SATA Raid setup details

I'm switching over my primary boot drive to 2 80 gig Hitachi SATA drives this weekend. Will use my 250g ide maxtor for storage space. I've read quite a bit about various raid problems, mostly to do with large drives, etc.
Since I'm only doing 80 gigers i'm hoping to avoid most of that. I know to connect them to SATA 3/4. After that I'm not 100% since everyone is trying so many different things to get their setup to work.
I'm installing with a Windows XP Prof (no SP's on it, though I may go on and try and Slipstream SP1 on it if needed).
On boot what bios options should be enabled\configured?
After boot do I go into sata raid controller setup? If so what do I do there?
On windows xp install startup do I hit F6 and load a driver? If so which one because I'm not sure if I got a disk with my mb or not, can't find any trace of one. If so can someone point me to it on the net?
If\after windows makes it through install and it starts asking for drivers, whats my best choices here to load. Drivers from MSI cd? Nforce drivers straight from NVidia? Any specific ide/raid drivers I should use?
I'm digging through to manual for as much as I can find also, but I know better info can be found here. I know its total RTFM stuff but this is my first venture into raid in many years and first with SATA raid. So pipe in with anything you think may help, thanks!

I think this is it, at the very bottom of the page:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/driver/dvr/spt_dvr_list.php?part=1&kind=4&CHIP=4&Page=2&num=0

Similar Messages

K8n Neo Platinum non-booting SATA RAID setup question

I've spent several hours searching an reading trying to find out how to setup a non-bootable SATA RAID. All I can seem to find are posts about bootable installs using F6 and the drivers on a floppy.
I have setup the disks in the bios an defined the array an everything checks out. But when I boot back to WindowsXP it only sees 2 drives that it cannot find drivers for even if I point it to the correct Nvidia directory. I attempted to just reinstall the drivers but that caused a Bluescreen from a corrupt driver file that I then had to go into the repair console to copy from a floppy.
The manual an a couple of posts here say that I should go into Admin Tools-> Disk Management an it will then popup a wizard. But I'm not getting that far.
I currently have the disks on SATA 1 and 2 but will move them tonite because I've read its better for them to be on 3 and 4.
This is on a K8N Neo Platinum 7030 on Windows XP SP2. If anyone could help or just point me to where I can find help it would be greatly appreciated.

When the raid controller is enabled in bios and you start windows you can install the nvidia raid driver
from within windows .
Use the add hardware wizard from control panel .
Start the add-hw wizard .
Yes i have connected the hw - next .
Add a new hw device (bottom of the list ) -next .
Install the hw that i select manually from a list - next .
Select scsi/raid controller - next .
Choose have disk .
Then browse for the location of the nvraid.inf file

KT4 Ultra SATA RAID Setup

I'm having trouble getting the system to recognize my drives on the SATA RAID controllers. I am *not* using IDE 3, I'm using the two serial ATA ports. I have an IDE drive hooked up as my main drive and am adding these two as a RAID.
I have 2 80GB Maxtor drives (non-SATA) with Soyo converters attached. I've plugged one drive into each of the SATA ports.
My first question is: what drive setting should I use? Should both drives be set to Master since they're on their own ports, or use Cable Select?
Playing around with the settings gets me mixed results:
- I get an error message that the PCI IRQ setup should be checked that bus mastering is turned on (it is)
- Or I can only see one drive showing up as Master (and it's always drive 2)
I've checked connectors, power plugs, etc., and everything seems to be hooked up ok.
Any ideas?

cannot find it now but one guy with convertors found they had jumpers on them had to be set for ata133 drives to work,honestley cannot recall make,but it was not highpoint
master should be right i would have thought
one on each lead to the sata terminals

Bios and SATA Raid setup nightmares

Three manuals with this mobo and I just can't get it set up.
I have the 865PE Neo2-FIS2R, an Intel 3.0GHZ Northwood processor, a pair of 256 memory chips configured as dual channel. A pair of SATA drives are on the Intel ports. The IDE has four devices connected, a HDD, Zip drive, and a pair of CDs. All of the hardware, jumpers, cables seem to be working fine.
My goal was to have a SATA Raid 0 setup, with the spare drive for backup and misc storage. CD's and Zip for input, burning, etc.
After everything was connected I booted Win XP Pro from the CD, did the F6 thing and installed the drivers for both Intel and Promise (Fastrack and drivers). Setting up the bios "Integrated Peripherals" was a real problem and the book very little help, but I finally got the system to recognize things so I could format and boot and install the OS. I did the Control-I thing and configured the Raid drives (at least I think). So far, so good.
After the OS was installed, SP1 added, etc. I got ready to configure the Raid. The CD does not come up with the screen shown in the manual. But I did find the Intel IAA RAID Edition in a folder. Running it results in an error message saying that the software does not support this chipset. Downloading similar drivers for both Promise and Intel always dead-ends the same way.
What I'm leaving out are the--literally--hours of time I've spent trying to get the devices configured right in the Bios' "Integrated Peripherals." I have no idea what I'm doing and the book is no help. But the devices are all there now and the OS runs fine (but not as a Raid 0 set up).
The book says I can migrate this configuration to a Raid volume. How, when I get that error message?
And another thing. Can I use the Promise IDE (PATA) port for a single drive? It's the only place on the mobo where ATA 133 is supported.
I think I'm in a world of trouble here. Don't know squat about these complex bios setups. Sorry this is so long.
ardi

OK, I actually went down to the basement and dug out the ICH5R Raid Manual. Basically it says in order to take advantage of the ability to migrate later on, you have to set Raid in Bios B4 loading Windows and install Raid driver with Windows setup. If you've already got Windows installed on 1 disk and had Bios set to"SATA as Raid- NO", you're out of luck.
Here's the exerpt from the manual:
Quote
The Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition offers the flexibility to
upgrade from a single Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive to a two drive RAID 0
configuration when an additional SATA hard drive is added to the system.
This process will create a new RAID volume from an existing disk. However,
several important steps must be followed at the time the system is first
configured in order to take advantage of RAID when upgrading to a second
SATA hard drive:
1. BIOS must be configured for RAID before installing Windows* XP
on the single SATA hard drive.
2. Install the Intel Application Accelerator RAID driver during Windows
Setup.
3. Install the Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition after the
operating system is installed.
Maybe someone knows a work-around?

