Z370 Taichi + sata RAID (not boot drive)

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   Folks:

I have read a number of posts about using the built-in RAID array on this motherboard, and this one is very helpful, but I'm still stuck:  http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7009&title=z370-extreme4-wont-boot-from-sata0-with-raid-on

I am migrating from an old MSI mobo to a z370 Taichi.  The old MSI had a boot drive and a hardware RAID 1 which Windows 10 treated as a single drive b/c the RAID was on the mobo.  I want to do the same thing with the Taichi board.  

I set up Windows 10 on the new Taichi booting from a nice little m.2 drive with the BIOS set to AHCI.  Easy. Works fine.

I then installed the 2 SATA HDs for the RAID and went into the BIOS to enable RAID.  I was on the ASMedia ports but then moved to the Intel ports.  When I save and reboot, the Taichi goes straight to the BIOS home screen, every time the boot manager is set to Intel.  The box boots fine when I switch back to AHCI mode.  

I think the reason is that the mobo can't figure out that it's supposed to boot from the m.2 drive, once I select the Intel RAID setting.  I'm not sure why that would be, except that I cannot find any place to instruct the BIOS to boot from that drive once Intel RAID is selected.  Did I just miss it?  

Anyway, I don't want to boot from the RAID, I want to boot from the m.2 drive and then use the on-board RAID hardware to present the 2 SATA HD's to Windows as a single drive.  How can I get there from here?   This box is now in daily use, so I would rather not re-install Windows.  It would certain help to understand what the problem actually is.  

Many thanks.

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mgoldey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 30 Mar 2018 Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote mgoldey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Z370 Taichi + sata RAID (not boot drive) Posted: 30 Mar 2018 at 1:36am
	Folks: I have read a number of posts about using the built-in RAID array on this motherboard, and this one is very helpful, but I'm still stuck: http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7009&title=z370-extreme4-wont-boot-from-sata0-with-raid-on I am migrating from an old MSI mobo to a z370 Taichi. The old MSI had a boot drive and a hardware RAID 1 which Windows 10 treated as a single drive b/c the RAID was on the mobo. I want to do the same thing with the Taichi board. I set up Windows 10 on the new Taichi booting from a nice little m.2 drive with the BIOS set to AHCI. Easy. Works fine. I then installed the 2 SATA HDs for the RAID and went into the BIOS to enable RAID. I was on the ASMedia ports but then moved to the Intel ports. When I save and reboot, the Taichi goes straight to the BIOS home screen, every time the boot manager is set to Intel. The box boots fine when I switch back to AHCI mode. I think the reason is that the mobo can't figure out that it's supposed to boot from the m.2 drive, once I select the Intel RAID setting. I'm not sure why that would be, except that I cannot find any place to instruct the BIOS to boot from that drive once Intel RAID is selected. Did I just miss it? Anyway, I don't want to boot from the RAID, I want to boot from the m.2 drive and then use the on-board RAID hardware to present the 2 SATA HD's to Windows as a single drive. How can I get there from here? This box is now in daily use, so I would rather not re-install Windows. It would certain help to understand what the problem actually is. Many thanks.

ASRock_TSD Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List ASRock_Official Joined: 20 Mar 2015 Status: Offline Points: 8592	Post Options Post Reply Quote ASRock_TSD Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Mar 2018 at 10:20am
	Dear Mgoldey, Thank you for choosing ASRock. Regarding your case, the system cannot boot and enter BIOS directly because your system is installed in AHCI mode. When you switch to RAID mode, the system cannot recognize the AHCI boot manager. Please refer to below link to change your Windows from AHCI to RAID. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/588c6cc0-03f0-44c4-b9dc-49143db95000/changing-from-ahci-to-raid-without-reinstalling-win-10?forum=win10itprohardware Then your system can boot into M.2 SSD when you switch to RAID mode. Or you can install your Windows at M.2 SSD again in RAID mode. Thank you! Yours truly, ASRock TSD

mgoldey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 30 Mar 2018 Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote mgoldey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Mar 2018 at 11:18am
	Thank you for your reply. I understand what you have explained. I cannot make the change work, though. The link you gave to social.technet.microsoft.com has a link to this page: http://www.overclock.net/forum/20-hard-drives-storage/1227636-how-change-sata-modes-after-windows-installation.html The instructions on that overclock.net page are as follows: If currently installed, uninstall your RAID or AHCI SATA driver (for intel, intel rapid storage technology) Basically open msconfig -> boot tab -> check safe boot -> restart Go into UEFI/BIOS and set SATA mode to which ever one you want Boot up into windows safe mode Open msconfig again -> under the main menu tab (general) click the normal startup circle - > restart Your system should boot into windows fine and you can install your AHCI or RAID driver. I am stuck at step #4. After I go into the Taichi BIOS and choose RAID mode, the motherboard reboots to BIOS and will not start Windows. This is, the same situation I've been having all along. Maybe I am not uninstalling the AHCI SATA driver properly? I am using Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers > Standard SATA AHCI Controller, and uninstalling it. I am not removing the Asmedia 106x SATA Controller under Storage Controllers because nothing is attached to SATA 3_A1 or 3-A2. What am I missing? Thanks again!

ASRock_TSD Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List ASRock_Official Joined: 20 Mar 2015 Status: Offline Points: 8592	Post Options Post Reply Quote ASRock_TSD Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Apr 2018 at 11:08am
	Dear Mgoldey, Thank you for your reply. Could you provide the screenshot of BIOS storage configuration and boot page? We have tested in our side, setting at AHCI mode and RAID mode both works fine. Thank you! Yours truly, ASRock TSD

mgoldey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 30 Mar 2018 Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote mgoldey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 07 Apr 2018 at 2:03am
	I gave up and reinstalled Windows in RAID mode. I never could figure out whether Windows was unable to figure out the BIOS settings or the hard drive telemetry, or if there was something in the BIOS itself that kept booting me into BIOS. For the benefit of those who read this, I went as far as to download and install the Intel RST RAID drivers from Intel and installed them manually; then deleted the AHCI drivers completely. I hoped that would stop Windows from loading the AHCI drivers and then halting when it found no ACHI devices and dumping me into the BIOS (if that is what was actually happening). No change, though. Still booted into BIOS in RAID mode, and into the generic Windows AHCI mode otherwise. I suspect that the problem was with the way that the SSD m.2 drive was formatted by Windows in the first place during the AHCI installation. As now installed under RAID mode, the drive has three visible partitions (Recovery, EFI and the c:\ partition) plus a fourth one that is essentially the boot instructions. In AHCI mode, there were only two visible partitions. So that may be the reason for all of this.