RAID/AHCI Drivers in Windows 7

[John_VanKirk]

Hi everyone,

With Win-XP and Vista, you are required to install the RAID & AHCI driver(s) as a first step before installing the OS, which makes sense since the older OS needs to know the Volume it is being installed on.

The GA-P55A-UD7 Gigabyte instruction book manual doesn't mention anything about the installation sequence with Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit), even though Windows 7 was released before the P55A-UD7 MB.

Does Windows 7 have the Intel IRST and JM36X (& other) RAID/IHCI drivers available at the front end of its installation process, so you wouldn't have to go thru the Ctrl I (Floppy Disc) F6 business before installing the OS, or is it still just the same disjointed process as before?

I know the Marvel RAID/IHCI drivers can be installed after the OS is functioning, which is nice, but I probably would never use it in a RAID configuration since that controller is for the 2 SATA 6 Gb/s ports.

Thanks,

 

[jaquith]

Considering the permutations of OS + SATA2 + SATA3 + RAID + SP's: use nLite - http://www.nliteos.com/

XP ~ is best to create an install CD/DVD with all of the referenced drivers, and XP should be at least SP 2, but MS offers an ISO of XP SP3.

7 ~ ditto to create an installer DVD and add the drivers as mentioned "Floppy install" of GA's site.

 

[jaquith]

There's a another active post, w/simular questions: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277530-30-sata-driver-x58a-udr3

~ one of my replies:
"I prefer to create an Install CD with the drivers available *" USB method is the fastest however...

*Installation CD vs. USB vs. Floppy {XP missing drivers}

*Link - http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-XP-On-SATA-Without-a-Floppy-F6-47807.shtml
Link - http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4900
Link - http://www.bootdisk.com/

Per GA Manual (PG 106)
Link (English) - http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-x58a-ud3r_v2.0_e.pdf

<F6> Install:
Step 1: Restart your system to boot from the Windows XP setup disk and press <F6> as soon as you see the message "Press F6 if you need to install a 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver". A screen will then appear asking you to specify additional device.

Step 2: For the Intel ICH10R:Insert the floppy disk containing the SATA RAID/AHCI driver and press <S>. Then a controller menu similar to Figure 2 below will appear. Select Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO/PCH SATA RAID Controller and press <Enter>.

Step 3: On the next screen, press <Enter> to continue the driver installation. After the driver installation, you can pro-ceed with the Windows XP installation.

footnote: XP 32-bit is the only option that makes any sense in this situation, but your RAM will be limited to 4GB. XP is still in most Enterprise situations, but for "Home" use I would strongly recommend WIN 7 64-bit. Further, WIN 7 Pro, Ultimate, & Enterprise allow you to run XP in its own environment for "FREE!"

Limits link - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx

 

[bilbat]

Much has been made of Seven's 'native' support of AHCI, but I've yet to find any definitive documentation on which controllers are actually supported. Doesn't mean the info doesn't exist - just haven't found it yet! Haven't seen a quarter of the 7 devkit contents yet, maybe 10% of the DDK - and have a new TechNet doc update that I haven't even burned to DVD yet, much less installed. Assumptions have been that at least the two major player's bridges/controllers are covered, Intel and AMD; Marvell seems not to be; jMicron - haven't found anything yet...

 

[jaquith]

No offence, too many forums, not naive Q ~ bilbat = John_VanKirk?

 

[bilbat]

Say what?? If you're inferring what I think you're inferring, WITF would I do something like THAT? I went to the expedient of writing the GB sticky to cut down on the repetitive questions here - why would I be 'asking myself' questions? I am certifiably crazy - manic-depressive, and take enough psychotropics to down an elephant [:jaydeejohn:3] , but I'm beginning to suspect you're loonier than I am [:fixitbil:9] - and that's going some distance!

What do you think, Dr. VanKirk?

 

[comzee]

I don't want to hijack this thread but theres no sense in starting a new one. I have the ga-x58a-udr3 mobo. I've been trying to get raid 0 to work with windows 7, using the ICH10R raid controller. When I build the array with the raid bios and then boot into Win7 it sees the array but says it can't install on it. So I installed it on a single drive then used Intel's utility to convert the system to a raid array after the OS was installed. After waiting 14 hours for that to migrate my data for the raid array, I rebooted and it said the raid array was (status: normal) although it was (bootable: no) UGH WTF?!?! I looked on the gigabyte website for ICH10R windows 7 drivers and all they have is some .exe file. I want the raw driver files so I can load them while installing the OS.

For reference I'm using two if these drives to make a raid array: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=610
(2TB model)
I heard that using 2tb hard-drives can cause some difficulties but I have no idea.

