This software demonstrates that issuing some NVMe commands from userland to NVMe device using Windows inbox NVMe driver (stornvme.sys)[1].

Specification that this software refered to is NVMe 1.3d[2] and NVMe 1.4b[6].

For StorNVMe on Windows 10 version 1903 and later, Supported NVMe Admin and NVM command sets and associated opcodes are shown in [8], and supported features are shown in [9].

(Some fields introduced in NVMe specifications revision 2.0[10] are supported, but I cannot test it because I don't have NVMe 2.0 compliant SSDs...)

This software is a SAMPLE and DEMONSTRATION program to show how to access NVMe drive with Windows' inbox NVMe driver.

It is NOT intended to provide versatile tool with such functions like accepting arbitrary value for parameters, file input / output, non-interactive mode, support for vendor specific commands.

If you need such functions, you can create your own tool based on this software.

Thank you.

Table 1. Command matrix (Admin Command Set)

Legend for "Status" column: "x" => can issue, "--" => cannot issue, " "(blank) => not confirmed

Note 1: probably cannot issue this command because only "Internal Driver Use" is written in [8]

Note 2: can issue this command only in WinPE mode according to [8]

Note 3: To use sample (template) code for issuing Vendor Specific Commands, you need to edit the codes as you want to do

Table 2. Command matrix (NVM Command Set)

Legend for "Status" column: "x" => can issue, "--" => cannot issue, " "(blank) => not confirmed

Note 1: these command are stated as "Not supported" in [8]

Note 2: To use sample (template) code for issuing Vendor Specific Commands, you need to edit the codes as you want to do

CNS values from 10h to 13h are seemed to be able to issue only in WinPE mode, because these values are mandatory for controllers that support the Namespace Management capability in NVMe spec., but Namespace Management command can only be issued in WinPE mode according to [8].

CNS values 14h and 15h are seemed to be unable to issue, because these values are mandatory for controllers that support Virtualization Enhancements in NVMe spec., but Virtualization Management command is not supported according to [8].

Table 3. Controller or Namespace Structure (CNS)

Legend for "Status" column: "x" => can issue, "--" => cannot issue, " "(blank) => not confirmed

Table 4. Log Identifier (LID)

Legend for "Status" column: "x" => can issue, "--" => cannot issue, " "(blank) => not confirmed

Note 1: If you want to set Create Telemetry Host-Initiated Data to 1, you need Windows 10 version 2004 (build 10041) or later. And to do this, this tool uses IOCTL_STORAGE_GET_DEVICE_INTERNAL_LOG described in [9]. But I don't know products (SSDs) that can respond this type of request (command)...

According to [8], only Host Controlled Thermal Management is supported via Set Features command with IOCTL_STORAGE_SET_PROPERTY.

Table 5. Feature Identifier (FID)

Legend for "Status" column: "x" => can issue, "--" => cannot issue, " "(blank) => not confirmed

Note 1: FID 82h and 83h are seemed to be unable to issue, because commands related to Reservation are not supported according to [8].

Read command is issued via SCSI Pass-through[3].

Issue Read command with Starting Logical Block Address (SLBA) = 0 and Number of Logical Blocks (NLB) = 1.

Write command is issued via SCSI Pass-through[3].

Issue Write command with SLBA = 0, NLB = 1, and data is "DEADBEEF".

Dataset Management command is issued via SCSI Pass-through[3] with IOCTL_STORAGE_MANAGE_DATA_SET_ATTRIBUTES [4][5] (only Deallocate bit is set).

LBA region to be deallocated is SLBA = 0 and NLB = 1 (Sector 0).

An NVMe drive that supports Dataset Management command is also needed.

Supporting Dataset Management command can be checked by bit 2 of "Optional NVM Command Support (ONCS)" field in Identify Controller Data Structure.

If the bit is set to 1, the controller support Dataset Management command.

For further information, see "5.15.3 Identify Controller data structure (CNS 01h)" in the NVMe specification[2].

An NVMe drive that return fixed data pattern for reading deallocated logical block is recommended for checking the result of deallocation.

It can be checked by bit 2:0 of "Deallocate Logical Block Features (DLFEAT)" field in Identify Namespace Data Structure.

If it is 001b, the drive returns all bytes cleared to 00h for reading deallocated logical block.

If it is 010b, the drive returns all bytes set to FFh for reading deallocated logical block.

For further information, see "5.15.2 Identify Namespace data structure (CNS 00h)" in the NVMe specification[2].

Issuing "Write", "Dataset Management (Deallocate)", and "Format NVM" command to devices under management by file systems (e.g. FAT, NTFS) will corrupt your system.

These commands should be issued with highest care.

"Read" command does not have such a side effect... :-)

Confirmed on the following software environment:

• Tested operating system and device driver (latest)
  • Windows 10 Professional 64bit (Version Dev, Build 21354.1)
    • stornvme.sys (version 10.0.21354.1, WinBuild 160101.0800)
  • Windows 11 Pro 64bit (Version 21H2, Build 22000.132)
    • stornvme.sys (version 10.0.22000.132, WinBuild 160101.0800)
• Developing environment
  • Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2019 (Version 16.11.11)
    • Windows Driver Kit (10.0.20348.0)
  • Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2022 (Version 17.1.3)

Only tested with the NVMe drive directly attached to PC via PCIe.

It is ok to access to M.2 drives and M.2 drives that attached to M.2-PCIe converter Add-In-Card (AIC).

Also, it may be ok with U.2 drives.

But it may not work over protocol translations such as usb-nvme.

1. Double click NVMeTool.sln to start Visual Studio
2. Build program with Build -> Build Solution (or Control+Shift+B)
3. Run program (F5)

Note that, when you run (debug) in Visual Studio, confirm that the command line argument is set to appropriate drive ID for your system.

You can find the settings of command line arguments from Debug menu -> NVMeTool Debug Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Debugging -> Command Arguments.

• Test commands, LIDs, FIDs, and CNSs in the NVMe specification and listed in [8]
• Test in WinPE mode

This software is released under the MIT License and Microsoft Public License (MS-PL), see LICENSE.

[1] Microsoft, "Working with NVMe drives", https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/fileio/working-with-nvme-devices, Retrieved May 14, 2019

[2] NVM Express, "NVM Express[TM] Base Specification", Revision 1.3d, March 20, 2019

[3] Microsoft, "SCSI Pass-Through Interface Tool", https://github.com/microsoft/Windows-driver-samples/tree/master/storage/tools/spti, Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[4] Mark E. Russinovich, et al., "Windows Internals, Part 2", 6th Edition, October 2012, Microsoft Press, ISBN: 978-0735665873

[5] Microsoft, "IOCTL_STORAGE_MANAGE_DATA_SET_ATTRIBUTES IOCTL", https://docs.microsoft.com/ja-jp/windows/desktop/api/winioctl/ni-winioctl-ioctl_storage_manage_data_set_attributes, Retrieved May 14, 2019

[6] NVM Express, "NVM Express[TM] Base Specification", Revision 1.4b, Sept. 21, 2020

[7] Microsoft, "NVMe Features Supported by StorNVMe", https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/storage/nvme-features-supported-by-stornvme, Retrieved June 25, 2020

[8] Microsoft, "StorNVMe Command Set Support", https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/storage/stornvme-command-set-support, Retrieved June 25, 2020

[9] Microsoft, "NVMe Features Supported by StorNVMe", https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/storage/stornvme-feature-support, Retrieved June 29, 2020

[10] NVM Express, "NVM Express[TM] Base Specification", Revision 2.0, June 2, 2021