Not getting success with RAID set up

[Steve Marshall]

Just tried to set up my new computer in a RAID 1 configuration to take
advantage of my two new WD Raptor 74 GB S-ATA drives.

Used the mobo utility (CTRL+I) during BIOS to access the Intel RAID
controller and set them up as one new volume and it looked great there;
enabled the Boot-ROM for S-ATA, too (per Intel instructions on the website).

Got to Windows XP set up screen and it asked if I wanted to load any
third party drivers for SCSI and I inserted a floppy with the latest
..cat, inf., etc. from the Intel website, pushed F6, and it gave me a
list of controllers to choose from, but none of them was mine (IH5CR) -
all were later versions (6, 7). I chose 7 and proceeded with the install.

When I arrived at the prompt where XP asks where you want to install the
OS, all that was listed was the two SCSI drives and no RAID drive.

I did change the boot order to the RAID volume as #1 in BIOS before I
rebooted, but to no avail.

System specs:

XP Pro SP2
Asus P4P800SE mobo with 12/05 BIOS version;
P4 3.4 EE cpu
3 GB of XMS Platinum Corsair PC3200 DDR RAM
Two WD Raptor 74 GB HD
Two Seagate Ultra 160 SCSI Cheetah's
eVga 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition video card
Audigy 2ZS Gamer sound card
Plextor 716A DVD-RW optical drive
Antec P180 case with an E-power 550 watt psu

Thoughts?

 

[Guest]

Intels RAID is now in "Matrix storage controller" for software,depending on
year of youre board ICH-5 was around 2004,then RAID was Application Acc-
elerator,try getting the floppy drivers thier,as the ICH-5 was Intels top
controller.
You could/can get the ICH-5 drivers at Abit web site,IC7-G board uses that
controller also.Dont forget to load the drivers 2X,then on 3rd,press enter
key
continue on to xp set up.With those hds,youre better off in a RAID 0
configuration.

 

[frodo]

intell app accell 3.5.3 was original driver for ich5r; newest guy also
supports it, but also ich6+7, and is much bigger. I stuck w/ 3.5.3, it
works well. try that one, #2 on this list:

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scr...XP+Professional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go!

========

on the F6 screen, it's called the Intel 82801ER controller, not ich5.

========

make sure you motherboard bios is updated, doing so also updates the intel
bios (ctrl-I), and make sure the intel bios version is compat w/ the
intell AA driver you use. check the requirements info w/ intel download.

========

be sure regular bios (not ctrl-I bios) is set for the IDE Setup to be in
"Enhanced Mode". in that mode you get IDE 1+2, _AND_ SATA 1+2 (mapped as
IDE 3+4); and this is the mode where you get the drive interface thru the
faster ich5 rather than thru the pci bus interface. the bios does not
default to enhanced mode, you must select it.

then, use ctlr-I again to remake the raid volume, and retry the xp setup.

good luck

 

[Steve Marshall]

Thank you. I really appreciate this step-by-step approach.

Now, I have re-installed XP and all of my drivers, programs, etc. I
heard there was a way to migrate to RAID from XP Pro without wiping out
the install. True?

 

[frodo]

Thank you. I really appreciate this step-by-step approach.
Now, I have re-installed XP and all of my drivers, programs, etc. I
heard there was a way to migrate to RAID from XP Pro without wiping out
the install. True?

Yes; in the doc that came w/ intel-app-accell it tells you how to install
just a single drive, and in the future add a second and migrate to a raid
1 configuration if you want.