Silicon Image SATA controller problems

[Guest]

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 311

Problem: I did the F6 during setup, OS installed fine, everything seems to work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identify as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However, on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers; the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112 Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab [nothing; everything shows as "unknown"]

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm" the driver/controller installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the "update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact, EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention of SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this, but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the way it would appear it's supposed to

Any ideas? Thanks in advance...

 

[Rich Barry]

HJ, try going to www.amdmb.com and look in the
forums>Motherboards>Asus. And Asus website under
support. Maybe there's a Bios update that takes care of this problem.

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update)
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB)
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above)
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 3112

Problem: I did the F6 during setup, OS installed fine, everything seems to

work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identify
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However,
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers;
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm" the driver/controller

installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention of
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this,
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.

 

[Guest]

Couldn't find any useful mention of this issue at amdmb.com; and, as noted in my original post, I've already flashed the BIOS with the lastest update

----- Rich Barry wrote: ----

HJ, try going to www.amdmb.com and look in th
forums>Motherboards>Asus. And Asus website unde
support. Maybe there's a Bios update that takes care of this problem

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 311

work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got th
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identif
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can'
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 311
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS ta
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"]installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controlle
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAI
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via th
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually show
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freeze
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention o
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thu
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working th
way it would appear it's supposed to

 

[Pete Baker]

Hi HJ

Firstly.. I'd advise you to avoid using the driver updates from Microsoft
for your Asus mainboard. Asus have a particularly idiosyncratic approach to
SATA with the Silicon Image controller and prefer the versions Asus send
out.. unless the update appears on Asus' website I'd ignore them - basically
Asus tend to use a version of the driver tailored for their BIOS.

Secondly.. I hear what you say about having a single SATA drive.. but if you
can only use the Silicon Image RAID drivers (and I'm assuming this was your
only option on using the F6 method and the SATALink drivers weren't
available) you should set up a striped (RAID 0) array on your single
rive - and there is nothing to stop you doing this, although you should
avoid storing important files on the array without backup. (BTW I've also
assisted posters on this NG, in an similar situation to yours, who have
reported being told by Asus to set up a striped array - it may be worthwhile
emailing Asus to check on this and to see if they have any other
recommendations.)

Hope that helps
Pete

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update)
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB)
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above)
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 3112

Problem: I did the F6 during setup, OS installed fine, everything seems to

work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identify
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However,
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers;
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm" the driver/controller

installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention of
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this,
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.

 

[DL]

Latest SI drivers are here http://www.siimage.com/products/sataraid.asp
If you read through you will note that they say there is a problem with the
MS supplied drivers
Personally I've used SI drivers, from their site, with my A7N8X dlv2 without
problems, running mirror raid.
Initially I installed the MB disk, sata drivers, prior to SI drivers. I
would suggest downloading SI driver and follow the update procedure.
I wouldn't recommend using MS update drivers at all, stick with hardware
manu.drivers

Hi HJ

Firstly.. I'd advise you to avoid using the driver updates from Microsoft
for your Asus mainboard. Asus have a particularly idiosyncratic approach to
SATA with the Silicon Image controller and prefer the versions Asus send
out.. unless the update appears on Asus' website I'd ignore them - basically
Asus tend to use a version of the driver tailored for their BIOS.

Secondly.. I hear what you say about having a single SATA drive.. but if you
can only use the Silicon Image RAID drivers (and I'm assuming this was your
only option on using the F6 method and the SATALink drivers weren't
available) you should set up a striped (RAID 0) array on your single
rive - and there is nothing to stop you doing this, although you should
avoid storing important files on the array without backup. (BTW I've also
assisted posters on this NG, in an similar situation to yours, who have
reported being told by Asus to set up a striped array - it may be worthwhile
emailing Asus to check on this and to see if they have any other
recommendations.)

Hope that helps
Pete

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update)
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB)
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above)
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 3112

Problem: I did the F6 during setup, OS installed fine, everything seems

to
work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identify
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However,
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers;
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm" the

driver/controller
installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention of
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this,
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance...

 

[Pete Baker]

DL

Appreciate your personal experience of using the Silicon Image RAID drivers
with dual SATA drive on the Asus board..

But the OP is still using the RAID driver on a single drive.

Additionally the Silicon Image website also states in reference to the
downloads available there that..
"Please NOTE that these are the latest GENERAL drivers that are available
from Silicon Image. Some motherboard or add-in card makers may post versions
with later revision numbers than the one shown here, but those are written
specifically for their designs and are not intended for general use."

