Can't install XP on Nvidia RAID array (Gigabyte socket 939 nforce4)

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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Alright, I'm about to start throwing stuff. I'm trying to install Windows XP SP2 on a RAID-0 array of 74 GB WD Raptors. The mobo I'm using is GA-K8NF-9.

Basically, XP can get to the "press enter to start setup" screen after which you can select the installation drive, but only if I don't load the NVIDIA RAID drivers. If I do load these drivers (F6, floppy), it hangs indefinitely at the "Setup is Starting Windows" screen.

I have 4 sata ports, all filled up. 1 and 2 contain the raptors, there's a 250 GB drive in the 3rd port, and a Plextor DVD drive in the 4th. I tried pulling the 3rd drive, but that didn't help. BIOS is the latest version and is configured correctly. When I configure the RAID array in the NVIDIA setup tool, it sees everything fine.

Any ideas?
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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Does anybody know where I might find updated (or just different) NVIDIA RAID drivers? Running out of ideas.
 

gsparesa

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Apr 29, 2001
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Don't kick the cat. I haven't built a RAID on the GA-K8NF-9 but I plan too. I have set up a single drive on the GA-K8NF-9 and you don't need to use any of the supplied drivers on the CD for a single drive.
I asked Gigabyte technical support about which driver to use. See the question and answer below. They did send me the drivers in a zip file. If you give me your e-mail address, I will send them to you.

If this doesn't help contact Gygabyte Support

--------------------------------------
Question: 161917
Which SATA RAID drivers do we use when we install Windows XP?
What is the install order of the drivers once Windows XP has been installed?

ANSWER:
hello,

Nforce 4 controller driver , First you need the motherboard driver CD, a blank floppy diskette, and a working PC to create a driver disk.
1. Place the motherboard CD into a working PC.

2. Place the blank floppy into the floppy drive.

3. On the motherboard CD, go to " BOOTDRV" folder, and to "Menu" file, double click on the "menu" file, and choose the driver that you need to make by pressing the number /letter key. For instance, if you want to create a NVIDIA native RAID driver disk, and the correspondence option for the driver is letter "E", all you need to do is insert a good formatted floppy diskett to floppy drive then press "E? on the keyboard, and the PC will copy the driver files onto the diskette for you automatically.
Note : to make things easier here I send you the driver just unzip it to a good formatted floppy disk do not remove any file

After the O/S is installed, install the mother drivers by placing the mother driver CD into the PC and select the "Express Installation" option and click on the "Go" button it install all drivers belong to mother board .

 

FastEddie

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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This is for the NV Raid setup. Single Drive or Raid. This is a generic NF4 chipset install, but the bios should be very similar between the different brands of the boards (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc...)

First thing you need to do is attach the drive to the nvidia s-ata 1, (and s-ata2 for raid)
attach your cdrom device(s) to the secondary ide channel, then boot and go into the bios.
Go to Advanced/Onboard Device Configuration and first disable the Silicon SATA Controller & the Marvel Lan.

Now open NVRAID Configuration and Enable RAID Enabled.
You'll also have to Enable the physical NV S-ATA Port(s) the drive(s) is(are) attached to.

Now ESC out of the NV Raid menue and go to BOOT Menue, setting your Boot Device Priority to cdrom/harddisk/removable.
Now open Hard Disk Drives and you should see the drive(s) listed in the sequence. If it's not listed first, select it and move it up to the top position.
Now go to Boot Setting Configuration and disable the Full Screen Logo so you can follow the POST progress when booting.

Save and Exit. On the reboot, you'll get the NVIDIA Raid Utility post screen,
where you'll have to press F10 and enter the setup gui.

Configure your drive (page 5-24 of the manual) setting it up for Stripping in Raid Mode (for single drive use or raid0), or Mirror (for raid1) and also set up your Stripping Block size (for single or raid0 to 64kb is good for standard use).
Now select the drive(s) move it from the left Free Disks panel to the right Array Disks panel.
Once the drive(s) shows up there, press F7 to create the raid set. When the prompt appears, press Y to clear the selected disk of data. Now press Ctrl + X to save and exit.

You shouldn't need the NV Raid Drivers for single drive use but it won't hurt to load them anyway. So have the drivers ready on a floppy disk. At the start of the WinXP install hit F6 so you can load the additional drivers. When the install prompts you for the drivers, you'll need to hit S twice, to load both of the drivers on the disk.
This means you will load "NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVE" hit <Enter> then hit S again and select "Nvidia Nforce Storrage Controller" hit <Enter>.

The rest of the install for WinXP goes normally. If the drives are larger that the XP limitation, simply create a partition and format said partition to install the os onto. Once SP2 is installed, the remainder of the drives will be visible and usable to the os.

Edit note: Made a couple of changes as I had this written for someone using WD Raptors.
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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The problem was (is) the SATA DVD writer. I disconnected it and installation went fine on the RAID-0 array using a plain old IDE CDROM drive. It doesn't appear possible to run a SATA DVD drive with RAID on this setup, even with the RAID functions explicitly disabled on the SATA channel it is connected to.
 

gsparesa

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Apr 29, 2001
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Originally posted by: nullptr
The problem was (is) the SATA DVD writer. I disconnected it and installation went fine on the RAID-0 array using a plain old IDE CDROM drive. It doesn't appear possible to run a SATA DVD drive with RAID on this setup, even with the RAID functions explicitly disabled on the SATA channel it is connected to.

