Going from IDE to RAID Setup - Vista

ironfistx

ironfistx

ironfistx

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31 Jul 2003
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I originally installed Vista 64bit on a 75GB Raptor Drive on a Asus P5K Premium motherboard with the SATA controller in IDE mode.

Is there a way to put the SATA controller in RAID mode and get 2 more SATA drives in there and put them in a RAID0 array for storage?

I've tried it and Vista just Blue screens when I try to boot up, probably because I didnt originally do the install when the controller was in RAID mode and it doesnt recognise the raptor drive anymore? Is there a way to do this without doing a clean install?

thanks for any advice
 
The problem is that the drivers for running the SATA controller in IDE mode are different from running it in RAID mode. Unfortunately you can only load the RAID drivers within windows when the controller is in RAID mode and as you've found the system won't boot until the RAID drivers are loaded - catch 22.

There is a workaround if you have a second SATA controller on the board, unfortunatley on the P5K the ports from that controller are routes outside as eSATA ports. You could use a caddy or an eSATA to SATA cable back into the case though. Basically you need to set the JMicron ports to IDE mode, move the drive onto one of them and boot from there. Then set the Intel ports to RAID mode in the BIOS and let the system boot again, you should then be able to load the Intel RAID drivers. Shutdown and move the drive back to an Intel port and all being well it should boot.
 
Ive got a PCI SATA Card somewhere, would that do the trick? Just put the raptor on it and boot? Will it auto detect the drivers then? I didnt see any on the asus site that are specific to the chipset in raid mode :|
 
The card might work, I'd stick it in on it's own first though to make sure the system boots with it installed and all the right drivers get loaded before trying to boot with it.

There isn't a specific RAID driver set, they're all in the one package and the system only loads the appropriate one.
 
I've used RAID on numerous setups for years now, my general reccomendation would be just to bite the bullet and re-install it all from scratch, probably quicker in the long run,

E-I
 
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