Perhaps I didn't make it as clear as I should have but, with Asus, I'd be
extremely cautious about using any updates for SATA drivers unless they are
specifically designed to resolve a particular problem that is already being
experienced.



Pete

----------------------------------------

"DL" added

Latest SI drivers are here http://www.siimage.com/products/sataraid.asp
If you read through you will note that they say there is a problem with the
MS supplied drivers
Personally I've used SI drivers, from their site, with my A7N8X dlv2 without
problems, running mirror raid.
Initially I installed the MB disk, sata drivers, prior to SI drivers. I
would suggest downloading SI driver and follow the update procedure.
I wouldn't recommend using MS update drivers at all, stick with hardware
manu.drivers

"Pete Baker"

Hi HJ

Firstly.. I'd advise you to avoid using the driver updates from Microsoft
for your Asus mainboard. Asus have a particularly idiosyncratic

approach

to
SATA with the Silicon Image controller and prefer the versions Asus send
out.. unless the update appears on Asus' website I'd ignore them - basically
Asus tend to use a version of the driver tailored for their BIOS.

Secondly.. I hear what you say about having a single SATA drive.. but if you
can only use the Silicon Image RAID drivers (and I'm assuming this was your
only option on using the F6 method and the SATALink drivers weren't
available) you should set up a striped (RAID 0) array on your single
rive - and there is nothing to stop you doing this, although you should
avoid storing important files on the array without backup. (BTW I've also
assisted posters on this NG, in an similar situation to yours, who have
reported being told by Asus to set up a striped array - it may be worthwhile
emailing Asus to check on this and to see if they have any other
recommendations.)

Hope that helps
Pete


"HJ" wrote in message

seems

to
work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identify
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However,
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers;
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm" the

driver/controller
installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY

mention

of
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this,
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.

 

[Guest]

I Had same problem with my 3112 sata driver (on different
motherboard) Could not download the microsoft driver at
windows update, so went to silicon image website and
downloaded driver from them. Works.

-----Original Message-----
Latest SI drivers are here http://www.siimage.com/products/sataraid.asp
If you read through you will note that they say there is a problem with the
MS supplied drivers
Personally I've used SI drivers, from their site, with my A7N8X dlv2 without
problems, running mirror raid.
Initially I installed the MB disk, sata drivers, prior to SI drivers. I
would suggest downloading SI driver and follow the update procedure.
I wouldn't recommend using MS update drivers at all, stick with hardware
manu.drivers

Hi HJ

Firstly.. I'd advise you to avoid using the driver updates from Microsoft
for your Asus mainboard. Asus have a particularly

idiosyncratic approach
to

SATA with the Silicon Image controller and prefer the versions Asus send
out.. unless the update appears on Asus' website I'd

ignore them -
basically

Asus tend to use a version of the driver tailored for their BIOS.

Secondly.. I hear what you say about having a single

SATA drive.. but if
you

can only use the Silicon Image RAID drivers (and I'm

assuming this was
your

only option on using the F6 method and the SATALink drivers weren't
available) you should set up a striped (RAID 0) array on your single
rive - and there is nothing to stop you doing this, although you should
avoid storing important files on the array without backup. (BTW I've also
assisted posters on this NG, in an similar situation to yours, who have
reported being told by Asus to set up a striped array -

it may be
worthwhile

emailing Asus to check on this and to see if they have any other
recommendations.)

Hope that helps
Pete


"HJ" wrote in message

fine, everything seems
to

work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller

listing (doesn't
identify

as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only

1 hard drive, I
can't

set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at

this time).
However,

on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon

Image ATA
Controllers;

the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm"

the

driver/controller
installation (mobo documentation gives the "check

under SCSI/RAID
Controller

Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for

this continually
shows

up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I

can't find ANY mention
of

SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly

natively supports SATA
(thus

the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine

runs fine without
this,

but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.

.

 

[*Vanguard*]

"HJ" said in news:[email protected]:

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update)
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB)
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above)
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 3112

<snip>

Oh, oh, another Seagate SATA problem. Maxtor SATA work okay. Users of Seagate SATA drives have been reporting problems with the SiliconImage 3112 controller. Have you tried flashing to a *prior* version of the BIOS (to get also get an older version of the included SATA BIOS)?