Got the answer confirmed by Gigabyte help desk.

Question 164324:
If I'm using S_ATA0 and S_ATA1 for my hard drive RAID, can I place another SATA device such as a DVD or CD burner on S_ATA2 or S_ATA3?

Answer 164324:
hello,
yes ,load all chipset driver and SATA corntroller driver in windows before connect optical drives on SATA controller
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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Very interesting. I loaded all drivers from the Gigabyte CD using the "Express Install" option, I assume the SATA stuff would have been loaded on there as well.

It definitely doesn't work -- I've tried installing on both S_ATA2 and S_ATA3. Note that I have a third disk, perhaps that's causing problems. I'll try the optical in S_ATA2 *without* the drive in S_ATA3 later tonight just for kicks. I'm skeptical, to say the least.

I just ordered a PCI SATA card today. I figure that will solve it for $20 without having to sort this annoying mess out. I sincerely regret purchasing the stupid SATA optical drive, I only did so figuring it would be cleaner than running IDE cables. Hindsight :)
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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No luck. Oh well, hopefully the forthcoming PCI SATA card makes this easy. I got a similar reply from Gigabyte support -- it's just not true.
 

gsparesa

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Apr 29, 2001
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:confused:
Okay...I'm confused.
Please look at this diagram drawing of the GA-K8Nf-9 IDE/SATA ports and tell me which setup did you do below.

SATA RAID SETUP for 1 Drive Primary and 1 Drive Secondary
IDE/SATA RAID Function = Enabled

IDE Primary Master RAID = Disabled
IDE Primary Slave RAID = Disabled

IDE Secondary Master RAID = Disabled
IDE Secondary Slave RAID = Disabled

Serial-ATA 1 = Enabled
SATA 1 Primary RAID = Enabled
SATA 1 Secondary RAID = Enabled

Serial-ATA 2 = Enabled
SATA 2 Primary RAID = Disabled
SATA 2 Secondary RAID = Disabled


SATA RAID SETUP for Both Drives Primary
IDE/SATA RAID Function = Enabled

IDE Primary Master RAID = Disabled
IDE Primary Slave RAID = Disabled

IDE Secondary Master RAID = Disabled
IDE Secondary Slave RAID = Disabled

Serial-ATA 1 = Enabled
SATA 1 Primary RAID = Enabled
SATA 1 Secondary RAID = Disabled

Serial-ATA 2 = Enabled
SATA 2 Primary RAID = Enabled
SATA 2 Secondary RAID = Disabled
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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My settings are exactly as you describe in your first scenario:

IDE/SATA RAID Function = Enabled

IDE Primary Master RAID = Disabled
IDE Primary Slave RAID = Disabled
IDE Secondary Master RAID = Disabled
IDE Secondary Slave RAID = Disabled

Serial-ATA 1 = Enabled
SATA 1 Primary RAID = Enabled
SATA 1 Secondary RAID = Enabled

Serial-ATA 2 = Enabled
SATA 2 Primary RAID = Disabled
SATA 2 Secondary RAID = Disabled

To be exact, here are the devices on each port:

SATA_0: Raptor 74GB (1/2)
SATA_1: Raptor 74GB (2/2)
SATA_2: WD 250GB (1/1)
SATA_3: Plextor SATA DVD (1/1)

I have tried the DVD drive on SATA_2 and the 250GB hard drive on SATA_3, and I have tried the DVD drive without the 250GB hard drive at all.

In all cases, the same result. Windows XP tries to boot, but shows an endless progress bar at the black bootup screen.
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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Well, got a PCI SATA card, connected the same cable, turned the computer on and everything is golden. So, problem solved for yet another $17. Oh well.
 

Cornell77

Junior Member
Feb 4, 2005
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I am having a similar problem with my Plextor 716SA. What PCI SATA card did you buy and from what vendor?

Thanks for your help.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
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Aug 22, 2001
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What a PITA! Thanks for posting all the details though :beer:
 

nullptr

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Aug 20, 2004
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Yeah, PITA indeed. I should probably mention that Gigabyte asked me to send in the board because they thought something might be defective ... I'm skeptical on that, given that every port worked with a hard drive plugged in.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
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Have you tried the new WHQL drivers for you chipset they just released? Wonder if they do anything good, or for your issue for that matter?
 

Redmasc

Junior Member
Feb 5, 2005
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Hey I know what you're going through, I can't install windows either. After I loaded all my drivers that it required, the controller and the actual driver itself, it goes to "setup is starting windows" screen and just sits there. After about 3 mins I get a blue screen and I'm forced to reset. I've tried new drivers and everything but no luck. What did you do to resolve this situation? From what it seems, you removed your dvd drive sata. I gotta try that, but I'm not using sata for my optical drives only HDD's. Seems like a lot of people are having trouble setting up Nvidia raid chipsets.:frown: