Promise RAID controller & WinXP - 845 ultra

I finally got around to connected a couple of drives to the Promise Fasttrack 133 RAID controller.
When I go into windows.. It finds the controller..
So if I look in Device Manager, I do see the Promise MBFasttrak 133 Lite..
But under DISK DRIVES, the Promise 2+0 stripe /raid0 scsi device shows up as an unknown, and if I try to update the drivers.. nothing ever changes..
The drive(s) does work, more of a comsmetic issue?
Thank you,
Fred R

Some of the suggestions I don't understand quite well. Please could you explain further:
> remove the other two drives leaving the raid pair
> and cd only
>
> put raid 2nd in boot order
What do you mean with that?
> reboot press the key you need to get in to raid bios
> create the array and make it bootable
array is already created (Note: there is important data on it, can't recreate it! Only Segate 80GB is free and empty)
I don't want to boot from raid.
>
> now boot to cd to install,right at beginning it will say
> press f6 to install mass storage drive you need the
> driver on floppy to install it
I already tried the XP-Install routine to specify additional mass storage drivers. (Note: 1 single 80GB Drive was attached) Which are the suitable ones? As mentioned I tried the following:
1. Attached floppy 'Fasttrack family drivers'
Result: Message: Driver is for Win2k only. Not a single Harddrive shows for installing XP.
2. Attached Floppy (Promise Ultra 100 lite, 256 only)
Result: Driver is for Win2k only. Installation procedure hangs.
3. Driver from MSI-Site for pdc20265. Same as 2.
4. Extracting via4in1 drivers and putting WinXPIDE drivers on floppy:
Result: Installation routine doesn't recoginze drivers on floppy.
> rest should be the same as normal
>
> this should be similar as well
>
> http://www.amdforums.com/showindex.php?s=&threadid=146384
Which is the right driver for WinXP to specify for mass storage device at WinXP installation?

Similar Messages

Howto use onboard Promise Raid Controller pdc20265 on 694D PRO AR Ver1

Currently I'm running Win2k on my MSI 694D Pro AR Ver 1.0 board with Bios version W6321VMS.310 and the included Fasttrack-Family Win2k Raid-Controller driver for my Promise Raid Controller pdc20265 with lite bios.
Due to software updates I'm now absolutely required to switch to Windows XP Prof. However this is the cause for my inquiry:
I downloaded and installed the latest available Bios version W6321VMS.370 from MSI site.
On installation of XP I tried to include the pdc20265 Fasttrack raid driver from MSI site to get access to my HD's. However WinXP couldn't find any HD's. Remark: XP with SP1 and VIA 4in1443v.exe installed.
So I repeated this procedure with the original drivers Fasttrack family and pdc202065 which were attached on floppy. Unfortunately no success as well.
Then I have put the HD on the Ultra66 channel and installed XP first without raid and ultra 100 support.
Later I re-enabled the on-board promise device in bios and unfortunately WinXP didn't recoginze the device by itself. So I provided the latest pdc20265 driver from MSI site. XP complained that the driver is not digitally signed. After reboot the promise device reported an error under WinXP.
I repeated this procedure with the original drivers Fasttrack family and pdc202065 which were attached on floppy. Unfortunately no success as well.
Why MSI-Site says this pdc20265 driver supports WinXP if there are only the Win2k and WinME,98... drivers included?
Currently I can't use the promise device at all under WinXP. This means even I don't have an Ultra 100 controler available.
Has anyone an idea how to install HD's on WinXP with the corresponding promise raid drivers for my pdc20265 onboard chipset?
I'd really appreciate your help!

Some of the suggestions I don't understand quite well. Please could you explain further:
> remove the other two drives leaving the raid pair
> and cd only
>
> put raid 2nd in boot order
What do you mean with that?
> reboot press the key you need to get in to raid bios
> create the array and make it bootable
array is already created (Note: there is important data on it, can't recreate it! Only Segate 80GB is free and empty)
I don't want to boot from raid.
>
> now boot to cd to install,right at beginning it will say
> press f6 to install mass storage drive you need the
> driver on floppy to install it
I already tried the XP-Install routine to specify additional mass storage drivers. (Note: 1 single 80GB Drive was attached) Which are the suitable ones? As mentioned I tried the following:
1. Attached floppy 'Fasttrack family drivers'
Result: Message: Driver is for Win2k only. Not a single Harddrive shows for installing XP.
2. Attached Floppy (Promise Ultra 100 lite, 256 only)
Result: Driver is for Win2k only. Installation procedure hangs.
3. Driver from MSI-Site for pdc20265. Same as 2.
4. Extracting via4in1 drivers and putting WinXPIDE drivers on floppy:
Result: Installation routine doesn't recoginze drivers on floppy.
> rest should be the same as normal
>
> this should be similar as well
>
> http://www.amdforums.com/showindex.php?s=&threadid=146384
Which is the right driver for WinXP to specify for mass storage device at WinXP installation?

