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RAMPAGE Windows 8/7 UEFI Installation Guide

Nodens
Level 16
1. What is the UEFI Mode?
2. What is Secure boot?
3. UEFI mode requirements
4. What is CSM or how UEFI Drivers and Legacy Option ROMs interface with the UEFI.
5. Setting up RAID and preparation for installation
6. Pros and Cons
7. Installing Windows 7/8 on UEFI Mode
8. GPT Tools


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1. What is the UEFI Mode?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#Booting wrote:

The UEFI specification defines a "boot manager", a firmware policy engine that is in charge of loading the
OS loader and all necessary drivers. The boot configuration is controlled by a set of global NVRAM variables,
including boot variables that indicate the paths to the loaders.

OS loaders are a class of UEFI applications. As such, they are stored as files on a file system that can be
accessed by the firmware. Supported file systems include FAT32, FAT16 and FAT12. Supported partition table
schemes include MBR and GPT. UEFI does not rely on a boot sector.

Boot loaders can also be auto-detected by firmware, to enable booting on removable devices. Auto-detection
relies on a standardized file path to the OS loader, depending on the actual architecture to boot
(\EFI\BOOT\BOOT[architecture name].EFI, e.g. \EFI\BOOT\BOOTx64.EFI).

It is common for UEFI firmware to include a user interface to the boot manager, to allow the user to select
and load the operating system among the possible options.


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"Windows Boot Manager" is the boot manager that comes with Windows when it is installed in UEFI mode. This Boot Manager is accessible and viewable in the UEFI menu and F8 Boot options.


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2. What is Secure boot?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#Secure_boot wrote:

The UEFI 2.2 specification adds a protocol known as Secure boot, which can secure the boot process by
preventing the loading of drivers or OS loaders that are not signed with an acceptable digital signature.
When secure boot is enabled, it is initially placed in "Setup" mode, which allows a public key known as
the "Platform key" (PK) to be written to the firmware. Once the key is written, secure boot enters "User"
mode, where only drivers and loaders signed with the platform key can be loaded by the firmware. Additional
"Key Exchange Keys" (KEK) can be added to a database stored in memory to allow other certificates to be
used, but they must still have a connection to the private portion of the Platform key. Secure boot can
also be placed in "Custom" mode, where additional public keys can be added to the system that do not match
the private key.


Secure boot is only supported/enforced on Windows 8. This feature can be quite problematic as it won't allow you to boot any bootloaders that are not signed. Meaning once you enable it, you can't boot anything else unless you disable it or place it in "Custom" mode and configure public keys. This is beyond the scope of this guide though and for the duration of this guide I will suggest to keep it disabled in order to avoid any issues with dual booting etc. This information is provided though for those who may choose to enable it willingly.

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ASUS UEFI has 2 settings:
a)"Windows UEFI": This setting turns Secure Boot on. This opens a submenu that allows "Custom" mode as described above.
b)"Other OS": This setting turns it off and contrary to what the name suggests this is what you should set if you use or plan to use Windows in UEFI mode and don't want Secure Boot.

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3. UEFI mode requirements

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Windows installation in UEFI mode has 4 basic requirements:
a) A UEFI enabled platform (The Rampage motherboards in this case.)
b) A x64 Operating System that supports it (Windows 8 or 7 in this case.)
c) Installing to GPT partitioned disk or RAID array that includes an "EFI System Partition" or ESP for short.
d) Booting the installation media in UEFI mode:

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(See the the DVD drive in the screenshot has 2 entries, one starting with "UEFI:" and one with "P3:". Both of these are the same drive. The difference is the option with the UEFI prefix "UEFI:" boots in UEFI mode. Which means that it starts a UEFI bootloader. If a UEFI Bootloader is not present on the disk/flash drive, then this option will not be available.)


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4. What is CSM or how UEFI Drivers and Legacy Option ROMs interface with the UEFI.

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http://wiki.phoenix.com/wiki/index.php/Compatibility_Support_Module wrote:

The CSM provides additional functionality to UEFI. This additional functionality permits the loading of
a traditional OS or the use of a traditional OpROM.
The CSM operates in two distinct environments:

Booting a traditional or non-EFI-aware OS.
Loading a UEFI-aware OS a device that is controlled by a traditional Option ROM.

