Unable to boot Proxmox Installation on HDD

[AllUsernamesTaken]

As part of a project i need to install Proxmox on a 140gb HDD(mirrored with a P420i Smart array controller).
then for the actual storage have 4x1TiB HDD in that server, that 3 times to create a 3 node cluster.
the servers are identical in almost every way:
ProLiant DL380p Gen8
with all having a Smart Array P420i Controller
the original and (half)working configuration:
2x140GB disks in a RAID1, on this ZFS was installed with RAID0 and only the logical disk selected
the remaining 4 disks do not show up for proxmox at all.
what i cannot do:
i cant create a RAID0 with each of these 1TiB disks individually.
why?
the P420i for some reason do not allow me to create another logical disk.
i cant just throw all of the 4 disks into one logical disk, this is due to the project guidelines, doing that is not an option.

the HBA plan:
i tried to set the raid controller into HBA mode and then to use software ZFS RAID1 when installing proxmox, this allows me to get every single disk without any issues(or so i thought)
i could install Proxmox on these two disks using ZFS RAID1
the problem with this?
it does not want to boot into that disk, it completely ignores that theres a bootable installation.
what ive tried:
i tried to simply step away from ZFS and software RAID entirely.
yea it still doesnt boot into that disk,
i dont see any other options beside the ones i have already tried.

if theres any information missing ill try my best to provide them, thanks for your help in advance

 

[AllUsernamesTaken]

so turns out, disks in HBA mode cannot be used as Boot devices without an external boot partition, thats just great, anyone wanna help create a boot partition for this? i have 0 experience modifying or even manually creating a boot partition...

 

[groque]

Hello,

Based on your previous configuration, you shouldn't use ZFS on logical disks or hardware RAID. ZFS is designed to handle redundancy and data integrity by working directly with the individual disks. Placing ZFS on top of hardware RAID or logical disks will cause issues. You can check more information on ZFS best practices in this guide.

Since the HP P420i Smart Array controllers in HBA mode won’t present bootable disks without an external boot partition, you’ll need to set up that boot partition on a USB drive or SD card. Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Install Proxmox

1. Boot from the Proxmox installation media.
2. Proceed with the installation, but uncheck the option that says "Reboot after successful installation."

Step 2: Mount the installed Proxmox file system

1. Once the installation is complete, instead of rebooting, press Ctrl+Alt+F3 to switch to a terminal session.
2. Mount the installed Proxmox system and chroot into it
   

   mount /dev/pve/root /mnt
   mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
   mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
   mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
   mount --bind /run /mnt/run
   chroot /mnt

Step 3: Prepare the external boot partition

1. Identify your external device (for example, using lsblk to list disk names and capacities)
2. Wipe any existing partition or filesystem signatures from the device (replace /dev/sdX with your actual device)
   

   wipefs -a /dev/sdX? /dev/sdX

3. Use gdisk to create the required partitions
   

   gdisk /dev/sdX

4. Inside gdisk, follow these steps:
   • Type r (Recovery & transformation menu)
   • Type x (Expert menu)
   • Type l and set the sector alignment to 34
   • Type m to return to the main menu
   • Type nto create a new partition
     • Partition number: 1
     • First sector: 34
     • Last sector: 2047
     • Type: ef02 (BIOS boot partition)
   • Type nagain to create another partition
     • Partition number: 2
     • First sector: 2048
     • Last sector: +1G
     • Type: 8300 (Linux filesystem)
   • Type w to write changes and exit.

   gdisk /dev/sdX
   Command: (? for help): r
   Recovery/transformation command (? for help): x
   Expert command (? for help): l
   Enter the sector alignment value (1 - [variable], default = 2048): 34
   Expert command (? for help): m
   Command: (? for help): n
   Partition number (1 - 128, default 1:) 1
   First sector (34 - [variable], default = 34): 34
   Last sector (34 - [variable], default = [variable]): 2047
   Current type is 'Linux file system'
   Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): ef02
   Changed type of partition to 'BIOS boot partition'
   Command: (? for help): r
   Recovery/transformation command (? for help): x
   Expert command (? for help): l
   Enter the sector alignment value (1 - [variable], default = 2048): 2048
   Expert command (? for help): m
   Command: (? for help): n
   Partition number (1 - 128, default 2:) 2
   First sector (2048 - [variable], default = 2048): 2048
   Last sector ([variable] - [variable], default = [variable]): +1G
   Current type is 'Linux file system'
   Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): 8300
   Changed type of partition to 'Linux file system'
   Command: (? for help): w
   ***writing everything to disk***

Step 4: Install GRUB on the external boot device

proxmox-boot-tool format /dev/sdX2

Remember to replace /dev/sdX with your actual external device identifier.

Step 5: Reboot and test

1. Reboot your server with reboot
2. Remove the installation media
3. Ensure your BIOS is set to boot from the USB drive or SD card
4. Boot into Proxmox and verify that everything is working