64 bit Drivers

[Keitero]

I am trying to find Windows 64 bit drivers for a Promise SX6000 RAID IDE card. I know that Promise has stated that they were not going to make it, but i am desperate now. I am willing to sit down and write drivers if I have to. (I have 6x 400GB HDs with 1TB of data on the drives in NTFS, so there is no chance that I am going to get Linux installed and working). If anyone has any idea if I can either write them (i.e. any idea where to start) or have a hacked driver, or anything please let me know. :/

 

[heymrdj]

You are definitely at a roadblock. I would pay the nominal fee for a 32bit disc from Microsoft and reinstall using Vista (or XP if that's your case) 32 bit so your card will work and call it a day. If you HAVE to use 64bit, I think you're at the point that you'll have to unraid, get a new card, and reraid. Either way, you are stuck needing a 32bit host OS to do either change.

 

[Scarpozzi]

For the age of that card and the small number of their customers on Vista64, I highly doubt they'll develop a driver for you.

To move to 64, your best option is to buy a SATA controller (unless your mobo has it built in) and a couple of 1TB drives...setup a partition for your Vista OS on the new drives then boot to the old RAID card and copy all the data to your new drives... It will just take a little work getting your bootloader to switch between the 2 Operating Systems until you can pull the old RAID controller out of the system.

Sorry that I'm suggesting something that's going to cost a few hundred bucks...

 

[Keitero]

Sad part is that the drives are newish (three months). I am running Server 08 32 bit but I want to use 4GB of RAM. :/
I guess I am out that and I need to find another RAID card that was as good if not better than the Promise. T_T

 

[Canterwood]

You should be able to access 4GB (or more) of ram in Server 08 using PAE.

 

[vaylon]

Same boat here.
Man, Vista64 has got to be the most headache ridden os I have ever messed with. It's a treasure hunt just to find a certified 64 piece of equipment, let alone the drivers.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: Keitero
Sad part is that the drives are newish (three months). I am running Server 08 32 bit but I want to use 4GB of RAM. :/
I guess I am out that and I need to find another RAID card that was as good if not better than the Promise. T_T

I wanted to run software RAID on XP a few years ago. Because XP didn't support it, I ended up settling for NTBACKUP copying data from one drive to another nightly. You could always ditch the RAID and switch to a backup system instead... It's not generally as reliable because you have to monitor the backups, etc and doesn't provide fault tolerance... But it still provides you with a recovery method.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I wanted to run software RAID on XP a few years ago. Because XP didn't support it, I ended up settling for NTBACKUP copying data from one drive to another nightly. You could always ditch the RAID and switch to a backup system instead.

You should set up a backup system FIRST before going to a RAID array anyway.

I avoid redundant RAID on desktop PCs nowadays. It adds complexity and generally DECREASES reliability. Even RAID 1, the most reliable RAID array, can be a PITA.

I'd put my RAID money into a solid backup system that does imaging. Windows Home Server is ideal because of its automated operation, backup success monitoring, ease of use, and availability to up to ten client PCs.