There are a couple of threads in alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit regarding problems with the Seagate SATA drives on Abit boards. Since it is the same SATA controller chip, it's probably the same problem with Asus. Some users of Abit have used the customized "Equito" BIOS to get around the problem. It has the lastest system BIOS but a prior version of the SATA BIOS. I would think just going back to a prior version of the system BIOS would also get you the prior version of the SATA BIOS.

When PCI 2.0 spec came out, many claimed compliance but many were proved not to understand it. Looks like SATA is in the same situation since Seagate seems to not be fully compliant. Could be timing. Could be not supporting the command set correctly or fully. One users solution was to return the Seagate SATA drives and get Maxtors. I'd first try flashing back to a prior version of the BIOS since that is easy and quick.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. However, I'm not running RAID on this single drive. Would that make any difference

----- DL wrote: ----

Latest SI drivers are here http://www.siimage.com/products/sataraid.as
If you read through you will note that they say there is a problem with th
MS supplied driver
Personally I've used SI drivers, from their site, with my A7N8X dlv2 withou
problems, running mirror raid
Initially I installed the MB disk, sata drivers, prior to SI drivers.
would suggest downloading SI driver and follow the update procedure
I wouldn't recommend using MS update drivers at all, stick with hardwar
manu.driver

Hi H

Firstly.. I'd advise you to avoid using the driver updates from Microsof

for your Asus mainboard. Asus have a particularly idiosyncratic approac t
SATA with the Silicon Image controller and prefer the versions Asus sen
out.. unless the update appears on Asus' website I'd ignore them basicall
Asus tend to use a version of the driver tailored for their BIOS

Secondly.. I hear what you say about having a single SATA drive.. but i

yo
can only use the Silicon Image RAID drivers (and I'm assuming this wa you
only option on using the F6 method and the SATALink drivers weren'
available) you should set up a striped (RAID 0) array on your singl
rive - and there is nothing to stop you doing this, although you shoul
avoid storing important files on the array without backup. (BTW I've als
assisted posters on this NG, in an similar situation to yours, who hav
reported being told by Asus to set up a striped array - it may b worthwhil
emailing Asus to check on this and to see if they have any othe
recommendations.

Hope that help Pet
Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 311

t
work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got th
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn' identif
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, can'
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time) However
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image AT Controllers
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 311
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS ta
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"] driver/controlle
installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAI Controlle
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAI
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via th
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continuall show
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freeze
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mentio o
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SAT (thu
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine withou this
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working th
way it would appear it's supposed to

 

[Bob Harris]

I have an ASUS P4S8X with a similar SATA controller. I too was baffled, for
a while. Then I realized that you can set of a RAID array with only one
disk. I know that sounds weird, but it was the key to getting XP to
install.

Specifically, before you try to install XP, run through the usual POST
(power on testing), sometimes called BIOS testing, although it is more than
that. Somewhere in the middle of the POST there should be a brief message
about hitting some key or key combination to configure the RAID. Mine talks
about a "Fastrack Contoller". Do that.

Now, here is the tricky part. You do not want the default setup, which
probably would try to merge two disks into one bigger/faster disk. You also
do not the other obvious option to mirror one disk onto another for
additional security. Instead, you want an option that is probably called
custom setup. Once you get into that part of the RAID setup, make a RAID
"array" containing only the one SATA drive. This may be called something
like a 1+0 array.

At this point you could install XP, remembering to hit F6 and load the ASUS
SATA drivers from a floppy. You can not use a CD, only a floppy. Thank
Microsoft for that "feature" of the XP installer. I found that I needd o
copy the whole SATA driver section of the CD to the floppy. Copying just
the drivers was not enough. I specifically needed a file called
OEMSETUP.TXT.

However, to test the RAID you can do something far simpler than installing
XP. Try to partition and format the SATA drive using the Seagate-provided
disk tools called SeaTools. If SeaTools can see the SATA drive, then you
have the RAID-of-one constructed properly. As a further test, you could
format one partition as FAT32, then reboot and run plain old DOS from a
floppy. You should be able to see all FAT32 partitions, but not NTFS
partitions. You should be able to copy files to/from the floppy and FAT32
partitions.

Best of luck.

Once you get the SATA drive running, you will be pleased with the speed
compared to standard IDE drives. This is even more obvious if you get a
second internal SATA drive. Unlike ATA/100 drives, which use a comon
contoller (i.e., master & slave on same controller), SATA drives have
individual contollers. So, when copying from one SATA/150 drive to another
the speed is the full rated 150; on a pair of ATA/100 dves the speed is
about 50, since the two rives split the controller's time.