Novell driver for promise raid controller PDC20276

[size=13]Is there a Novell driver for the promise raid controller on the KT3 Ultra2-R (MS-6380E) mainboard[/SIZE] this board uses the promise PDC20276 chipset.
The supplied disk only supports windows ;(
Can any one advise options thanks :P

CapricornC,
Since you have a KT3 Motherboard and you posted in the nVidia/AMD/SiS Motherboard Forum, I moved the thread to Via Forum for you.
Good Luck,
Richard

Hard drive configuration with Promise Raid controller

I plan on running two 30 gig 75GXP drives on the Promise controller in Raid-0 mode. I also have a 60 gig WD drive that I use for backups and for initial installation. During installation, I put the Win98SE setup files and all the drivers, apps, backup data, etc. on the WD drive and do a clean install from there.
My current (old) board is an Abit KT7-R with the Highpoint raid controller. Using the Highpoint controller, I am able to put the WD drive as a slave device and the controller treats it as a normal IDE drive. I'm moving to the 845 Ultra ARU. From what I've read, if you put a single drive on the Promise controller, it tries to set it up as a Raid drive? I don't want to risk losing my backup data on the WD drive to some attempt by the Promise controller to "raid" my single drive. So, where is the best place to put my WD drive so that I can install my system from it? I'm thinking about putting it as Master on IDE2. I normally run my CD as Master on IDE1. Once the installation is complete, I will remove the installation files from the WD drive and use it exclusively for backups. I have the WD drive in a Vantec EZ-Swap rack, and I normally keep it powered off unless doing a backup.
So, the plan is to create the Raid-0 array, Fdisk and format the array, and then load Windows from the WD drive, followed by all my applications. Is Master on IDE-2 the best solution for the WD drive?

hi
not very clued up on raid but it sounds right
if the wd drive is on its own on that ide do not jumper
as master you have to have no jumpers if all alone

Error detecting promise sata controller on kt4 ultra

Hello,
I've searched the forum and "the rest" of the internet without finding a solution to my problem.
The problem is: Normally when you boot the kt4-ultra you will have a message saying "FastTrack 376(tm) Bios version 1.00.0.18(c)2002-2005 Promise Technology, Inc." and then either No drive attached to FastTrack Controller, The BIOS is not installed or information about your HDD configuration.
In my case sometimes without any reasonable explaination my computer won't detect the promise fasttrak controller AT ALL! It just jumps right over it, as it didn't excists. This is very strange since it's enabled in the BÌOS settings and it could be detected at the next reboot, or in many cases it wont be detected again for several days
As far as I can see it has nothing to do with the harddrives connected to it, as it happens anyway either with a SATA disk connected, IDE disk or no disks at all....
If anyone could help me out with this problem I'll be very gratefull!

Quote
Originally posted by Fredrik Åsenius
How are your hard disks configured, and your CD/DVD etc?
I've litary tried every possible combination. The problem remains even with no disks or CD/DVD drives installed on the Fasttrak controller or IDE 1/2. Sometimes the controller is detected, sometimes not.
I should point out that if the controller is detected it always find my HDD who's connected to it and it works fine in Windows. But if it's not detected Windows will find a new hardware and try to install drivers to it, but it won't work cause the hardware is reporting an error and Windows will ofcourse not find a disk....
Quote
What operative system do you have? On a quick search I found mostly linux related problems, though I was not too thorough.
I have Windows XP, but I don't think it matters what OS i'm running.
On the searched I've done Im only finding Linux and compability related problems...
I've had this problem for over 6 months now and I'm getting a BIT tired the shitty controller....

Q45MDO does not initialise Promise RAID controller boot ROM

Hi all,
I have an MSI Q45MDO with a Promise EX8350 SATA RAID controller plugged into the PCI-E x16 slot, as I am using the board's onboard graphics for display purposes. However, when the system is booted, the Promise BIOS (which would allow me to configure the attached hard drives) is not displayed.
Does anyone know why this is and how I can get the Promise BIOS to be shown on bootup again?

Your Promise Card is explicitly listed in the Support list for your mainboard:
http://eu.msi.com/uploads/test_report/TR2_1750.pdf
You might wanna contact MSI Technical Support about this. Maybe they can point you into the right direction:
http://support.msi.com/
Also, get in touch with promise to find out if there is a new BIOS available for your Controller Card.

