Upgrading ASUS CM6870 to Windows 10 Creators Edition or April 2018 release 1703, 1709, 1804 (RT3090 PCIe wireless card)

Thanks for this revelation.  I've been fighting the spring update (1803) and now the fall update (1809) with no success.  I got rid of all my old windows 7 and reset.. all with no help. Dark screen lockup at 75%, reset and resume to 82% and the beads stop. That restart goes back to the old (1709?). When i moved the wireless card to the little slot,  i still had to restart at 75%, but it breezed right through 82% and was successful.  To whomever i owe thanks, thanks! This victory was months in the making,  because i rarely have all day to invest in this type of problem.

This was a pain for me, so I hope this helps someone.

I made 15 attempts to update my ASUS CM6870 from the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition to the Creators Edition (Creators Update), I *always* hung hard around 40 or 42% after the first system reboot, with the 'rolling' animation ground to a halt. This almost always points to a hardware problem.

I did everything to find the bad hardware! I disconnected all of the USB, ripped out all of the superfluous drivers, did a clean reboot, did a driver uninstall on my NVIDIA drivers using DDU, and uninstalled every program that had a funky driver like the VMWare standalone converter and my Cisco Anyconnect VPN. Nothing worked.

Each reboot reported "0xc1900101 - 0x30018 the installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSPREP operation"

Digging into the clues from files left behind in C:$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther, I saw that the last thing before failure was a bunch of SPPNP messages which seems to be the SYSPREP driver loading phase. There were also a bunch of <NUL> characters at the end of the file. Some piece of hardware was refusing to play nice. I had painstakingly removed everything I could without opening the case.

Finally, based on various hints on forums, I cracked open the PC and pulled out my PCIe wireless card. Boom. Fully installed.

The Wireless card was a PCIe x1 in a PCI x16 slot if that matters, and it was the ASUS branded MediaTek Railink technologies RT3090 wireless card.

(PCI\VEN_1814&DEV_3090&SUBSYS_760111AD&REV_00)

Once the Creators Update was installed, I was able to reinstall the card without incident. Go figure.

Edit: This problem probably applies to any system using a P8H61 or P8H77 motherboard. According to this thread, the P8H77-M PRO (CM6870) is affected, as are other ASUS desktops like the ASUS CM6730 with a P8H61‑M PRO with that RT3090 wireless card.

Other commenters report that the ROG CG6480 / TYTAN CG8480 and CM1855 are also affected, presumably also with the errant RT3090 card.

I also observed the problem with an Ascend Ascendtech WN7601R-H1 PCI card in HP desktops. This is also an RT3090 PCIe card.

Commenter Chris Deer reports that he also had the problem with the Acer L4610, L4620, and L480, possible other Acer "L" models.

The Fall Creators Edition and April 2018 update also have this problem, so the installer is not yet fixed to place nice with the RT3090 wireless card.

One commenter noted that moving the card from a PCIx16 slot to a PCIx4 slot also fixed the problem, so it may be an interaction between the card and the northbridge (motherboard chipset) in certain slots.

EDIT: WARNING: Be careful removing and re-inserting the wireless card; make sure the power cord is removed from the power supply. The sound card chip is right at that slot and I damaged it, so now my system no longer recognizes when speakers are attached. Looks like I scratched a trace on the motherboard.  I know it is a hardware problem because booting a Linux Live USB showed the same problem. 

There's a solution which had worked for me, but I've upgraded my WiFi card any way...

Try this:

• It seems like you and I got the same card. Mine has Asus name on it, but on the back it has ANATEL, RT3090PCIe names too....I know that it's got a Ralink chip. Your Device ID also matches mine. So, look into ASUS drivers page for ur PC. Make sure you select your region of purchase(as this helps with code signing). 

Look for Ralink Wireless Lan 4.3(something) or Azurewave 5.0 (WHQL)  under Win 8. Don't use Wireless V1 cuz that's for Realtek card...

Make sure current state of installed driver is okay. Meaning, no "digitally not signed" in driver details tab for any of it's entry or entries. If that looks good with no yellow exclamation mark icon either...then, proceed with installing the Ralink or Azurewave software. Upon successfully installed...go to Control panel> Security> Review tab> See if the installation entries were: successful(1) or unsuccessful(0).

If = 1

Then => Go to safe mode. Device management. Right click on WLan card....driver update.... from the list, choose WiFI(Ralink Corp entry). Right now it's WiFi(Microsoft) entry. Update. Restart. 

If = 0

Then => try second software, and repeat the above step of going into safe mode........"

Voila, now you'll have no issues. You can even use WiFi on/off and Airplane mode with no issues. This Wi-Fi card is complicated but radio-wise pretty advanced. Microsoft's generic driver doesn't give it the features for Airplane mode ON/OFF and WiFi on/off. Hence the PCIe slot not being able to function with radio technicalities. Also, use ur OEM PCIex driver better compatibility.

Note: You may have to use UEFI(with CMS Auto) in your BIOS to use this complicated card.

I have a Z87-M plus(Asus G30AB) mobo. It's default optimized settings are Raid, UEFI OS, CSM on Auto, Secure boot on, Fast boot enabled, Legacy USB enabled, xchi USB mode Smart Auto, Wake on LAN enabled.

However, I've tried the above method with success on these settings too! UEFI OS, CMS disabled, Secure boot on, fast boot on, Raid/AHCI(tried both), Legacy USB disabled or Auto, xHCI smart auto, Wake on LAN disable(I don't like remote access to my PC, and neither should you, it's just unsafe). 

Also, make sure you didn't flash or updated BIOS after removing the card. This OEM card needs to be in ur machine when you flash BIOS. I believe it also helps with proper PCIe configurations. If you did, then I suggest reflash with card on. Clear your boot keys too, and then load/install the default ones right away, followed by a fresh install of OS.