975X SATA + RAID Setup

Hi, I'm fairly new to RAIDing and I was wondering how to setup up my drives.
I currently have one WD Raptor 10k 74GB drive that now acts as my OS drive. I just recently ordered another and I would like to RAID them together (SATA of course). I'm very confused on how to actually do this. I've read through the user guide for a long time, searched through damn near every SATA 975X post and still I have little to no knowledge on how to set this up.
I know I will lose all the data on my existing drive and as far as I can tell, I have the BIOS set up correctly... Meaning I set the SATA mode for RAID.
I also know that there is some sort of configuration for the Intel RAID device settings, which you are supposed to hit (Ctrl + I) during POST in order edit your RAID mode and which drives you want to use for your RAID array. The problem with this is that I can't seem to get it to work. I don't know if I'm not hitting this at the right time, or even if i have to do it at all.
I've also heard that you might need to copy drivers to a floppy to get install the Intel RAID to be recognized before your WinXP install. This I think i can do on my own, but initally setting up the RAID 0 is my main concern right now. Thanks for any posts in advance,
JPS

I figured out what the problem was.....
I have a PCI IDE controller card that was conflicting with the Intel RAID controller. It would not allow the RAID to even show up at POST.
After removing the card i could simply hit CTRL + I and configure my Raid. But now, Im out of 2 IDE controllers, which is a whole separate post in itself, thanks for the help.

SATA RAID setup problem - 845PE Max2 FISR

Hi,
I have tried to switch from XP made RAID 1 (striping) to BIOS (SATA) supported one.
1. Detached 2xIBM 80G disks from IDE1
2. Attached a ViPower VP-9041 SATA to Ultra ATA (33/66/100/133) converter to each.
3. Changed the jumper on the slave disk to master.
4. Attached the disks to the SATA ports.
5. At boot checked if SATA is enabled in the BIOS - OK. (Not too many or sophisticated options can be found in my bios, see below.)
Originally the a 40GB Maxtor on IDE3 (supported by the Promise 376 SATA chipset as well) used for XP SP2 boot - it remained this way.
At first boot FastTrak BIOS detected IDE3 (as before) and scanned for other IDE drives, but detected only one of the two 80 GB SATA converted disks.
At later boots, neither SATA disks detected, but I got the folowing message from FastTrak BIOS:
Warning- FastTrak does not detect proper interrupts. Please check your PCI IRQ settings, and make sure the PCI slot supports Bus Master operations.
IDE3 disk detected correctly and the system can boot from it.
If I remove ony one of the SATA disks, no warning from BIOS, but the other SATA disk is not detected either.
Any hint? (Changing PCI Bus Master state in the BIOS to either enable or disable does not matter.)
My BIOS is AMI 3.31a.

Now I got another 845PE-MAX2-FISR from the dealer, and this one works!!
So the conclusion is, the other 845PE-MAX2-FISR coursed the ram error...
>> Assaf
Ofcourse its a legal one!

