Missing media driver Windows 11 installation. Trying to install Windows 11 on Nitro ANV16-41

Hi,

I try to install Windows 11 on Nitro ANV16-41 and I'm stuck as setup complains about missing media driver.

Same error I hit with Windows 10 as well.

For Windows 11 I've downloaded the iso from Microsoft 24H2.

I've downloaded some of the drivers mentioned on this model product page (chipset, app base, wireless) and still no driver found.

Checking forums I've found some ideas about using diskpart to "initialize" my drive, I've followed those commands to create a primary partition and still no success, same error.

Checking more I've found that I might need Intel RST driver which I've found on Intel website but it is .exe file.. I'm using Linux.. eventually I've found a Windows laptop around to help me with the command that extracts that exe:

SetupRST.exe -extractdrivers SetupRST_extracted

I've copied the extracted folder on a USB stick and tried again, but same problem, still no suitable driver found.

I don't know what to do more, I don't understand why do I need this Intel RST driver as Nitro V16 I own is using Ryzen CPU and motherboard from AMD.

Any idea or suggestion what to try/check?

[Edited the thread to add model number to the title]

Accepted answers

bogdanice

Hi all,

I've got my laptop back from warranty, local vendor service confirmed the SSD was damaged and replaced it.

They've said it was replaced with an equivalent SSD but I don't know if the new one is similar or not, original one being a Hynix 1TB NVMe.

I see the BIOS was also updated to 1.12 from 1.09.

Curious enough, they've also installed Windows 11 Pro, all I had to do was to activate it.

To be honest I don't know how they've managed to install it, as I was not aware about the Windows being installed by them and I've tried again with my kit and again had the same problem: the installer couldn't detect the SSD!

I'll paste a screenshot with BIOS info below, in case it might help someone:

All comments

Alejandro_AC

Hi @bogdanice In your case it is not applicable because you do not have Intel technology but AMD:

Product Support - ANV16-41 | Acer United States

The problem must be something else, what exactly does the message say?
Have you created the Windows 11 USB from the Microsoft page with its own tool?
Where do you want to install Windows, on a partition of the disk where you already have Linux or are you going to delete the entire disk?
At what point in the installation does it give you that error?

bogdanice

Hi Alejandro,

I've tried IRST as a desperate solution as it was mentioned in some forums.

Thanks for the product support link, it is what I've used to get the drivers from.

I'll show some pictures below, but first I'll answer to some of your questions:

I have downloaded the ISO from Microsoft (Windows 11 24H2) and "burned" it on USB using dd utility (I'm a Linux user, I did this from another laptop, not this one as this one don't have an OS now)

sudo dd bs=4M if=Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso of=/dev/sda status=progress oflag=sync

I want to install Windows 11 as the only OS on this laptop. I don't have any other OS on this laptop now, I've bought the laptop with FreeDOS and when I've seen the missing media error I've checked some online forums and indicated to go to command line from Windows setup, use diskpart to create a primary partition, clear and format as NTFS which I did, so currently the SSD is blank, just a big (1TB) primary partition formatted as NTFS

For message, I'll detail below with some pictures I've took with my phone:

After Windows setup is started just before I have to choose where to install, I have the message about missing media driver:

At this point, I insert a 2nd USB drive where I've extracted some of the drivers and I tried to install chipset driver but the setup doesn't find any driver there!?

Checking the extracted zip for the chipset on my Linux laptop it looks to me that it is intended to be installed from Windows GUI, as it is an .exe, not at this point were I don't think .exe is usable:

I've tried also with wireless driver in the hope that setup will get what it needs from Internet, but it returns an error when I click install:

I've checked the BIOS and it is 1.09, and is the next version after 1.07 that according to Acer it adds support for Windows 11 24H2 which I try to install.

All the above steps are looking the same if I burn Windows 10 ISO.

What do you think it might be the issue?

Any idea what to try more?

Thanks for helping,

Bogdan

Axxo

Please check below troubleshooting steps:-

https://superuser.com/questions/1789960/installing-windows-11-fails-a-media-driver-your-computer-needs-is-missing-err

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If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful.

bogdanice

Hi Axxo,

Thanks for help.

I've already tried the IRST driver similar with instructions there, but the Windows didn't recognize the driver nor wants to install it.

Checking that troubleshooting steps, I wonder if this is needed for my case, as it seems to be for Intel CPUs, my laptop has AMD CPU:

Download IRST driver for you new PC/laptop processor from Intel site: link for 10-11 Gen CPU and link for 11-13 Gen CPU and put it in the C:\FolderForDriver.

Alejandro_AC

What utility do I use to create the USB, the one provided by Microsoft that appears on the same Windows 11 download page?

Download Windows 11

bogdanice

Hi @Alejandro_AC

I've used the Linux dd utility (I use Fedora Linux on my other laptop). As a Linux user, I don't have the option to easily use the Microsoft provided utility for this job but dd works the same.

ISO for both Windows 11 PRO and Windows 10 PRO are downloaded from Microsoft.

As update, I've sent the laptop to warranty as trying to format the SSD failed reporting more than 2_000_000_000 bad sectors. I'm waiting for seller "experts" to investigate the issue.

Thanks for helping so far,

Cheers!

Alejandro_AC

You are welcome.

bogdanice

Hi all,

I've got my laptop back from warranty, local vendor service confirmed the SSD was damaged and replaced it.

They've said it was replaced with an equivalent SSD but I don't know if the new one is similar or not, original one being a Hynix 1TB NVMe.

I see the BIOS was also updated to 1.12 from 1.09.

Curious enough, they've also installed Windows 11 Pro, all I had to do was to activate it.

To be honest I don't know how they've managed to install it, as I was not aware about the Windows being installed by them and I've tried again with my kit and again had the same problem: the installer couldn't detect the SSD!