CAN MODS ARCHIVE THIS PLEASE IT GOT BUMPED [SOLVED] Windows 7 instalation on x470

[Seelöwe]

Cheers.

I swear to God I'm going to jump off of the tallest building I'll see.
I have an Aorus x470 and I've been trying to get Windows 7 working on this motherboard. Gigabyte has drivers for this Windows on their website, so I know it's possible to get it running.

I managed to add USB drivers to the Windows instalation with Gigabyte USB utility tool. It worked, I managed get through with it until it restarted and it got where you put in your user name and that stuff. That's when my keyboard and mouse stopped working.
The system boots just fine, I tried different HDD's and flash drives and everything is fine. The only problem is the USB support.

I don't even know which ports are which with the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ USB branding. I have two Blue ports and right above them it says USB 3.0, all good here. But I have 4 more ports that are black. I guess those are 2.0? Either way, at least none of them is working so it really doesn't matter.
My old motherboard had blue ports too, which I assume were 2.0. I've never had a problem with my peripherals and if the black ports on my current MB are 2.0 I really can't see why Windows can't work with them.

In bios, as far as USB's are concerned, I only have 4 settings:
Legacy USB support
XHCI Hand-off
USB Mass Storage driver support
Port 60/64 emulation

I've tried every single combination, nothing works. If there's anyone out there that got Windows 7 up and running on motherboards like this give me a shout. I beg you, it's driving me crazy.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Try the keyboard and mouse on the black ports.

For most boards it goes...
Black = 1.1/2.0
Blue = 3.0
Red = 3.1

If you actually have usb 2.0 ports, which is rare to see now, then you shouldn't have a problem getting Win7 64bit on there, but I do know that the media must include SP1 otherwise if it is pre-SP1 Win7 media it's not going to work.

[Seelöwe]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

If you actually have usb 2.0 ports, which is rare to see now, then you shouldn't have a problem getting Win7 64bit on there

Exactly, the schematic in the manual says that they're only rear USB, doesn't state whether they're 2.0 or 3.0. It only states it for the blue ones which are 3.0.2. Gotta love this branding.

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

but I do know that the media must include SP1 otherwise if it is pre-SP1 Win7 media it's not going to work.

So, basically you're saying that the install must contain Service Pack 1? I always had to install it after the Windows instalation.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

OMG hmm yea get yourself a Win7 64bit ISO that already contains SP1, then add in your amd chipset drivers, sata, ahci, usb 3.0 and 3.1; to this iso in the proper folders so Win7 will have them from the start. Then try a full drive wipe and clean install.

[Seelöwe]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

then add in your amd chipset drivers, sata, ahci, usb 3.0 and 3.1; to this iso in the proper folders so Win7 will hav

This is a little tricky, when I first tried to add the USB drivers to the install I used Power ISO and every operation was successful but in the end it didn't work at all. I used the drivers from Gigabyte's site. Idk what went wrong. I guess this time I'll try using Command Prompt.
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

As for a single iso that already had sp1, try downloading it via MS

Google > Windows 7 iso > go to the official MS site. This would be the latest full ISO released from MS that contains Win7 SP1 full OS. Jist ensure to get the 64bit. If it won't let you because of your key for some reason. Then what you may need to do is copy the full Win7 dvd contains (or the usb flash drive, whatever you have, long as it is Win7 64bit Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate; just know that Home Premium is limited to 16gb max ram) to a folder on local ssd/hdd, the follow the online instructions regarding slip-streaming SP1 into the older WIN7. As you can download the entire full Service Pack 1 from MS also. Slipstream method will take the original Win7 and your SP1 package contents and combine them. But again. Both the Win7 as well as the SP1 package must all be uncompressed onto a local ssd/hdd first. Once they are combined into a single ISO, you can then add in drivers that it won't already have, as I mentioned above. You don't want just the usb drivers, but also the amd chipset drivers which contains drivers for the entire chipset, sata, ahci and so forth. You could add in newer drivers for your lan and audio also but that's not required as you can always just install those after the OS is installed. Making Win7 have a driver in the installer iso can be helpful though if the OS doesn't already have at least an older driver already for your wired lan or wifi so that you can at least get the PC online right away after OS install.

Once the iso contents are complete, burn to a new DVDR disc, or a usb flash drive. Tools like Rufus 2.xx or ImgBurn can handle that easily enough. Before booting to the dvd or usb Win7 media, ensure bios is not set to uefi, it must be set to legacy mode for os such as Win7. Uefi mode is only for Win 8.1 / 10. Or a Linux distro that supports that.

[emoticorpse]

Originally posted by Seelöwe:

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

then add in your amd chipset drivers, sata, ahci, usb 3.0 and 3.1; to this iso in the proper folders so Win7 will hav

This is a little tricky, when I first tried to add the USB drivers to the install I used Power ISO and every operation was successful but in the end it didn't work at all. I used the drivers from Gigabyte's site. Idk what went wrong. I guess this time I'll try using Command Prompt.
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

If I'm not mistaken Gigabyte has a tool that will do the job for you. I think you point it to the iso and it will slipstream the drivers and do it's thing and make a new ready iso.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

If that's the case then what all I said still stands.

