Plz help: Windows PE with SSD drivers (Lenovo y460p)

[enuffsaid]

Was fiddling with the registry and broke my Win 7 installation (Lenovo y460p).  Now I'd like to recover some files before I go back to factory default.  I've created a Windows PE bootable USB stick with AOMEI Windows PE Builder and it sees the HDD but doesn't see the SSD.

The BIOS says it's a Samsung MMCRE32GEDXP-MVBL1.  I've tried to find drivers but the only download I can find is from doubledriver and when I download it the drivers are called doubledriver.exe.  That sounds a bit fishy to me.  In the past I've collected all drivers for this laptop from the Lenovo site but they don't seem to have any SSD drivers.

Does anybody have any advise which drivers I could use?  Perhaps some generic drivers?  I would very much like to recover a few files from the SSD. 

Thank you very much.

[Tripredacus]

I've never had to use drivers for a disk, only for the controller. You'll need a way to see the devices without drivers, use a program like NirSoft's Devmanview. Make sure to get the one for your WinPE's architecture.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/device_manager_view.html

Unfortunately, when I search for y460p on Lenovo's support site, it says it can't find it.

[enuffsaid]

Thank you  kindly for your reply, Tripredacus. The laptop is very old and the Lenovo site doesn't host the drivers or info anymore. I will give your suggestion a go and report back.  Thanks again.

[jaclaz]

1 hour ago, enuffsaid said:

Thank you  kindly for your reply, Tripredacus. The laptop is very old and the Lenovo site doesn't host the drivers or info anymore. I will give your suggestion a go and report back.  Thanks again.

Yes and no.

Seemingly they (they must have been inspired by the good MS guys) removed most of the info, but drivers are there alright.

The drivers linked to on this page:

https://www.notebook-driver.com/lenovo-ideapad-y460p-windows-drivers-software/

are actually seemingly downloaded from Lenovo servers, at this address:

https://download.lenovo.com/UserFiles/Driver/en/Downloads and Drivers/Y460pY560p/

(not an open directory, unfortunately).

Searching on Lenovo for Y460 or Y560 (withut the trailing "p") still provides some results (though not as many as needed/useful)

 

jaclaz

[enuffsaid]

Thank you jaclaz.  In the past I've meticulously downloaded the correct drivers for my laptop, and I have all drivers that came with the laptop.  Looking at them I don't see anything that jumps out as a controller for my SSD.  I see some Intel drivers that might be useful:

- Intel Chipset
- Intel Management Engine Interface
- Intel Matrix Storage Manager
- Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Which should I add to the PE build that relate to the SSD controller?

I'm now building a new PE with as Tripredacus suggested and hope to have more info on the controller soon.

[jaclaz]

Well the SSD is a Mass Storage device, so the Intel Matrix Storage Manager (besides the Intel Chipset one) seems like a good candidate.

You are using the AOMEI PE builder, but did you use it to build a Win 7 PE (using your install disk as source) or did you use the Windows 10 WIM?

It is entirely possible that the Windows 7 doesn't contain (too old) a suitable driver and that the Windows 10 WIM has one of the many incompatibilities the Windows 10 has (too new).

jaclaz

 

 

[enuffsaid]

Hello Tripredacus,  I've created a Windows PE image with NirSoft's Devmanview and have attached the HTML report.  I can see it lists the Samsung SSD but I'm not sure what to look for with regard to the controller.  Can you please point me in the right direction?

report.html

Edited July 26, 2018 by enuffsaid

[enuffsaid]

52 minutes ago, jaclaz said:

Well the SSD is a Mass Storage device, so the Intel Matrix Storage Manager (besides the Intel Chipset one) seems like a good candidate.

You are using the AOMEI PE builder, but did you use it to build a Win 7 PE (using your install disk as source) or did you use the Windows 10 WIM?

It is entirely possible that the Windows 7 doesn't contain (too old) a suitable driver and that the Windows 10 WIM has one of the many incompatibilities the Windows 10 has (too new).

jaclaz

 

 

Hello Jaclaz.  I've used the Windows 10 build that one can download through the AOMEI PE builder tool but the laptop comes with Windows 7.  I will see if I can add the Matrix Storage Manger and Intel Chipset drivers now.  Thank you for your guidance.

EDIT:  The Intel Matrix Storage Manage is a setup.exe and I can't seem to extract any .inf files.  I have added all Intel Chipset drivers and now building a new PE.

EDIT 2:  I've added the Chipset drivers but it's still not seeing the SSD, unfortunately.

Edited July 26, 2018 by enuffsaid

[jaclaz]

If it is a setup.exe, then it is not strictly *needed*.

I.e. the latop should work normally, boot and then allow to execute the .exe (that possibly replaces a "standard" driver with a "supposedly better" one).

Is the thingy BIOS or UEFI?

If it is BIOS, *anything* including some DOS/FreeDOS could possibly be used to boot and access the internal SSD (to copy the needed files).

Otherwise get *any* suitable Linux Live CD and use it to just copy the files, or use a dd of some kind to make an image of the SSD.

jaclaz

 

[enuffsaid]

Hi jaclaz. I very much appreciate your help.

It's a laptop with a regular BIOS.

I Will try adding the Intel Matrix Storage Manager setup files to the PE build and run it when booted from the USB stick.

I have no experience with Linux. Can you point me to a good Linux Live CD?

[jaclaz]

*Any* would do, I would suggest you trying with a Puppy Linux (as it is "simple enough"), here is a "full" tutorial:

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/274691-use-puppy-linux-live-cd-to-recover-your-data/

(it is for an oldish version, but it is not like you need anything newer, and you have the advantage of a smaller size).

jaclaz

[enuffsaid]

Hello Jaclaz.  Puppy Linux sounds right up my alley.  I'm downloading it now.  Will give this a go and report back.  I salute you.

Edited July 26, 2018 by enuffsaid

[enuffsaid]

Hey jaclaz!  Here's a big KISS for you.  Oh man, I'm so happy.  Using the Puppy Linux iso I created a bootable USB stick and I am now able to see my files.  In fact I've already managed to copy off a folder to the USB stick as a test.  I will find my most important files and then I can reimage the laptop.  I'm so relieved I can recover my files.  Thank you so much for your very valuable help, Jaclaz. Grazie mille!  *bear hug* 

Edited July 26, 2018 by enuffsaid

[Tripredacus]

Storage driver seems to be VEN_8086&DEV_1C03, which shows mshdc.inf is loaded. Because it has this name (not oem) it is an inbox driver. These do not always work in all situations, usually needing an actual driver from the manufacturer (Intel in this case) to use disks in certain situations... such as mSATA/NVME or sometimes for some SSDs.

Alas, Lunix saves the day... again. :p

[enuffsaid]

11 minutes ago, Tripredacus said:

Storage driver seems to be VEN_8086&DEV_1C03, which shows mshdc.inf is loaded. Because it has this name (not oem) it is an inbox driver. These do not always work in all situations, usually needing an actual driver from the manufacturer (Intel in this case) to use disks in certain situations... such as mSATA/NVME or sometimes for some SSDs.

Alas, Lunix saves the day... again. :p

Hello Tripredacus. I'm not that technically inclined in this matter. I did try loading the Intel Chipset drivers into the PE build but the disk was still not seen. The laptop came with Win 7 64 bit.  AOMEI PE builder uses Win 10. Do you think that could be the reason its not seeing the SSD? If you have any suggestions what drivers to try I would appreciate that. Although I can access my files I'd like to see if I can get it working with Windows for the sake of understanding this and possible future use. Thank you for your valuable help.