project-nvme-bios-mod

Adding NVMe boot support to motherboards that shipped before NVMe was a thing. Specifically: AMI Aptio UEFI boards where the original BIOS doesn't know how to boot from an NVMe SSD on a PCIe x4 adapter, and we want to fix that.

The first target is a Gigabyte GA-970A series board, Revision 2.0, AM3+, AMD 970 chipset, BIOS version FC dated 2015-06-01. There is an open question on the exact submodel (D3P vs DS3P) that has to be resolved before any flashing happens. See docs/hardware/target-system.md and docs/adr/0001-bios-mod-vs-bootloader-workaround.md.

Status

Pre-flight. No flashing has happened. The repo is currently:

• Hardware spec captured
• BIOS settings to change captured
• Two-path decision (mod the BIOS, or chainload from a SATA bootloader) documented
• Critical open question about board submodel flagged

What this repo is for

Three audiences in one repo:

1. Drew working on Mark's PC. Make the actual install work, without bricking the board. Every step has to be reproducible across sessions on different machines (4090 desktop, 4070 Super, Legion Go).
2. Anyone else with the same Gigabyte 970-series board. Worked example of the BIOS-mod path and the bootloader-workaround path, with the gotchas documented from real attempts rather than generic forum hearsay.
3. Portfolio. A concrete example of how to triangulate niche hardware-modding info, document tradeoffs honestly, and build a reversible-by-default workflow around an irreversible-by-default operation.

What this repo is NOT for

• It is not a place to host copyrighted Gigabyte BIOS binaries or the Win-Raid community's modded BIOS files. Those stay on the source forums. We commit metadata, scripts, and documentation. See bios/README.md.
• It is not a generic "how to mod any BIOS" guide. The Win-Raid guide already exists for that. We point at it, don't replace it.
• It is not a guarantee. BIOS flashing can brick hardware. DualBIOS helps, but is not a free pass.

Repo layout

project-nvme-bios-mod/
  README.md                           you are here
  CLAUDE.md                           project-local AI instructions
  LICENSE                             MIT
  .gitignore                          excludes BIOS binaries and session log
  bios/
    original/                         original Gigabyte BIOS (gitignored, see README)
    modded/                           modded BIOSes (gitignored, see README)
    README.md                         what goes here, why we don't commit binaries
  modules/
    README.md                         where the NvmExpressDxe ffs files go
  scripts/                            session and verification scripts
    README.md
  tools/                              checksums, links to MMTool, UEFITool
    README.md
  docs/
    adr/
      0001-bios-mod-vs-bootloader-workaround.md
    handoffs/
      template.md                     seed for new handoff docs
      HANDOFF_2026-05-07_*.md         per-session state
    hardware/
      target-system.md                Mark's PC hardware spec
      bios-settings.md                the settings to flip before flashing
    runbooks/
      bios-mod-procedure.md           Option 1 if confirmed Rev 2.0 mod exists
      bootloader-workaround.md        Option 2 fallback (Clover or rEFInd)

Quick links

• The decision record: docs/adr/0001-bios-mod-vs-bootloader-workaround.md
• Target system spec: docs/hardware/target-system.md
• BIOS settings to change first: docs/hardware/bios-settings.md
• Latest handoff: docs/handoffs/ (sort by date desc)

Working on this repo

This repo follows the C:\dev\ session protocol:

vcd project-nvme-bios-mod
vstart
# work
vend

vstart and vend are defined in C:\dev\_scripts\ and require the device setup checklist to be complete on the current machine. See C:\dev\SESSION_PROTOCOL.md for the full lifecycle.

License

MIT. See LICENSE. Note that "MIT" applies to the original content in this repo (docs, scripts, schema). It does not relicense Gigabyte BIOS binaries, AMI MMTool, or any third-party module dropped into modules/ or bios/. Those carry their own licenses, which is the main reason we don't commit them.