The first operation, booting a traditional or non-EFI-aware OS, is the traditional environment.
It is expected that traditional OpROMs will be around long after traditional OSs have been replaced
by EFI-aware OSs. The code that is required to load a UEFI-aware OS is a subset of the code that is
required to boot a traditional (non-EFI-aware) OS.


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To make things simple, a device ideally (eg the onboard RAID controller) has a native UEFI driver but for compatibility with an older/non-UEFI aware operating system, the CSM allows the loading of the old style PCI Option ROMs we are all familiar with. You need either one or the other. If you load a UEFI driver, the legacy PCI Option ROM is not used. The CSM also allows you to boot operating systems that have no idea what UEFI is.

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The ASUS UEFI has these options for CSM:
a)"Auto" (Self Explanatory).
b)"Enabled" (This allows you to manually set priorities for different types of devices eg "UEFI first"
means that if both exist, the UEFI driver will be chosen)
c)"Disabled" This disables CSM entirely with all its functions and runs in UEFI-only mode. This option
boots a lot faster because it doesn't load or wait for any legacy components. If your video cards and
expansion cards etc fully support UEFI, you can just turn it off (this is how I set it)-not for Win7.
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5. Setting up RAID and preparation for installation

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Suggested installation UEFI options (for the reasons explained above):
Secure Boot: Other OS
CSM: As shown in the screenshot above.

RAID arrays can be set up either via the normal Matrix utility prior to switching everything to
"UEFI first" or disabling CSM, or they can be set up afterwards from inside the UEFI.

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If you want to have native TRIM under RAID, that means without my patch, then all that is important is that you follow this
guide to install in UEFI mode. It doesn't matter which method you use to create the array or if you have an existing array.

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6. Pros and Cons

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As with everything, there are pros and cons to this method of installation.

Pros:
1) Native UEFI installation offers very fast boot up times and better integration with the hardware.
2) UEFI is the future. It is what will be supported in the long run. BIOS will eventually become entirely phased out.
3) GPT partitions do not have the size limitations of their MBR based counterparts.
4) GPT is also the future.

Cons:
1) Many backup and recovery utilities do not properly support GPT or do not properly support it under RAID configurations. There are working solutions though.


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7. Installing Windows 7/8 on UEFI Mode

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Let's get to the point:) I will be using screenshots from Windows 8 but the important parts shown here are the same for Windows 7 as well.

A) Boot your installation media with the "UEFI:" prefixed option of your drive as described above. The operating system will load and you'll come to this screen:

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Set your locale settings and proceeed as usual until you come to the Partitioting screen:

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At this point if you are using a RAID array you need to click "Load Driver" and provide the F6 Intel RAID RST driver (11.6+) in a FAT32 formatted USB flash drive or a floppy drive if you still have one of those 🙂

B) If your disk or RAID array is new and had no other operating system on it, it will show up as unallocated space, like the screenshot above. If partitions do exist, delete them all until it shows as unallocated space. Now press "New" and select the maximum space (or as much as you like) and hit apply. You will see this window:

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Press Ok. If all is correct then Windows will automatically partition the drive/array to GPT and you will see this structure:

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If it is not as above then something is wrong with the partition table and you should skip to step C (Recovery only on Win8). Otherwise press next and Windows will start installing:

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RAMPAGE Windows 8/7 UEFI Installation Guide - Patched OROM for TRIM in RAID - Patched UEFI GOP Updater Tool - ASUS OEM License Restorer
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't!

RealBench Developer.
1,052 Views
289 REPLIES 289

Hi there
I'm going from an Evga 759 Classified X58 Platform with a 980X to a RIVE w 3930k. My new parts will be here tomorrow, here's the deal:
1. Will be installing W7 SP1 onto a new Intel SATA 3 120 GB SSD
2. Will be hooking up initially 2 x Optical Drives
Then I want to Boot up and simply install W7 (Boot from either one of my installed Opticals (1 is an LG Blueray the other a Samsung DVD RW).

Once fully installed, install Asus Drivers, update W7, install Virus Protection then:
1. Install my Vertex II 240 GB w all my Steam and Origin Data
2. Install 2 x WD Caviar Blacks 640GB with all my Data.

