Need Help Formatting RAID Partition

[clunk]

Just installed two Quantum LM30 disks on an Abit KT7-RAID and I was trying to format the C: partition (Fdisk'ed first). When I try to enter the format command (after booting into DOS from startup disk), the C partition counts up to 100% on the format step, then stops dead while displaying:

Writing out file allocation table
0 percent completed

At this point, the 'puter locks up hard (no Ctrl-alt-del available) and must be reset to continue. Any ideas???

Thanks

BTW - Although capable of running faster, I have the Tbird set at the stock 800MHz for this procedure.

 

[clunk]

anyone?

 

[clunk]

Bueller? Bueller?

 

[clunk]

In case anyone's interested (and it looks like you're not), the tech support guy at Highpoint (the RAID controller on the KT7) gave me a couple of suggestions. Turns out that the RAID controller was unhappy sharing an IRQ with my Hollywood+. Once I moved this out of slot 5 (which shares an IRQ with the Highpoint), formatting proceeded smoothly.

Now I have to figure out why Norton's Ghost utility doesn't want to copy a partition to the RAID setup ...

 

[progiciel]

Thanks for the tip, I was actually planning on placing a ISA SCSI card that came with my Zip drive there, good to know that can be trouble.
BTW, what number did you call to get the Highpoint tech-support? (just in case...)

Thanks a lot.

 

[clunk]

The ISA slot is shared with PCI slot 6 (Highpoint shares with slot 5). You just need to be sure to check the Legacy ISA option in the BIOS setup.

Here are some numbers, but I hope you don't need them.

Highpoint Tech Support (I think there's just one guy!)
1-510-623-0841 10am-3pm PST

ABIT Tech Support
1-510-623-0500

 

[Bigbro]

Clunk, did the Abit board come with complete instructions on partitioning and formatting your drives. I am curious how this is done for Raid. Do you know where there is a thorough guide? Thanks for any info. -ML

 

[progiciel]

Thanks!

 

[clunk]

Once you set up the RAID array in the Highpoint BIOS (very user friendly), the array will show up as a single disk to the computer. I booted into DOS, ran fdisk (set up primary partition and extended partition with two logical drives - C=5GB, D=5GB, E=50GB), restart the 'puter, then format the C, D, and E drives. You can do all this before installing an OS ... Win98 SE sees the Highpoint as a PCI Mass Storage Controller under a SCSI tab and you then update the drivers to make it recognized as the Highpoint 370.

The ABIT manual is thorough regarding installation, but partitioning/formatting is left to the user (but is fairly painless as described above).

 

[Bigbro]

Thanks for the info Clunk. Hope you got everything smoothed out now. Keep us informed if you have any issues with that 370 northbridge please. -ML

 

[clunk]

Okay, beginning to get this sorted out.

Turns out that its probably a resource sharing problem on the KT7. Could never get my two Quantum LM30s to play nice as a RAID setup. Decided to yank everything but the videocard and do a clean install of Win98 (& SE). All went very smoothly (and quickly). Proceeded to begin installing other cards (MX300, USR ISA modem, and Linksys NIC; slots 4,6, and 3 respectively) and still functioning 100%. Popped in the final two cards (Hollywood+ and Studio DV; slots 1 and 2) and thats when the sh*t hit the fan. Lockups and restarts galore. I blame the KT7 since the Highpoint controller shares slot 5 which is currently empty. This very same setup runs very well when booting off a WD 20gig disk attached to the VIA ATA66 onboard controller (as evidenced by me writing this post).

I specifically got the KT7 because it had the 6/1 slot setup and I had a buncha add-in cards. I think the stability of the board was over-reported because the review sites never really pushed the limits of expansion. Any other user experiences with the KT7 (especially in RAID 0 setup) would be welcome.