Restart Loop on fresh XP Home install on RAID0 config

[Guest]

Hi,
I just bought two new Western Digital 250GB SATA300 drives (WD2500KSRTL) and
linked them together in a RAID0 configuration. Everything went fine in the
BIOS, WD's software formatted fine (I split it into a 60GB boot partition and
the rest for storage), and I used the RAID drivers from NVIDIA's website for
an F6 setup of XP Home SP2. Setup goes fine through everything, no hangs,
until everything ginishes and I'm about to bootup for the first time, I get
stuck in a restart loop. I tried an XP Home disc from before SP1 and got a
0x0000007B STOP error instead of the restart loop.

I used Ontrack on both drives and they're physically fine. I've pulled
everything down to the bare essentials, an NEC 3520A drive, the HD Drive, my
Soltek MB (K8AN2E-GR), and my video card (Radeon x600) and nothing seems to
help. I've started from scratch re0setting up the RAID and everything and
get the same problem. Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi,
I just bought two new Western Digital 250GB SATA300 drives (WD2500KSRTL) and
linked them together in a RAID0 configuration. Everything went fine in the
BIOS, WD's software formatted fine (I split it into a 60GB boot partition and
the rest for storage), and I used the RAID drivers from NVIDIA's website for
an F6 setup of XP Home SP2. Setup goes fine through everything, no hangs,
until everything ginishes and I'm about to bootup for the first time, I get
stuck in a restart loop. I tried an XP Home disc from before SP1 and got a
0x0000007B STOP error instead of the restart loop.

I used Ontrack on both drives and they're physically fine. I've pulled
everything down to the bare essentials, an NEC 3520A drive, the HD Drive, my
Soltek MB (K8AN2E-GR), and my video card (Radeon x600) and nothing seems to
help. I've started from scratch re0setting up the RAID and everything and
get the same problem. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Bring up the Windows XP Startup Menu (Safe Mode etc) and see if there
is an item on the menu to "Turn off automatic restart on System
Failure" or words to that effect. If it is there choose that and
hopefully you will receive a Blue Screen Of Death STOP message instead
of the reboots. The contents of the STOP message, including the STOP
code, all 4 parameters, and any file or module names mentioned will be
a direct clue as to the underlying cause of your problems.

Personally I am not a great fan of using RAID drives for the operating
system. The additional complexities they introduce far outweigh any
potential performance advantages.

I would suggest that you consider using a third hard drive (stand
alone not RAID) for the operating system then add the RAID drives
later and use them for application programs and data files.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Bring up the Windows XP Startup Menu (Safe Mode etc) and see if there
is an item on the menu to "Turn off automatic restart on System
Failure" or words to that effect. If it is there choose that and
hopefully you will receive a Blue Screen Of Death STOP message instead
of the reboots. The contents of the STOP message, including the STOP
code, all 4 parameters, and any file or module names mentioned will be
a direct clue as to the underlying cause of your problems.

Personally I am not a great fan of using RAID drives for the operating
system. The additional complexities they introduce far outweigh any
potential performance advantages.

I would suggest that you consider using a third hard drive (stand
alone not RAID) for the operating system then add the RAID drives
later and use them for application programs and data files.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

I followed your suggestion and received the following STOP message:
0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x8630E898, 0xC0000102, 0x00000000). At this point I
almost want to go the route you suggested with three drives, but after all
the time I've put into trying to get this work I'd hate to give it up if
there's a solution out there. Hopefully that STOP error has a clue for that.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Ron Martell]

I followed your suggestion and received the following STOP message:
0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x8630E898, 0xC0000102, 0x00000000). At this point I
almost want to go the route you suggested with three drives, but after all
the time I've put into trying to get this work I'd hate to give it up if
there's a solution out there. Hopefully that STOP error has a clue for that.

Thanks for the reply!

STOP 0x00000024 is NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM indicating a problem with the
ntfs.sys driver, with the data structure on the hard drive, or with
the disk drive itself.

As this is a RAID system my money would be on the RAID driver.

Try booting the computer with the Windows XP CDROM and choose the
option to Repair (Recovery Console). When the computer has finished
booting enter the following command:

CHKDSK C: /R

and see if that will resolve the issue.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."