Onboard promise raid-controller and promise add-on sata-controller

Can anybody help me with the following problem.
I have 4 SATA hard disks.
2 Western Digital Raptors and 2 Seagate Barracuda V of 80 gig.
I would like to do the following:
I would like to put the 2 raptors in raid-striping for my OS on my onboard raid-controller and use the 2 barracuda's for data and connect them the promise add-on card (promise ultra150 tx2).
I have the following with this config: the raid-controller is no problem but when i connect a hard-drive to the add-on card, windows won't boot anymore and i have no possibility in the bios to choose to boot from the raid-controller.
I'm using an MSI K7N2G-ILSR motherboard with the latest MSI-bios.

I'm having the same problem but I can't switch my drives. I have my 2 200 gig maxtors full of data that i can't let go of. I've installed a new silicon images pci card with 2 sata channels. if i hook up the drives both bios recognize the drives correctly but it tell me invalid system disk. pretty sure that it's reading the pci card, not seeing a os installed and not even looking at my onboard controller. I was told that i can change irq priority, but i can't get it right or it doesn't work. I can install os on pci card but would really rather not. I'm very happy with the setup i have for once.
msi k7n2 delta promise 376 onboard controller

K9A2 *V1* Bios 1.8 - No drivers for Promise RAID controller.

Does anyone know which set of Promise Raid drivers work with the updated Promise firmware that is part of the 1.8 bios update?
Version 1.2 of the bios includes Promise version 28.1030.0021 which works with at least 1.1.1030.27 of the promise drivers.
Version 1.8 of the bios includes Promise version 28.1030.0032 for which I cannot find any working drivers; do they exist? (Vista cannot see the controller and is unable to locate a suitable driver. Trying to use existing promise driver fails since it will not recognise the device)
Just had a brainwave. On the MSI site, there is an updated driver pack for the Promise controller (this is a V1 board); this version is
Vista32/64 Ver.: 1.1.1030.47
Is this the version that is compatible with v1.8 of the bios (and hence 28.1030.0032)?

Give them a try, they if they work will show soon enough.

K8N Neo2 + NVRAID + Promise Raid Controller = not working right

I'm trying to get my Promise Raid card working with nvraid enabled and I've finally given up. It works fine with NVRAID disabled though. I have 2xSata on Raid 0 and 2xIDE on raid 0+1. i also have two other IDE's on non-raid and two atapi cdrom drives. In order for me to use all of my storage devices, i need the promise controller to boot. The Prommise RAID controller's BIOS will not boot with nvraid enabled. WindowsXP detects the drives, but if i try to mount them via PAM (Promise Arry Management), it says one of the drives is corrupt/not working. but if i have both the ide raid hd's on the nvraid w/ sata raid, then it works fine. I just won't be able to use my cdrom drives. if anyone has a fix for this, please let me know. and sorry for the long descriptions. thanks.

Why don't you go into BIOS and alter the IRQ manually for that PCI card, because probably that card is using the same IRQ as the nVidia one.
Be well....

What is the proper setup in BIOS when using promise raid controller

I am using the k7n2g-islr board and using the on-board promise controller. Everything has been working ok, but all of a sudden I get a "disk read error". THe Promise Bios picks up both my drives (one is serial ATA, the other IDE), so I don't think the hardware has failed (completely anyway). So, in the main BIOS it doesn't pick up any drives there with autodetect. So...my question is twofold. First, should the main BIOS be picking up a drive or not? Second, what should the boot sequence be to boot of the promise controller (i.e. HDD-0 or SCSI?).
THanks in advance.
Dave
k7n2g-islr
160GB Serial ATA (Boot)
120GB IDE (secondary)
WinXP

The main bios page will not show any sata/scsi drives.....only ide drives....as for booting the first boot option should be either sata, or scsi...if that is the drive the os is on.

Promise Raid won't recognize all of my HD space??!! HELP

I have the MSI 845 Ultra board with the promise RAID controller on it. This is my first time using raid, so bear with me. I purchased 2 80GB HD's for the purpose of striping to gain some speed. I have them hooke up as masters 1 to each port, but the problem is that the controller/MB tells me that they are 33GB dirves!! When I go into the configuration mode its all they show up as. When I go into windows its all they show up as!!
I have tried to delete and recreate the array many times with no luck. I have tried to find some setting in the BIOS which would let me change the size, but no luck....
Do I have to individually go and format them on a normal channel 1st before hooking them up to the RAID?
Is there something I'm missing here besides 100GB of space??!
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Master on Samsung should be |::: with the orientation being |----IDE----||jumpers||power|
Did you by any chance set it to ||:: ?
This is the master with cylinder limitation mode which is intended to force 32GB on the drive.

Promise RAID vs. Via RAID

When I was setting up my system I wasn't really sure which RAID controller I should use in order to get the best performance...I opted to go with the Via controller as it is an integrated part of the KT800 chipset whereas the Promise RAID controller is an optional add-in chip (or such is my understanding), so I figured using the Via controller would give the best performance...but I'm curious as to how the Promise controller performs. Has anyone tried setting an array up both ways and testing to see which controller performed better?
I'm running two 36 GB WD Raptor SATA drives in RAID-0 off the Via controller, and I get a score of 61 MB/sec in Sandra 2004's File System benchmark...if anyone is running a similar array off the Promise controller and could post their benchmark results, I'd appreciate it.

