BitLocker Treats RAID1 HDD As Removable Drive

I've been running BitLocker and using a RAID controller for years - beginning with Windows 7.  I think this problem started showing up with Windows 8.1?  Although I may have run into problems while on Windows 8 and forgot about those?

I have a number of computer systems setup with an SSD boot drive and am using a RAID1 controller for a secondary HDD.  This RAID1 controller does not require a driver.  There is a SATA cable that goes from the Motherboard to the controller.  And then two SATA cables that go to each of the two HDDs that make-up the RAID1 array.

For some reason (I've not been able to pinpoint why) Windows 8.1 occasionally treats the RAID controller as a removable disk drive. This has been causing me headaches with the backup software (Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials).  The problem is that most of the time when someone logs on they're a Standard user and I had to add some things to get the HDD to automatically unlock.  But because of this anomaly the backup software often does not see the HDD and drops it from the list of drives to be backed up.

The company that makes the RAID controller had two different versions of hardware.  One version only supported RAID1 while another version also supported RAID10 and RAID5.

Recently I bought a 2nd RAID5 version of the hardware as I thought the RAID1 version was somehow not working correctly.  But when I installed the RAID5 hardware recently Windows 8.1 and/or BitLocker still thinks the HDD is a removable drive.  Given I already had a computer using this same RAID5 hardware (SSD boot drive and RAID1 HDD) I am puzzled why this isn't working.

The motherboard was configured for AHCI and Secure Boot when I initially installed Windows 8.1.  I know some motherboards have an option to setup the SATA ports as hot swappable.  I don't believe I turned that option on, but when UEFI is in use this Intel motherboard doesn't seem to provide me the F2 option during boot to get into the BIOS configuration?  So I was unable to double check whether or not the SATA ports were configured as hot swappable or not.

There are two things that are puzzling me -

a) Given these RAID controllers do not use a driver from the point of view of the Motherboard and Windows I wouldn't think that Windows (and/or BitLocker) should see the HDD any differently than the SSD.  Both should look like fixed drives?

b)  If, for whatever reason, Windows can somehow detect the HDD is on a RAID controller then it is puzzling why I'm getting inconsistent results.  One one computer Windows 8.1 and BitLocker see the HDD as a fixed drive while on another computer, using the same type of RAID controller, the HDD is detected as being a removable drive.

These two computers have different brands of Motherboards (and different types of CPUs).  The one I'm having trouble with is an Intel motherboard and the other is an Asus motherboard.  But I wouldn't think that should make any difference to Windows 8.1 and/or BitLocker?

I'm trying to find a way to stop Windows 8.1 and/or BitLocker from identifying the HDD as removable so that I can eliminate the problems I've been having with the backup software.

Thanks for any insight you can pr

May 8th, 2015 1:44pm

Continued my research, but still haven't found a solution to my problem.

It appears that being hot swappable is part of the AHCI specification.  From some comments people made it seems that some manufacturers configured things such that (in the BIOS?) from Windows 8 point of view all the SATA ports look like eSATA and thus are treated as being hot swappable?

I was able to get into the BIOS configuration for the system I'm having trouble with.  I was mistaken about using UEFI.  The motherboard is still set for BIOS boot.  (I found a note I'd written to myself that said when I installed Windows 8.1 and tried to use UEFI I got the OS installed, but couldn't get BitLocker to function.  So I re-installed the OS with a BIOS boot.)  I verified that on this motherboard there is no option to specify whether or not the SATA ports are hot swappable or not.  And the motherboard is setup for AHCI (rather than IDE or RAID).

I came across some posts about people having a problem similar to mine with Windows 7.  Adding a registry key (TreatAsInternalPort) enabled them to prevent Windows 7 from treating the drive as removable.  Here's one example of what they did.

reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channel0" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channel1" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channel2" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channel3" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

In Windows 8 I understand Microsoft changed from using the msahci driver to the storachi driver.  I've come across people who've tried to use TreatAsInternalPort to fix this problem with Windows 8 such as this comment -

Install the Intel SATA drivers or add the DWORD TreatAsInternalPort in the registry to each Controller entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/ef409ece-50b3-4353-b220-7f3436e7d5d4/internal-hard-drives-being-marked-as-removable-for-bitlocker-to-go?forum=w8itprosecurity

But that doesn't work for me.  Checking the Device Manager under the IDA ATA/ATAPI Controllers it already shows I have an Intel driver (C600/X79).  I tried downloading the latest driver from Intel's website, but got BSOD failures after rebooting so I had to remove that driver.

