Recreation of RAID, EliteBook 840

[theDeamon]

Here is how I did it ( from scratch 😞

Gotcha: "rstcli64 -V" is an output you need to pay attention too closely.

1. Ensure the m.2 SSD is out of the system & only the SATA HDD is installed in the laptop ( any size  till 1TB ) & in BIOS controller is set as RAID.

2. Using a WinPE disk ( like Sergei Strelec ), boot in the correct OS version x86/x64 & ensure the HDD is blanked out & partition is made as GPT. ( FYI Win 7/8/10 pref GPT partition for install on a higher than 32GB disk )

3. Reboot & install OS with default RAID driver from MS. ( this is the driver we need to swap out in side the OS with correct Intel driver )

4. Once OS is installed, update the RAID driver with IntelRST driver version 13.2.0.1016. Reboot.

5. Install RST GUI for 13.2.0.1016 & shutdown the laptop.

6. Connect the m.2 SSD ( new or used with data ) & reboot.

7. Using Disk Management, ensure SSD is wiped out ( meaning if any volume existed delete them ) & keep it as MBR.

8. Now, copy correct version of RSTCLI for 13.2.0.1016 uncer C:\Windows & issue the following command ( in Administrator mode 😞

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C:\Windows\system32>rstcli64 -V

Intel(R) RSTCLI
Middleware Version: 13.2.0.1016
Controller Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller Driver Version: 13.2.0.1016
Controller Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller OROM Version: 12.7.0.1936


C:\Windows\system32>
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Here Middleware is the CLI utility which is matching the RAID driver version, this is the original untouched CLI tool ( no hexedit **bleep** )

9. Just launch the RST GUI now, in this state of the SSD, you should now see Enable Option in the first GUI page to accelerate the HDD. Click Enable & a second POP-UP screen will come to confirm that you will be accelerating the HDD with newly found SSD as cache disk. Click OK on this screen & Immediately you will see the Array is created & all done.

10. On next Boot, if in BIOS CTRL+I key message is enabled, you will see the RAID BIOS too during boot.

Proof:

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C:\Windows\system32>rstcli64 -I

--CONTROLLER INFORMATION--

Name:            Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller
Type:            AHCI
Supported RAID:  0,1,5,10
Max Disks/Array: 7
HW Information:
Vendor ID:       0x8086
Device ID:       0x282a
HW Revision:     4
Dynamic Storage Accelerator: Disabled

--ARRAY INFORMATION--

Name:        SATA_Array_0001
Size:        30 GB
Free:        0 GB
Num Disks:   1
Num Vols:    1
Write Cache: On

--VOLUME INFORMATION--

Name:              Volume_0000
Raid Level:        0
Size:              30 GB
StripeSize:        128 KB
Num Disks:         1
State:             Normal
Usage:             Cache volume
System:            False
Initialized:       True
Cache Policy:      Off

--END DEVICE INFORMATION--

ID:                0-0-0-0
Type:              Disk
Disk Type:         SATA Disk
State:             Normal
Size:              466 GB
Free Size:         0 GB
System Disk:       True
Usage:             Accelerated disk
Acceleration Mode: Enhanced
Serial Number:     14SZC0R0T
Model:             TOSHIBA MQ01ACF050

ID:                0-1-0-0
Type:              Disk
Disk Type:         SATA SSD
State:             Normal
Size:              30 GB
Free Size:         0 GB
System Disk:       False
Usage:             Cache device
Serial Number:     002419137059
Model:             LITEONIT LSS-32L6G-HP



0

C:\Windows\system32>

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Hope this helps!

My Model is 840G1 TouchScreen with 256GB SSD which I chnaged to a bigger HDD with m.2.