Optane enabled system may not boot when a Hard Drive or Optane device fails

System with Optane enabled will not boot when Hard Drive or Optane device fails

OptiPlex 3050, 5050, 7050, 3050 All-in-One (AIO), 5250 All-in-One (AIO), 7450 All-in-One (AIO), 3060, 5060, 7060, XE3, 5260, 7460, 7760, Precision 5720 All-in-One (AIO), 3620, 3420,  Alienware Aurora R6 or Area 51 R4 ,Vostro 3670,Inspiron3670,Chengming 3980 systems with Optane acceleration may not boot when Hard Drive or Optane device fails. That system may display an error on boot similar to the one displayed in Figure 1.

 
Figure 1. - No Bootable device

Reset drives to non-Optane

NOTE: The option to Reset to non-Optane will clear all data including the operating system on the Hard Drive.

Please follow below bellow steps to solve the issue.

1. Run ePSA to determine which device has failed
   1. If the Slow Drive (SATA) has failed, replace failed Hard Drive.
   2. If the Optane device has failed, backup the slow drive data to another PC via external USB storage device or you can seek IT support assistance to recover the date from the drive. And then replace the failed Optane device.
   3. If there is no failure, check for other potential causes for the No Boot situation prior to resetting the Optane pairing. (For example: check BIOS setting and make sure SATA operation set to "RAID On" , Boot sequence set to "UEFI",  Disable  "Legacy Option ROMs" in advanced Boot Option.)
2. After replacing the failed drive, you will need to reconfigure the system for installation of the operating system.
3. Boot system, and press F12 button to enter the "Boot Mode", and select "Device Configuration" (Figure 2.)
   
   Figure 2. - Select Device configuration
    
4. If Optane device fails please select SATA hard disk in "Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology" screen. Otherwise select PCIe Optane device. (Figure 3.)
   
   Figure 3. - Intel Rapid Storage Technology
    
5. Select "Reset to non-Optane" to remove the existing metadata on the drive from the previous pairing. (Figure 4.)
   
   Figure 4. - Reset to Non-Optane
    
6. Select "Yes" to Remove Optane structure on disk. (Figure 5.)
   
   Figure 5. - Choose the yes option.
    
7. Exit the BIOS, reboot the system and reinstall the operating system and drivers. Make sure Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver is greater than v16.8.0.1000. If not, download new Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver v16.8.0.1000 or later from DELL support website (Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver and Management Console) and install. (must follow installation guidance.)
8. Run the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) Driver and Management Console User interface (UI) installation. Again, you may get a User Account Control (UAC) prompt to approve running the batch file, if you see this pop-up, Click "Yes".
9. Once the installation completes, you will be prompted to restart the system.
10. Open the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) UI from the start menu tile. (Figure 6.)
    
    Figure 6. - Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) opening screen.
11. Click the "Intel Optane Memory Button", to access the Optane configuration options. (Figure 7.)
    
    Figure 7. - Selecting the Optane Memory tab
12. Click the "Enable" hyperlink in the IRST interface to pair the Optane module with the SATA 3 drive. (Figure 8.)
    
    Figure 8. - Starting the Optane Array Creation on the Optane Memory tab
13. You will see a pop-up showing the Optane device and the system drive that the Optane device will pair with, then click "Yes". (Figure 9.)
    
    Figure 9. - Clicking YES to pair the drives and create an Optane Array.
14. Once the pairing is complete, click the "Reboot" button to complete the Optane configuration. You will also note the SATA Drive and the Optane device are now shown as an "Optane Memory Array". (Figure 10.)
    
    Figure 10. - Completing the Optane setup.
15. After the system restarts, you can open the Intel Rapid Storage Technology application from the top of the start menu. If you click the Intel Optane Memory tab, you will now see the hyperlink option is now "Disable", indicating that Optane is enabled. (Figure 11.)
    
16. Figure 11. - Optane setup is completed.