Z4 G4: Intel RAID on CPU (VROC) - HOW to boot to this?

[wny2016]

Installed Windows 11 to RAID 1 array using hardware card (Microsemi Adaptec SmartHBA 2100-4i4e). Then used Intel RAID on CPU to create second RAID 1 array with pair of M.2 SSD drives mounted in motherboard slots. All works as expected.

Decided to clone the SATA (Microsemi) Windows install using Macrium Reflect, cloned to Intel RAID array. A visit to system BIOS shows the VROC array as working fine, and status is "bootable."

Pulled Adaptec card, tried to boot to M.2 RAID - no joy. Windows doesn't see as a bootable drive, and will not start.

Is there a UEFI setting in BIOS I need to change to make this M.2 array bootable? Or perhaps something else?

TIA!

[DGroves]

a good deal of your problems stem from trying to swap arrays between different raid controllers

each controller writes the raid information to the drive(s) different format

cloning software makes the assumption that the hardware will be a single drive

select which hardware is going to be the boot device and install windows to that configuration

[wny2016]

This sounds reasonable.

But --- The original (and only) drive in the machine was a 256Mb HP SSD mounted in the first M.2 MB slot.

I added the Microsemi/Adaptec card with 2 x 2.5" Samsung SSDs in RAID1. I then cloned the HP drive to the RAID array, removed the HP drive, and rebooted to the Adaptec RAID array without incident. So, the system is now running on that RAID1 array, no issues.

After reading a LOT of online documentation - both from Intel and from HP, I do think that there is some other problem at hand involving the ability of Windows 11 boot manager to recognize the NvMe M.2 array. 

My next tactic is to create a Recovery drive on a USB stick, pull the Adaptec array, and see if Windows 11 will, upon failing to boot, recognize and Restore from the stick to the M.2 array.

[DGroves]

again,..............most cloning software assumes that the systems will be using single non raided drives and will not be able to read the raided drives configuration information that the raid controller writes to the raided array this gives the cloning software fits

the raid card works at a lower level than the OS's partition/file structure level, the raid card binds the drives together and then presents the drives as a single device to the OS's operating system, and as i stated this is what is causing your cloning software to fail

[wny2016]

Suffice it to say that I could not find anything out of order. Since this machine is still under warranty, I decided to contact HP Support. They couldn't see why the system should not boot to the M.2 VROC array, either - especially in light of the fact that the Intel UI reported the volume as "bootable."

We went into the Boot options in the BIOS. And sure enough - in a place I had never looked before, only reachable by scrolling the window,  the boot order that showed Windows Boot Manager as default - AND (get this...) down the list of bootable devices was the VMD Intel RAID array shown  as (Disabled). Remember at this point that the screen resembles the old DOS screens where manipulation of various choices is not what I consider to be even vaguely intuitive. I selected the RAID as primary boot item - BUT also had to hit Enter and then to toggle its bootable status!!!! The up/down arrows then become toggles. Now set to bootable and then to Save and Exit - voila! A bootable RAID1 VROC with two very fast M.2 drives mounted on the motherboard. By far the least intuitive thing I have ever experienced.

[wny2016]

I have the Z4 booting to the VROC M.2 SSD RAID1 array.

I thought I would try to add a couple of 2.5" SSDs to a second RAID1 array created through the VROC SATA controller - the controller uses the Standard motherboard SATA ports. This is accomplished very easily - BUT - even though I have this (empty formatted disks) RAID array set up and manually DISABLED from the Boot list, there is something about the SATA RAID controller that is preventing my normal VROC M.2 boot. If I remove the SATA RAID array, everything goes back to normal boot. I have a feeling that there may be yet another non-obvious BIOS setting somewhere that is modifying the VMD boot procedure. I can't think of any reason why the VROC shouldn't let the NvMe (M.2) controller AND the VROC SATA RAID controller coexist. If the two are not supposed to work side by side, why would the BIOS setup even allow you to use the SATA RAID controller to create a second array, after all?