In my current configuration I can find -

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci

but I don't see any entry that looks like a Controller.  I tried simply adding TreatAsInternalPort within storachi, but that didn't make any difference.  BitLocker still sees the RAID1 HDD as removable.

I came across another idea here on modifying the registry -

http://superuser.com/questions/792693/how-can-i-remove-the-option-to-eject-internal-sata-drives-from-the-windows-8-tra

but it looks like this simply removes the drive from showing up in "Safely Remove Hardware" list.  From the point of BitLocker I believe the drive would still look as though it was removable?

I suppose that if I were to disable AHCI in the BIOS and use IDE (which would likely require me to reinstall Windows 8.1) then BitLocker would no longer think the RAID1 HDD is removable?  But I believe that AHCI is probably required for my SSD boot drive?  And I would probably lose some other benefits of AHCI?  So that doesn't seem like a workable solution to my problem.

If there is any way to make this work at all it looks like it will require finding a way to enable TreatAsInternalPort for the storachi registry entry?  So far I haven't found a workable solution given my registry doesn't seem to list any Controllers and I was unable to install the latest Intel driver (which might have shown Controllers in the registry?).

In reviewing the problem systems I've run across I realize that the problem must have definitely begun once I started using Windows 8 ... although I'm not sure if an upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 behaves quite the same way as a new install of Windows 8.1?  But with the change in driver from msahci to storahci that seems to have introduced this problem?

It also is beginning to look like the "older" hardware I'm using is more likely to have problems with Windows 8.1? The systems where I've run into this BitLocker problem were both Intel motherbaords.  The one I mentioned is LGA 2011 X79 and another I've run into problems with is LGA 1155 Q77.

The system where BitLocker is working properly is an Asus motherboard with LGA 2011v3 X99.  I'm guessing that by the time the X99 chipset came out this type of compatibility mismatch between the motherboard hardware and Windows 8 had been resolved which avoids the problem I'm having?  Or I suppose it is possible that something about how Intel manufactures the motherboard is different than what Asus is doing?  Though I'd think the same chipset from each should behave the same way?  (I don't have an Intel motherboard with an X99 chipset to compare.  I'm guessing an Asus motherboard with an X79 or Q77 chipset would likely have the same BitLocker problem?)

I'm still hoping someone can help me find a solution to my problem.  I'd rather not have to upgrade my computer hardware in order to eliminate this BitLocker nuisance related to backups.

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May 10th, 2015 10:21am

Hi Theokrat,

According to your description,this issue seems to be related to the Intel motherbaords.
Have you tried to ask for help from the Intel forum for help?
Considering it will work well in Windows 7 machine,I suspect there is a compatible issue here.The Intel forum  may have more resources to resolve the issue.

Best regards

May 13th, 2015 4:50am

MeipoXu,

No, I haven't tried using an Intel forum yet.  Since Microsoft appears to have changed drivers from Windows 7 to Windows 8 that made think the problem seemed more likely to be a software problem than a hardware problem?

I tried using this same RAID controller and hard drives on another motherboard - Asus LGA 1150 - and it worked properly there.  The SSD (C:) boot and RAID1 HDD (D:) are both seen by BitLocker as being fixed drives.

Unfortunately I don't have an Asus motherboard with an LGA 2011 chipset.  So that still leaves it somewhat ambiguous whether or not this problem is due to hardware or software.

Given that some people had a similar problem with Windows 7 I was hoping someone else had already found a resolution to this related issue with Windows 8.  And given their Windows 7 resolution was a software fix (registry edit) I was hoping for a similar Windows 8 resolution.

I may also open a question on an Intel forum to see if someone there can find a solution for me.

Thanks.

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May 15th, 2015 3:32pm

Hi Theokrat,

"Since Microsoft appears to have changed drivers from Windows 7 to Windows 8 that made think the problem seemed more likely to be a software problem than a hardware problem?"
I am afraid we may have some misunderstanding here.The drivers of the devices are developed by the device manufacturer and they are released by the manufacturer.Sometimes we can get some drivers automatically but they are released by the manufacturer,Microsoft just cooperates with the manufacturer to offer the driver automatically.So for the specific device and its driver,the device manufacture is most definitive.

Best regards

May 17th, 2015 11:35pm

MeipoXu,

If I'm understanding you correctly you're referring to the Motherboard (or SATA controller) as the "device" in this case?  And thus on two Windows 8 systems I'll find storahci on both, but storahci on an Intel motherboard will be different than storahci on an Asus motherboard?

If that's true that is surprising to me, but then I see why you're saying I would need to ask Intel about why storahci behaves that way on their motherboards (which is causing me problems with BitLocker)?

Thanks for your help.

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May 22nd, 2015 10:13am

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