- No RAID

My question is, what if I chose NOT to select the Optical Drive with the "UEFI" Prefix and instead to an install as I have always done them on my other Boards?
Is this detrimental to the System, will I have issus?

I do not "ever" plan on loading W8, I'll wait until an OS comes out that is actually better than W7

Also, I do not want or like a bunch of "Bloatware" loaded up on my Rigs, I'd rather keep it "clean".

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Cheers
B

Hi everyone, so i installed win7 x64 lastnight using the UEFI guide and this is the first time installing and creating a GPT partition as i've always installed as legacy MBR partition, everything seemed to go ok except i noticed in the disk management i had two small partitions one of course is the GPT EFI partition and the other is a 101mb unallocated partition and was thinking was this mean't for the MBR for devices that are non compliant with EFI at boot up and now i don't want to install to much software just in case i need to reformat so i've added a pic of the disk management to see if i installed this correctly, i don't mind starting from scratch again as i'm new to this type of installation but not to keen on installing all my programs for nothing...any advice would be great thanks. 36413
Motherboard, Asus Rampage IV Extreme.
Case, Coolermaster Cosmos II Ultra Tower.
CPU, Intel i7 3930k.
GPU, Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 780.
OS HDD, SSD Intel 520s 240gig.
Memory/Ram, Corsair 16gig (4X4) Dominator GT 2133mhz.
Sound Card, Creative Sound Blaster ZxR.
PSU, Corsair AX-1200i.
Watercooling, Corsair H100i.

Perfect guide 😄

I am still confused about what CSM is doing so let me present the following situations to understand.

Case 1
Assume CSM is disabled so you are booting into UEFI.

Loading Windows OS Process
When the UEFI manager is loading the Windows OS, does UEFI only use drivers found in the ESP partition to load the Windows OS?
Are option ROM (OpROM) on express cards used when loading the Windows OS?
Do the the ESP partition drivers use OpROM on express cards?
In other words, what is the relationship between ESP partition drivers and OpROM on express cards?
Are the ESP partition drivers only used to get Windows OS loaded so when Windows OS is running the ESP drivers are no longer used?

After Windows OS is Running
Are the ESP partition drivers still used?
Are Windows OS drivers (C:\Windows\System32\drivers) the only drivers being used?
Are OpROM being used? By who?

Case 2
Assume the CSM is Enabled

If it boots into UEFI, what does CSM provide if anything to the UEFI manager?
Is the function of the CSM to provide drivers to an old fashion BIOS boot (non-UEFI boot)?

Question 1
Boot \ CSM \ Boot from Storage Devices
What is the difference between
"Both, UEFI first" and "UEFI driver first"

Thanks in advance.

DragonClaVV wrote:
You say 11.6+ but the driver on asus website is 11.7 . That should be no problem?


11.6+ means any driver with 11.6 or higher version will work. What xwsxethan is reporting is due to loading the wrong driver. I assumed he uses a 3.x driver which is the default available at Asus website for X79 boards.

@asard:

1) You can not disable CSM on existing installation. It will not boot. You need to reinstall following the guide. You can also not restore an old image once you have CSM disabled. Because it will contain the wrong drivers.

2) With CSM disabled, you MUST load the F6 driver with version 11.6 or higher during installation.

3) Any 11.6+ driver will work properly with Windows 7.
RAMPAGE Windows 8/7 UEFI Installation Guide - Patched OROM for TRIM in RAID - Patched UEFI GOP Updater Tool - ASUS OEM License Restorer
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't!

RealBench Developer.

Hey thanks for the replies.
But your first response 1) You can not overpriced restore an old image once you have CSM disabled. Because it will contain 'the wrong drivers.

But the image I was trying with the new installation of Windows 8. Not any old.

I installed Windows 8 with CSM disabled and with the new V11.7.0.1030 and then I made an image of it.

Then I removed the RAID 0 that I had and Secure erase the two ssd.
Then I went into the UEFI and disabled CSM for Intel Rapid Storage Technology inside the UEFI to arrive so I create a Raid 0 from there.

So I create a Raid 0 there.

Then I sat in my USB that I have Windows 8 and boot from it.

Set the HDD as image is on.

The HDD is only visible when I put it on the Marvell SATA to SATA X79.

