Dl360 G10 Inaccessible Boot Device After Reboot

[JamesEdmondsUKP]

Hello,

We have a DL 360 G10 running Windows Server 2016.

We rebooted this the other day with no abnormal behaviour at the time, but upon restart, it bluescreens with an inaccessivle boot device error.

Running startup repair does not detect or fix any issues, and when running diskpart in the recovery menu, the local disk is not found.

Booting from Windows Server install media does not give any repair options.

iLO reports no errors, and everything is green across the board. Smart Storage Administrator shows all attached disks and volumes as green, with the RAID config in tact.

1. Do I need to boot Windows Server install media in a different way to include RAID controller drivers, in order to do a repair etc?

2. Is there anything else I can do to diagnose why the boot disk/volume is not found during the recovery menu step?

Thanks

James

[PDP-Fan]

Did you check the RAID settings? Do you have a RAID anyway?

1. Start Intelligent Provisioning and Smart Storage Manager (SSM) to check your logical drive.
2. Make sure that your drive is set as primary boot device in the SSM/RAID-controller settings.
3. That may sound silly but check the SAS cables on the controller and on the backplane (did they click?)

[JamesEdmondsUKP]

Hello,

Yes, as mentioned, all disks and RAID volumes look good.

How can I check which device in SSA is set as boot device?

Physical connections have not been checked in person, but given all disks are green, I am sure this is fine.

Thanks

James

[SH-Lan]

Hi,

What is the boot mode of server?

UEFI or Legacy BIOS?

And the boot order?

[JamesEdmondsUKP]

Hi,

Boot mode is UEFI, and boot order is:

Assisted_Installation

Windows Boot Manager

Generic USB Boot

I must admit I've never seen Assisted_Installation before, and wonder if this is part of Intelligent Provisioning?

I assume it's skipping over this, and then using Windows Boot Manager, as I do get the Windows boot animation, and it looks like Windows is attempting to boot, until it bluescreens with "INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE".

Thanks

James

[SH-Lan]

Hi,

It seem that server can boot from the correct boot device but there is something wrong with the OS.

Maybe you can try booting the OS into Windows Recovery mode .

you can find the way from microsoft support.

[JamesEdmondsUKP]

Hi,

As per my original message:

We rebooted this the other day with no abnormal behaviour at the time, but upon restart, it bluescreens with an inaccessivle boot device error.

Running startup repair does not detect or fix any issues, and when running diskpart in the recovery menu, the local disk is not found.

Booting from Windows Server install media does not give any repair options.

This is why I was asking if we needed to inject the RAID controller drivers into the boot image we were using? If I use any other partition manager boot disk, is it going to find any disks/volumes if I do not provide it with a storage controller driver? If Windows recovery menu doesn't give me any options, there is limited action I can take within the recovery utilities.

Since starting this conversation, I am now finding the machine does not seem to even attempt a boot from the RAID controller volumes, and now skips straight over to trying PXE boot instead.

Could it be the controller or disks are in fact failing, even though it reports a green/working status in SSA?

Many thanks

James

[JamesEdmondsUKP]

Further to this, we have just attempted to install update KB5029242 and reboot a second server, and are now seeing the same symptoms on this box.

The intial trouleshooting step from MS is to boot into recovery menu or from Windows install media, and run diskpart.

If disk is not listed, to engage OEM or hardware vendor.

Are the RAID disks/volumes not showing because no driver has been loaded?

How can I progress this diagnosis?

Many thanks

James

[Vinky_99]

@JamesEdmondsUKP

Good day!

Let me try to address your questions one by one:

1. Boot from Windows Server Install Media with RAID Controller Driver.

It's possible that the issue is related to missing RAID controller drivers during the Windows recovery process. Here's how you can load the drivers:

a. Download the RAID controller drivers from HPE Support site: https://support.hpe.com/. Make sure you download the drivers compatible with your RAID controller model and Windows Server 2016.
b. Create a bootable USB drive with the Windows Server installation media if you don't have one already.
c. Insert the USB drive and boot your server from it.
d. When you reach the initial screen where you're prompted to select the language and other preferences, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt.
e. Navigate to the directory where you have the RAID controller drivers (usually a USB drive) using the command line.
f. Load the drivers using a command like drvload X:\path\to\driver.inf where X is the drive letter of your USB drive containing the drivers.
g. Close the command prompt and proceed with the Windows installation process. You should now see your RAID volumes and be able to attempt repairs.

2. Diagnosing the Issue

If loading the RAID controller drivers doesn't resolve the issue, you might want to consider some further diagnostics:

a. Check the physical connections of your drives and ensure that all cables are securely connected to both the drives and the RAID controller.
b. Access the BIOS/UEFI settings and ensure that the boot order is configured correctly. The RAID volume should be set as the primary boot device.
c. Inspect the RAID controller configuration to ensure that the RAID array is in good health.
d. Check for any recent firmware or driver updates for your RAID controller and server hardware. Apply updates as needed.
e. If you have backups, consider restoring from a backup if all else fails.

If the issue persists after these steps, it may be necessary to contact HPE support for further assistance, especially if the problem seems hardware-related or if there's a possibility of disk failure.

Remember to exercise caution when making changes to your server's configuration, and always ensure that you have backups before making significant changes or attempting repairs.

Hope this helps! Let me know... 

[JamesEdmondsUKP]

Hi,

drvload worked a treat to load the Smart Array driver into the recovery environment, The disk then showed up as expected.

From this point, I have tried to use DISM to install the same driver into the Windows image on C:\, but this did not help.

I was also able to then run startup repair, which found an "issue" but was not able to resolve.

I will post in the MS forums for this issue now, but not sure if anyone here can offer any advice in the meantime of what else to check?

Following Microsoft "INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE" troubleshooting page yields no results.

Thanks

James

[JamesEdmondsUKP · Accepted solution]

We have been unable to determine the underlying issue with the boot/OS install, so have just gone with a full reimage and manual reconfiguration of the server/OS