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update)
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB)
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above)
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 3112

Problem: I did the F6 during setup, OS installed fine, everything seems to

work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got the
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identify
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However,
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers;
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].

I have tried several times to first of all "confirm" the driver/controller

installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention of
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this,
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info; I've read some similar advice on the alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus newsgroup. Though, Ben Pope there seems to have some argument with whether or not you can truly set up a RAID array on a single disk. Different strokes, I suppose..

Any way, I'm kind of loathe to try your suggestion, since I've already installed XP and had the machine running for about 2 weeks already. It works fine, but as I said in my original post, I just feel like I'm being cheated by not getting everything out of the hardware that's promised. One further question: when doing what you suggest, will I lose data on the drive? I've currently got it partitioned as follows

C: 20 GB (boot partition
D: 20 GB (games, some applications
E: 40 GB (data files

And, more to the point maybe, will I have to repartition the drive

Thanks again for your help

----- Bob Harris wrote: ----

I have an ASUS P4S8X with a similar SATA controller. I too was baffled, fo
a while. Then I realized that you can set of a RAID array with only on
disk. I know that sounds weird, but it was the key to getting XP t
install

Specifically, before you try to install XP, run through the usual POS
(power on testing), sometimes called BIOS testing, although it is more tha
that. Somewhere in the middle of the POST there should be a brief messag
about hitting some key or key combination to configure the RAID. Mine talk
about a "Fastrack Contoller". Do that

Now, here is the tricky part. You do not want the default setup, whic
probably would try to merge two disks into one bigger/faster disk. You als
do not the other obvious option to mirror one disk onto another fo
additional security. Instead, you want an option that is probably calle
custom setup. Once you get into that part of the RAID setup, make a RAI
"array" containing only the one SATA drive. This may be called somethin
like a 1+0 array

At this point you could install XP, remembering to hit F6 and load the ASU
SATA drivers from a floppy. You can not use a CD, only a floppy. Than
Microsoft for that "feature" of the XP installer. I found that I needd
copy the whole SATA driver section of the CD to the floppy. Copying jus
the drivers was not enough. I specifically needed a file calle
OEMSETUP.TXT

However, to test the RAID you can do something far simpler than installin
XP. Try to partition and format the SATA drive using the Seagate-provide
disk tools called SeaTools. If SeaTools can see the SATA drive, then yo
have the RAID-of-one constructed properly. As a further test, you coul
format one partition as FAT32, then reboot and run plain old DOS from
floppy. You should be able to see all FAT32 partitions, but not NTF
partitions. You should be able to copy files to/from the floppy and FAT3
partitions

Best of luck

Once you get the SATA drive running, you will be pleased with the spee
compared to standard IDE drives. This is even more obvious if you get
second internal SATA drive. Unlike ATA/100 drives, which use a como
contoller (i.e., master & slave on same controller), SATA drives hav
individual contollers. So, when copying from one SATA/150 drive to anothe
the speed is the full rated 150; on a pair of ATA/100 dves the speed i
about 50, since the two rives split the controller's time

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe, rev. 2.0; BIOS: 1007 (latest update
Hard Drive: Seagate ST380013AS (SATA, 80 GB
OS: WinXP Pro (fresh install on single hard drive, listed above
SATA Controller: Silicon Image 311

work, but... Under Device Manager, SCSI/RAID Controllers, I've got th
yellow question mark by a generic RAID Controller listing (doesn't identif
as the Silicon Image); I know that since I've got only 1 hard drive, I can't
set up a RAID array of any sort (and don't want to at this time). However,
on the Controll Panel, there is a listing for Silicon Image ATA Controllers;
the Properties there on the Device Info tab show [controller Sil 3112
Revision 2, PCI Bus 1, Device 11, IRQ 18 (0x12)]; on the Flash BIOS tab
[nothing; everything shows as "unknown"].installation (mobo documentation gives the "check under SCSI/RAID Controller
Properties in Device Manager" route--see above, it just shows generic RAID
Controller with the yellow question mark), and to do a reinstall (via the
"update driver" route). Also, an updated driver for this continually shows
up under "Driver Updates" on Windows Update. All to no avail. In fact,
EVERY TIME I've installed/reinstalled/updated this driver, the PC freezes
during WinXP boot (it clears POST on the mobo). I can't find ANY mention of
SATA in the mobo BIOS, but the board supposedly natively supports SATA (thus
the Silicon Image controller on-board). The machine runs fine without this,
but somehow I have the feeling I'm being "cheated" by this not working the
way it would appear it's supposed to.