Problem installing vista/xp on a mac pro, installers don't see bootcamp

Question

hello there!
recently, a video post production studio i work for purchased a new penryn-based mac pro (2x3.0 ghz, 6gb ram, nvidia 8800gtx).
yesterday i wanted to install vista onto it to be able to help other windows machines in the studio with 3d studio max rendering jobs (8 cores should do wonders for that), but i ran into a weird obstacle.
this mac has 5 internal sata drives - one (320gb) for the system, and 4 disks (750gb each) in raid0 set (just a temporary setup until the studio purchases a fiber optic card with external disks). the DVD drive is an IDE one.
this is the first time i'm setting up windows on a mac, so i could be doing something wrong, even though i doubt it - it seems very straightforward.
so i created a 32gb partition on the system disk (the only one that's not in raid) using boot camp assistant, and started vista sp1 x64 install (boot camp recognized the install dvd).
after a reboot, vista started it's setup routine. everything was fine until it reached the part where i should select the destination partition for vista. this is the weird part: vista installer sees all 4 750gig drives from the raid, but it doesn't see my system drive (320gig) which has Macintosh HD and BOOTCAMP partitions on it. vista even sees any usb drives connected.
doesn't seem logical, as all sata drives are on the same controller (at least that's what leopard system profiler says).
i thought it had something to do with the fact i'm trying to install 64bit vista, so i tried with windows xp sp2 (x86), but the same thing happened.
i searched all over, but couldn't find anyone with the same problem.
any thoughts?
Message was edited by: recircle_admin

Answer 1

This thread says it all - and then some
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7150748&#7150748
I would pull all the drives except your boot drive. Makes it easier.
32GB is pretty small actually for Vista x64. And the SP1 patch process can temporarily use another 10GB. Also, you are running off the slow inner tracks of your drive, which is half performance of outer tracks.
Most people opt for stock 2.8GHz Penryn - not a huge benefit from going with 3GHz, but that is beside the point.
Always good to disconnect any device during the install except what you have to use (keyboard, mouse) which can interfere.
You MUST reformat the 32GB from FAT to NTFS before you can install. That is where most people stop. You have to DELETE and then CREATE that BOOTCAMP 32GB (Advanced Options) before you can proceed with installation.
You don't want 32-bit version if you want to access more than 1.9GB RAM.
Lots of threads here in BootCamp, in Mac Pro Discussion, and MacRumors Windows on Mac.
http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86