Booting specifics on NVMe

[AlekseiKovalev]

Greetings!

The hardware is HPE MicroServer Gen8 running Windows Server 2022. BIOS. SATA SSD. MBR.

I've tried multiple times to clone the SATA SSD to PCIe NVMe SSD, but the only message I get after boot is "Non-System Disk or Disk Error". I have used this methods:

1. Acronis TrueImage disk-to-disk copy... fail.
2. Acronis DiskDirector clone disk (with and without NT signature)... fail.
3. Clonezilla... fail.
4. Cloning the SSD using third-party PC with plugged in drives... fail.

Okay, I would believe if it is a problem of MicroServer BIOS and it's ability to load from NVMe, BUT I have almost the same MicroServer with the same BIOS settings at my client and two years ago I successfully made the same story with cloning operation and it is works fine - it is loads from NVMe.

The only difference is in equipment and OS:

• My Microserver: SuperMicro AOC-SLG3-2M2 + NVMe SSD Kingston KC3000/2048 (Windows Srv 2022)

• Client's Microserver: ASUS Hyper M.2 x4 Mini + NVMe SSD Plextor PX-512M8PeGN (Windows Srv 2016).

During research I decided to go deeper in the comparsion of my vs client's disk structures and found some interesting details using DMDE utility.

The NVMe has MBR type but there is some GUID/GPT partition structures. There is something to think about, but I'm not quite sure, because the utility shows them like a something deleted.

Can somebody assume, at which point the problem is: Microserver BIOS - extension card + NVMe - Windows Bootloader? I broke my mind...

[AlekseiKovalev]

Additionally, I would like to ask, how Windows Setup detects that Windows cannot be installed to the disk that is not support booting? I mean,

IF [CHECK_SUPPORT_BOOT_SOME_CONDITION] <-- what is here?

ALLOW_INSTALL;

ELSE

UNABLE_TO_INSTALL;

[ksram]

Hi @AlekseiKovalev,

Thank you for the Post.

Regarding the cloning it needs to be checked from the OS / the application end if there are any pre-requisites.

And regarding the installation you can try changing the SATA Device Mode : 
AHCI or RAID Mode.

Try to make the changes and share the results.

Thank you
RamKS

[AlekseiKovalev]

I have no problem booting from SATA drives, the problem related to booting from NVMe - it is not depend on B120i or any other storage controller.

[AlekseiKovalev · Accepted solution]

So, after many attempts to boot from NVMe with various combinations I came close to understanding that the problem is related to the operation of the Microserver's BIOS with PCIe x8 expansion card using one NVMe SSD, rather than anything else.

Reading Windows Internals book chapters about storages and BIOS booting, I didn't see anything specific related to my problem. Cloned MBR structures are fine and look like as they should.

I supposed to think, that some 32-bit LBA problem is using 2 TB NVMe SSD, but I've change it to 512 GB NVMe SSD and found some interesting behaviour on the extension card, that sometimes it dissapears after reboot. So I made a conclusion, that without BIOS PCIe bifurcation support can be some problems during BIOS boot time and ability to load from NVMe using PCIe x8 expansion card.

The success of second server, where it is works fine, is that it's expansion card is PCIe x4.

[ksram]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the information.

RamKS

[AlekseiKovalev]

Update:

I'm assuming that the expansion card has some malfunction, because I just got a new one Microserver Gen10 Plus v2 and it shows me that the PCIe x16 slot is not populated, but the NVMe drive is fine (checked separately).

[alexyu]

Just saw this out-dated question, hope it helps. I guess the problem comes with your ssd selection.

MSG8 does not support UEFI boot, which is required by booting from NVMe SSDs. However, the Plextor M8PE that you selected for your client happened to be one of few limited SSD types featuring a built-in option ROM module that allows it to boot from legacy BIOS models. Other options might include Intel 750 and Samsung pm953 (only some of them). You can have a try with a same ssd and see if it works.

[AlekseiKovalev]

Thanks a lot for response. It is very useful information, I had such thoughts on this. Relatively soon I can check is it so or not. And I will give a response.

[AlekseiKovalev]

You was 100% right.

NVMe SSD Plextor PX-512M8PeGN has its own ROM that runs right after BIOS and able to boot system installed on the Plextor. Kingston KC3000 does not have its own ROM, so it is not able to boot. 100% checked.

So, if you want to use NVMe SSD on Microserver Gen8 and load a system from it, you must look for NVMe SSD models that has its own ROM.