Windows 8 build 7898 (fbl_core1_kernel_npc_ext)

6.2.7898.0.fbl_core1_kernel_npc_ext.101209-1746

Build of Windows 8
OS family	Windows NT
Version number	6.2
Build number	7898
Build revision	0
Architecture	x86, ARM32 (ARMv7)
Build lab	fbl_core1_kernel_npc_ext
Compiled on	2010-12-09
Expiration date
Timebomb	2011-07-01 (+204 days)
SKUs
Starter (E, N) Home Basic (E, N) Home Premium (E, N) Professional (E, N) Enterprise (E, N) Ultimate (E, N)
About dialog

Windows 8 build 7898 is an internal build of Windows 8. This build was first shown running on an Intel Atom SoC at the CES 2011 trade show to demonstrate increased support for low-power system-on-chip devices, along with build 7867 and 7900.

The original partner drop for both the retail and debug client releases of this build's unstaged ARMv7 installation media and Preinstallation Environment, including software development kits and raw symbol sets for Nvidia were shared on 11 September 2024, along with build 7957, while the x86 checked/debug compile was shared on 13 October 2024. The Qualcomm drop was uploaded on 4 December 2024.

ARMv7 Compile Installation

QEMU installation guide:

Prerequisites

The following requirements used in order to install this build onto a virtual machine are listed below:

• The QEMU v6.1.0 Tegra 2 WoA fork that simulates a real-world Nvidia Tegra 250 development kit, modified to run early Windows on ARM builds
  • As of 2024, continuous integration (CI) is currently only set up to automatically produce Windows builds. The fork must be manually compiled from source by using a different operating system like macOS or Linux.
• The required patched EFI firmware capsule images (originally from build 7822), to be placed in the QEMU installation directory in a new folder named fw
• Two virtual hard disk images (for storing the installation media and the OS install)

Precautions

• The emulator may quit when a system reboot is initiated. This is an intentional design decision implemented by Microsoft as restarts are treated as full shutdowns by the Tegra 250 HAL, and cannot be worked around.
• In rare edge cases, Secure Digital MultiMediaCard (SDMMC) emulation may not be reliable and can possibly corrupt the main OS disk partition midway through image deployment or feature staging. Re-attempting the below instructions by first formatting the main OS partition and then modifying the setup BCD store to use one CPU core (located as EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD in the installation media) via the command below may help significantly improve the chances of a successful installation, at the expense of additional time due to the lack of multi-threading:

  bcdedit /offline /store M:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} NUMPROC 1
  

• USB HID device emulation is unstable and will occasionally result in devices failing to register any user inputs. To restore input, switch to the QEMU compatibility monitor (Ctrl+Alt+2) and run the following commands:

  device_del kbd
  device_add usb-kbd,id=kbd
  

• For builds prior to 7957 (excluding builds 7792 and 7822), it is critical that the Windows Setup boot image be substituted with the Windows Preinstallation Environment image from the original partner drop (ordinarily located in the winpe or woape directories), as the Setup boot image does not contain the required hardware abstraction layer (HAL) extensions, and will therefore cause the operating system to immediately bugcheck with code HAL_INITIALIZATION_FAILED as soon as the boot sequence starts.
• This guide is not for build 7915 due to it being designed to run on Texas Instruments OMAP4 and won't run on the Tegra 2 QEMU. It is required to use QEMU-woa instead.

Instructions

These instructions assume that the user has an elevated command prompt window open.

Create the needed virtual disk images through the diskpart utility by running the below script; they will be created under a directory in the C: drive named ARM8. The INSTALL, MainOS and EFI system partitions will be respectively mounted under drive letters F and P.

create vdisk file="C:\ARM8\Setup.vhd" maximum=4096 type=expandable
select vdisk file="C:\ARM8\Setup.vhd"
attach vdisk
convert gpt
create partition primary
format quick fs=fat32 label=INSTALL
assign letter=M
create vdisk file="C:\ARM8\Main.vhd" maximum=65536 type=expandable
select vdisk file="C:\ARM8\Main.vhd"
attach vdisk
convert gpt
create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32 label=EFIESP
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label=MainOS
assign letter=P
exit

Depending on the users' desired build flavor (free or checked), copy the contents of the installation media over to the INSTALL partition. Extract the needed EFI boot manager (\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi) from the Windows PE or Windows Setup boot image to INSTALL, as EFI\Boot\bootarm.efi.

Eject all currently attached virtual disks from the machine, and paste and run the contents of the below script onto a batch file within the QEMU installation directory, replacing FWType with either the 78xx variant firmware (for early builds up to 7898) or the multi variant (for builds 7898 through build 7996):

set BL=".\fw\HARMONY.fd.FWType"
set MAIN="C:\ARM8\Main.vhd"
set SETUP="C:\ARM8\Setup.vhd"

qemu-system-arm ^
    -M tegra2-qemu -m 1G -accel tcg,thread=multi ^
    -bootloader %BL% ^
    -device usb-tablet,id=mouse -device usb-kbd,id=kbd ^
    -drive if=sd,index=0,format=vpc,file=%SETUP% ^
    -drive if=sd,index=1,file=%MAIN% ^
    -serial null -nic none ^
    -s ^

Start installing the operating system. Setup must be directly invoked from the original installation media as the version in the OS boot image does not function. The following command may be used to start the installation process:

start D:\sources\setup.exe

Immediately after completing the first phase of setup, remove the SD slot for the installation media and boot into the operating system by using the below batch script configuration:

set BL=".\fw\HARMONY.fd.FWTYPE"
set MAIN="C:\ARM8\Main.vhd"

qemu-system-arm ^
    -M tegra2-qemu -m 1G -accel tcg,thread=multi ^
    -bootloader %BL% ^
    -device usb-tablet,id=mouse -device usb-kbd,id=kbd ^
    -drive if=sd,index=0,file=%MAIN% ^
    -serial null -nic none ^
    -s ^

Continue installing the operating system through normal means.

