RAID Conflict?

[sechs]

I was toying with the idea of getting a PCI ATA RAID controller, mainly to get four channels and possibly for RAID 5. However, my motherboard already has a Highpoint 372 controller onboard.

Might there be a conflict between these two devices?

I would probably boot off of the add-in controller, but would like to be able to use the onboard for additional IDE channels.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[MichaelD]

It depends on the bios. On most mobos that have an onboard raid controller, in the "Boot Device Order" section, you get to pick b/t "Raid" and "SCSI".

Most motherboards recognize an add-on ATA card as a "Mass Storage Device" you'll probably have to play w/the bios settings to get it to boot from there, but as long as you only have an OS on ONE of the drives, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm not using it right now, but I have a Promise TX2 ATA100 card that I used to use for an additional HD. I had no problem with it and my RAID-enabled mobo. It did add a few seconds to the startup time, b/c after you hit the power button, it goes thru the mobo's bios, then the highpoint bios, then the Promise ATA cards' bios...a few seconds...no biggie.

If I can avoid it, I'd rather have each device as master on it's own channel. Especially CD and CDRW drives. Good luck.

 

[Insidious]

ABit KG7-Raid for sure, and I think others too with the Highpoint controller warn to disable the highpoint controller in BIOS if
a SCSI card is to be used.

(edit: This is the KG&-Raid FAQ I was remembering:
ABIT KG7-RAID FAQ

Why can't I boot from the Highpoint controller when a SCSI card is installed?

The AWARD BIOS only allocates the addresses C000 to DFFF for use by the BIOS's of add-on PCI devices. This limitation can cause problems when both the Highpoint controller and a SCSI card is used, as the onboard Highpoint controller is effectively an add-on PCI device and hence is already using this memory space. The optimum solution is to either use Highpoint or use SCSI (and disable the Highpoint controller in the BIOS, or use a non-RAID motherboard). Altering the boot sequence in the BIOS may resolve this problem (try putting the Highpoint controller first and SCSI second: if this doesn't work, try with SCSI first then Highpoint).

If your SCSI controller supports bootable SCSI devices then you may occasionally find problems with being unable to boot from the Highpoint controller. This can usually be resolved by entering the SCSI card's BIOS and choosing a boot device ID number that corresponds to a non-existent disk. As the SCSI card cannot then find a bootable disk, it allows the Highpoint controller to boot. If this fails, you may need to disable the SCSI BIOS - but this may impact on the functionality of your SCSI card.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Insidious
ABit KG7-Raid for sure, and I think others too with the Highpoint controller warn to disable the highpoint controller in BIOS if
a SCSI card is to be used.

I've never used a KG7 (AMD 760 chipset...I believe) so I'm sure that's true for THAT board. But as I said in my reply, it depends on the board/bios you're using. The board I used to use was a KT133 based board (Abit KT7R) and it had no problem at all w/the card. I guess it saw TWO storage controllers, then searched for an OS...and went from there.

*edit*
Insidious, nice research! I think that limitation is native to the AMD 760chipset....I THINK it is...not sure....like I said, the KT133 didn't have a problem w/it, but that's the only board I've ever tried it on.

 

[EKAtBzboyz]

well try it out

i know for some boards u can change the role of the extra connectors from raid to normal ide, maybe on your mobo you can do the same?
(it usually involves a jumper on the mobo)

 

[Insidious]

true for THAT board

Yes, that is an important distinction. I only know about this MoBo because I use it. Author didn't mention what MoBo is used in system of concern.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Insidious

true for THAT board

Yes, that is an important distinction. I only know about this MoBo because I use it. Author didn't mention what MoBo is used in system of concern.

Hahahaha!!! See edit to my post, above. We're on the same sheet of music.

 

[Insidious]

Hahahaha!!! See edit to my post, above. We're on the same sheet of music.

 

[sechs]

Thanks for the replies.

The board is a Soyo KT333 Dragon.

In the BIOS, the boot option for RAID and SCSI are identical. Presumably, as long as the HPT372 doesn't have a boot drive selected, that won't make a big difference.

If it came down to it, where might an option to turn off the onboard RAID be?

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: sechs
Thanks for the replies.

The board is a Soyo KT333 Dragon.

In the BIOS, the boot option for RAID and SCSI are identical. Presumably, as long as the HPT372 doesn't have a boot drive selected, that won't make a big difference.

If it came down to it, where might an option to turn off the onboard RAID be?

There's a section in the BIOS for "Onboard Controllers" or "Onboard Features" something like that. It's in there, you have to look for it.

On my KT333 board (Epox 8K5A2+)it's in the same section as the onboard sound.