATA drive. The SATA drive can be used as a data drive.

USB should contain files from CloverV2-5169 repository:
nvme.cmd (attached)
EFI\CLOVER\
EFI\CLOVER\CLOVERX64.efi
EFI\CLOVER\config.plist (attached)
EFI\CLOVER\Drivers\UEFI\NvmExpressDxe.efi
EFI\CLOVER\Drivers\UEFI\VBoxHfs.efi
EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi
README.txt (attached)

rename plist and cmd to eliminate the "txt" extensionView attachment 47882

I previously posted my quest in an 2018 thread. I decided best to start a new one.

Here is the old one.
Old thread
I deleted the scripts I had here because I had some issues reproducing. I will repost when I get the script to reproduce reliably. If you are interested, please reply to the post.

.

Which X9 do you have ?

 

[ziggygt]

X9 DRW-7TPF, X9DRW-CF, X9DRD-7fln4 and
X9DRW-CTF31 I wanted a solution that works on all. the clover is working well but with the X9 bios limitations it is hard to get win 11 installed and booting from NVMe. I have it just trying to make it fool proof.
I am a hoarder. I have an addiction and need to seek intervention. The DRW-7TPF add x9DRW-CF are the windows machine. The others run Truenas

 

[kapone]

I may be missing something quite obvious here...

What's the fascination with booting from NVME?? I mean...you're adding an m.2 SATA drive TO boot from NVME drive?? Why?

 

[AlexandreFNR]

I may be missing something quite obvious here...

What's the fascination with booting from NVME?? I mean...you're adding an m.2 SATA drive TO boot from NVME drive?? Why?

Pretty sure, its X9 mobos can be BIOS modded quite easily

 

[Wasmachineman_NL]

I don't get why OP doesn't simply inject the NVMExpressDXE.efi into his BIOS?

 

[ziggygt]

I may be missing something quite obvious here...

What's the fascination with booting from NVME?? I mean...you're adding an m.2 SATA drive TO boot from NVME drive?? Why?

An NVME drive is about 10X faster than an M.2 SATA. When you are running the OS on an older machine, you need all the help you can get.

 

[ziggygt]

I don't get why OP doesn't simply inject the NVMExpressDXE.efi into his BIOS?

Fear of bricking my board. I have no experience with the tools, and I have 2-4 machines to mess with. The priority system for Windows is the X9 DRW-7TPF, which is a pretty special board with Dual Broadcom 10Gb/s, Dual Mini-SAS. I think the BIOS is complicated and unique. I have not located a previously modded BIOS for this particular card.

Using a special install of Clover without the USB is more direct and more likely to have a positive outcome. I can run an install macro and boot NVME on any of the X9 machines I have. The boot device can be any SATA device. The M.2/SATA combo board keeps things organized, and it is dirt cheap.

 

[kapone]

An NVME drive is about 10X faster than an M.2 SATA

Of course.

When you are running the OS on an older machine, you need all the help you can get

I'm not convinced. I have run all sorts of operating systems on all sorts of SSDs, including NVME, and from power on--> login screen, the difference is negligible. The ONLY reason to do this is because of data, not booting the OS. That's why I said, "why the fascination". You could boot from any SSD, and keep your programs and data on the NVME disk, no hardware/software hacks needed.

But then, to each his/her own, there's no rules here.