Hi ho,
I recently finished a fresh build of WHS2011 on an HP ProLiant Microserver, so I'm hoping to pass along a few notes that may save the next builder a bit of time...
One of the first issues I researched when getting ready to build this system was how to deal with the BIOS IDE mode choices of IDE, AHCI and RAID. From the research I did here and elsewhere on the web, it looked like once the install was finished, trying to change that choice led to a big mess with BSOD and non-booting systems. The problem for me started when I did the initial installation with only a 250GB WD2503ABYX installed in the system. Apparently I purchased the last RE4 250GB disc produced before the floods, since the price of that disc a few days later changed from $80 to $260 and it was NLA from Amazon. I had hoped to get a pair of these eventually, but planned to press on with the system build using a single disc, then changing it to RAID 1 once a second disc was available.
The initial install went fine with the BIOS set to AHCI mode and the single disc in place. I then checked the Device Manager and noticed there was a Standard SATA Disc Controller listed under the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" section. It should also be noted that the Device Manager did NOT have a section for "Storage controllers". I then re-started the server, and changed the BIOS from AHCI to RAID. The system re-booted, and I was greeted by a BSOD. Not good.
I re-booted again and changed back to AHCI which allowed the system to start normally again. I then went into Device Manager and attempted to change the Standard SATA Disc Controller to the latest RAID driver from AMD (v3.2.1540.75). I went through the steps to Update Driver, Let Me Choose, etc., etc., however when I selected the new ahcix64s.inf file, the system responded that the file contained no information for my current hardware. Hmm...
Next, I tried updating the driver for the standard AHCI controller to the AMD Controller Driver (not the RAID driver) from AMD (v3.1.1547.124_revD). This time the update worked, and I was prompted to re-start the system to finish the installation. After a re-boot (with NO change from AHCI to RAID), the system again started normally and worked fine. Another peek at Device Manager revealed that the Standard SATA controller was indeed gone from the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" section, and a new "Storage controllers" section was available in the list of devices. Now I was getting somewhere!
The new "Storage controllers" section contained 2 devices: "AMD SATA AHCI Controller" and "AMD SATA AHCI Console". I selected the SATA AHCI Controller and again went through the steps to manually update the driver. This time when I selected the AMD WHQL RAID v3.2.1540.75, the installation completed successfully and I was prompted to re-start the system to finish the installation. When the system re-started, I entered the BIOS menu and changed the IDE mode from AHCI to RAID. The system booted up again, and this time WHS2011 loaded without any problems. Another look at Device Manager showed the new "AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Controller" was now installed in the "Storage controllers" section and all was well.
The final step was to re-start the system one more time, and enter the RAID configuration menu (CTRL+F). I then created a new Logical Disc, set it to RAIDReady, Initialize set to None (not sure if setting it to Fast would make the disc un-bootable since it re-writes the MBR), and added the single disc to the new logical disc. After a re-boot everything appears to be running fine, and when I add a second disc it should be a simple matter to use the RAIDXpert tool to migrate the existing RAIDReady disc to a new RAID 1 mirror.
So, to sum up:
If building your new N40L & WHS2011 system and you only have 1 disc, I suggest you set the BIOS to RAID and create a RAIDReady logical disc (use Fast initialize if you've not installed anything yet). This should allow you to install the OS with a Windows RAID driver, then you can upgrade the driver to the AMD driver when installation is completed.
If you've already installed the system as AHCI and wish to upgrade to RAID 0 or 1 using the on-board controller, following the steps above to get from the Windows SATA driver to the AMD RAID driver should work for you. Once the boot disc is set to RAIDReady status, you may then use the AMD RAIDXpert GUI tool to migrate to RAID 0 or 1 whenever you obtain your second disc.
Hope that helps,
-Jeff K.
I recently finished a fresh build of WHS2011 on an HP ProLiant Microserver, so I'm hoping to pass along a few notes that may save the next builder a bit of time...
One of the first issues I researched when getting ready to build this system was how to deal with the BIOS IDE mode choices of IDE, AHCI and RAID. From the research I did here and elsewhere on the web, it looked like once the install was finished, trying to change that choice led to a big mess with BSOD and non-booting systems. The problem for me started when I did the initial installation with only a 250GB WD2503ABYX installed in the system. Apparently I purchased the last RE4 250GB disc produced before the floods, since the price of that disc a few days later changed from $80 to $260 and it was NLA from Amazon. I had hoped to get a pair of these eventually, but planned to press on with the system build using a single disc, then changing it to RAID 1 once a second disc was available.
The initial install went fine with the BIOS set to AHCI mode and the single disc in place. I then checked the Device Manager and noticed there was a Standard SATA Disc Controller listed under the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" section. It should also be noted that the Device Manager did NOT have a section for "Storage controllers". I then re-started the server, and changed the BIOS from AHCI to RAID. The system re-booted, and I was greeted by a BSOD. Not good.
I re-booted again and changed back to AHCI which allowed the system to start normally again. I then went into Device Manager and attempted to change the Standard SATA Disc Controller to the latest RAID driver from AMD (v3.2.1540.75). I went through the steps to Update Driver, Let Me Choose, etc., etc., however when I selected the new ahcix64s.inf file, the system responded that the file contained no information for my current hardware. Hmm...
Next, I tried updating the driver for the standard AHCI controller to the AMD Controller Driver (not the RAID driver) from AMD (v3.1.1547.124_revD). This time the update worked, and I was prompted to re-start the system to finish the installation. After a re-boot (with NO change from AHCI to RAID), the system again started normally and worked fine. Another peek at Device Manager revealed that the Standard SATA controller was indeed gone from the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" section, and a new "Storage controllers" section was available in the list of devices. Now I was getting somewhere!
The new "Storage controllers" section contained 2 devices: "AMD SATA AHCI Controller" and "AMD SATA AHCI Console". I selected the SATA AHCI Controller and again went through the steps to manually update the driver. This time when I selected the AMD WHQL RAID v3.2.1540.75, the installation completed successfully and I was prompted to re-start the system to finish the installation. When the system re-started, I entered the BIOS menu and changed the IDE mode from AHCI to RAID. The system booted up again, and this time WHS2011 loaded without any problems. Another look at Device Manager showed the new "AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Controller" was now installed in the "Storage controllers" section and all was well.
The final step was to re-start the system one more time, and enter the RAID configuration menu (CTRL+F). I then created a new Logical Disc, set it to RAIDReady, Initialize set to None (not sure if setting it to Fast would make the disc un-bootable since it re-writes the MBR), and added the single disc to the new logical disc. After a re-boot everything appears to be running fine, and when I add a second disc it should be a simple matter to use the RAIDXpert tool to migrate the existing RAIDReady disc to a new RAID 1 mirror.
So, to sum up:
If building your new N40L & WHS2011 system and you only have 1 disc, I suggest you set the BIOS to RAID and create a RAIDReady logical disc (use Fast initialize if you've not installed anything yet). This should allow you to install the OS with a Windows RAID driver, then you can upgrade the driver to the AMD driver when installation is completed.
If you've already installed the system as AHCI and wish to upgrade to RAID 0 or 1 using the on-board controller, following the steps above to get from the Windows SATA driver to the AMD RAID driver should work for you. Once the boot disc is set to RAIDReady status, you may then use the AMD RAIDXpert GUI tool to migrate to RAID 0 or 1 whenever you obtain your second disc.
Hope that helps,
-Jeff K.