HP Z600 workstations, even with the latest BIOS version 3.61 Rev.A (SP84160), require a particular Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver version for the onboard S-ATA RAID controller. Latest supported version is 11.5.4.1001 Rev.A (SP65105).

Symptoms

While later versions are available for the chipset used on the board, upgrading to one of those will result in either an unbootable or an unstable system. Newer drivers may be packaged with some Windows 7 or 10 images or obtained through software updates, either separately or bundled in cumulative update packages.

Once installed, the newer driver may cause the system to stall somewhere during the bootloader stage. If a system has managed to boot, the optical drive (if available and connected to the onboard S-ATA controller) may refuse to open. For Windows 10, the startup would not pass the logo and progress indicator stage. Once power-cycled, the recovery mode startup that follows may fail with an error message related to iaStor.sys, which is (a part of) the driver.

Recovery

To roll back the system after such driver update

  1. Disconnect or power off all drives connected to the controller, including optical
  2. Boot into Windows and downgrade the driver (through the Device Manager update process) to the version stated above
  3. Reconnect the drives