HighPoint RR640L User manual

RR640L UEFI Windows BootRAID Installation Guide
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RR640L Controller
Windows BootRAID
Installation Guide
Version 1.0.0
Copyright © 2021 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Update Aug 26, 2021

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Content
Prerequisites for a Bootable RAID Configuration............................................................................................. 3
UEFI BIOS Settings...........................................................................................................................................4
How to install Windows to the RAID controller................................................................................................5
Step 1 Preparing the USB Flash Drive.......................................................................................................5
Step 2 Preparing the UEFI Package........................................................................................................... 5
Step 3 Creating the RAID Array................................................................................................................ 6
Step 4 Install Windows...............................................................................................................................8
Step 5 Disabling Hibernation................................................................................................................... 10
Trouble shooting.............................................................................................................................................. 12
No supporting host adapter is found........................................................................................................ 12
No supported controller detected............................................................................................................. 12
Appendix A...................................................................................................................................................... 13

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Prerequisites for a Bootable RAID Configuration
The RR640L controllers can support bootable RAID arrays. After configuring an array using
the UEFI RAID tool, you can install a Windows or Linux operating system to the RAID. In
order to configure a bootable RAID array, you will need the following:
1. RAID controller. A PCIe 3.0/4.0 slot with x4, x8 or x16 lanes.
2. The RR640L must be installed into a PCIe 3.0/4.0 slot with x4, x8 or x16 lanes.
3. The motherboard needs to be booted into UEFI mode. Confirm that the motherboard
boots in UEFI mode.
4. USB flash drive: FAT32 format. Make sure the file system of the USB flash drive is
FAT32 format.
5. Secure Boot must be disabled.
6. Install an optical drive into the system (such as a DVD-ROM, DVD-RW or Blu-Ray
drive).
7. Prepare the OS Installation disc (Windows 10 & later / Windows server 2016 & later, or
a Linux Distribution that corresponds with the binary diver you intend to install).
Download and burn an official copy of the latest ISO image of your preferred operating
system to a DVD. This should be inserted into the optical drive when booting the system.
8. You will need a USB flash drive– the UEFI package and driver should be extracted to
the root directory of this flash drive.
9. Remove all other drives during the OS installation process. Make sure only the controller,
the USB flash drive, and the optical drive are installed into the system during this
procedure. This includes any other USB hard drives, USB flash drives, memory sticks, or
SAS/SATA drives. You can reattach these drives after the operating system has been
successfully installed.
10. For Windows 10 users, make sure to Disable Fast Boot.

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UEFI BIOS Settings
Different motherboards will provide different UEFI-related BIOS settings. Please consult
your motherboard’s user manual for more information.
Set UEFI setting with SuperMicro X11DAi-N motherboard as an example.
a. Set "Boot Mode Select" to "UEFI";
b. Under "Advanced->PCIe/PCI/PnP Configuration->, change “CPUx Slot x PCI-E
OPROM" to "EFI". “x” represents the PCIE slot assignment. For this example,
the RR640l is installed into “CPU2 Slot 2”
c. Set "Boot Mode Select" to "UEFI";

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How to install Windows to the RAID controller
Step 1 Preparing the USB Flash Drive
When preparing the USB flash dive, make sure to format the USB partition as FAT32. If
another file system is used, the USB drive may not be properly recognized, and will not
appear as an option under the motherboard’s UEFI BIOS menus.
Step 2 Preparing the UEFI Package
The package must be unzipped directly to the root of the bootable USB flash drive (do not
extract the contents to a new folder). All of the following items must be present in the root of
the USB flash drive.
Note: If the above content is not present in the root directory, the UEFI boot device will not
be properly recognized, and/or you will be unable to create an array for OS installation.

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Step 3 Creating the RAID Array
a. Insert the USB flash drive to the motherboard.
b. Booting from the UEFI USB flash and enter the UEFI environment ;
c. Command with “rr640l.nsh”, flash UEFI rom to RR640l Controller and reboot.
When the message ‘Passed’ appears, the flash was successful.
d. Boot, in the presence of the motherboard Log screen, there will be HDDs
information：

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e. Enter the motherboard’s Boot List and select start from UEFI USB flash:
f. At the prompt, enter the following command to change the resolution:
mode 100 31
a. Next, enter the following command to enter the RAID creation utility:
ArrayCreate.efi
a. Command “create RAID0”.
Create RAID0 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
b. Command “exit”；
c. For more command usages, refer to Appendix A.

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Step 4 Install Windows
a. Put the Windows install DVD in your CD-ROM and then reboot your system;
b. Boot, view RAID information that appears on the motherboard Logo screen:
c. Enter Boot list, select start from UEFI DVD:
d. Install Windows, to “Where do you want to install Windows?”,
e. Click “Load driver”，in the pup-up window, click “Cancel”:

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f. Then plug the USB flash with the driver file onto the USB interface of the
motherboard, click “Browse”, select the driver file:
g. Load the driver.
h. After load the driver, back to “Where do you want to install Windows?” interface,
the Legacy disks have become RAID partitions.

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i. After partitioning, continue installing and complete the installation of the Windows.
Step 5 Disabling Hibernation
After Windows is installed, boot into the operating system and disable Hibernation.
Hibernation fails when the system is installed on a RAID; this bug will slow down or prevent
startup and disable sleep mode.
If you do not turn the hibernation functionality off, you may experience the following
problems:
a. Shutdown time is extended by an additional 3-5 minutes.
b. You cannot shut down properly, you need to manually press the power switch
button of the motherboard to power off the system.
Please use administrator privileges to turn off hibernation using the following command
(Command Prompt utility): #powercfg /h off
Enter the command to check that the quick shutdown is turned off: powercfg / a

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Trouble shooting
No supporting host adapter is found
In the UEFI environment, run thecommand,"rr640l.nsh (Please see UEFI Read me for
specific input content.)".
Solutions: If you get the message, "No supporting host adapter is found." Try the following,
a. The error message is to remind the user that when the card cannot be found in UEFI.
Make sure the HighPointRR Controller is installed into a PCIe slot with x8 or x16 lane.
b. In order to avoid this slot is broken, so replace the slot and test again.
No supported controller detected
In the UEFI environment, run the command, "ArrayCreate.efi".
Solutions: If you get the message, "No supported controller detected." Try the following,
a. Check whether the Storage option ROM is ‘Enabled’ in the motherboard BIOS.
b. Check whether SATA/SAS is connected to the controller.
c. Replace the motherboard slot, enter the UEFI environment and re-enter the command.
If none of the above methods work, please provide UEFI log. You can submit a support
ticket using our Online Support Portal, include a description of the problem in as much detail
as possible.

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Appendix A
Support command: help/info/quit/exit/create/delete.
Create Command
Syntax
Create Array Type (RAID0/RAID1/10) Member Disk list (1/1, 1/2|*) Capacity
(100|*)
Examples
<<< create RAID0
<<< create RAID0 *
<<< create RAID0 * *
Create RAID0 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
<<< create RAID1 1/1, 1/3 10
Create RAID1 array with disk 1/1 and 1/3 and with 10GB capacity.
<<< create RAID10 *
Create RAID10 array with all disks and with maximum capacity.
Delete Command
Syntax
delete {array ID}
Examples
<<< delete 1
Delete the first array from Logical device list.
<<< delete 2
Delete the second array from Logical device list.
Info Command
Syntax
info
Display physical device list and logical list
Exit Command
Syntax
Q/q/quit/exit
Quit the application
Help Command
Syntax
H/h/help
This is help message.