| Feature | f6flpy-x64-non-vmd.zip | f6flpy-x64-vmd.zip | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Driver Mode | Standard AHCI / PCIe NVMe (Non-RAID) | Intel VMD Controller (RAID & VMD mode) | | BIOS Setting | SATA Mode: AHCI / VMD: Disabled | VMD Controller: Enabled / Intel RST Premium | | Visibility | Sees standard NVMe & SATA drives | Sees NVMe drives hidden behind VMD | | Target Hardware | Older PCs (10th-gen Intel & below) or BIOS reconfigured to AHCI | Modern laptops (11th-gen+) with default factory BIOS | | Post-Install | Works with Windows inbox drivers | Requires Intel RST driver to remain loaded |
Both ZIPs contain similar file sets but with different binaries.
| File | non-VMD version | VMD version |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| iaStorAC.inf | AHCI + non-VMD NVMe | VMD + NVMe under VMD |
| iaStorAC.sys | ~400KB (older or trimmed) | ~500KB+ (VMD logic) |
| iaStorVD.inf | Not present | Present for newer VMD 19.x+ |
| iaStorVD.sys | Not present | Larger, VMD-aware |
| txtsetup.oem | References AHCI/NVMe only | References VMD PCI IDs |
| SourceDiskFiles | Standard | Extra VMD-related entries | F6flpy-x64-non-vmd.zip And F6flpy-x64-vmd.zip
Critical difference: The VMD driver includes PCI hardware IDs like:
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_09AB&CC_0108
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_467F&CC_0108
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_464F
These match Intel VMD controllers. Non-VMD drivers lack these IDs. | Feature | f6flpy-x64-non-vmd
Intel VMD is a hardware controller introduced with Intel’s 11th-generation (Tiger Lake) and newer chipsets (including 12th, 13th, and 14th-gen). It is a PCIe interface that allows the CPU to directly manage and configure NVMe SSDs without passing through the legacy SATA/AHCI stack.
Why does VMD exist?
The catch: When VMD is enabled in the BIOS, your NVMe SSD becomes invisible to the standard Windows installation media. The setup sees no drives to install on.
The confusion arises because both files often contain similar-sounding file names (like iaStorAC.sys), but their INF configuration files point to different hardware IDs. These match Intel VMD controllers
Here is the fail-safe strategy for your build: