It didn’t take long for the Windows on Raspberry community to be able to run Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi 5. Yes, you can now run Windows 11 on the flagship Raspberry Pi with a quad-core 2.4 GHz CPU and up to 8GB of RAM. There are a few things to keep in mind. I watched some of LeePSPVideo’s videos and followed his guidance, but the success didn’t last long.
The first major hurdle we faced was using UEFI BIOS firmware that would allow us to boot Windows 11. To do so, I followed the instructions in the Windows on Raspberry (Pi) GitHub repository to create a microSD card with a UEFI BIOS. I successfully booted the Raspberry Pi 5 using this BIOS and took a peek inside to get a feel for how it works.
Our curiosity was satisfied and we downloaded the WoR project’s Raspberry Imager. This is a tool that automates the installation of Windows 10 and 11 for Raspberry Pi and other single-board computers.
Before using this tool, I needed to obtain a legal Windows 11 image, but again WoR had tools to streamline the process. This download may be flagged as unsafe by your browser, so please make every effort to verify its legitimacy before proceeding with the download.
I fired up WoR Raspberry Imager and went through the steps to create a Windows 11 installation on a spare NVMe drive (a drive known to work with a Raspberry Pi 5). Installation was easy, although it took a little time. Windows 11 can now be used on Raspberry Pi 5.
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I dropped the drive into the waiting Pimoroni NVMe base and verified that the microSD card was inserted. When I first started it up, “The Raspberry” was displayed. The system then tried to boot, but after a long wait (10-15 minutes) nothing happened. Was it a drive? No, the same drive worked fine with his Raspberry Pi OS. I tried yet another drive and unfortunately got the same error.
Starting with the Raspberry Pi 4, you can boot from a USB 3 drive, and the Raspberry Pi 5 is no different. I removed the NVMe base and drives. I had the same problem as before when I connected the drive to a USB to NVMe adapter. Still, I didn’t give up, created a new installation drive, tried the USB method again, and it worked. You’ll soon be running Windows 11 on your Raspberry Pi 5.
The air gap widens!
The setup steps after installing Windows 11 are very simple. Get the user’s location, locale, keyboard, and name. Next, connect to the Internet, link your Microsoft account, and download the update. I thought all I had to do was connect to the internet. Surely ethernet would work. The short answer is no. Ethernet and Wi-Fi both failed.
LeePSPVideo’s YouTube video explains that Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, and audio don’t work on Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi 5. That meant I needed a USB dongle. I tried over a dozen Wi-Fi dongles and none of them worked. My old Linksys USB to 10/100 Ethernet connection also didn’t work. I needed another means to complete the setup.
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By following our guide on how to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account, I was able to bypass that part of the setup and finally reach the Windows 11 desktop. But if you don’t have access to the internet, you’re left with a rather nice-looking brick.
This isn’t the end of our adventure with Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi 5. Once the WoR project updates the firmware/drivers for the Raspberry Pi 5, go back and see if you can bring the Raspberry Pi 5 to a lower version. A low-cost Arm-based desktop PC.
In the past, we’ve successfully installed Windows 10 on a Raspberry Pi 4 and also managed to get Windows 11 to work on a Raspberry Pi 4. So we know it’s possible to get a working installation, and the WoR community is working hard to make it possible.
