Intel Motherboards - UEFI RAID not visible to Win10 installer

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UEFI RAID not visible to Win10 installer

Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: Intel Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock Intel Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1430
Printed Date: 12 May 2024 at 1:18pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: UEFI RAID not visible to Win10 installer

Posted By: Karlerm1
Subject: UEFI RAID not visible to Win10 installer
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2015 at 2:00am

I sent a support request just now but wanted to ask all of you for suggestions. I have the Z170 Extreme7+ board with Firmware 2.10 and Intel ME 11.0.0.1180 and two Samsung 950 Pro M.2 512GB NVMe drives installed in M2_2 and M2_3.

I followed parsec's post on "How To Install Windows On A PCIe SSD" EXCEPT that I followed Les Tokar's article (on thessdreview.com for how to create a boot raid using Extreme7+ and Samsung drrives) and set the "SATA Mode Selection" to RAID and then enabled Remapping of RST PCIe Storage on the M2 ports. F10 to save and reboot and back in UEFI I created a RAID1 volume, and F10 to save again and reboot and then F11 to select boot drive of UEFI DVD drive and then Windows installer launches. I get to the Where do you want to install Windows screen then the problem is that there isn't any drive listed to install on.

I've tried the procedure over and over to check if I missed anything. I tried following Xaltar's post on "How to clear CMOS via battery removal and at the battery removal step I left the battery out overnight. Still same result.

Help is appreciated.

Replies:

Posted By: Karlerm1
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2015 at 2:07am

I just noticed the help screen in UEFI under Advanced\Storage Configuration for the "SATA Mode Selection" where it says, ..."Please press <CTRL - I> to enter RAID ROM during UEFI POST process. So, I reboot and keep pressing Ctrl I but nothing happens. Does anyone have experience with this? What's supposed to happen?

Posted By: Karlerm1
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2015 at 6:48am

UPDATE: After ASRock tech support, I was able to install Win10 but there's a few things different that I had to do.

#1 You should update your UEFI firmware to the newest 2.10 but use the ASRock pinned Forum post called "UEFI Update 2.10 Information". Otherwise you may only get half of the update (it updates both the UEFI firmware to 2.10 and the Intel ME Firmware to 11.0.0.1180). The gist of the post is to be patient and let the update reboot the PC and leave it alone and wait even if it seems like it's hanging. If you interrupt it you will not get the current Intel ME firmware. The only place to find out what version of the ME firmware you have is in the UEFI under Advanced > Storage Configuration.

#2 You must download and UNZIP and copy to a USB drive the ASRock RAID driver ("SATA Floppy Image", I know, terrible name that doesn't sound like a RAID driver). Then when you get to the Windows Installer point where it asks "Where do you want to install Windows" and you don't see your RAID drive, you can click the button to browse for a driver, and you browse your usb to that driver and after a few minutes of loading, you will see the RAID volume.

#3 When installing your OS, you must boot from the UEFI version of your installation boot drive (USB or Optical Drive, i.e. where your OS installer file is on). Upon boot press F11 to bring up the boot window and select your install drive listing that begins with UEFI: _____.

#4 After installing Windows, you should run the INF and ME updaters and then the LAN drivers, BUT you shouldn't have any ethernet cable plugged in while updating the LAN drivers (I did and the installer hung the PC. Suspecting the problem, I unplugged the cable and rebooted and then uninstalled the LAN software, rebooted and then installed the LAN software again and then it worked fine.