Raid Setup Guide 865/875 LSR/FIS2R Rev 1.04

On-Board Raid Setup MSI 865PE/875P
Revision History
Revision 1.0 (January 2004)
- Original Raid Article
Revision 1.01 (February 2004)
- Reformatted text and fixed spelling/grammar
Revision 1.02 (October 2004)
- Added warnings to temporarily disconnect ALL drives including Zip drives during formatting Raid drives for WinXP.
Revision 1.03 (October 2005)
- Reformatted text and added links to download Promise/Intel Raid floppies if user is missing them.
Revision1.04 (February 2006)
- Minor BB reformatting
Intro
Equipment List For Tests
Description of Tests
Pre-Raid Setup Bios Tweaks
Raid Setup On Promise Controller
Raid Setup On Intel Controller
--->Intel- Migrating from single SATA to Full Raid Array
Intro
This guide is intended to help people configure their Bios and setup Windows for Raid using the Intel ICH5R controller and the Promise FastTrak 378 controller. Although all the tests were done using Raid-0 the methods described should be virtually identical to setting up Raid-1 provided the user is aware of the fundamental differences between the two. It should be useful for anyone with an MSI 865PE/875P chipset on motherboards with LSR and FIS2R suffixes. Before continuing, please read the FAQ thread posted by Maesus and the Raid manual(s) that came with your motherboard. There's also some good info regarding Raid Here and Here and Here
Keep in mind this guide is intended as a reference to help you. It is not a manual. I do not work for MSI and my equipment and time are limited. You will have different equipment and different versions of software.
All the data below is based on tests that I ran and I tried to avoid using any theory that I did not test. If you feel I’ve missed something obvious or if you have something you feel should be added to make this guide clearer or simpler, please PM me with your thoughts. If you have a specific problem that this guide does not help you with, post a detailed thread in the forum on the main page.
Equipment List For Tests
MSI 875P FIS2R Motherboard
Bios 1.8
Enermax EG365P-VE (350w) PSU
P4 2.6c CPU
Kingston KHX-3200A2 2x512MB Memory
Radeon 9800Pro AIW Video Card
WD 400JB 40GB/8MB cache IDE Hdd
2-Seagate 80GB 7200.7 SATA Hdd's
Liteon 52x32x52 CDRW
Floppy Drive
Tests
Generally, tests were as follows:
Configure 2 SATA on Promise controller(serial3&4) as Raid0 and install WindowsXP Home SP1a on Raid
Configure 2 SATA on Promise controller(serial3&4) as Raid0 and add Raid to an existing WindowsXP installation on IDE drive(IDE1)
Configure 2 SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial1&2) as Raid0 and install WindowsXP Home SP1a on Raid
Configure 2 SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial1&2) as Raid0 and add Raid to an existing WindowsXP installation on IDE drive(IDE1)
Configure 1 SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial1) and install WindowsXP Home SP1a on it. Then add 2nd SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial2) and migrate to Raid0 using Intel Application Accelerator-Raid edition.
IDE drive used in these tests was pre-installed with a fresh copy of WinXP Home SP1a using default settings and the following drivers all from MSI setup CD and Raid Floppy Disks that came with motherboard:
Intel INF files - version 1002
Gigabit Lan drivers - 7.0.37.0
SoundMax drivers - 5.12.1.3538
Catalyst 3.7 & Multimedia Center drivers from standard ATI CD came with video card.
Pre-Raid BIOS Tweaks
Before I continue, I'd like to point out a few changes from the defaults that I alway make to Bios before I attempt a WinXP install or hardware change. I can't guarantee that they all apply to you but none should make things worse. If anything differs from a setting that you feel is fixing another problem you're having, by all means leave at your prefferred setting. Anything related to performance and overclocking can be raised again AFTER the Raid is all setup and everything is running smoothly.
Standard Cmos Features
The only thing I change here is to enable "32bit transfer mode" whenever I connect new devices to the Intel IDE controller.
Note: Devices attached to the Promise controller and the Intel Raid(when it is enabled) will NOT appear in the standard Cmos page
Advanced Bios Features
Everything on defaults is usually fine except I always change the following for WinXP:
APIC ACPI SCI IRQ - Enabled
Boot Device select is also on this page and you'll be changing it after all the hardware is setup; more later.
Advanced Cipset Features
Confirm that the memory timing "by SPD" is enabled
PNP/PCI Configurations
Clear NVRam option I always set to "YES" before the first boot after making hardware changes. I'm not sure how important this is but I understand that's what you're supposed to do. I believe it forces the motherboard to detect hardware changes. It reverts to "NO" after the reboot.
PCI/IDE Busmaster set to "enabled" to speed things up outside of Windows.
Integrated Peripherals (Before Raid for most flexibilty)
Onboard Promise IDE - Disabled if you have nothing attached to IDE3 and Serial 3&4
ON-Chip IDE Configuration:
Native Mode (Supported by WinXP- Allows all devices connected to IDE 1&2 and Serial 1&2 to be detected)
SATA Only or PATA Only (select the one that you boot XP with)
Keep SATA Active - Yes (if option available)
Keep PATA Active - Yes (if option available)
PATA Channel selection - Both (if option available)
Configure SATA as Raid - No (if option available)
Leave other settings here at default
Note: Some older Bios versions may appear different than above
Frequency/Voltage Control
Dynamic Overclocking - Disabled
Performance Mode - Slow
Dram Frequency - Auto
Adjust CPU Bus - 201 (for "c" type cpu's)
DDR Voltage - 2.65 (minimum for Dual-Channel Mem stability)
AGP Voltage - 1.55
Note: some features above may not appear with your Bios
Note: performance & overclocking features can be increased again AFTER the Raid array has been setup and is stable with Windows.
Raid On Promise Controller
This procedure should work for anyone adding a Raid array to a system already having XP installed on another drive on the Intel controller or intending to install Windows XP on the new Raid array.
Note: IDE 3 and Serial 3&4 connectors are controlled by the Promise controller.
Note: It is possible to setup Raid arrays using 2 IDE drives on IDE3 or even 2 SATA & 2 IDE drives. I only tested 2 SATA drives on Serial 3&4 connectors.
Note: It is possible to setup Raid 0+1 using 2 IDE drives on IDE3 and 2 SATA drives on Serial 3&4. See HERE for a related thread.
Note: It is possible to setup SATA or IDE drives on the Promise controller as separate drives NOT using Raid but I did not test this. See your manual.
- Attach the SATA drives to Serial 3&4 connectors and ensure that both power and data cables are securely connected. Most SATA drives do NOT need any changes to default jumper positions if any(check Hdd installation instructions).
- Boot into Bios
Integrated Peripherals:
Set Onboard Promise IDE - As Raid
- Save and reboot computer
- Use control-F keys during the boot(when prompted-goes by quickly) to enter the Promise Raid Bios.
Note: You will only be able to enter the promise Bios if you have set the Promise controller to "As Raid" AND there are devices connected and detected by the Promise Bios.
- Use the menus to configure the Raid for your preferences.
Note: I can't say which settings you should use for creating the Raid. It depends on many things. Do some research.
- After saving the Raid array, reboot to Bios.(you should see the configured array for a second or two during the post and it should be "functional")
- In Advanced bios Features>>Boot Device Select:
Set the order you prefer to boot from
