Reboot and select proper boot device after firmware update of 3WARE 9650SE-12ML

Hi guys,

I need help, because I have a problem which I cannot solve myself.

I searched already in this forum and with google, but I didn't find any solution.

Maybe I search with the wrong keywords.

I want to setup a new OMV with this hardware:

Mainboard: Gigabyte H87-HD3

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz

RAM: 8 GB (2x4) DDR3 1333er

1 x SATA DVD-ROM

1 x SATA 1 TB WD for omv

7 x SATA HDDs with differned ages and sizes filled with data and now attached to an old omv version 2 PC.

I connected the DVD drive and the 1 TB WD to the SATA ports on the mainboard.

Installation works fine with ISO image. Server was up and running without a problem.

Then I bought a 3WARE 9650SE-12ML, because I have more the 6 SATA devices.

I wanted to add all data drives to the 9650SE and the boot drives (DVD-ROM & 1TB WD) to the SATA ports on the mainboard.

I thought this will be less error prone if the 3ware may be break in future.

After adding the 9650SE card omv boots normal.

I attached a WD 6 TB to the 9650SE, but it was recognised as 1,5 TB.

Quick research with google -> Controller firmware update is needed.

I downloaded the firmware, created a free dos usb bootable stick and updated the 9650SE firmware.

Now the WD 6 TB was recognised as 6 TB. Great.

But after that point I was unable to boot from my 1 TB WD.

Every time I got "reboot and select proper boot device"

I tried the following things to fix the problem:

- Used other SATA cables

- Tried all SATA ports

- Reset to mainboard config defaults

- Tried different boot and sata options in mainboard bios (UEFI only , Legecy only, Both etc.)

- Tried enable/disable boot option in 3ware controller

- Did an update of the mainboard bios to a newer version, because I thought the bios may be broken

- Removed 9650SE out of the system!!! No change.

- Added 9650SE again and connected the drive to the 9650SE (because I thought it may have disabled all other boot sources)

- Nothing helped

Booting from USB stick and DVD-ROM connected to mainboard sata works, but my 1 TB WD did not boot anymore.

Before all of that I copied the whole disk to a 1 TB Samsung hdd, which I have tested and it worked.

With Samsung attached to the mainboard sata instead of the 1 TB WD I have the same error.

So the 1 TB WD hdd is not broken.

I decided to use another 1 TB HDD attached to mainboard sata to make a clean installation again.

Maybe omv installs or configures something differently if the controller is present on installation time.

The installation runs smoothly, but after the restart at the end of the installation, I got the error again.

At last I attached the drive to the 9650SE, enabled boot in controller firmware and did a clean install again.

Now I got a new question about GRUB installation. I choosed /dev/sda1. Rebooted and it works!!!

But I'm totally confused how the firmware update of the 9650SE can change the boot behaviour of my mainboard, even if the card is physically removed.

So I cannot use my mainboard without the 9650SE in future?

This is totally weird. I never had such behaviours in the past. But I must admit it is my first SoHo-RAID controller.

Can anybody explain me this behaviour or better: Is there a way to enable booting from hdds attached to the mainboard sata ports again?

Sorry for the wall of text, but I tried to describe all I did.

Thank you for your help.

Ok, I was able to solve the problem with these steps:

- 1 TB WD attached to SATA0 on my mainboard

- 3ware pluged into pcie port

- Booted from OMV CD

- Advanced option

- e for edit, F2 command line

ls
ls (hd0,gpt2)
ls (hd0,gpt2)/var/lib/docker  -> I had installed docker so I was sure to have the right partition
set root=(hd0,gpt2)
set prefix=(hd0,gpt2)/boot/grub
insmod normal
normal

Now I was able to boot into OMV.

After login as root I did this:

update-grub
grub-install /dev/sda

And now OMV is booting again.

Maybe OMV installs grub by default in the first dos partition, instead in the mbr of the first drive.

And after 3ware was added the mainboard was unable to find grub in the first partition.

But in the mbr of the first drive it is found.

I hope that helps someone else with the same problem.

It tooks me several hours to figure out, cause I'm not a linux pro.