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STATUS_SYSTEM_DEVICE_NOT_FOUND
No matching device is different from an ambiguous match
STATUS_SYSTEM_DEVICE_NOT_FOUND means the requested system-device lookup produced no candidate. This is the counterpart to STATUS_AMBIGUOUS_SYSTEM_DEVICE, where the criteria match more than one device. The distinction matters because broadening the search is appropriate only after the exact identifier and enumeration scope have been verified.
Windows distinguishes device instance IDs from hardware IDs and compatible IDs. An instance ID identifies a device instance within the system, while hardware and compatible IDs are used for driver matching and can be shared. Firmware-enumerated devices can also depend on ACPI namespace objects and platform-supplied IDs.
What to verify
- The complete identifier string, including bus-specific prefixes and any instance component.
- Whether the caller expects a present device, a previously installed nonpresent device, or a firmware-defined system device.
- Parent bus enumeration and whether the parent device itself started successfully.
- For ACPI-described devices, the namespace object and identification data exposed by the platform.
Installing a generic driver will not make a nonexistent device instance appear if enumeration or firmware description is missing. First determine whether the expected device is absent, hidden by a failed parent/bus start, or being searched with the wrong class of identifier.
References
- Microsoft: Device identification strings
- Microsoft: Hardware IDs
- Microsoft: ACPI device-management namespace objects
- UEFI Forum: ACPI device configuration
- Microsoft Open Specifications: NTSTATUS values
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