- If you already have XP installed on another drive and are just adding the Raid for an extra drive, Ensure that the list is still appropriate and includes your XP drive.
- If you will be installing XP on the new Raid, make sure the new Raid array is in the boot list and any other hard drives are NOT.
Note: Typically, I put the disk with XP first and use F11 key during post to boot from another device. This is not required though.
- Save bios
Important!: If you are installing XP on the new Raid array, you should now shutdown and either disconnect or disable any other drives connected until AFTER XP is installed. This includes USB/Zip drives.(See "Bugs" below).
If Installing XP On The New Raid Array(others skip to below):
- Boot from the Windows XP Setup CD and use F6 key when prompted(at the beginning).
- Follow prompts to load the WinXP Promise FastTrack 376/378 Controller from the floppy that came with motherboard(If Required Download Floppy Here). There are a number of different choices on the floppy. PICK THE RIGHT ONE.
Note: if using Win2K with the floppy, you can scroll down to get more driver options on this screen. It's not readily apparent on the screen.
- Continue setup and Windows should now show you the new Raid array as a single drive available to install to. If it shows other drives that you have connected, re-read the "important" note above and the related section on "Bugs" below.
- When XP setup makes its first re-boot, make sure the floppy has been removed or depending on your settings it may give you a scary moment. Yes I did this(tries to boot from floppy).
- After XP is up and running, you can re-connect/re-enable any drives you disconnected earlier. If they have been formatted, they should show up immediately and be assigned letters after your CD/DVD drives.
- You can also install the Promise Array Manager software(from MSI CD utilities tab or download) which adds some array management settings.
If XP Already Installed On Another Drive(and you're just adding the Raid as an extra storage disk):
- Boot into WindowsXP.
- As Windows starts, it should detect a new Raid device and offer to install drivers.
- Select Cancel. It will tell you that it was unable to install new device. If you want you can confirm the new device is present by checking Windows device Manager. It should show the new device with a yellow exclamation mark beside it since the drivers aren't installed yet.
- Download the appropriate drivers or use the MSI CD that came with motherboard.
Note: The MSI CD detects devices connected and shows available drivers/utilities depending on what it sees. You might not have seen the Promise drivers when using the CD before but now that you have a Raid array connected to it, the drivers will be availble from the MSI setup CD.
- Install the drivers and re-boot
- Device Manager should now show the Raid properly identified by XP.
- If the Raid array was not previously formatted, you can now use Windows Disk Manager (Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc) to Initialize and then format the Raid array.
- The Raid array should now show in Windows Explorer with it's own drive letter.
Bugs/Surprises
- Trying to install WinXP on the Promise Raid while my IDE drive was connected to the Intel IDE connector resulted in Windows installing boot files to the IDE drive and the rest on the Raid drives. This was especially bad since I had another installation of XP on the IDE drive which was overwritten. The work-around was to disable the IDE drive until AFTER XP was setup on the Raid array.
Update: There have been a few posts on the forum since I wrote this guide where people installing XP have had problems similar to the one above with USB/Zip drives connected so i am adding them to the list of drives to disconnect while installing XP.
- When setting "Boot Device Select", if I selected "NO" for "boot from other devices", the motherboard would ignore my selection and still boot from other devices if the ones in the list were unusable.
- Be gentle with SATA connectors on the motherboard. They can stand firm downward pressure but not a lot of side-to-side pressure.
Raid On Intel Controller
This procedure should work for anyone adding 2 SATA hard drives for a Raid array on a system already having XP installed on another drive or intending to install XP on the new Raid array.
Note: IDE 1&2 and Serial 1&2 connectors are controlled by the Intel ICH5R controller. Only Serial 1&2 can be configured for Raid arrays.
You can also install a single SATA drive and configure the system for Raid BEFORE installing XP on this drive if you intend to add another SATA drive later to form a Raid array. This method was also tested. I will refer to this for the rest of the thread as the Raid-Ready Method.
Note: If you install WinXP on a single SATA drive without enabling Raid and loading Raid drivers, you will NOT be able to migrate the XP disk to a Raid array at a later date. Reinstalling XP would be required.
Note: There is no performance advantage to having a single drive with Raid enabled. But doing so makes the disk Raid-ready and XP reinstall unnecessary.
- Attach the SATA drive(s) to Serial 1&2 connectors and ensure that both power and data cables are securely connected. Most SATA drives do NOT need any changes to default jumper positions if any(check Hdd installation instructions).
- Boot into Bios
- In "Integrated Peripherals>>On-Chip IDE Configuration" set:
Native Mode (Supported by WinXP- Allows all devices connected to IDE 1&2 and Serial 1&2 to be detected)
SATA Only (Even if you will be booting XP from a PATA drive)
Keep PATA Active - Yes
PATA Channel selection - Both
Configure SATA as Raid - Yes
Leave other settings here at default
Note: Some older Bios versions may appear different than above.
- Save Bios and reboot computer
- Use control-I keys during post(when prompted-goes by quickly) to enter the Intel Raid Bios Utility.
Note: If you are using the single SATA Raid-Ready Method, you can skip the steps involving the Intel Raid utility. Go to the step for setting Boot device select in main Bios.
Note: You will only be able to enter the Intel Raid Bios if you have set the "Configure SATA as Raid" option to "YES" AND there are devices connected and detected by the Intel Raid Bios.
- Use the menus to configure the Raid for your preferences.
Note: I can't say which settings you should use for creating the Raid. It depends on many things. The Intel utility does describe the different options well though.
- After saving the Raid array, reboot to Bios.(you should see the configured array for a second or two during the post and it should be "functional")
- In Advanced bios Features>>Boot Device Select:
Set the order you prefer to boot from;
If you already have XP installed on another drive and are just adding the Raid for an extra drive, Ensure that the list is still appropriate and includes your XP drive.
If you will be installing XP on the new Raid or using Raid-Ready Method, make sure the new Raid array or raid-ready drive is in the boot list and any other hard drives are NOT.
Note: Typically, I put the disk with XP first and use F11 key during post to boot from another device. This is not required though.
- Save bios
Important!: If you are installing XP on the new Raid array or using the Raid-Ready Method, you should now shutdown and either disconnect or disable any other hard drives connected until AFTER XP is installed. This includes Zip/USB drives. (See "Bugs" below).
If Installing XP On The New Raid Array Or Using Raid-Ready Method(others skip to below):
- Boot from the Windows XP Setup CD and use F6 key when prompted(at the beginning).
