I have the n100 model and did a reload of w11 pro. Not all of the drivers exist on the w11 iso, including the network I believe. I used a usb nic for the load if i remember correctly. You can download the drivers from the vendor or directly from the manufacturer of the hardware.
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I did and license was activated without a problem. Neither did I run the factory install at all to "initialize" it--I just wiped the factory install, did a new install of Win 11 24H2, and when it went online for the first time, Win 11 Pro became activated.
There are a few drivers missing from a generic Win 11 install that you have to seek out and load manually to have all the hardware fully detected (like Intel 2.5GB NIC, Realtek RTL8522BE wireless NIC, and a couple of ACPI things). I have this documented--I'll try to post the details later. |
Ok, so if you do a fresh install of Win 11 2024H2 (like using an ISO sourced from Microsoft), you will have four unknown items in the Device Manager at the end because the drivers are not included in the ISO. The wired and wireless NICs are two of those devices so, unfortunately, you are left unconnected. But you can download the four necessary drivers from the Microsoft Update Catalog easily. Then just unzip the CABs onto a USB and bring them over to the G3 Plus for updating. Here are the four drivers with their Hardware IDs, and the links for downloading the CABs at the Microsoft Update Catalog website:
Intel I226-V Ethernet NIC PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_125C&SUBSYS_00008086&REV_04 Code:
https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2024/07/1df2b7e8-c6fc-4b8f-b46e-25cf4d3e4a35_fdc6278f1523a260cc580daec812fb176300c877.cab PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_B852&SUBSYS_B85210EC&REV_00 Code:
https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2025/02/e223d514-d1f0-48f1-9b69-94bcb1738291_b5c8edb4bf731851eb47a58674893093f6cef7b3.cab ACPI\VEN_INTC&DEV_1070 Code:
https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2024/11/6d8f0c59-d577-45ec-a0e0-115901aeef77_23bf78a5b1869d923349d395451a3358539441cd.cab ACPI\VEN_INTC&DEV_1057 Code:
https://catalog.s.download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2024/09/f830e3d7-f3ae-48c9-8e90-f60d2a02d98e_c3b3dc96668204ea78d9b8c98635dcfec2f20e7d.cab |
I opted for 16GB MEM+512GB SSD for $30 more, and received mine last night. Reading all the horror stories about spyware/malware on minipcs from China, I determined to re-install Windows 11 Pro on my machine. Here's some key points that you need to be aware of if you decide to take this route:
Next up: Make a new partition in the SSD to dual-boot Linux. BTW, I did set up the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro without connecting to the network, seeing if I could see the spyware/malware in action. I have to say it looked very clean; I didn't see any suspicious processes or services, or bloatware. I also did the virus scan a couple of times and nothing turned up. If I wasn't killing time while watching Grammys on the side, I probably would have left the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro alone. |
Thanks for the good info. As an alternative for the NIC drivers can also be downloaded from Intel here:
Intel I226-V Ethernet NIC - https://www.intel.com/content/www...-pack.html Intel Graphics Drivers - https://www.intel.com/content/www...ndows.htm For other Intel Drivers - https://www.intel.com/content/www.../home.html Intel Automatic Drivers Assistant - https://www.intel.com/content/www...etect.htm |
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Anyway, if your goal is retro gaming, a Raspberry Pi is smaller and more energy-efficient for these types of tasks, but honestly, once you add in a case, a good power supply (RPi's are picky with respect to power...), and storage, it is probably at the same price or even more than this $130 machine. But if you are interested in more modern gaming or more powerful emulation, this system would be better and give you more flexibility for future upgrades.
Just saying buyers might want to read up.
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This is the one I am using now. It has usb-c for another monitor. I am not sure that I should upgrade it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3XRB...merReviews [amazon.com]
https://www.cpubenchmar
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For some reason, the link was wrong one. The one I have is Beelink Mini PC, Mini Computer AMD Ryzen 5 5500U(up to 4.0GHz).
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12GB LPDDR5-4800
512GB SSD
https://www.walmart.com/ip/GMKtec...irect=
I just got G2 with N100 in November. I mainly purchased it because the G2 could run off USB C. I am running this thing 24/7 and I know eventually the power supply will die. eBay has a lot USB C power supplies from Lenovo's at cheap prices. The cheap power supplies that are included will die fast.
This GMKtec has a barrel plug which I think is hard finding a quality replacement such as one made by Lenovo. All the Amazon one's are 3rd party which don't last long.
Anyway, not saying that one should or should not do this--just commenting that plenty of folks have had success with it despite the *official* guidance.
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- Use microsoft's tool to make a bootable USB drive with Windows 11: Under "Create Windows 11 Installation Media" in https://www.microsoft.c
om/en-gb/s.../windows11.
- Download the drivers for G3 Plus from GMKtec's page: https://drive.google.co
m/drive/u/...detail_1.1
- Once 2. is downloaded, you should unzip it and then copy the unzipped driver directory to the bootable USB drive created in 1. That way, when Windows 11 installer detects that it can't find the ethernet/wifi drivers, you can simply point it to the driver directory on that USB. Note that once you specify the directory, the Windows 11 installer would automatically look into it for ALL missing drivers-- You don't need to identify where each driver resides in the driver directory.
- G3 Plus' BIOS by default boots from the USB drive if it detects it's bootable. This means that you can just plug in the bootable USB drive and the Windows 11 installer would run from the USB drive-- no tweaks to BIOS required.
By doing these, I had a very smooth re-installation.Note: You may run into the "download quota exceeded for this file" error with the zip file for the drivers. Here's how you can get around it: https://www.reddit.com/r/google/c...ed_bypass/
Next up: Make a new partition in the SSD to dual-boot Linux.
BTW, I did set up the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro without connecting to the network, seeing if I could see the spyware/malware in action. I have to say it looked very clean; I didn't see any suspicious processes or services, or bloatware. I also did the virus scan a couple of times and nothing turned up. If I wasn't killing time while watching Grammys on the side, I probably would have left the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro alone.
My recommendation is to look into the $200+ range and there's some nice Ryzen setups with better iGPU and specs all around. A little bit nicer rig and you can play a decent amount of older AAA games. I was quite happy that I could run Halo on the tiny little Beelink I bought.
Have all my media on Emby server. Lots of 4k/8K atmos content.
Need something that will reliably stream it to a TV
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