You may also just update the driver without installing the software. You'll have to try both Ralink and Azurewave Win8 driver directory. Point the directory when updating the driver manually via right click. It's possible that one of them will not work. You will get ur screen frozen, so one time force shutdown needs to be tolerated lol. After that, uninstalling drv,  reboot , installing the second one should fix the driver issue. 

Good luck! 

P.S. It took me 2 years to find this solution, but it was too late...i already had a new card laying around. Funny, how at the end things happen magically. I put it to rest nonetheless, cuz it's got only one thin antenna. The new Realtek got two long thick ones... size does matter for me! Lol 

Ugh, typing on Android is worse than fixing Ralink wlan card.

I previously replied that this was a good solution which worked for me.  The problem continues, though, with each succeeding Windows 10 update and it gets very tiresome to have to remove the card before the updates will install. It seems that the built-in wifi card is partially incompatible with Windows 10, at least as far as updates are concerned.  Has anyone tried a different wifi card with specs showing it is Windows 10 compatible? Does that solve the update problem?

I am not sure if you'll see my response, but here it is: 

My Asus G30AB machine does the same thing with it's Asus/RT3090 PCIe lan card... freezes during the reboot; never letting the updates successfully finish. But, little bugger really makes the internet run very smooth...must be load balancing or God knows what with Intel i217-V. They seem to run great together, until an update hits.... I was tired of forced shutdowns, so I got them divorced, and paired my Ethernet with a Rosewill RNX250 Realtek 85*** PCIe Wi-Fi card....luckily the mobo accepted their marriage right away, with secureboot on, UEFI (non-CSM) config. I didn't have to go into the BIOS or anything.... And, God Microsoft even blessed the couple with his blessing....meaning, no need to install the software or driver from CD it came with. The CD has Win10 and all the previous OS drivers. And guess what? The little guy looks pretty much like Ralink card, but it has got two BIG BIG poles lol...my oh my, what power it has!!! It can probably catch Wi-Fi signals from MARS. It was only $12 on newegg , not bad 'eh? ;)

This was a pain for me, so I hope this helps someone.

I made 15 attempts to update my ASUS CM6870 from the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition to the Creators Edition (Creators Update), I *always* hung hard around 40 or 42% after the first system reboot, with the 'rolling' animation ground to a halt. This almost always points to a hardware problem.

I did everything to find the bad hardware! I disconnected all of the USB, ripped out all of the superfluous drivers, did a clean reboot, did a driver uninstall on my NVIDIA drivers using DDU, and uninstalled every program that had a funky driver like the VMWare standalone converter and my Cisco Anyconnect VPN. Nothing worked.

Each reboot reported "0xc1900101 - 0x30018 the installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSPREP operation"

Digging into the clues from files left behind in C:$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther, I saw that the last thing before failure was a bunch of SPPNP messages which seems to be the SYSPREP driver loading phase. There were also a bunch of <NUL> characters at the end of the file. Some piece of hardware was refusing to play nice. I had painstakingly removed everything I could without opening the case.

Finally, based on various hints on forums, I cracked open the PC and pulled out my PCIe wireless card. Boom. Fully installed.

The Wireless card was a PCIe x1 in a PCI x16 slot if that matters, and it was the ASUS branded MediaTek Railink technologies RT3090 wireless card.

(PCI\VEN_1814&DEV_3090&SUBSYS_760111AD&REV_00)

Once the Creators Update was installed, I was able to reinstall the card without incident. Go figure.

Edit: This problem probably applies to any system using a P8H61 or P8H77 motherboard. According to this thread, the P8H77-M PRO (CM6870) is affected, as are other ASUS desktops like the ASUS CM6730 with a P8H61‑M PRO with that RT3090 wireless card.

Other commenters report that the ROG CG6480 / TYTAN CG8480 and CM1855 are also affected, presumably also with the errant RT3090 card.

I also observed the problem with an Ascend Ascendtech WN7601R-H1 PCI card in HP desktops. This is also an RT3090 PCIe card.

Commenter Chris Deer reports that he also had the problem with the Acer L4610, L4620, and L480, possible other Acer "L" models.

The Fall Creators Edition and April 2018 update also have this problem, so the installer is not yet fixed to place nice with the RT3090 wireless card.

One commenter noted that moving the card from a PCIx16 slot to a PCIx4 slot also fixed the problem, so it may be an interaction between the card and the northbridge (motherboard chipset) in certain slots.

EDIT: WARNING: Be careful removing and re-inserting the wireless card; make sure the power cord is removed from the power supply. The sound card chip is right at that slot and I damaged it, so now my system no longer recognizes when speakers are attached. Looks like I scratched a trace on the motherboard.  I know it is a hardware problem because booting a Linux Live USB showed the same problem. 

Worked for me. After trying multiple other options I used this approach to remove the wireless adapter to update an ASUS M11AD-AU004S to the Windows 10  Feature Update 1803 which had glitched on my father in-law's computer for nearly 6 months. The fact that the computer hasn't updated since April 2018 was slowing the computer completely down and wouldn't allow some simple software updates but is now currently updating without a hitch.

The wireless adapter was a ANATEL 3025-09-4419 and it seems the H81M-A_DP/M11AD/DP_MB has the same problem.

The mouse NO-U79D adapter could have also been slowing down the process

Thanks for the help

Thank you thank you thank you! After one year of troubles, simply pulling out the wireless card, as you suggested, my Asus CM6870 works perfectly again. The Asus assistance suggested me to reinstall Win 8.1. Incredible! Thanks for the time you spent giving to me and to a lot of other people a great help.

Nicola