Solved: “Boot Logical Drive is configured but is Missing or Offline” on HP Proliant Server

One fine day, I was trying to install Windows 2008 Operating System on a HP Proliant Server. I was not using any SmartStart CD or Intelligent Provisioning (Gen8 server) because I did not want to install all the HP tools in my server. For my surprise, I ran across multiple issues with this server, but at the end I was able to solve it. Here, in this article I am going to explain about the issues I have experienced and how did I solve it

First, I have created a RAID array and logical drive on the server. Then I booted the server using Windows 2008 R2 DVD. While trying to select the boot partition in Windows Setup screen, it showed me an error message stating “Windows cannot be installed to this disk”.

I clicked on that error and it gave me more information!, the complete error message was “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk’s controller is enabled in the computer’s BIOS menu”.

I have decided to reboot the server and check for the issue. Here comes one more surprise!,  I saw a new error at the server boot (POST screen), the error message was “Boot Logical Drive is configured but is Missing or Offline”

I had enough surprises!!!. So I decided to further research on this issue. After researching on this issue and following some troubleshooting steps, I was able to solve all errors in my HP server. Please continue reading to understand how did I solve the error “Boot Logical Drive is configured but is Missing or Offline” on my HP Server.

Solution:

As per my understanding, this issue happens if you do not define Boot volume (boot logical drive) on your Server. Newer Smart Array controllers allow you to set the boot logical drive on your HP server. If you do not specify the boot logical drive in your server, then you may receive above said error messages.

To solve the issue, you need to launch HP Option ROM Configuration for Arrays (ORCA) and choose ”Select Boot Volume” option. Once you specify the logical drive from which server needs to be booted, this issue will be solved. The option “Select Boot Volume” is available with most of the newer smart array controller (example: P410, P420 etc.). If you wish to read more about HP ORCA, you may refer my article provided below:

• Guide: What is HP Option ROM Configuration for Arrays (ORCA)

Now, let us see how did I solve this issue!

1. Turn ON server, and press F8 key when you see the ORCA prompt on screen.

2. Option ROM Configuration for Arrays (ORCA) screen will be shown on the screen.
3. From the ORCA menu, choose the option “Select Boot Volume”.

4. Now you need to select the option “Direct Attached Storage”

5. Now select the logical drive that you wish to set as the boot volume or boot logical drive.
6. To select the logical drive, press the Enter key.

7. To confirm, press the F8 key.

8. Press F8 key again to exit ORCA and continue with OS installation.

9. Issue will be solved and you will not receive any of these error messages on your HP Server.
10. Congrats!!

If the same issue happens on ProLiant BL685 G7 server blade, then you need to follow different steps to solve the issue. Please refer HP article: c02497030 for more information.  Thank you for reading my blogs

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