Problems booting to cloned RAID 1

[zjennings]

Hi,

I've installed a new RAID controller and set up a couple of 320GB
Seagate drives in a RAID 1, but I'm having trouble booting off the
RAID. I cloned the original IDE drive onto the RAID drives using Norton
Ghost, but I cannot get past the pre-login screen (the one that says
"Windows is starting up ...").

This is my first experience setting up SATA or a RAID, so please bear
with me if I say anything noobish.

Here are the specs:
Windows XP Home
VIA SATA RAID controller
2 SATA Seagate Barracuda drives, 320 GB ea.
1 WD IDE drive (existing Windows system drive), 120 GB

Here are the steps I've taken:
1. Installed RAID controller card.
2. Attached drives to separate SATA ports(?) - connectors. Did not
change drive jumpers.
3. Installed RAID drivers/software in Windows. Used Windows Update to
search for newer drivers - none found.
4. Rebooted and set up RAID 1 in BIOS-level utility. Successful.
5. Booted into Windows. Formatted Disk 1 as NTFS. New drive shows as F:
6. Used Norton Ghost 10 (in Windows) to image C: to F:. Ghost reports
success.
7. Used RAID utility to set up RAID as bootable.

Now the path forks ...
7a. Set up the BIOS boot order to ANYTHING and leave IDE drive
connected.
8a. Windows always boots to the IDE drive, even if no IDE drives are in
the boot order.

OR ...
7a. Disconnect the IDE drive.
8a. Bootstrap loads, but Windows won't get to the login screen (stuck
on "Windows is starting up").

I'm stuck now. Is this because of the drive letter somehow? If so, how
do I make sure the RAID is booting as C:?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[DL]

I dont use Ghost but True Image, when you 'copy' the image, once completed
you have to shutdown, disconnect the old C drive prior to booting from the
new drive.
As it seems you may have a number of devices connected I would ensure you
ony had the raid drives, and a cd drive connected when you reboot (no media
readers connected)
PS NEVER use winupdate for drivers.

 

[zjennings]

I've tried disconnecting the IDE drive, and that's when I get the
closest to success. If I leave that drive in, it always boots to the
IDE drive. But when I take it out, I almost get to where I can log in,
but not quite.

I'm reimaging the drive - this time I did NOT check the option to "copy
MFR". We'll see if that give a better result.

Thanks for your time and help.

 

[zjennings]

Sorry - I mean "copy MBR", not "MFR"

I've tried disconnecting the IDE drive, and that's when I get the
closest to success. If I leave that drive in, it always boots to the
IDE drive. But when I take it out, I almost get to where I can log in,
but not quite.

I'm reimaging the drive - this time I did NOT check the option to "copy
MFR". We'll see if that give a better result.

Thanks for your time and help.

 

[DL]

As I said I dont use Ghost, it was a simple operation with Acronis

 

[philo]

Hi,

I've installed a new RAID controller and set up a couple of 320GB
Seagate drives in a RAID 1, but I'm having trouble booting off the
RAID. I cloned the original IDE drive onto the RAID drives using Norton
Ghost, but I cannot get past the pre-login screen (the one that says
"Windows is starting up ...").

This is my first experience setting up SATA or a RAID, so please bear
with me if I say anything noobish.

<snip>

It's not advisable to clone to RAID
as the array is assigned a signature which the IDE drive does not have.

You may be able to fix it by performing a repair installation.

 

[zjennings]

<snip>

It's not advisable to clone to RAID
as the array is assigned a signature which the IDE drive does not have.

You may be able to fix it by performing a repair installation.

I think I'll give that a try next. I made a brief attempt, but I
couldn't figure out how to install the RAID drivers without a floppy
during the repair. If anyone knows how, please fill me in.

Thanks again.

 

[philo]

I think I'll give that a try next. I made a brief attempt, but I
couldn't figure out how to install the RAID drivers without a floppy
during the repair. If anyone knows how, please fill me in.

I'm sure there is a way to do it...

probably by making a slipstreamed CD

but it would probably be easier to just install a floppy drive!

 

[zjennings]

I'm sure there is a way to do it...

probably by making a slipstreamed CD

but it would probably be easier to just install a floppy drive!

Yup, it probably would ... actually, I just don't have any floppies!
But I figured I might as well bite the bullet and make a slipstreamed
XP CD anyway, so I had already started that when I got this message.

I've already reformatted the RAID again, so I'm going to have to start
over in any case. I'm going to try Acronis, as DL recommended earlier.
I read a testimonial on their site that said a guy was able to do
exactly what I'm attempting (
http://www.acronis.com/oem/company/inpress/2004/09-03-fbd-trueimage.html
), so I'll take a shot at it too.

 

[zjennings]

Just wanted to thank philo and DL for their help. Acronis True Image
worked perfectly, and the machine is up and running on the RAID. I also
have a slipstreamed XP install CD with RAID drivers, which I didn't
need to fix the original problem, but is pretty cool anyway.

Thanks again!