RAID 0 installation trouble

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

Associate
Joined
23 Apr 2007
Posts
1,787
Location
Cardiff-ish, Wales
Hiya guys,

I've just set up a RAID 0 array using 2x 74Gb Raptors. When I boot up it checks the health and it's fine.

I've then tried installing Vista Home Premium. Starts off fine, asks me to choose which disk to use - 0 or 1. Does it matter which one I choose? Should it only give me one drive option, seeing as they are in a RAID 0 array?

Anyway, I chose disk1 and carried on with the installation. Everything went fine until it needed to make the first reboot. It then rebooted but I get a message stating "Missing operating system".

What am I doing wrong?

I'll try the installation again choosing Disk 0 instead of Disk 1 this while I await an answer from someone who knows a lot more about this than me :)

Cheers,

Jed.
 
What motherboard is all this connected to?

Do you only have the two HDDs connected (plus the DVD obviously)?

Is the array listed as the second device after the DVD in the BIOS boot order?
 
Right ... it's an Abit AN8 SLI.

I've only connected my 2 Raptors. However, one is 2 years old, the other is brand new. The Windows Vista screen that asks where I wish to install to shows 2 disks:

Disk 0 Partition 1
Disk 1 Partition 1

I think Disk 1 is the older one. When i click on it there a message - "this computers hardware might not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computers BIOS meny".

The message doesn't come up when I select the newer drive.

When I boot up in bios I've enabled all the RAID options for the SATA drives and it shows the RAID array as healthy with 138 Gg space.
 
I downloaded a RAID driver from the Abit site but it's for XP. I couldn't find one for Vista. Tried using it on the Vista install and it didn't like it. Any idea where I can find a Vista driver?
 
I've found a Vista driver and installed it. However, now I'm not convinced that it was a Raid driver problem. The message when I click on my older Raptor states:

This computers hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disks controller is enabled in the computers bios menu.

I can't find anything relating to this in the bios. Any clues?
 
If you're still seeing two drives listed as possible installation targets then you're not doing something right, either the driver is wrong or the RAID array isn't configured correctly.
 
It's showing two seperate drives. That's strange as when I hit F10 during the bootup sequence is shows the RAID array as healthy with a size of 138Gb.

I can't see how I'm not setting up the RAID correctly. I've enabled the drives within the RAID option in Bios, then moved both drives over to the selected side in the bios setup screen, set as boot and it shows it as a healthy single drive of 138.5 Gb.

During the Windows Vista installation I pick one of the drives and click on Update Drivers and point it to the RAID driver on my floppy. However, this RAID driver is for XP. I can't seem to find a Vista one. Do you know where I can find one? I've tried the Abit website and the nVidia one ...
 
Last edited:
I've downloaded some drivers and have found a PDF that states that I need to load a RAID controller and also a SATA controller.

The Raid controller I'm installing is nvrd32.inf
The NF4 SATA is nvata.inf

When I was originally loading the RAID driver it seemed to work fine, although I was still seeing two drives. Now that I'm trying to install the SATA controller as well I now get the blue screen of death :/
 
There is no Vista chipset package for the A8N SLI on the Abit site so you'll need to get it direct from Nvidia.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winvista32_15.01.html

That's the 32bit ones, if you're running Vista64 then you'll need the 64bit versions. Once you get them down open the package in Winrar and put the contents of the IDE\WinVista\sata_raid folder on something that you can access during the Vista install.
 
Okay. I've downloaded the file and put it onto a floppy. I've formatted both drives then loaded the RAID driver onto the second disk (the one that shows the warning message). I've started the install on this drive, but don't hold out much hope. The driver looks exactly like all the other ones I've tried.

I'm also still seeing both drives in the installation screen. Perhaps the error is with the RAID configuration, although I still fail to see how I've down that wrong ...
 
If the windows install is seeing 2 seperate drives then I wouldn't waste your time installing as the RAID array has clearly not been setup correctly.
You need too create, format and activate your RAID 0 array in the RAID controller setup which you should be able to enter by pressing a certain key during POST.

You may also need to F6 or slipstream the RAID controller drivers into Vista as it may not have them as standard.
Have you also checked that the SATA contoller in the mobo's BIOS is set too RAID and not IDE/Single drive??
 
Last edited:
Right ... F10 takes me into the RAID option. I then do the following:

Select Striping
Select Optimal for the striping block
Add 1.1.M WDC WD740GD-00FLA2 drive from Free disk list to Array list
Add 1.0.M WDC WD740ADFD-00NLR5 drive from Free disk list to Array list
Hit F7 to Finish
It asks if I want to clear disk data - I select Yes
It then takes me to a new screen showing:
Boot No
Id Healthy
Vendor NVIDIA
Array Model STRIPE
Name 138.49G
I press B to set to Boot
Boot turns to Yes
I then press Ctrl & X to exit.

PC reboots and goes back to Windows install again. I'll let you know if it still sees 2 drives in a few mins ...
 
Jed Shields said:
Okay. I've downloaded the file and put it onto a floppy. I've formatted both drives then loaded the RAID driver onto the second disk (the one that shows the warning message). I've started the install on this drive, but don't hold out much hope. The driver looks exactly like all the other ones I've tried.

I'm also still seeing both drives in the installation screen. Perhaps the error is with the RAID configuration, although I still fail to see how I've down that wrong ...
Click to expand...
I think you're loading the drivers incorrectly. Once you have them on the floppy you don't copy them anywhere, when you get to the screen in the installer where you pick the drive to install to there should be a button which allows you to select another storage controller driver. You need to hit that then put the floppy in and tell the installer to use the drivers on the floppy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom