Barebones install on Dell R640

Software-based VM-centric and flash-friendly VM storage + free version
Post Reply
dreamscape1
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2026 12:51 pm

Tue Feb 24, 2026 12:59 pm

Hi All,

New to his, I'm trying to get VSAN Free working on a Dell R640 server with a S140 Raid controller.

I have two raid 1's setup, one for the os and one for the san share

The issue i have is it doesn't boot after i install the software onto the smaller raid 1, it sees both raids and installs fine, but when i restart it just says booting from C failed

I've tried lots of things and am now at a lose, any ideas please?
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 4309
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Tue Feb 24, 2026 1:25 pm

Welcome to StarWind Forum.
Did you install StarWind VSAN in a Windows system? If so, I guess it will be much easier to reinstall Windows.
dreamscape1
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2026 12:51 pm

Tue Feb 24, 2026 1:51 pm

Thanks for the reply

Nope, barebones, so linux version

I have the boot mode set to bios
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 4309
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Tue Feb 24, 2026 2:14 pm

dreamscape1
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2026 12:51 pm

Tue Feb 24, 2026 3:12 pm

It looks like it doesn't like the raid 1 virtual disk, if i just install on one of the ssd drives it boot fine....
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 4309
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Tue Feb 24, 2026 3:51 pm

Strange... Is it 4k or 512b?
dreamscape1
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2026 12:51 pm

Tue Mar 03, 2026 11:55 am

FYI i changed the raid controller from the S140 (which i believe is a software raid) to a H730p (which is hardware raid) and it worked strange away.

I'm assuming creating the raid on the hardware raid is the way to go?
yaroslav (staff)
Staff
Posts: 4309
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:11 am

Tue Mar 03, 2026 1:41 pm

Yes, hardware RAID could be much easier to handle.
Post Reply