As OP either would need to grab the full Win7 w/sp1 iso from MS.

Or make an iso backup of the Win7 dvd and save to ssd/hdd. Then download just the SP1 full stand-alone package from MS, combine these two, once done add in the drivers.

I can only guess that the Gigabyte tool can do all of that.

[Seelöwe]

Originally posted by emoticorpse:

If I'm not mistaken Gigabyte has a tool that will do the job for you. I think you point it to the iso and it will slipstream the drivers and do it's thing and make a new ready iso.

I used the utility tool from Gigabyte. It worked during the install, after that my keyboard and mouse stopped working and I couldn't finish the install.

I'm currently working on getting SP1 into the instalation files of Windows. Technically this should allow me to use the 2.0 USB ports. I'll see how that works.

[emoticorpse]

Originally posted by Seelöwe:

Originally posted by emoticorpse:

If I'm not mistaken Gigabyte has a tool that will do the job for you. I think you point it to the iso and it will slipstream the drivers and do it's thing and make a new ready iso.

I used the utility tool from Gigabyte. It worked during the install, after that my keyboard and mouse stopped working and I couldn't finish the install.

I'm currently working on getting SP1 into the instalation files of Windows. Technically this should allow me to use the 2.0 USB ports. I'll see how that works.

Why don't you get the actual sp1 version of the installation disc?

[Seelöwe]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Making Win7 have a driver in the installer iso can be helpful though if the OS doesn't already have at least an older driver already for your wired lan or wifi so that you can at least get the PC online right away after OS install.

I always have backed up drivers, I never reinstall Windows if I don't have proper back ups, especially for the LAN driver. The main obstacle here is USB support. The system boots up but I can't do anything without working peripherals.

I just got a Windows 7 ISO with SP1, and I thought about trying it right away. And it worked, the mouse and keyboard were working right away but the same thing that happened with the ISO made with Gigabyte utility happened again with this ISO. They stopped working after the system restarted and it got to the screen where you have to configure Windows. They stopped working even though they were connected to the black USB ports which I have no idea what gen they are.
So now I'm certain that I need to make Windows install USB drivers at least, that's all I need. The rest is a peace of cake once I have a working keyboard and mouse.

[Seelöwe]

Originally posted by emoticorpse:

Why don't you get the actual sp1 version of the installation disc?

I thought that I should manage to slipstream it. But I got the SP1 version of the fish in the end, my patience is gone and I can't concentrate as much. I've been trying to get this ♥♥♥♥ up and running for 3 days.

[Brimac]

why not install windows 10 , and activate it with your windows 7 key?
No use using win 7 on new mobo

[Seelöwe]

Originally posted by Brimac:

why not install windows 10 , and activate it with your windows 7 key?
No use using win 7 on new mobo

Windows 10 doesn't satisfy my needs. Tried it 5 times, 5 times I rolled back to Windows 7.
The audio code is crap on Windows 10. No matter what drivers I install and how much tweaking I do. It sounds like crap compared to Windows 7. Razer surround doesn't work/sound the same on Windows 10 and that's just a no-no. It's like being right handed and used to shift gears with your right hand and all of a sudden you're forced to drive a car with a right hand steering wheel. It makes for a crappy experience and I'd rather ride a bicycle.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Here's how to do it all properly.

https://www.intowindows.com/how-to-integrate-drivers-into-windows-7-installation-disc

Download all the latest drivers for your motherboard from the makers site for your exact model.

Download...
> Amd chipset (this includes sata/ahci)
> Usb 3.0 and 3.1, these are seperate packages
> Wired LAN/Ethernet aka GBE
> Wireless LAN/BlueTooth if the board has them
> Audio


For Win7, make sure it is 64bit and already includes SP1.

Make sure all the drivers you download for the purpose of this injection are all 64bit and made for Win7 and/or 8. Drivers made for Win10 will not work.

Unpack all of the drivers just like the guide says to do for the Win7 ISO.

Use 7-Zip for unpacking/extraction

I would also download the latest BIOS for your board, extract that to a usb flash drive, boot up the board and update the bios from the update option within that boards bios. Do so before installing OS. One bios is updated shutdown the system for now. Then take that usb flash drive and use on your already working PC as a drive to be used to make your bootable OS install media.

[emoticorpse]

Originally posted by Seelöwe:

Originally posted by Brimac:

why not install windows 10 , and activate it with your windows 7 key?
No use using win 7 on new mobo

Windows 10 doesn't satisfy my needs. Tried it 5 times, 5 times I rolled back to Windows 7.
The audio code is crap on Windows 10. No matter what drivers I install and how much tweaking I do. It sounds like crap compared to Windows 7. Razer surround doesn't work/sound the same on Windows 10 and that's just a no-no. It's like being right handed and used to shift gears with your right hand and all of a sudden you're forced to drive a car with a right hand steering wheel. It makes for a crappy experience and I'd rather ride a bicycle.

Is that the maim reason you don't want to upgrade to win 10?. Sounds like you did something wrong. I don't think win 10 audio is suppsed to be that bad. From what you're describing sounds like my audio in a virtual machine but my actual win 10 system sounds great.