- Follow prompts to load the IAA Raid Driver for ICH5R (If Required Download Floppy Here) from the floppy that came with motherboard. I only had 1 driver to choose from on my floppy but if you have more, CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONE!
- Continue and Windows Setup should now show you the new Raid array or Raid Ready drive as a single drive available to install to. If it shows other drives that you have connected, re-read the "important" note above and the related section on "Bugs" below.
- When XP setup makes its first re-boot, make sure the floppy has been removed or depending on your settings it may give you a scary moment. Yes I did this(tries to boot from floppy).
- After XP is up and running and INF files and other important drivers installed, you can re-connect/re-enable any hard drives you disconnected earlier. If they have been formatted, they should show up immediately and be assigned letters after your CD/DVD drives.
- You can also install the Intel IAA-Raid Program(from MSI CD utilities tab or download) which gives some info and adds the array management settings(Not many. Just the enable/disable cache setting and the migrate to raid option).
If XP Already Installed On Another Drive(and you're just adding the Raid as an extra storage disk):
- Boot into WindowsXP.
- As Windows starts, it should detect a new Raid device and offer to install drivers. Select Cancel. It will tell you that it was unable to install new device. If you want you can confirm the new device is present by checking Windows device Manager. It should show the new device with a yellow exclamation mark beside it since the drivers aren't installed yet.
- Download the appropriate drivers or use the MSI CD that came with motherboard.
Note: The MSI CD detects devices connected and shows available drivers/utilities depending on what it sees. You might not have seen the IAA Raid drivers when using the CD before but now that you have a Raid array connected to it, the drivers will be availble from the MSI setup CD.
- Install the drivers and re-boot
Note: If the IAA Raid program detects that the Raid controller is not enabled or no device is present, it will NOT allow you to install the drivers/utility.
- Using Windows Device Manager should now show the Raid device properly with no problems.
- If the Raid array has not been formatted, you can now use Windows Disk Manager (Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc) to Initialize and then format the Raid array.
- The new drive should now appear in Windows Explorer with it's own drive letter.
Bugs/Surprises
- Trying to install WinXP on the Promise Raid while my IDE drive was connected to the Intel IDE connector resulted in Windows installing boot files to the IDE drive and the rest on the Raid drives. This was especially bad since I had another installation of XP on the IDE drive which was overwritten. The work-around was to disable the IDE drive until AFTER XP was setup on the Raid array. It is safe to assume this can occur with the Intel controller as well since I believe the problem occurs because of how WinXP setup addresses the hard drives.
Update: There have been a few posts on the forum since I wrote this guide where people installing XP have had problems similar to the one above with USB/Zip drives connected so i am adding them to the list of drives to disconnect while installing XP.
- Be gentle with SATA connectors on the motherboard. They can stand firm downward pressure but not a lot of side-to-side pressure.
Migrating XP System Disk To Raid On Raid-Ready System
This part describes how to use the Intel Application Accelerator-Raid edition to migrate an existing WinXP system disk (1-SATA) to a 2-SATA Raid array.
This procedure is actually very well documented in the last part of the Intel SATA Raid manual that ships with the motherboard but I thought I’d add it to make this thread more complete.
Please note that to use this feature of the Intel raid software the disk you are migrating FROM must have been made Raid-Ready as described above. Basically, this means that Raid should have been enabled in the Bios and the drivers installed from floppy during the WinXP install.
Note: I tested this by migrating to a Raid0 array but Raid1 should work also if the latest Bios and version of Intel-Raid application used.
- Open the Intel Application Accelerator Raid utility.
- With the “Raid” tab window open, right-click on “Raid volume” and select “Create from Existing Disk” as seen below.
- Follow the next several steps to choose the type of Raid array and the strip size.
Note: 64kb strip size is good for general purpose and 128kb best for most desktops and work stations according to Intel. Anything smaller is for specialized purposes. You should research this a little because you can’t change it after easily.
- After configuring the array for your preferences, you will face a couple of warnings telling you that “All data will be deleted from the Raid-controlled drive(s) and is unrecoverable” and ask if you want to continue. Obviously all data(if any) on the new drive you’re adding will be lost but the OS and other data on the disk you’re migrating FROM will be striped to the new array and will remain intact.
Note: Any complex disk procedure such as this carries the risk of losing data. A backup of the disk is important BEFORE beginning the migration process. Don't say I didn't warn you.
- The migration process can take a long time. You should see the window below during the operation.
Note: With just a default WinXP installation, migrating to 2-80Gb drives took about an hour for me.
- After the migration is complete, you will be prompted to re-boot to complete the process.
- During the reboot, as the Intel Bios comes up for a couple of seconds(don’t blink) you will see the 2 drives configured as an array and they will be listed as “functional”.
- After the reboot, you should have a fully functional Raid array with 2 SATA drives and all data from the single drive will have been striped or mirrored into the second one. Check Windows Disk manager(Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc) to see the status of the new drive. See bugs/surprises below.
Bugs/Surprises
The only problem I had with this test came in the form of a small surprise after everything was completed and the computer had rebooted. Although the Intel Application Accelerator showed everything functioning normally, Windows explorer showed my Raid drive as 74Gb in size instead of the 150Gb or so that I expected. After checking Windows disk Manager (Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc), I found that the missing GB’s were in fact there but were unformatted. Unfortunately, Disk Manager does not seem to allow merging or extending partitions so I ended up using Partition Magic 8 to format the empty space and merge it with the rest of the partition. This seemed to work fine and I ended up with a single 150Gb drive showing up in Windows Explorer. I also briefly tested the performance to confirm that it was operating as a Raid array.
I know there is a utility for Win2K called DiskPart.exe that is run from command console to extend NTFS partitions but if anyone knows of an easier way or a FREE utility that will format/merge NTFS partitions that they have confirmed works, please PM me so that I can include a reference to it here.
All the data above is based on tests that I ran and I tried to avoid using any theory that I did not test. If you feel I’ve missed something obvious or if you have something you feel should be added to make this guide clearer or simpler, please PM me with your thoughts. If you have a specific problem that this guide does not help you with, post a detailed thread in the forum on the main page.
Vango44

