Z170 Extreme3 RAID Error?

Anyone notice a bug with the current Z170 Extreme 3 or is it just me?

churchie73 wrote: Anyone notice a bug with the current Z170 Extreme 3 or is it just me?   I have the following drive configuration on my ASRock Board. 1 240Gb SSD 2x1Tb SATA Hdd's   I want to RAID 1 the two 1Tb drives which the BIOS seems to let me configure. The problem is after I enable RAID in the BIOS and setup a raid array with the two HDDs, it looks accurate in the BIOS basic screen showing the SSD as not being a part of the RAID integrated disk setup. However, when I boot it doesn't let me boot into my SSD boot drive and appears to be trying to boot off the RAID array. I cannot select the SSD as the primary boot device.   Can anyone else confirm or deny this issue? Or does the RAID enable feature only work on bootable configurations? I'm kind of at a loss. If I need to do a software RAID I will but seems to defeat the purpose fo having a RAID enabled BIOS.   thanks in advance,   churchie

Sorry to say, it sounds like it is just you.

First I must confirm, did you install Windows with the SATA mode set to RAID?

If not, you cannot simply change to RAID mode in the manner you described after installing Windows in a non-RAID mode, such as AHCI. This is actually a Windows issue that has existed forever, one that they have never bothered to fix, or is too deeply connected to the way the Windows Registry works to change easily.

When you created this RAID array, you did so in the UEFI's RAID interface, or did you do it with the Ctrl-I method of running the Intel RAID utility outside of the UEFI?

We should be able to get RAID enabled for you, but first an important question.

Your weird booting issue worries me, did you install Windows with all those drives in the PC? Or did you only have the SSD in the PC powered up when you installed Windows?

If you had even one of the other drives in the PC when you installed Windows, if we get RAID enabled on your PC, and you then create the RAID array, the next time you start or restart the PC, it will no longer boot. The Windows installation program, if it finds more than one drive in a PC, will put the boot/system partition on a drive other than the target OS drive.

When you create a RAID array, all the partitions and data on those drives will become inaccessible. Including that boot/system partition. Since the boot/system partition on the other drive is no longer accessible, your PC will not boot at all. You can fix that with your Windows installation media, using the Repair option.

Your PC can still boot now in AHCI mode, right? I hope so, or you have a new Windows installation in your future.

Let use know the answers to my questions, and we can then hopefully proceed.

churchie73 wrote: thanks parsec. i installed windows without the SATA mode set to RAID and I then created the RAID array in the UEFI's interface by enabling RAID and then creating my RAID array with the two 1Tb SATA drives. At no point did I make my SSD a part of the array and it should not have treated it as a part of the array. When i installed windows my other drives were not present. only after I connected them and tried to create the array did it have problems booting.  i don't see how creating a raid would interfere with my boot drive in any way when it is not part of the array. i can try the installation a different way if you can recommend a procedure for me but at this time to be clear, i dont want my SSD windows boot drive to be a part of the array.  Thanks again, churchie73

I understand about your SSD not being part of a RAID array. All I can go by is what you tell me, whether or not it seems possible.

I've used Intel RAID for years, as far back as my X58 mother board. I have NEVER seen a RAID array of multiple drives interfere with the boot order, or the OS/boot drive. Frankly, hard to believe, and if your OS boots after creating a RAID array out of the other drives, I will be relieved, since it seems something is simply not right.

Enabling RAID when you install your OS is RAID 101 material. Not being able to simply change the SATA mode to RAID in the UEFI/BIOS after Windows is installed is also basic Windows RAID information, not that you will easily find either of these things explained anywhere. Windows Registry entries must be modified in order to get the RAID driver loaded, when the SATA mode is changed to RAID after Window is installed. It's been this way with Windows for years.

Fortunately there is a tool ASRock provides to do most of the work for you. The process is really very simple. Still you must do things in a perfect sequence of events, or you'll need to start over again. This is the procedure.

The ASRock tool is called Rapid SATA Switch, that is only available through your board's APP Shop utility program. If you don't have APP Shop installed, go to your board's download page, find APP Shop ver:1.0.24, the same version is used for all supported Windows versions.

Install APP Shop, run it and on the main Apps screen, find Rapid SATA Switch, scroll down to find it. Click on the Free button, you will be prompted again, click on Go and it will be downloaded and installed automatically.

Once the installation is complete, you should find a Windows shortcut for Rapid SATA Switch. Run it and follow the prompts.

When it is complete, the next two steps are critical, and must be done in this order with no deviations from the steps, or you'll need to start over, running Rapid SATA Switch again.

1. Restart the PC into the UEFI/BIOS. If you accidentally miss getting into the UEFI and Windows boots, you'll need to run Rapid SATA Switch again.

2. Set the SATA Mode to RAID. You'll need to maintain the SATA mode being set to RAID, as two things can change the SATA mode back to its default, AHCI. One is clearing the UEFI/BIOS with the board's jumper, or if your board has a Clear CMOS button. The second is a UEFI/BIOS update, which will set all UEFI options to their defaults. Some ASRock Z170 boards may not reset the SATA Mode to AHCI after a UEFI/BIOS update, to prevent the corruption of RAID arrays of PCIe NVMe SSDs by simply starting the UEFI UI. This corruption issue does NOT apply to SATA drives. I mention this only to be 100% complete. Your board only has one M.2 slot, so this new SATA Mode feature may not be implemented on your board.

If you find your SATA mode is still set to RAID after a UEFI update, great, but it is well worth checking, and you will likely need to reset it to RAID with your board. That is, if you boot Windows with the SATA Mode set to AHCI, you won't have a RAID array after you boot, and it may be corrupted.

2a. The final important step is Saving and Exiting the UEFI/BIOS, and completely booting into Windows. Please do not attempt to create a RAID array immediately after changing the SATA mode to RAID, you don't have a RAID driver loaded yet. Windows will load it when you boot the PC.

3. Done.

If you prefer, you can download and install the Intel IRST Windows RAID software, to create and maintain your RAID array in Windows. That would be the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and utility ver:14.8.0.1042 on your board's download page. Windows has an inbox Intel RAID driver, but an earlier version, without the Windows utility to create and administer your RAID arrays.

That's it, let us know how it goes.