HP Pavilion 590-p0081c SSD Swap Boot Issue

[mpmoyle]

I have an HP Pavilion 590-p0081c. I am upgrading it. Before any modification, it had 2 devices: A small SSD and a large HDD that operated in RAID configuration with Intel Optane. My goal was to change these two devices out for one large SSD. In order to do this, I turned off Intel Optane, cloned the HDD to the new large SSD, and rebooted the computer. After this procedure, my computer booted to Windows 11 just fine. Then, I went into my bios and changed the SATA emulation mode of my new large SSD from RAID to AHCI. After this, my computer no longer booted. It will not boot to Windows nor boot to BIOS, even when pressing all of the common keys (F2, F10, F12, DEL, ESC). To be specific, my monitor detects a video output, but it is just a black screen. There is no text of any kind and no blinking cursor, just black.

The computer will boot to BIOS when the new large SSD is not installed but will do nothing if it is installed. I have tried to boot to a live Ubuntu USB drive while the large SSD is on the computer, but that will not work. I can only boot to the Ubuntu USB drive when the new large SSD is not in the system. When I can do this, I can access the BIOS. I tried changing the settings back, and I think it saved, but it still will not work with the new drive.

I have tried clearing the CMOS by, first, removing the battery and, second, shorting 2 pins called "SW_CMOS," which reset the BIOS settings. That did not work.

What can I do here?

[Bill_To]

Greetings @mpmoyle 

Optane was a good option when higher capacity SSDs were very expensive. I avoided using Intel Optane when it was offered on new Intel PCs.

Follow the steps indicated at this HP Site before you clone the HDD to the new SSD.

In the "FAQs" at this site, look at "How do I enable or disable Intel Optane memory in system BIOS". This section also talks about disabling Optane in Windows using IRST before changing BIOS settings.

I think you need to disable Optane in the BIOS, save and exit, before you change the BIOS from RAID to AHCI.

Since your PC shipped with Optane I would think HP has BIOS defaults set to Optane on and RAID on.

You should also verify you can boot to Windows only using the slow HDD (physically remove the Optane SSD) before you do the clone from the HDD to the new SSD.

You may have to back up data on the HDD. Then install Windows clean if you cannot get the new SSD up and running after a clone. The HP Cloud recovery image probably defaults to the Optane/RAID configuration.

A different Forum member may have additional tips since I did not use Optane.

Regards

[mpmoyle]

Thank you, will try.

[mpmoyle]

This post is written in order of events:

Okay, the system works as usual with the old hard drive and the intel optane SSD plugged in.

The Windows Intel RST software shows that Intel Optane is disabled.

The BIOS shows an option for Intel Rapid Storage Technology and lets me see which drives it supports, but there is no option for configuration or turning it off. 

It seems like the mere act of putting the original drives back in the computer allowed me to once again boot from the new drive, weird.

After these steps, with no other drives plugged in, I again put the new M.2 SSD into the computer, which booted to a Windows bluescreen with an inaccessible boot device error. So, I recloned the old hard drive onto the new SSD and booted the computer up as usual.

The BIOS shows no optane accelerated drives (Good). However, the new SSD's SATA emulation mode is still RAID. I will not change this setting because changing it from RAID to AHCI broke the computer last time. I imagine this drive is in some single-drive raid mode. This also might be because the SSD is plugged into a port designed initially for an optane SSD.

[Bill_To]

Greetings @mpmoyle 

My pleasure.

You should continue to do as you have indicated; keep RAID on in the BIOS.

I'm not familiar with Optane because I have never used it.

And, from other folks experiences in this Forum, undoing Optane is tricky.

That' why I suggested to back up data and do a clean Windows installation (RAID off in the BIOS) if you could not get the clone working correctly.

Regards