Insider Dev Builds of 21H2 and Windows 11 fail to boot on an Asus ROG G703GXR

Anonymous
2021-07-03T19:52:10+00:00

I've tried just about every release of 21H2 as well as the new release of Windows 11.

So far, they all react the same way.

Download works fine.

Update during restart works fine.

If further updates need to install, that boot sequence works fine and updates continue to install.

Once it reboots with no further updates to install, the post finishes, there is a bit of disk activity after the post before the spinning circle of dots would normally appear.

That is as far as the boot goes.

It just hangs there, indefinitely.

I've left it sit there for over 48 hours to no avail.

My only recourse is to physically power off the laptop, wait, turn back on and the upgrade is rolled back to the 21H1 installation I am running from the insider beta channel.

The G703GXR is a desktop replacement laptop.

It runs an Intel Core i9, 9980HK, 8 core (2.4Ghz to 5Ghz).

It also has an NVidia RTX 2080.

64GB RAM, 8GB VRAM

1 x Samsung 970 Pro 512GB NVMe for boot.

2 x Samsung 980 SSD 1TB (part of storage space)

1 x Samsung 860 QVO 2TB (part of storage space)

2 x Samsung 970 Pro 512GB NVMe inside ROG ESD-S1C USB-C enclosures.

I've checked and triple-checked all the CMOS/UEFI settings, trying different combinations.

I've gone as far as re-installing from scratch using the 21H1 USB ISO image (which cost me my W10 Pro for Workstations digital license when not all the devices matched the prior install).

I then attempted the 21H2 and W11 insider previews again, same hang at the same place.

What are the differences in the boot sequence for 21H2 and W11 from 21H1?

Is there a way to get any logs or debug information from the boots?

Windows Insider program | Windows Insider preview | Install, activate, and Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-09-07T22:39:37+00:00

    They all showed mounted correctly, as I suspected.

    Something very hinky is going on during boot, either post insider upgrade or boot from dual-layer DVD in that it never gets to the SCoD (spinning circle of dots)...

    ASUS was not very helpful... usual platitudes about - unreleased OS, we'll check on it, i'll forward your request to upper tier, cannot promise anything, blah, blah, blah...

    I wish the dvd boot had a way to store a log of what happened prior to the hang... or a text mode boot that would show what's happening during that boot.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-09-04T12:50:33+00:00

    You might try running the Mountvol command to see if drive d: shows correctly.

    It should also be listed in the registry under this key..

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-09-03T23:59:18+00:00

    Drive 6 is the storage space made up of 2 x 512GB 970 Pros, 2 x 1TB 980 SSD and 1 x 2TB QVO solid state drives.

    It only has one partition as drive d.

    FindGlobalPath: Cannot find volume name for \?\GLOBALROOT\Device*HardDisk3\Partition2. Error: 0x0000007B*

    This is my C:> Drive

    *FindGlobalPath: Cannot find volume name for \?\GLOBALROOT\Device*HardDisk6\Partition1. Error: 0x0000007B

    This is my D:> Drive

    Basically tells me that it is NOT loading the correct disk controller driver, which is odd, as it is a standard Intel controller.

    Intel(R) Chipset SATA/PCIe RST Premium Controller...

    PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&SUBSYS_17011043&REV_10\3&11583659&0&B8

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-09-03T22:54:24+00:00

    I found a couple more things in your log.

    Most upgrades will have a line like the one below. It refers to the MSR partition which sits just in front of the OS partition. You have two such lines, so maybe see if you can track down the partition that is not an MSR version..

    FindGlobalPath: Cannot find volume name for \?\GLOBALROOT\Device*HardDisk3\Partition2. Error: 0x0000007B*

    *FindGlobalPath: Cannot find volume name for \?\GLOBALROOT\Device*HardDisk6\Partition1. Error: 0x0000007B

    There is also a line like this one. My log has not such line but it does, as yours does, say winbrand.dll is a system file and will not be migrated.. Again, this may mean nothing.

    Error DISM DISM Transmog Provider: PID=19416 TID=18956 Unable to load [C:$WINDOWS.~BT\NewOS\Windows\System32\winbrand.dll]; hr = 0x8007007F - CTransmogManager::GetBrandingProductNameForEdition

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  5. Johnny55 5,155 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-09-03T22:34:39+00:00

    TDK,

    Official MS Build 19044.1202 ISO now available for insider download.

    Hi fg,

    The Insider RP ISO is actually 19044.1165. Suspect someone at MS messed up again and just labeled it .1202

    First noticed on a clean install yesterday in vm, then checked with cmd below:

    Image

    As with 21H1, this will most likely be the Official Release ISO as well of 21H2 through MCT but with install.esd. MS will not make another, Curious if any W11 features will ever get ported to W10 🧹 RIP.

    Regards,

    Edit: LOL, didn't see your last post till after I replied to your post. Guess I'm slow today. Cheers.

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