enabling BIOS Raid vmd breaks boot

[curmudge1]

I added 2 HDDs using the HP cable kit, and Windows can see the disks... I did not enable or format them yet.

Then I restarted and went into the BIOS (F10) to mirror the 2 HDDs, first I enabled vmd in system options, then went into UEFI 3rd party ROM managers to check the Intel RST raid manager... the RAID manager could see the 2 new HDDS and the M.2 SSD with the Windows install just fine.   I planned to do the mirror config from the Intel RST raid manager in windows later... but NOOO, after that the desktop won't boot... can't find a compatible boot device.

Back in BIOS, the boot order is fine, M.2 SSD  Windows boot manager is first...  but it won't boot when vmd is enabled.   Arrggh.   I want my big data protected by mirroring, not concerned as much about the Windows OS & apps.  I can back that up, etc.   

Anyone got this to work?   Enable RAID for HDDs after Windows setup on M.2 SSD?   

I gather that when vmd is enabled,  "regular" disks won't boot, but that makes no sense... can anyone explain exactly why?   Just no one Intel/HP bothered to make it work?    I'll never think that this is a reasonable limitation.

Been shopping for SATA RAID cards, haven't seen one I like for reasonable $ yet. 

[Pallipurath]

Hi @curmudge1 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query.

I understand the difficulty you’re facing after enabling VMD/RAID in BIOS. Based on HP’s documentation, changing the storage controller mode after Windows has already been installed can prevent the system from booting, since the OS was not originally configured with RAID drivers.

BIOS RAID / VMD Boot Issue on HP Workstation

Based on your query, enabling RAID/VMD-related storage controller settings in BIOS can prevent Windows from booting if the OS was originally installed without RAID mode enabled.

What likely happened

I would like to inform that changing the storage controller mode after the operating system is installed can stop the system from booting and may require OS reinstallation. On HP workstations, RAID must be enabled in BIOS before setting up Intel RST RAID, and changing related settings later can break the existing Windows boot configuration.

Relevant HP guidance

• Changing SATA emulation / storage controller mode after OS installation can prevent booting
• On the HP Z1 G3 Workstation, HP warns:
  • changing SATA emulation modes after OS installation will prevent booting and require reinstalling the OS
  • disabling RAID or changing related remapping/option ROM settings can destroy RAID data on certain drives
• On HP business systems, HP also notes that changing BIOS from AHCI to RAID is effectively like moving the drive to a new storage controller, and Windows may fail to boot if the RAID driver was not already installed/configured.

What HP recommends

• If your Windows installation was not installed with RAID mode enabled, return BIOS storage settings to their previous state first.
• Do not create the RAID volume until RAID mode is properly planned for the OS configuration.
• If you want to use Intel RST RAID for the two added HDDs, HP documentation indicates RAID should be enabled in BIOS first, and in some cases the OS may need to be installed or prepared with the proper RAID driver support.
• For HP workstations using Intel RST:
  • Enable RAID in F10 > Advanced > System Options > Configure Storage Controller for RAID
  • For UEFI RAID management, use F3 / 3rd Party Option ROM Management
  • Then create the RAID volume there, but only after confirming the boot drive/OS supports that controller mode

Hope this helps, Please revert if the issue persists.

Take care and have an amazing day!

[curmudge1]

Thanks for the reply and trying to help.   I did revert the BIOS setting to AHCI (not VMD) and windows booted OK.  

I would still like to be able  to use my existing Windows install and switch to VMD in BIOS, but I'm not hopeful about figuring it out, really.

Windows is the main problem, it's so overly complicated and opaque.  Compared to editing a simple text GRUB configuration in Linux.     Problem is, I'm not Microsoft's customer, HP is.   Neither one really wants to solve this problem for me.   Nor Intel, whose RST/VMD I want to use.     Those 3 companies could figure this out, but they don't really care.       I had some suggestions from Google AI, involving setting boot  options for safeboot minimal,  etc., but not complete and they didn't work - but  it made me think it's doable.   If someone just cared enough to make an effort.   HP support just said it's not supported...  I saw that same answer on Intel's forums.

HP advertises RAID capabilities in the Z2 G1i, but ships the system with that turned off, or at least mine did, with just the one NVME SSD drive in the prebuilt configuration.   And there was nothing in the user guide or quick setup about enabling raid in the BIOS for the initial Windows install.  

Way too painful to do a reinstall... Windows backup & restore doesn't seem like it can recreate user accounts with the user profile restored.   Nor can I selectively  reinstall programs from backup.   Can do a full  image restore, which would likely not boot as it would be configured for AHCI not VMD.   And file/folder recovery won't recreate user  ids, program registry settings, etc.      Note,  some programs were migrated from my old Win10 system using PC Mover. 

Continuing to research....