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

Anonymous
2017-04-29T19:14:40+00:00

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.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-08-26T15:48:23+00:00

    Hi Remaker,

    I would like to thank you very much for this post!!!! Thank you, thank you thank you!!!!

    I was stucked since June to August 2017 looking everywhere what could be wrong in my software, drivers or hardware. I thougth it was the graphic card but I never suspected this F**** wireless card that I am not using. Mine is a cheap one also but different than yours: it's branded ANATEL or ASUS, not clear there are 2x bar codes. I am French with a French localization of the CM6870.

    Anyway, I removed the WiFi card and booom my PC "fell" up and running at the 1st next try to update Windows ;D

    Thanks' again Remaker, Bye

    Remi

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-08-12T19:20:52+00:00

    Just to add a datapoint: my install kept hanging at 89%. I found this thread using Google. My PC is a Gateway, and it does (DID!) have a wireless card installed, I have no idea why, it just came that way. I've never used it, so I shut 'er down, pulled the card, brought 'er up, and tried the update again. Voilá! It's up and running now. My hat's off to whomever came up with this solution! (And a big fat scowl to Microsoft for ignoring the issue!)

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-09T19:59:17+00:00

    Your rumor contradicts with what Microsoft is saying on official pages.

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/waas-overview

    Device compatibility

    Device compatibility in Windows 10 is also very strong; new hardware is not needed for Windows 10 as any device capable of running Windows 7 or later can run Windows 10. In fact, the minimum hardware requirements to run Windows 10 are the same as those required for Windows 7. Most hardware drivers that functioned in Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 will continue to function in Windows 10.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-08T10:52:30+00:00

    Your device is unfortunately not Windows 10 ready. The Manufacturer like ASUS cant provide continuously update for your device model. 

    The cause is maybe the outdated oldest BIOS version > CM6870 BIOS 0708/2013/02/05

    And the outdated SATA and other driver versions.

    Check the intel website for Driver update if possible for your CM6870  Tower PC. 

    Check the mediatek website for driver update. 

    If not help maybe the best solution to came back to Windows 8.1

    Regards.

    I agree that ASUS manifacturer likely doesn't support Windows 10 on that machine.

    The proof is that, in fact, they don't provide updated drivers for Windows 10 and maybe outdated BIOS.

    Nevertheless, you can, in fact, download working drivers for other pieces of hardware on the respective manifacturer websites. Except for the Mediatek ones.

    Also, there has been no official announcement that Microsoft will be discontinuing support for machines with Intel Generation 3 CPUs, and I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

    The fact that ASUS is not supporting Windows 10 on CM6870, though, is the proof that the PC is going towards obsolescence. That makes me angry, as it's only been 4 years since I bought that machine. But there's NO reason for Microsoft to discontinue support to a machine with good hardware that can without any doubt run Windows 10 OS.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-08-08T03:12:52+00:00

    Weird! I do know that Australia is a different regulatory domain, but it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

    Anyway, glad it helped. There may be a BIOS tweak to make the card acceptable, but if you don't use it, why bother?

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