RAID setup

Hi again. am trying to set up a raid system with 2 SATA 120 gig Seagate baracudas'. When I start off in F4 Raid set up I can get as far as the page that asks me do I want to configure (raid stripe) ''automatically'' or ''manually'' I am choosing ''automatically'' which is highlighted. I then have to arrow (keyboard) down to reach the line that asks ''Yes or No'' by typing the appropriate answer in my case ''Y'' then enter.but at this point from highlighted ''automatically'' the keyboard freezes.. no keys will function, cant even type ctrl.E to exit. I take it these instructions are from BIOS or I could be wrong.. Any ideas plz..

 

Can you give some more details?

From what I understand, you MoBo supports RAID? Or you have an SATA card that supports RAID? The freezing occurs when you are in a BIOS utility or is this software RAID? I am not sure what F4 RAID means. How long do you wait before restarting? I am thinking your computer might not be frozen, just that the RAID is building. How much RAM is installed?

 

thanx for reply Kral .. memory 512 DDR 444.. Q-tec 450 Watt PSU, so plenty there.. f4 is what I press in flash screen on boot to get to raid setup. I'm going to try another angle as I have remembered that XP on instalation asks if ya wanna add RAID so i have drivers on floppy for that, will keep you posted..

 

What exactly is the problem, Windows will not recognize your RAID?

Or the RAID BIOS setup freezes when you try to create a RAID set?

 

Hi again Krazy,, its as i said in the first post it freezes when trying to setup RAID in the boot sequence ( by way of commands using the keyboard in DOS command as no drivers are loaded at this point) sorry about that why I used the BIOS word I dont know lol.. start the boot sequence with both SATA drives wired up and then follow on screen instruction, when it gets to a flash screen which asks '' do you want to set up RAID I press F4 (in the boot up screen ) to begin the RAID setup. this takes me into the configurations to set it up, but, when I get as far as (third page) where it asks me to ''Auto Config or Manual Config'' it freezes..(but only on the Auto) and thats the one I need to use, so I get nowhere and have to turn off power button to come out of the setup.. As I said although only breifly ( as was tired) last night I am to try setting up the raid via the boot sequence in XP ( using an EIDE Hard Drive) and see if i can ''setup that way'',,, When you go to install from CD in the XP loading sequence it asks if you wanna set up a RAID system and then I must press F6 and hopefully it will then ask me for the RAID/SATA drivers that I have on floppy.. I am helping the kids to move house this weekend so I will try on Monday morning when brain a bit more active.. Hope this is a bit clearer.. )

 

OK. So if it freezes when entering the RAID setup utility, I would test the SATA hard drives to make sure they are working. I don't see why it should freeze unless it is a hardware issue. Could also be the card, but freezes usually mean hardware especially if it is before the OS.

 

update.. hi Krazy .. have at long last managed to setup stripe by way of ''Manual'' configuration. so it seems HD's are ok.. am waiting for Mobo manufacturer to give me information on where to get the third party drivers... i'll keep you posted..

 

Wonder why auto would freeze?

 

Hiagain Krazy .. umm got more probs now..lol . I have been following a procedure from ABIT USA site to install the RAID. Well it goes like this. Having got the computer to recognise and FORMAT (16k) the 2 drives as a whole I commence to load XP and press F6 to take me to RAID.. Further on it asks for a floppy disk where drivers are so as to load.. I got these from my driver cd Instalation disk but had to copy in a certain order (that was trial and error) it goes on and following on screen instructions to choosing the correct drive where the XP is to be installed (the now Striped RAID) It is now saying, that it is NOT recognising that the HD's are formatted so I am unable to install and must format. if I do this i will lose the 16k format which I did earlier. 16k , evidently is for best peformance. So at a total loss . I know the format took place as i chose the full format method that took about half an hour and watched the progression.. if its of any help to you have a quick look at where I got this instalation info as all may be a bit more easy to understand.. http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?threadid=37734&highlight=RAID+setup.. Thanks once again for your interest and help

 

Ok, if the drives are brand new, then you are going to need to format them during the Windows installation... Are you saying Windows won't format them? And when you did the full format, did you do it in the RAID BIOS, or did you do it in the Windows setup?