Great work vango44!
Here are some RAID performance statistics I gathered while testing RAID on my system. The testing software was Winbench 99. The hard drives tested were new Seagate ST380013AS drives, formatted NTFS. Winbench was running on a third drive that is not included in the tests and should not affect the results.
The drives were reformatted between tests and chkdsk'ed to try and keep things "apples to apples".
No hardware or software changes other than the RAID setup/connections were made between tests.
Higher numbers mean better performance.
I also ran the same tests on the newish WD Raptor 10K drives:
I couldn't stand all the noise the Raptors made, so I returned them.
On my motherboard:
SATA 1 & 2 = Intel RAID controller
SATA 3 & 4 = Promise RAID controller
If the test title does not include "RAID", then it was a single drive test.
Unfortunately, I don't have a spreadsheet version of the above stats. Otherwise I'd create nice bar charts for us and it's would be easier to deduce performance.
Perhaps some kind reader will OCR the pictures, put them into Excel, and make some nice bar charts for us?
Hope the info helps.

Using Disk Utility for RAID setup?

I just purchased 2 1TB Seagate Hard Drives 32mb cache 7200prm that I want to setup a RAID 0 (striping I believe) for Final Cut Pro for rendering. Well I also have a 3rd drive that is identical, question is does more drives in that RAID setup mean faster performance? 2 drives vs 3 or 4, etc.? Also what do you think that actual difference in reading and writing would be approximately?

You can find the max sustained, the average I/O, and minimum. From reviews and Seagate product spec details. There is some overhead for each drive as you seek and assemble the parts of a file.
The burst rate of the drive is likely around 135MB and average of the outer half a solid 100MB/sec.
The bandwidth in the Mac Pro totals 1GB for all drives, even though each is supposed to have 3Gbps.
SSDs are fast catching on for speed and fast system drives, even in stripe raid.
Don't mix 7200.12 with .11s or even different model/series/firmware. And Seagate has had its hands full with firmware issues for years, going back to the intro of SATA actually.
If you want one large volume and if having 200MB/sec matters or helps, you might want to RAID, even partition each drive first to 3/4 level and stripe that 3/4 together to guarantee 200MB/sec range.
But experiment for a couple weeks first.

Neo4 Plat SLI using SATA Raid cannot install WinXP 32

I recently purchased the neo4 platinum and was quite amazed what all comes with the board. However, I have spent quite a while trying unsuccessfully to get winxp installed. I was previously using a pci rocketraid card to run my 2 maxtor drives as a stripped raid.
Before doing the final shutdown and swap, I went into the rocketraid and deleted the array. Swapped boards (raid card did not follow), plugged in the 2 maxtors into sata ports 1 and 2. Configured nvidia raid bios settings to enable raid on sata ports 1 and 2. Entered nvidia raid bios, and created a stripped raid array with the 2 maxtors. Boot to winxp install, f6 and installed both drivers on included nvidia diskette. When I get to the partition selection, I have nothing but 'Unknown disk' listed several times. If I try to access one of these 'partitions' by either deleting or selecting, the system crashes (blue screen).
So, I deleted the nvidia array, the reinstalled my rocketraid card, and created an array on it. Went through the same install sequence, and am able to see the array as a selectable drive, and am able to install winxp on it. So, I am a bit lost on where to go from here.. I tried searching both here and google and I didnt see anyone with this particular problem. Id really love to get this bad boy running (a good upgrade for me), but it seems I am destined not to. Please, someone help!

Quote from: syar2003 on 09-July-05, 18:10:53
Inside the nvraid rom bios make sure to clear disk data and set raid bootable .
gah, sorry, I should have put that in my original post (did those).
So, a bit of an update... after a bit more futzing around, I have tried multiple times on deleting, recreating (and clearing data) arrays, trying with and without setting to boot. After the 2nd or so array creation, my problem has slightly changed. Now, windows install does not recognize any hdd's present and wont continue.
Out of curiosity, I blasted the array from the nvidia bios, then went into main bios, disabled nvidia raid, and enabled sil raid. Hooked up the drives to sil raid, and created an array. Windows install see's the array, and is currently installing to it. Now, while this may function as a work aorund (if it completes) I think I read somewhere the nvidia raid is not on the pci bus, but the sil raid is (which is why I want to use the nvraid). So, aside from any input or suggestions about resolving the problem I am having, any input on the differences between the two raid setups?
edit- windows successfully installed on the sil raid array, but I still would like a fix for the nvraid

What RAID setups work for each setup?

Can anyone point me to a source that can give me detailed information about what RAID setups are best for each situation. Our current situation is that we have:
2x Xserve RAID running on Xsan with two Xserve G5 servers, one for media and the other for Metadata.
We are thinking about using one whole RAID (2x LUN) for Media, and 1 LUN of the other RAID for metadata, and then the second LUN of the second RAID for switchable media (backup on HD's). So what RAID is best for media and what is best for metadata? Is it possible to set a whole RAID with two LUNs as RAID 0 or would it need to be seperate?
If someone has some info about what RAID setups work best I would be happy to hear about it!
We will be connecting 3x FCP machines through fiber, but other workstations will be connected through a deticated ethernet switch with 1Gb connection to the Xsan but 100Mb connection to the Switch.
Best regards,
Orvar Halldorsson
Sagafilm

You can also try the Xsan Tuning Guide. It recommends that the Meta info be striped as raid 1. When you are in RAID admin and click on create array it will tell you which raids are good for speed and which ones are good for protection. Here is the link as well
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Xsan1.1TuningGuide.pdf
There is also an app you can download to test the bandwidth of the volumes.

