RAID Configuration

Trying to set up new upgrade Rig spes as follows
ABIT AN8 SLI Mobo
2 X 250 Gig SATA Seagate Barracuda
1 Gig XMS Corsair
ATHLON 4200 Dual Core

3 days down the road i still cannot set up XP on the stripe.. I have a healthy Raid Stripe showing on boot and going through F6 and installing drivers i get to install and Windows cannot find HD's, I have just about done every configuration in settings (enable/disable) thats available but still no go. If the drives are not striped and are single 250's windows XP will install. Have been every where on the net for info on this board but nowhere is it listed for Raid Stripe setup. Anyone got a ABIT AN8 SLI Mobo with a Raid setup who can help me out here...

 

One thing to note. Make sure you have all your IDE drives unplugged while going through the install, I've had trouble with my RAID array not showing up with an IDE drive plugged in.

And, make sure you have the correct drivers:
ftp://ftp-usa.abit.com.tw/pub/download/driver2/sata_driverdisk/nvraid_32v105.zip

 

Hi Wyatt.. I only have the bare essentials installed at the moment as per the specs.. nothing else. I have tried your shortcut to drivers DL 3 times and tried it unzipped as well, Found another abit site and DL'ed from there as well but each time i try to install from F6 routine the error report comes up each try...

''the txtsetup.oem'' cannot be found. I was thinking on the same lines as you that have I got the correct drivers, am using the floppy that was issued with the mobo and there are only 4 to choose from.
NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER For Windows 2000/XP
NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller for Windows 2000/XP
NVIDIA RAID CLASS Driver for Windows 2003
NVIDIA NFORCE Storage Controller for Windows 2003

One thing i have noticed is that if i Disable Onboard IDE Raid Controller I can't boot to first option Boot to CD.. Also which do I boot with ..Bootable Addin Cards or SCSI-0 Nvidia Stripe 465-77G .. I'm really at a loss here..

 

Me just had a desperate thought as desperate measures are called for here.. If I use a single temporary IDE and load the OS on there i should be able to go to desk manager and format the sata drives from there.. With the SATA drives formatted I'm going to have a better chance of windows recognising HD's.. of course i will unhook IDE when formatted.,I'll keep you posted

 

Be sure that when you download the drivers, you run the exe file to make the floppy and not just copy the files over.

As for booting, you'll probably want the SCSI-0 Nvidia option.

 

Well i just about exhausted every way but which way Wyatt.. I even did a Pol Pott and deleted Stripe Array/reset CMOS/set BIOS according to mobo manual then Created Stripe and Enabled RAID. Stripe comes up healthy and tried with all drivers you sent me and the drivers from mobo package but the damn Stripe will not be recognised on XP install, they show, both HD's as single ones.. So me am really considering kicking this mobo into touch as I just do not know what else can be done. When stripe is created a wee box appears on exit asking for 'Clear Disk Data' Y or N have tried them both ways and set configuration before exit to Boot or non boot. Tried Bootable add-in and SCSI-0 in Boot Priority, and trying all drivers on both disks at every change of setup. So what in the hell can I not be doing correctly ?????

 

Your RAID array should show up as a single disk during Windows install. What options do you have when it asks you where to install Windows?

 

Hi Wyatt... they appear as single drives not striped, thats the crux of the problem.. They are striped but having said that I cannot see reference to them in ''Standard CMOS Features'' where me Roms are listed etc. But they are showing as Striped in HD Boot priority. Whats the diff between.....
EIDE Primary Master Raid and SATA 1 Primary Raid, I'm a bit confused over those readings. I'm starting to think it could be driver probs, I tried those you pointed to, have tried some others I had but they were for an ABIT AN7 and KV8 Pro lol well at the moment I will try anything.

 

Well since last post I went to ABIT site and the RAID Guru has left specific instructions to set a Raid Stripe up, so I followed all to the letter and i still get the same... No drives detected.. Drive connectors OK otherwise it would not show Healthy Stripe. PS they also recommended drivers you steared me to Wyatt,

 

Ok, so you see both the drives seperately when you try to load windows, instead of one drive?

If so, it sounds like the drivers are working, but the RAID array is not getting created correctly. Is there any chance that when you exit the menu where you create the array you are not saving the changes???

Also, I'm assuming this is the step-by-step instructions you were referring to?:
http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=97108

And, after you setup the array in the Nvidia utility, it looks like this???

http://www.lvcoyote.com/raid/raid7.jpg

Under Boot, it says 'YES' and under Array Model, it says 'STRIPED'?

Also, you followed this instruction?:

 

P.S. It also seems that there have been a good amount of people who have had trouble by not having the latest BIOS. You might try upgrading the BIOS to the latest version if you haven't already. Beyond these suggestions, you may be out of my expertise. You might get some more accurate help if you post on the Abit forums, here:
http://forum.abit-usa.com/forumdisplay.php?f=73

 

Hi again it appears my final post is not around so I'll repeat. Thanx for all help and yes that was the site I used the ABIT USA Forum to gather correct info.. although when reading i skipped the F6 routine as I am familiar with it, so when Raid not installing still I returned to site and read through completely and wow it was 2 drivers required.. what sort of company are they (ABIT) whereby they rely on guys like us to pass the word on when all that was required was 1 extra printed line in Manual pointing out that 2 drivers required on RAID setup.. Thanks again Wyatt

 

Glad we could get it sorted out.