"if I do this i will lose the 16k format which I did earlier."

No, the act of formatting is not what gives you the cluster size. That happens when you went through the manual configuration in the RAID card's BIOS and it can't be undone by any other way than going back into the RAID card's BIOS and changing it. A format through the Windows installation won't change the 16k cluster size.

 

Ok, I was reading the article you posted, and you're talking about cluster vs. stripe size. And I should have said, "the act of formatting is not what gives you the stripe size". That is what you get from the RAID card's BIOS setup.

One thing you could do is set the stripe size to 4k and let Windows do the format. Chances are you won't lose a whole lot of performance. Other than that I don't know why Windows won't see the format. I've always had trouble with Windows recognizing a hdd that was not formatted during the setup.

 

Well while I'm running a RAID config, I must admit that I did have to get someone over to do it for me. LOL It was makin' me pull hair that I really cain't spare at this point in my life.

 

From what I understand, Toke's issue is that he formatted and configured his RAID from the RAID BIOS, but when he loaded WinXP setup, WinXp is not seeing the RAID, it is seeing the drives separately as if he didn't do anything. Right?

Sounds like you may not have loaded the correct driver for your RAID card. WinXP may be seeing the card just as an expansion and recognizes the drives but does not have the correct RAID driver loaded to recognize a RAID set.

Try getting the latest Windows XP driver from the manufacturer of the RAID card's website. Extract the files to a floppy and try XP setup again.

 

No, he has set up the RAID array with a 16Kb stripe size. Then he formats the array in Windows with a 16Kb cluster size. Yet, when he goes to install Windows, it is reading the RAID array as not formatted. But, he doesn't want to format because that will give him a 4Kb cluster size. (negating the whole process of formatting in Windows to get the 16Kb cluster size)

It makes more sense if you read through that link that he posted a couple of posts earlier.

 

Toke, just to make sure... Is this the driver you are using?

ftp://ftp.abit.com.tw/pub/download/fae/disk121.exe

 

Hi all, thanks to all the suggestions and input,
I'm setting up the RAID array with a 16Kb stripe size. Then having done so I then format from an installed OS XP on an eide HD by way of Computer Management/Disk Management.. Its when I now reboot and go to install XP on the RAID that XP wants to format again. Someone echoed (Wyatt I believe,) advice/knowledge i was given at Computer shop that the XP instalation format will not alter the 16k cluster size.. So me thinks I might take the plunge,, I''l let you all now how it turned out..

 

Hi you guys, update on RAID install was that i threw away the instructions i had got from ABIT Forum and installed the Stripe manually. I took all your advice and peicing it all together am satisfied that now all is well and the 16k cluster size was not removed whilst XP formatted as Wyatt so rightly said. There were one or two hiccups like couldn't get com to recognise Eide HD for a while, try resetting cmos,Maxtor drivers, tried Eide in me other computer etc. all to no avail. The remedy was I left computer alone for about 6 hours switched off and went and calmed down, i returned and started up and missed the delete key to get into Bios settings and lo and behold it booted and there was the Eide drive.. lol. this morning i booted up and ran spysweeper and 30 seconds into that all had disappeared and I mean all bar the bear bones of XP. Went to syst restore and only 2 restore points there. today and january 1st. My RAID had now become drive ''C'' and no other drives or progs visible.. lol ( machines) I reset cmos and disconnected all drives barring the proper Boot drive (originally ''C'') and all has now returned to normal ( for the time being) lol So many thanks to you guys for all your input and patience'

CPU Type Barton AMD Athlon XP-A, 2166 MHz (13 x 167) 3000+
Motherboard ID 01/06/2004-nVidia-nForce-6A61BA1DC-14
DRAM Slot #1 512 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM 400)
Drive #1 - IC35L120AVV207-1 (115 GB)
Drive #2 - SiI RAID 0 Set 0 SCSI Disk Device (114 GB)
Drive #3 - Maxtor 6Y120L0 (223 GB)
EMPREX DVD/RW 8X
Crative Sound Blaster
have used ''Everest home Edition'' to get this info, cut/paste ... Spot the mistake ???? thanks once again guys