Editions and keys

The following SKUs are installable in this build:

Edition / SKU Name	Key
Starter	7Q28W-FT9PC-CMMYT-WHMY2-89M6G
Starter E	BRQCV-K7HGQ-CKXP6-2XP7K-F233B
Starter N	D4C3G-38HGY-HGQCV-QCWR8-97FFR
Home Basic	YGFVB-QTFXQ-3H233-PTWTJ-YRYRV
Home Basic E	VTKM9-74GQY-K3W94-47DHV-FTXJY
Home Basic N	MD83G-H98CG-DXPYQ-Q8GCR-HM8X2
Home Premium	RHPQ2-RMFJH-74XYM-BH4JX-XM76F
Home Premium E	76BRM-9Q4K3-QDJ48-FH4F3-9WT2R
Home Premium N	D3PVQ-V7M4J-9Q9K3-GG4K3-F99JM
Professional	HYF8J-CVRMY-CM74G-RPHKF-PW487
Professional E	3YHKG-DVQ27-RYRBX-JMPVM-WG38T
Professional N	BKFRB-RTCT3-9HW44-FX3X8-M48M6
Enterprise	H7X92-3VPBB-Q799D-Y6JJ3-86WC6
Enterprise E	H3V6Q-JKQJG-GKVK3-FDDRF-TCKVR
Enterprise N	BQ4TH-BWRRY-424Y9-7PQX2-B4WBD
Ultimate	D4F6K-QK3RD-TMVMJ-BBMRX-3MBMV
Ultimate E	TWMF7-M387V-XKW4Y-PVQQD-RK7C8
Ultimate N	HTJK6-DXX8T-TVCR6-KDG67-97J8Q

CES 2011 demo differences

Various aspects of this build were either changed or disabled during the CES 2011 demonstration, two of which are likely a result of file replacement originating from newer builds:

• The characteristic User Tile seen in builds 7785 through the earlier compile of this build is disabled.
• The Windows Fingerprinting Service is disabled, as evidenced by the lack of the Microsoft Confidential leak warning in the watermark.
• The desktop background was changed to the one seen in the RTM build of Windows 7, in place of the blue-green gradient Milestone 1 wallpaper that was used since build 7762.

Changes

Redpill

Pattern login now works in this build. However, to set a pattern, a password must be created, otherwise it fails to create due to the patterns not matching. Removing the password will still keep pattern login, but choosing the password option instead will instantly log in to the user's account, due to the password being removed. Additionally, when re-logging in, it will keep using the password option and therefore, instantly log in to the user's account.

A user tile is now located at the top of the start screen filled with the user's profile picture, replacing the Search button, as well as a volume icon.

Miscellaneous

• The unredpilled Start Menu has no applications pinned by default.
• The Gaelic keyboard layout is now referred to as Scottish Gaelic.

Bugs and quirks

Setup

• The last word of status messages shown when starting Setup and before the computer reboots into OOBE is cut off.

Shell

• Enabling EnableAccent causes rendering issues.
• The Start screen may be unresponsive for a minute after login.
• The Desktop tile will show the Windows 7 default wallpaper after first logging in.

Login screen

• Trying to open the Power menu from the redpilled login screen won't work, and it'll cause it to crash and restart instead.

Themes

• The title bar and watermark uses the Arial font due to a typo in the aero.msstyles and aerolite.msstyles files.
• Only the top portion of the window frame is blurred when using the Windows Aero theme, leaving the side borders transparent.
• The Windows Basic and the High Contrast themes do not render properly due to the enforcement of the DWM Aero theme.

Gallery

• 

  Boot screen

x86 variant

Redpill

Interface

• 

  Start screen

• 

  Start with EnableAccent

ARM32 variant

• 

  OOBE

• 

  Logon screen

• 

  Personalized settings

• 

  Start menu

• 

  Start menu (without DWM)

• 

  Desktop without Start button

• 

  Windows Explorer

• 

  User Account CPL

• 

  User creation wizard

• 

  Ditto, finish page

• 

  Windows Media Player 12

• 

  Internet Explorer 9

• 

  Internet Explorer 9 (Without DWM)

• 

  Shutting down

• 

  winver

Redpill

Out-of-box experience

• 

  Initial page

• 

  User creation

• 

  Update settings

• 

  Summary

• 

  Finalizing settings

Interface

• 

  Lock screen

• 

  Logon options

• 

  Pattern logon

• 

  Windows Explorer

• 

  Modern Task Manager

• 

  Ditto, expanded

CES 2011 still frames

• 

  Desktop

• 

  Flip 3D