impossible to boot NVME and RAID

[kinto]

Hi,
On an HP Z1 G9 workstation I can't boot the system from NVME having configured RAID1 with two Sata disks (there is a Windows blue screen).

I was in this configuration for about a year until one of the disks in RAID1 broke.

I turned it off to perform the procedures to replace the broken disk and when I replaced it I was no longer able to perform the NVME + RAID1 configuration again.

Secure Boot is disabled and Boot is in Legacy.

If I disable RAID1 the system starts with NVME without problems.

One thing I noticed is that even trying to boot from a USB stick they are not recognized on any of the USB ports.

Ideas?

Thanks.

[DGroves]

NVME and SATA are two completely different storage systems using different drivers

to boot from nvme in windows requires a 64 bit windows with GPT format enabled and Legacy (CSM) disabled

so, disconnect all drives other than the m.2 nvme drive and install windows in GPT format

then power off, connect the SATA drives power on and if using the bios to enable raid do so

once the array is created reboot and enter windows and use device manager on the created array and format the array 

if only using SATA drives in a bootable raid, again set bios to "GPT" legacy (CSM) disabled and create array in the bios, reboot and install windows selecting the array at the select drive to install os screen

[kinto]

Maybe I am missing some steps.

Only with the NVME disk the system starts with Windows without any problems.

I attach the Sata disks and create RAID1.

I restart the system with NVME first in the boot list and Windows shows the blue screen. I disable RAID1 and the system starts again.

Where do I go wrong with the reasoning?

Do I have to reinstall Windows?

Thank you.

[DGroves]

in the bios after creating the sata raid make sure the nvme drive is selected as the actual boot device some bios's will default to the SATA device instead of the nvme device

[kinto]

When I saw the blue screen that's exactly what I thought, because it was like Windows was trying to boot RAID1.

But NVME is the first boot device.

Also, the strange thing is that when RAID1 is also active, no USB stick (tested and working) is recognized among the boot devices.

[DGroves]

the blue screen is a clear indication that the bios is set for either GPT or Legacy  and that you are trying to boot from the wrong drive

since you state that the system will boot from the nvme m.2 device without the sata raid attached the bios appears to be correctly set for GPT with a working windows install for GPT

therefor the issue appears to be with the sata raid array and if the array is properly configured in the bios as raid 0 or 1

then all that is left is to make sure the array is lower in the boot drive list IE- windows boot mgr needs to be on the m.2 device and the raid array needs to be set as non bootable if not then your system will attempt to boot from the array and not the m.2 device

[kinto]

When you say "raid array needs to be set as non bootable" are you referring to some specific setting in the bios or simply the order of the boot devices?
Thanks.

[DGroves]

see page 78 as i stated the bios defaults to trying to boot from SATA HD first before the M.2 device

you need to swap the two (and save the change) so the M.2 is first

https://kaas.hpcloud.hp.com/pdf-public/pdf_9137906_en-US-1.pdf

UEFI Boot Order: Specify the order in which UEFI boot sources are checked for a bootable
operating system image. The default boot order is:
1. USB
2. SATA DVD
3. SATA hard drives
4. M.2 devices
5. Network boot

Boot Options NOTE: Use the UP and DOWN arrows to highlight an item. Press enter to select. Use the UP and
DOWN arrows to move a selected item. Press f5 to enable or disable. Press esc to exit.

NOTE: MS-DOS drive lettering assignments might not apply after a non-MS-DOS operating system
has started.

Shortcut to Temporarily Override Boot Order
To boot one time from a device other than the default device specified in Boot Order, restart the
computer and press esc (to access the Startup menu) and then f9 (Boot Menu), or only f9 (skipping
the Startup menu) when the power button light turns white.

After POST is completed, a list of
bootable devices is displayed. Use the arrow keys to select the preferred bootable device and press
enter. The computer then boots from the selected non-default device for this one time

Follow these steps to create RAID volumes.

===================================

Press Ctrl+l keys when prompted to enter the Intel Rapid Storage Technology utility.

Use the arrow keys to navigate and select options

NOTE: If only a single hard drive is attached, the utility does not execute. 

no message is displayed.

Select 1. Create RAID Volume, then press Enter.

Enter the desired RAID volume name in the Name field, and then press Tab.

Select a level in the RAID Level field, and then press Tab.

If appropriate, select a size in the Stripe Size field, and then press Tab.

Enter the desired volume size in the Capacity field, and then press Tab.

Press Enter When prompted, to initiate volume creation

When prompted, press "Y" to acknowledge the warning message and create the volume

Select 5. Exit, and then press Enter.

Press "Y" when prompted to confirm exit.

note that the above steps only create the raid array, the array will still need to be formatted as a NTFS filesystem in windows disk manager once the windows OS is booted from the M.2 non raid device

[kinto]

I find myself with everything you reported and that is exactly what I did but without solving.

[DGroves]

i previously gave you directions on using F9 to manually select the m.2 as the boot device on startup did you even try this?