"Locate the boot controller" in the HP Z820

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Eugen_T

OK, so W10 works fine, as I expected it would.

You would have to use the W8.1 driver for the SAS controller, as I don't see a W10 driver listed.

What would do to instal this driver is to download and install the free 7-Zip file manager program.

The 2nd one down on the top of the page is for 64 bit.

https://www.7-zip.org/

LSI 2308 SAS Driver - Windows 8.1 64

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp69001-69500/sp69178.exe

After you install 7-Zip, right click on the driver file you downloaded.

Have 7-zip Extract to: and let it extract the file into its folder name (sp69178).

Once that is done, go to the device manager, click on the SAS Controller device needing the driver.

Click on the driver tab.  Click on Update Driver.

Select the Browse my computer for driver software option and browse to the driver folder that 7-Zip created.

Make sure the Include subfolders box is checked and the driver should install.   Then restart the PC.

Now, back to the original issue...how to install W7...

From the screenshot you posted...it appears that you have the drive controller set to IDE mode, and @DGroves , correct me if I am wrong here...shouldn't the drive controller setting be on RAID+AHCI?

IDE would be the worst possible drive controller setting you can have-performance-wise, according to the service manual (chapter 2, page 44).

RAID + AHCI—Both the RAID and AHCI OPROMs execute. This emulation mode is the default and offers the best performance and highest functionality.

So, before we can proceed with the W7 installation project, see if you can go into the BIOS and change the setting from IDE to RAID + AHCI, restart the PC and see if W10 will boot.  I know that if you tried this in W7, it would not, but W10 is more intuitive.

If W10 doesn't boot up with the drive controller setting changed to RAID + AHCI, please reinstall W10 in RAID + AHCI mode.

Then please post the hardware ID's for the SAS controller and the Storage controller listed under the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device manager category.  It will  now have a new description with the BIOS setting changed, and you should immediately 'see' better drive performance with this setting.

[DGroves]

yes, the drive controller should be set to Raid+AHCI (which is the default setting) setting it to IDE will result in the slowest drive speeds possible on the two blue SATA ports, and prevent the intel "SCU" ports from activating as the intel RST driver requires AHCI  features active (why do people change settings they do not fully understand!!????)

again, the LSI 2308 ROC chip is supported in windows 10 with it's builtin driver, i do not recomend using a driver from previous windows releases

i recomend this user perform a "FULL" cmos reset to restore the correct default settings

remove power cord, press pwr button 10 sec

open side cover, and then press cmos reset button (located near cmos battery) for 5 sec

reconnect power cord, power up, enter bios and set date/time, TOUCH NOTHING ELSE IN BIOS, now restrart and confirm system boots

the only bios settings a user might need to modify in the z820 is 

1. network boot -disable  to speed up boot times if booting from a local hard drive

2. LSI SAS/SCSI controller, if not booting from the lsi ports disable LSI boot rom, drives will still be seen/available in windows

3. Intel AMT (remote managment) should remain disabled as this is only usefull in a corporate domain enviroment

the above settings cover almost 99.9% of a users needs the other users will have specific software/hardware where they may recomend other changes (like Avid does)

again, don't touch/change bios or software settings you do not fully understand

[Paul_Tikkanen]

If you look at the screen shot, the driver for the SAS controller is not installed, which is why I suggested installing the W8.1 driver.  Unless it gets installed via Windows update.

[DGroves]

again, the lsi 2308 driver is part of windows 8 and higher and will be installed during the os install unless the LSI bios is disabled from  within the z820 Bios menu

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Gotcha.

So what you are saying is the SAS Controller is showing up as an unknown device because it is probably disabled in the device manager.

Normally a device shows up under the Other Devices category in the device manager because the driver is missing.

[DGroves]

sigh,.....no i did not say the device was disabled in device manager.

if it was, the entry would still say SAS/SCSI or LSI 2308 "disabled"

what i did say is that it's possible to disable the boot rom of the LSI 2308 chip from within the z820 bios

you have to understand and treat the LSI 2308 as a seperate entity that just happens to reside within the z820's bios

as such the LSI card's settings can be configured from the z820 bios, and there are several options that affect the card's booting such a the LSI boot options, or disabling the card entirely

please perform a CMOS reset

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Then it is missing the driver as I originally posted and clearly W10 did not natively install it.

Since there is no W10 driver for the LSI 2308, I suggested the W8.1 driver be installed.

How can the LSI 2308  controller work if a driver isn't installed?

[DGroves]

no,....windows did find it.....the yellow "!" means that there is a conflict that is preventing the device from starting/loading the driver.

https://www.lifewire.com/yellow-exclamation-point-in-device-manager-2626087

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I agree.  

Windows did find it, but I think that the OP should try the W8.1 driver because the ! mark could also mean the drivers for this device are not installed.

You have to look at the General Tab on the device to ascertain its true issue.

99 times out of 100, when you see a device listed under an Other Devices category on a new installation of Windows, it is just missing the driver.

[DGroves]

fourth time,....the LSI 2308 driver is part of the windows included drivers

it is not recomended to install a windows 8 or lower driver for this device under windows 10

while many of the OEM drivers are multi OS releases, many are not

and installing a win 8x or lower driver under win 10 will cause issues

if the documentation specificly  mentions win 10 support along with previous os's then it's ok to use

but if it only metions win 7 to win 8, then it should not be installed

Paul,...the yellow mark means just that, windows found a known device (in this case the LSI 2308) but something is preventing a sucessful driver install. Trying to install a previous OS's SCSI/SAS driver is not recomended in this case as it's known to cause issues. the "OP"  should try removing the device and letting windows redetect, and if that fails try a full system CMOS reset in order to get to a known good state before proceeding with further troubleshooting