Someone please deliver me from RAID HELL

[AnandThenMan]

I have an A8N-E paired off with an A64 3200+ etc. which has been working perfectly for me for several months.

I just got a hold of 2 Seagates in SATA and want to run them in RAID 0. I set the RAID array to stripe in the Nvidia RAID setup with no problems. I have the drivers on floppy and when installing Windows xp I specify and load BOTH drivers which works fine. Windows goes though the whole install procedure without a glitch (very fast too) then reboots. It is on the final reboot and when Windows goes to load for the first time that everything goes to hell.

Basically, I see the WinXP logo for a few seconds then get a reboot. It will do this endlessly. I know the drivers are the correct ones, and like I said Windows has no problems installing all the way though, it just dies on the boot up that should be taking me into windows for the first time.

This is what I've tried.

- updated to the latest bios
- made sure the SATA drives are set to RAID in the bios
- re-created the RAID array several times just to be sure.

I got fed up and installed Windows on a regular IDE no SATA drive, and it went in fine, no problems. I then loaded up all the chipset/video drivers etc. Funny thing is, Windows does not see the array in disk management until after I run the NVIDIA RAID utility. Shouldn't windows just see the array and be able to format it? What does tht RAID utility do anyway? Besides, how can Windows install and run properly if the RAID utility has to be run in Windows before Windows can see the array and use it? Makes no sense to me.

After I had the array formated from inside of Windows, I then tried to install Windows on the formatted Array. I loaded up the drivers and Windows saw the partition and installed fine. But AGAIN I get the endless reboots. I just don't understand why this is so difficult. I know it is not a stability issue because the system has been rock solid from day one, the only difference is I am installing windows on the SATA RAID array.

I must be missing something simple, thanks a lot for any advise!!

 

[AnandThenMan]

no one?

 

[virtualrain]

I think this is a common problem due to the fact that the non-WHQL (?) nVidia drivers seem to be screwed up such that they work fine for the text mode install but fail to install correctly for the GUI mode install.

The sure way to do it is to slipstream the drivers into the WinXP install. This is not trivial either but it does work. You need a tool called nLite to slipstream the text mode drivers and then you need to do some manual work to get the GUI mode drivers properly setup to install correctly. Here's the info...

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=51140

 

[AnandThenMan]

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a go.

 

[garikfox]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1660444&enterthread=y

 

[AnandThenMan]

garikfox thanks for the link, but it does not solve my reboot problem. The problem is not installing the drivers, it is when Windows tried to load up at the very end, it goes into an endless reboot cycle. (I did try the exact version drivers posted in that link)

I'm going to give the slipstream method a try and will post back.

 

[garikfox]

Originally posted by: AnandThenMan
garikfox thanks for the link, but it does not solve my reboot problem. The problem is not installing the drivers, it is when Windows tried to load up at the very end, it goes into an endless reboot cycle. (I did try the exact version drivers posted in that link)

I'm going to give the slipstream method a try and will post back.

No Im right these are diff RAID drivers even though there are the same. as 6.66


Trust me just follow my instructions on that link. I had your same problem. But now its
fixed.

Trust me read and install as I mentiooned u will be suprised it will work.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Well guess what garikfox, you WERE correct. Thanks a millionx1,000,000 to everyone that replied!

BTW, the slip streaming method also works IF you use the proper drivers as posted in the link above. But there is no real need to go though the trouble of slipstreaming any drivers unless you like that kind of thing. Also, it is VERY important that you have the lastest BIOS or it will NOT work! Thank again everyone.

 

[garikfox]

Told ya so, LoL I know it does seem odd but u know what, Lets help pass the word for our other fellow RAID-0 peeps that might have this same problem, I knew It was coming 6mos. ago but I finnaly found the fix in my post.

Glad to hear yer ok