What RAID Setup do you use for your Macbook Pro Scratch Drive?

Is there any benefit to using an Express-ESata Raid Enclosure vs a single esata drive as the scratch drive?
If so, is there any benefit to using a 4 drive Raid 0 vs a 2 drive raid 0?
What Raid setups are any of you all using with your MacBook Pro's? Is there a significant performance difference between using a E-Sata drive and a FW800 drive. Is RAID the right way to go?
Sorry I'm not making a lot of sense right now, but I've searched through 20 or so pages of the forum and didn't see that anyone had addressed this question yet.

OK, just to give you a frame of reference, I just performed the following tests -
I hooked up my Sony AVCHD camera to my Mac Book Pro 2.4 ghz with 4 GB ram - (pretty close configuration to yours) - and imported a 26 second clip into FCP 7 with the following drive configurations:
Capture to internal Mac Drive, no externals: 26 Second clip takes 44 seconds
Capture to external WD USB2 drive: 26 Second clip takes 44 Seconds
Capture to external CalDigit 2 Sata Drive Array, Raid 0, via Firewire 800: 26 Second clip takes 42 seconds
OK, so now I move the camera over to my Mac Pro 8-Core, 2 x 3.2 Ghz Quad Core Xeon with 14 gigs of ram, and capture *to the same external CalDigit 2 Sata Drive Array,* Raid 0, via Firewire 800: 26 Second clip takes 11 seconds
My conclusion would be the drives and drive throughput is not as consequential as the CPU horsepower in doing the conversion from AVCHD to Pro Res. However, there are many very knowledgeable people who look at these threads, and I would be interested to hear what they have to say.
Hope this helps.
Message was edited by: Meg The Dog to correct typo

Cannot see other drives after RAID setup

heys..ppls. i just setup my first RAID array with help from vango44..thnx alot m8.. all worked out perfectly.. but..when i was done and installed XP i hooked up my ''old'' drives and yes i put the jumpers to slave.. they dont appear in Windows and it takes a considerable amount of time to start XP while b4 this all XP started very quickly..can ya'll help me out?
btw here's the guide i used.. i am using the Intel controller..
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threadid=38845&sid=

First of all sorry for being incomplete with info .. but i just came home from a long vacation.. tired ..cranky.. computer not working .. u know the usual agony..
anyhows..
I have 2 drives as u can see in my sig that i want to use as storage. And yes they are IDE
The Raptors are for my OS, games and programs.
My bios on chip ata settings are:
Native Mode
S-ata only
sata and pata both active
pata channel both
config sata as raid yes
How do i reconnect my 2 Maxtors.. physically? I presume on IDE2..?
And is it a problem that one 1 of those Maxtors an old version of XP is installed?
And yes during the RAID setup i dissconnected my 2 Maxtors..
After have gone to bed yesterday i shut down my pc with 2 Maxtors connected and when i started it up this morning all settings were gone.. RAID gone at least not activated.. and i had 2 activate the RAID settings again. I just removed the Maxtors and activated everything again.. RAID is working fine.. please help :(
Need more info? just hollar..

SATA RAIDS

Hey all,
I'm working on my home system, trying to decide what the "RAID for me" is. I'm considering going the internal route, with wiebetech's G5Jam+ and the 8-port SATA card (4 internal, 4 external), using either 400GB Seagate drives or 500GB Hitachis (ideally, the Hitachis). I'd start with 2 drives (limited budge), but it'd be nice to have room to grow, hence the G5jam+.
Option B I guess would be the Burly 4 drive RAID enclosure over at macgurus, and a similar interface card. This is an external RAID, each drivebay has a separate eSATA port, so it can be setup as JBOD, or as a huge RAID-0. I would also start with just 2 drives on this one, and build over time.
I've considered getting a G-RAID SATA, 1 TB for like $1200 - a good deal for sure, and a spifferoo enclosure. My concern here is that I'll be needing to edit 1080P HD uncompressed 10-bit at some point, and I'll need the bandwidth to do so. (I'm planning a super16mm shoot, telecine to 23.98 1080P D5, capture to 10-bit uncompressed, do all my FX, editing, preliminary CC, and then final CC at another facility with a real monitor... finally for output to D5 again, for uprez to 2k, and print to 35mm. Ambitious, I know, but production value and realism in this project are going to have to be absolutely stellar, despite having to do things on a smaller budget.)
The TRT of this project is going to be no more than 22 minutes all told, so I won't need to capture more than 2 hrs. of HD at a time. At this point I'm leaning towards the Burly external RAID, so that I'll have portability, in case I have to capture and export at a different facility without dragging my computer over there. Then again, I could always rent a D5 deck.
...thoughts?
thanks in advance to any advice.
-Kristoffer

I'd like to know more about SATA Raids as well. Been researching them, but haven't gotten very far. Bare Feats.com has some info there and I believe you need 225 MB/s sustained.
I posted this in an earlier thread. Hope it helps somewhat:
I've read a lot about eSATA or SATA II raids. Much cheaper (than fiberchannel), but the claimed speeds vary so much for what seems to be the same basic product. For example, this product seems to claim up to 150 MB/s per drive:
http://www.kanotechnologies.com/products/XPD-4XKTSI.cfm
And this product claims up to 300 MB/s and Uncompressed HD editing:
http://www.sonnettech.com/publicfiles/pdfs/pdfdatasheets/fusiondatasheet.pdf
But I've read in other places and been told that SATA drives realistically run closer to 56 MB/s and eSATA drives only 3-20 MB/s faster.
Sure would be nice to have a cheaper alternative, but sorting through all this and trying to figure out which eSATA card will fit your G5 w/o taking up extra slots or running too slow b/c it's on the same bus as another card, etc etc, is imho a total mess.

