Asus UX301LA - Raid 0 not working?

[forgz]

Hi,

I have an Asus UX301LA; it has 2 M.2 (2260) slots configured in Raid 0. The model I bought has 2 x 128GB.

256GB is not enough for me, so I decided to upgrade the storage capacity over the weekend. I installed 2 Transcend 512GB MTS600 drives. The drives are recognized by the system, but, when I go to do a fresh install of Win 8.1, they are seen as seperate drives and not 1 drive, as you would expect from a Raid 0 config.

The Raid 0 setting in the bios is enabled. And there are no raid drivers listed on Asus' website for this laptop.

Any thoughts on why these drives are not being Raided? Any help would be much appreciated. Apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.

Thanks,
forgz

 

[inachu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59AqqsrfviI

 

[forgz]

Thanks.

Is this a pure software Raid? In such a case, could the boot disk be on this sort of array as well?

I think the UX301 is "hardware" Raid, as there's a Bios setting to enable Raid. When I bought the PC, everything including the boot drive was on the Raid 0 array.

Am I missing something here?

 

[ArisVer]

Just to make things clear. Did you setup a RAID array with your new disks through the BIOS's RAID setup?

 

[Ketchup]

Just to make things clear. Did you setup a RAID array with your new disks through the BIOS's RAID setup?

This. If the BIOS is set to RAID, there should be a configuration utility that launches between the BIOS load screen and the OS load. The only RAID that Windows can setup is among drives separate from the OS.

 

[forgz]

So I just went back and rid to load windows 8.1 on it again, using both the old drives and the new ones. There's no config utility that pops up when I try installing the OS in either scenario. There's also no Raid settings in the BIOS other than switching from Raid to AHCI. Any thoughts?

Is it possible that there's a Raid driver for this sort of scenario? If so, how would I determine what the driver is? Asus support was useless when I called them; they also don't give out their OS package...

 

[ArisVer]

It's not a driver issue (yet). When you boot the laptop there should be a key combination from which you enter the BIOS's RAID utility (much like when you are hitting "del" or a Function key to enter the BIOS, for example, in my system is Ctrl+I). From the RAID utility you must set up the RAID array, which combines the two disks into one or mirrors them, depending on the RAID level you want to set, RAID 0 or RAID 1.

AFTER you set up the RAID, you boot into the installation disc, and setup your operating system. Here you might be needing drivers if the RAID chipset drivers are not included in the installation disc.

If the key combination does not show up, enter the BIOS settings and there should be an option that enables that.

 

[Ketchup]

See if the 2.2.1 section starting on page 3 of this pdf helps you:
http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb/gpt_white_paper_1_0.pdf

 

[forgz]

Interesting. So I tried CTRL + I, G, J and no dice. The manual also does not point out the hotkey comibination to enter the Raid configuration screen. Any recommendations on how to flush the key out?

I also located the intel raid drivers, but loading them at OS installation doesnt seem to merge the two partitions (1 per each physical drive).

 

[Ketchup]

Interesting. So I tried CTRL + I, G, J and no dice. The manual also does not point out the hotkey comibination to enter the Raid configuration screen. Any recommendations on how to flush the key out?

I also located the intel raid drivers, but loading them at OS installation doesnt seem to merge the two partitions (1 per each physical drive).

I don't expect they would. I will admit the new BIOS interaction with UEFI is going to be an interesting adventure.

If you can find a site to update pics of the BIOS screens, that would be the best way I know of to help you.

For example, the manual does mention the BIOS, but really breezes through it. There are some listings in the Boot page that interest me, specifically the Boot Option #1 and Add New Boot Option entries, but I would need to know what you have available here. What do you have these set at?

 

[ArisVer]

Yes, there is nothing mentioned in the BIOS's manual. Maybe you have to disable the Windows Boot Manager, maybe you have to disable the Secure Boot, I don't know, but this is done through the BIOS, and not while installing the OS. OS installation is a step AFTER you setup the RAID array, which as I understand from your laptop features is RAID 0.

http://photobucket.com/ is a site from where you can post images.

 

[MadsFrandsen]

Did you get any further with this? I am stuck with the same problem right now. I contacted Asus, and they said hitting ctrl+I was the right thing to do, but still no luck.

 

[datwater]

I am experiencing the same problem. I just got my laptop brand new and it is presenting separate physical 128gb drives rather than a 256gb raid 0. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[datwater]

Fixed it. Installed Intel Rapid Storage Technology, ran program, it gave me the option to add the second disk to the array in Raid 0 or Raid 1. Took about 30-40 minutes and I was striped. Non-destructive - built the array like HP controllers do in servers, no downtime. Get about 920mb/sec now.

 

[Joswald94123]

All of the instructions say to use ctl-I on boot up...but I cannot make that work. What an I missing?

 

[Joswald94123]

All of the instructions say to use ctl-I on boot up...but I cannot make that work. What an I missing?