I've 'tested' both controllers.
Before the K8T, I was using a KT4 ultra with a Promise 376 and two raptors RAID0 (around 60-70Mb/s with HDTach)
Then I switched to the Promise 378 of the K8T (I keep promise to keep data). A little bit better than with the 376 of the KT4V but not very clear. I recently put the two raptors on the VIA. A little bit better but again, not very clear. It seems however that with the VIA the output is more 'unstable' .. I mean: with Promise, HD Tach gives me a straight line from the begining of the disk array to the end; with VIA, it's less straight.
I think I will crash my RAID 0 to test with one raptor on the VIA and one on the Promise. OSsystem for a disk, software and apps for the other one. I'm not sure that it's a goo idea

K7T266Pro Promise Raid not detected anymore

Have just installed a MSI FX5700 Ultra graphics card on a K7T266Pro, and am now unable to use the onboard Promise raid controller.
I realise it's the card that is causing it, but can't find out what it has done. I've also looked for a bios update for the raid controller but can't find one. Motherboard has latest bios and drivers, as has the FX5700.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Pete.

hi martin555,
you should have really started a new thread, giving as much info about your problem and your system as you can, rather than add to this old and unresolved thread
but as we are here now, please post full system specs, and also what the blue screen error message says if you can

Second IDE Raid controller

I have MSI K7T 266 Pro 2 RU board, onboard raid, i want to install second raid controller card. I cant get into a bios of second card. Second card is CMD PCI - 0649 Ultra 100 Raid controller.
If the a problems when running two raid controllers in one system?
And how can i get into the bios of second raid card.
P.S. card is installed in Windows XP fine. i can see two hard drives connected to it. Right after raid bios on onboard raid it looks windows.
Please help
Thanks

Quote
Originally posted by pcman12345
My pc boots of onboard raid. (2) 40gig drives. What do new drivers have to do with getting into bios of pci raid card. I have all the latest drivers anyway.
Any other ideas?
Thanks for your help.
It sounds like you are booting from the promise RAID controller. If so, you are well familiar with the way in which it dominates the bootup process for the first 30 seconds or so.........(dots look familiar?...)
I wonder if the second RAID card is also initiating its bios sequence at the same time underneath the Promise boot screen (underneath, so to speak) so that when the Promise routine is finished, so is the CMD routine, and you proceed from that point with both RAID controllers initialized (but can only see one of them at a time from the bios screen.)
Do you you have "boot from other device" enabled in the bios? If so you might try disabling that to see if it will sequence the RAID controllers initialization so that the CMD bios appears after the Promise bios is done (I assume you have the onboard Promise array selected as the boot device.)
A bit more trouble would be to reboot to main bios, disable the onboard RAID controller in the bios, save and reboot. At this point the Promise bios will not display and you should see a CMD bios display which you could manipulate--then reenable the Promise controller to boot, etc. If you disable the Promise controller and you still don't see a bios for the CMD RAID device you need to look elsewhere. Also, it might be that the CMD bios access requires a certain key sequence pressed during post to display?....Just some random thoughts...

K9A2 Platinum bios 1.4 or 1.5 Promise RAID fail Boot.

Ok I have BIOS version 1.3 running fine. I want to upgrade to a bios that officially support the phenom and its power usage. So back in may I try to upgrade to bios 1.4. No good the machine will not boot the RAID set that contains window XP. :( Reverted back. Contacted support. Not much help... a few weeks pass. Contact support again they send me bios version 1.51. Same issue. Reverted back to 1.3. Recently I tried the final release of 1.5 with the same issue.
Anyone out there using a phenom on the K9A2 and booting with the Promise RAID controller in a striped 0 set ? How did you get it to work with the current bios version. Tech support 'claims' they have no problem with the bios and that they have tested it with the promise controller booting to XP.
Thanks,
Jon Harrell

Considering the very large files that regularly run through the system and the extra cpus that windows inefficiently uses I doubt a software controller would impact the performance gains significantly. The units we have prep large format presentations and regularly handle very large files. Bandwidth is key. If this was the average desktop or even a web server yes 1 drive would most definitely be faster. But that would be a different subject.
Although now we might just be considering scraping the whole MSI created mess, and purchasing a hardware solution like that of the quad sata raid in our server.
But for now:
Does any one know the perfect combination?
e.g. Promise driver 1.1.1030.47 !work with Bios 1.50 (promise 2.8.1030.0032)
Thanks,
jh

Promise RAID controller & WinXP - 845 ultra

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