upgraded from 2K to XP pro...can't see RAID drives?

[jim]

I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to XP pro SP2. Under 2K I had 2 drives
in a mirrored RAID array because I wanted the data I was putting on that
drive to be protected from a disk crash. I did the F6 thing when installing
XP so the drivers should have been loaded OK. I suspect there is something I
need to configure in XP but I'm not expert enough to know what it would be.
Under 2K the 2 mirrored drives showed up as drive E (C and D are system and
data disks) but under XP they do not show up at all, either as a single or
individual drives...the system just doesn't know they are there.

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get the two drives to be recognized
by XP? I backked up the data so that is not a concern.

If there is a more appropriate newsgroup for this question please let me
know what it is.

Many thanks for any help.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to XP pro SP2. Under 2K I had
2 drives in a mirrored RAID array because I wanted the data I was
putting on that drive to be protected from a disk crash. I did the
F6 thing when installing XP so the drivers should have been loaded
OK. I suspect there is something I need to configure in XP but I'm
not expert enough to know what it would be. Under 2K the 2 mirrored
drives showed up as drive E (C and D are system and data disks) but
under XP they do not show up at all, either as a single or
individual drives...the system just doesn't know they are there.
Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get the two drives to be
recognized by XP? I backked up the data so that is not a concern.

If there is a more appropriate newsgroup for this question please
let me know what it is.

What is seen in Disk Management?

It is possible you need to also install some RAID software into Windows XP.
Check the manufacturer's web site (for the hardware RAID I hope you have.)
If it is a software RAID - that could be a bit sticky.

 

[Guest]

I assume you're using hardware RAID since you mentioned installing drivers in
setup. Did you get XP updated drivers? Did Windows Setup acknowledge finding
your specific RAID type when you supplied the drivers?

Also, with hardware RAID, you should seen an option for RAID prior to
Windows loading at boot. Do you see this?

 

[jim]

thanks for replying. Disk Management doesn't indicate that the 2 drives
exist. I forgot to mention that the raid bios does show the 2 drives as
functioning normally when the system is booted. I did load the diskette with
the raid drivers during the XP install and XP did copy the files. I think I
need to set something up somewhere that lets XP know the drives are there
but I don't know where that is.

 

[jim]

thanks for replying.

Right...it's a hardware RAID...type 1 I believe - just a simple mirroring of
the 2 drives for redundancy. I used the original intel installation disk
which came with the motherboard (PB875) and it did indicate on the label
that it was for 2K and XP...maybe I need later drivers. Is this something
that can be upgraded after XP has been installed or must it be accomplished
during the XP installation?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

thanks for replying. Disk Management doesn't indicate that the 2
drives exist. I forgot to mention that the raid bios does show the
2 drives as functioning normally when the system is booted. I did
load the diskette with the raid drivers during the XP install and
XP did copy the files. I think I need to set something up somewhere
that lets XP know the drives are there but I don't know where that
is.

That's why I suggested visiting the manufacturer's web site to check for the
latest software/drivers for Windows XP and the device in question. ;-)

 

[jim]

Well, just got back from Intel's site and the only thing they have is the
same disk I already have...called the SATA RAID F6 driver disk...no
updates.

I'm pretty sure it's my lack of knowledge that's the problem. I have not
done anything since the install to "let XP know about the RAID drives" and
it seems to me that when I first installed 2K I had to set something up to
get 2K to know about the drives once 2K had been installed...I probably need
to do something similar but what?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Well, just got back from Intel's site and the only thing they have
is the same disk I already have...called the SATA RAID F6 driver
disk...no updates.

I'm pretty sure it's my lack of knowledge that's the problem. I
have not done anything since the install to "let XP know about the
RAID drives" and it seems to me that when I first installed 2K I
had to set something up to get 2K to know about the drives once 2K
had been installed...I probably need to do something similar but
what?

Is this your motherboard?
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/fil...XP+Professional&lang=eng&strOSs=44&submit=Go!

If so - do you have this installed?
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...&OSFullName=Windows* XP Professional&lang=eng

 

[jim]

That's the one...item 10 is the F6 Raid drivers that I referred to.

The application accellerator software you asked about is in fact installed.

 

[jim]

I think I see the problem...I read the read me on the site and while I do
know the SATA RAID controller does show up in the device manager I never got
into the utility they talk about...I don't remember seeing it in the start
menu but I may have missed it. I will check again when I get home from work.
That sounds like what I intuitively thought was needed to set up XP so it
knows about the SATA drives in a RAID configuration but couldn't figure out
how or where it was.

Thanks for the clues...I think this will get it sorted.

That's the one...item 10 is the F6 Raid drivers that I referred to.

The application accellerator software you asked about is in fact
installed.