Hi everyone,

I need some advice with a strange issue while trying to restore my Unraid setup.

My server was running Unraid 7.3.2 using Internal Boot on a 1TB SSD, with my license tied to the motherboard TPM chip instead of a USB drive. This was working fine, but I bought a 128gb sata ssd so I could use the 1TGB ssd as a extra cache drive.

Here is what I did step by step:

1. I created a full zip backup of my running Unraid 7.3.2 system.

2. I wiped the 1TB SSD and installed a new 128GB SSD.

3. I created a fresh Unraid 7.3.2 USB drive to boot from temporarily.

4. I cleared all Secure Boot keys in the BIOS and disabled Secure Boot.
   

If I boot from the completely fresh/vanilla USB drive, everything works perfectly and it boots without any issues.

The problem starts the moment I copy my backed-up /config folder onto the USB drive:

• The server refuses to boot and gives a "Secure Boot Violation" error screen.

• When I enter the BIOS, Secure Boot has automatically turned itself back ON.

• Every time I manually disable Secure Boot, trying to boot with this restored /config folder forces the motherboard to turn it right back on.
  
  Things I have tried:
  

• Cleared all Secure Boot keys (Platform Key) in the BIOS to force Setup Mode.
  Completely unplugged the SSD and just booted from the usb.
  
  
  System Specs:

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-12400

  • Motherboard: ASRock B760M Pro RS/D4 WiFi

  • Storage Controller: Dell PERC H310 Integrated RAID Controller

  • Array Disks: 2x Seagate Exos X16 SATA & 3x WD Ultrastar DC HC550 SATA

  • SSDs: 2x Samsung 980 1TB (plus a Lexar 128GB SATA SSD)

  • RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX
    

It looks like something inside my backed-up config folder (likely related to the previous Internal Boot or TPM license setup) is triggering the BIOS to re-enable Secure Boot every time. I can boot any linux/windows iso and a vanilla install of unraid, it's just that it wont boot my backup zip on a new usb drive or the sata ssd.

Has anyone seen this before? Which file in the config folder is triggering this UEFI/Secure Boot reset, and what is the best way to safely restore my array and settings?

Thanks!

Edited Wednesday at 08:53 PM2 days by iekozz

Okay I solved it. Before anyone is going crazy like me:

1: Unplug any boot device from your asrock motherboard
2: Reset secureboot to factory keys and set to disabled. It needs to say setup mode. NOT user mode.
3: Keep clearing until it hits and you can verify in bios.
4: Only then reattach your boot device and boot like normal.

Nothing to do with your ssd/usb. Just secure boot being weird and having some suboptimal implantation on some systems.

Clearing the secure boot keys was the issue, you don't want to do that.

13 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Clearing the secure boot keys was the issue, you don't want to do that.

Well it did the trick. I know unraid does not support secure boot, so I disabled it aswell.