installing Windows 11 on new 970 Evo Plus : "no signed device drivers found"

[ColinR1]

I bought a 970 Evo Plus NVMe M.2 SSD (1TB) to replace the SSD in my new Dell XPS 13 (configured for Win 11).

The physical swap had one hitch: the Samsung is a 2280, while the Dell SSD was a 2230, so had a metal shield with a 'foot' to hold the 2230 in place.  As that doesn't fit the 2280, I did not re-fit the shield.  On F2'ing into BIOS, Storage sees the 970 Evo Plus.  I've left the configurations as they are (inc. RAID).

The Windows installer (from windows.iso) begins without trouble from its DVD.  I install "Custom" (as I can't "Upgrade" with a clean SSD).  When it asks "Where do you want to install Windows?" it warns, "We couldn't find any drives.  To get a storage driver, click Load driver".  Selecting Load Driver prompts, "To install the device driver for your drive, insert the installation media containing the driver files".

(n.b. while WLAN is enabled in BIOS, I have not been able to specify the WLAN network to use, or a password.)

I use Samsung_NVM_Express_Driver_3.3.exe from https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/tools.  When I select "Load driver", and the USB stick containing the NVMe driver, I am told "No signed device drivers were found".

So, questions:

1. is Samsung_NVM_Express_Driver_3.3.exe the right driver?  If not, what do I need, and where do I get it?
2. would the right driver be found automatically if the Dell was connected to my wi-fi network?  If so, how do I connect to the wi-fi network (e.g. in BIOS)?
3. should I have the metal Dell shield in place?  If so, should I simply cut off the foot?

Thanks!

[DFW1 · Accepted solution]

When you said left configuration in the BIOS, are the drives set to raid?, it sounds like you what want to install Windows onto the new single drive from your post, if so the hard drive set up in the BIOS needs to be set to SATA or AHCI.
The dvd of Windows 11, is that a Dell or MS one??
I have never needed drivers to install windows 11 onto a M.2 drive set up as sata or achi , Windows 11 has this drivers built in, then of course you can use Samsung drivers on set up if you want or after install.
Check your BIOS first step.

[ColinR1]

Thanks @DFW1 : switching to AHCI/NVMe has done the trick.

(I'd missed it earlier, I think, as I may not have seen the instruction to "press any key" to boot from CD or DVD: this may have taken me to the "No bootable devices found" error message.)

1. should I change the BIOS back to "RAID On", or do I leave it at AHCI/NVMe?
2. should I try to get the metal shield back in place?

Finally, to answer your question: I burned the Windows.iso DVD myself.

[DFW1]

No or your system will not boot, raid is when Windows is spread across multiple drives. Leave it as it is.
Glad it's fixed

[DFW1]

If you can I would get the shied fitted, if not just have to wait and see if you get any heat problems.

[antikythera]

On the EVO 970 and 970 Plus drives the black label is a actually a heat spreader too. Don't bother with the Samsung nvme driver UNLESS you have an Intel processor and chipset. The Samsung driver makes those nvme perform worse with AMD Ryzen from experience.

[ColinR1]

thanks!

I've got an Intel CPU + chipset.  Thus, I'll keep the Samsung NVMe driver unless someone can recommend a better one.

[TechieXP]

i know this thread is old. im curious as to how you were able to install the 3,3 version of the driver in Windows 11.

the driver was designed for Windows 10. When i tried installing it, the driver failed. 

i even tried using Windows compatibility mode to install it. i also tried extracting the driver, so Windows 11 could allow me to force the install.

Samsung Magician reports i have no compatible driver installed for the drive.

any help is appreciated. thanks

[ColinR1]

I'm sorry: I don't remember how I installed the 3.3 driver.

[hyang336]

I specifically registered an account just to say thank you! All the other advice online did not help at all but yours worked!!