Come in where it finds the image then I went ahead and to start image as it says it can not find a disk to install on.
Here I had to start over and put CSM enabled and then find the Raid 0 when I would install image.

Did not think you needed enabled CSM.
What I wonder if it should be so, or if I have done wrong?

Then Windows 7 I do not know why I did not succeed with the stay only.
So you mean that you can have CSM enabled during the installation of Windows 8/7.

Then when the installation is complete, you can disabled CSM.
But I could not do with my old Windows 8 installation to reboot into Windows 8.
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79
Memory: Corsair Dominator CMP16GX3M4X1866C9
Graphics Card: 2x ASUS GeForce GTX680
SSD Drive: 2x Corsair SSD Force Series GT 90GB Raid 0
Power Supply: Corsair AX 1200W PSU
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra Tower
Cooling: Water cooling GPU/CPU/SYD
OS: Windows 8 64 Bit
Monitor: Samsung 27 LED SyncMaster S27A950
Speaker: Logitech Z-906 5.1 THX, DTS
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional

Nodens
Level 16
I'm not sure if it is the case with Windows 8 as well but I believe Windows 7 backup can not restore a GPT drive that is under a RAID controller.

The problem is not that you are installing with CSM enabled or not. The problem is that while you have CSM disabled the RAID controller load the native RAID UEFI driver (not to be confused with the operating system driver..I'm talking the UEFI driver) instead of the RAID Option ROM. When this happens Windows sees a different "Device".

Think of it like this: With CSM disabled Windows sees device named "A" and with it enabled it sees device named "B". Since this is your system drive, it has to have the proper driver loaded. So if you install with device "A" and then switch CSM on, suddenly, as far as windows is concerned, the device "A" that had your system drive on does not exist. Now it has device "B" which it has no idea what to do with in order to load the operating system from. This is an oversimplified example so that you can understand what happens.

To sum it up:
You can not switch back and forth CSM when your system drive is on a RAID array because the RAID controller device exposed to Windows is different in each mode. You have to stick with one or the other.
Regarding imaging, I will soon complete the "GPT Tools" section of the guide with tools that work with GPT/UEFI mode. Not everything works.
RAMPAGE Windows 8/7 UEFI Installation Guide - Patched OROM for TRIM in RAID - Patched UEFI GOP Updater Tool - ASUS OEM License Restorer
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't!

RealBench Developer.

asard
Level 7
Yes it was suspected that one can not switch back and forth CSM.
That's why I'm a bit puzzled about just CSM when I run a new Image that CSM is disabled when I for the first time I installed Windows 8 when CSM was disabled when I did it.
Here I had to enabled CSM while I drive image so it finds Raiden that I have created.
So I was afraid it would not be right.
But as I wrote just before Windows 8 image becomes clear and at the first start, I go in and replace the CSM to disabled that Windows 8 was installed as.
So this with the Windows start faster with CSM disabled and it works now and is really fast.
CPU: Intel Core i7 3930K
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79
Memory: Corsair Dominator CMP16GX3M4X1866C9
Graphics Card: 2x ASUS GeForce GTX680
SSD Drive: 2x Corsair SSD Force Series GT 90GB Raid 0
Power Supply: Corsair AX 1200W PSU
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra Tower
Cooling: Water cooling GPU/CPU/SYD
OS: Windows 8 64 Bit
Monitor: Samsung 27 LED SyncMaster S27A950
Speaker: Logitech Z-906 5.1 THX, DTS
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional

Nodens
Level 16
Yes that's a matter of the imaging tools used. Glad you sorted it out. Soon the GPT tools section will have a list of tools that work properly for imaging and data recovery without workarounds:)
RAMPAGE Windows 8/7 UEFI Installation Guide - Patched OROM for TRIM in RAID - Patched UEFI GOP Updater Tool - ASUS OEM License Restorer
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't!

RealBench Developer.

Myk_SilentShado
Level 15
I haven't had a read yet, but I will promise 🙂

Reason for commenting is this, on the front page/inside the article you say there's 2 reasons for wanting UEFI BIOS...but, I believe that should say 3 reasons. The 3rd reason being, in UEFI BIOS you can use drives greater than 2.2TB in size 🙂