K9N2 SLI Platinum raid setup after bios flash

Hi
I'm building a new system based on K9N2 SLI Platinum. Apart from a new 80 GB sys. HDD everything else is reuse from another MB (MSI K9N Platinum).
Here is what is puzling me: Before trying to install WinXP i flashed the bios to 3.2 because of the included updates to the raid bios. Flashing went well, however in my setup I want the 80 GB HDD to be non-raid and the two 320 GB HDD to be raid1. I've set this up in bios so that only channel 5 and 6 is enabled for raid and would expect that the 80 GB HDD (channel 1) would show up as a normal sata HDD when starting up. But it doesn't - it is listed as 0.0 xxxx after the "press F10 to enter raid setup" message?
This is strange because I had the same HDD setup on my old MSI K9N Platinum and there the 80 GB sata HDD was shown as a "normal" disk and not as a "appendix" to the raid list.
Because of this I have problems installing WinXP on the 80 GB HDD
Any suggestions?

Hi BOSSKILLER
Thanks for your quick response.
Quote from: BOSSKILLER on 12-August-08, 00:14:44
Well, leave the 80GB only and install XP over it.
Then connect other two HDD's and enable RAID for them.
Unfortunately this didn't help. As soon as I installed the Windows nVidia RAID SW it prompted med that it had registered the 80 GB disk as a new disk that wasn't a member of any RAID. This happened everytime Windows XP was started.
The trick was to add the 80 GB disk as a Spanned disk using the nVidia RAID BIOS setup utility. Install Windows XP (again) and the Windows nVidia RAID SW and setup RAID 1 on the other two sata disk.
I don't think this is a great setup but it works. I hope that MSI will fix this issue in a later BIOS upgrade. It would be nice if the enabled/disabled for sata RAID setting actually worked.

Advice RAID Setup MacPro 2009

Hi
I'm after advice on 3 things regarding the setup of my 2009 Mac Pro -
1/ When I bought my secondhand 2009 Mac Pro the Apple RAID card battery was dead and I was wondering if because I'm using RAID 0 would I be better off using the RAID software as I am running out of PCIe ports and feel that a future Black Magic card my be of more benefit?. Is there a significant speed difference between the hardware & software RAIDS or is Hardware really for Raid 5 or 10? I have also heard of issues with the Apple RAID card relating to having to run your computer 24/7.
2/ I have decided to invest in a PCIe SSD card to be my boot disc (I had such a massive boost in speed when I installed a new SSD in my 2008 Mac Book Pro and a PCIe version could be even faster). This will free up one of the 4 1TB hard drives. So I was wondering (taking into account that to be employment ready I want to run AVID/FCX & PremPro) what should my RAID setup be. I have always gone with RAID 0 for speed (as long as it's properly backed up) but I'm open to suggestions.
1TB Scratch Disc + 3TB RAID 0 Data Disc
2TB RAID 0 Scratch Disc + 2TB RAID 0 Data Disc
3TB RAID 0 Scratch Disc + 1TB Data Disc [Although I already have just over 1TB of data, so maybe not this option]
3/ I have heard some people talk about using partitioning as a way to ensuring that the fastest part of the disc is utilised. Is there any truth to this? And if so any advice?
Thanks folks!
Mac Pro Details [Early 2009]
2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
32 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
ATI Radeon HD a870 512 MB [Slot 1]
Apple 2 Port 4Gbps Fibre Channel Card [Slot 2] (which I'm thinking of getting rid of for the SSD)
2 x USB 3.0 + 2 x eSata inputs [Slot3] (on order from OWC)
Apple RAID Card [Slot 4] (dead battery, I would be better off with a Black Magic card maybe)
4 x 1TB 7200rpm Hard Discs being 1 x WDC WD10EALX-009BA0 (my current boot disc) + 3 x WDC WD1001FALS-41K1B0 (currently in RAID 0, no separate scratch disc)
I have 3 x one hourly archival backups (via Carbon Copy Cloner) of each Disc with one of them stored off site and rotated once a month. That's 6 backups all together at the moment.
What I use it for
Sports photography editing and processing – [Lightroom & Photoshop]
Video editing – [Like I said to be employment ready I try to use all of the big 3 AVID, FCX & PremPro. Also Motion & After Effects]
Graphic Design – [Photoshop, Illustrator & Indesign]
Web Design – [Most of the above plus Dreamweaver & Fireworks]
Audio – [ProTools]

"There is a thread dedicated to issues with OWC card."
Just going by this website seems the issues are with models prior to 2009 i.e. 3.1 models as opposed to 4.1 which it what mine is.
"and just what to put in 3 "optional" slots."
Well if I take out both the Fibre Channel Card as well as the Apple RAID that will be my dilemma
"MacPerformanceGuide maxes out his system with dual OWC PCIe SSDs and RAM but then he needs to and wants/ needs 960GB SSD on each card to create 1.8TB of fast scratch."
Actually the PCIe SSD I had in mind was the 480GB based on about 40% usage of my current boot disc. Not sure this is large enough or a better option for a scratch disc than a 1TB 7200 or 2x 1TB RAID0?
Are we saying that PCIe SSD is generally unreliable or just unreliable as a boot disc?
Steve

SATA Raid setup details

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