Honestly I'm even willing to go to XP as long as I can get these two drives working in raid 0 using the ICH10R controller.

 

[bilbat]

I'll have to see what, if anything, Intel recommends. In general, an array bigger than 2TB has to rely on: either changing the sector size from standard 512 to 4K, which makes the maximum volume capacity 16TB - option works under Windows only, and it CAN NOT be converted to Dynamic Disk, because 4K is not a standard sector size; or LBA 64, using a 16 byte CDB instead original 10byte - LBA64 is the standard method for addressing a device with over 2TB capacity, and allows volume capacity up to 512TB. This option works on different OS which support 16byte CDB, such as Windows 2003 with SP1 or later and Linux kernel 2.6.x or later. I'm not positive offhand - will have to dig a bit, but I'm thinking neither method allows the partition to be bootable...

The latest Intel driver set is here... The x86 & x64 set are the 'pre-load' driver sets; the ALLOS thing is the OS manager.

 

[bilbat]

Oh - and Xp 32 bit doesn't support LBA64...

 

[comzee]

I'll have to see what, if anything, Intel recommends. In general, an array bigger than 2TB has to rely on: either changing the sector size from standard 512 to 4K, which makes the maximum volume capacity 16TB - option works under Windows only, and it CAN NOT be converted to Dynamic Disk, because 4K is not a standard sector size; or LBA 64, using a 16 byte CDB instead original 10byte - LBA64 is the standard method for addressing a device with over 2TB capacity, and allows volume capacity up to 512TB. This option works on different OS which support 16byte CDB, such as Windows 2003 with SP1 or later and Linux kernel 2.6.x or later. I'm not positive offhand - will have to dig a bit, but I'm thinking neither method allows the partition to be bootable...

The latest Intel driver set is here... The x86 & x64 set are the 'pre-load' driver sets; the ALLOS thing is the OS manager.

Ok I guess this is more on the right track for me. I'm not an expert in raid, is changing the sector size something I can do in the raid bios while setting up the raid array? I'm more or less looking for a step by step for getting raid on my mobo with windows 7, I've wasted around 20+ hours on this and have almost given up.

 

[bilbat]

OK - found a bit... First, booting from > 2Tb disks is only possible on systems with UEFI instead of BIOS, and there are only a handful of those - mostly server boards. Small article from MS on GPT format here...
How-to on doing either GPT or LBA64 in windoze in this Areca manual...

I assume you're getting 'through the basics'; entering the RAID BIOS to set up arrays, know how to load the 'pre-load' driver? If you need help with either, I'm pretty sure I've posted some procedures recently, I'll just need to find them...

 

[John_VanKirk]

No offence, too many forums, not naive Q ~ bilbat = John_VanKirk?

Hi Jaquith,

Of course not!!!

I am fairly new to this forum which is very informative and enjoyable. Am just completing my first Gigabyte Ga-P55A-UD7, with all high end components, so the BIOS and Gigabyte utilities and application software are new to me.

The questions I ask may seem technical and detailed than from a newbee, but I was trained that way as a Cardiologist, now retired just South of San Francisco.

I have some knowledge of computer electronics, which has been an interest over the years, and an A+ Certified, Network + Certified, Internet + Certified, Server + Certified, and Secutiry + Certified. Also hold an Extra Class, amateur radio license for over 55 years

Maybe that's why my questions sound a little more mature than just a Newcomer. It also doesn't take long to see that both you and Bilbat are two of the most knowledgeable, and regular folks in this forum.

So no, I am just new to this forum, but am a fast and detailed learner! Hope that introduction is helpful.

Dr. Van Kirk

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi Comzee,

I have read working with volumes over 2 TB can be problematic.

Since you have two 2 TB drives, an idea to consider or try would be to partition those huge drives into 1 TB partitions, and make a RAID 0 array with 1 TB on each drive, and use the other partitions as standard IDE letter ID'd drives for data, or file backUp, etc.

I'll bet Windows 7 would install on that array, and you would still have a huge fast array to work with.
Might be worth trying, than spending oodles of more time trying to figure out why Win-7 didn't like the first option

 

[geofelt]

Hi everyone,

With Win-XP and Vista, you are required to install the RAID & AHCI driver(s) as a first step before installing the OS, which makes sense since the older OS needs to know the Volume it is being installed on.

The GA-P55A-UD7 Gigabyte instruction book manual doesn't mention anything about the installation sequence with Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit), even though Windows 7 was released before the P55A-UD7 MB.

Does Windows 7 have the Intel IRST and JM36X (& other) RAID/IHCI drivers available at the front end of its installation process, so you wouldn't have to go thru the Ctrl I (Floppy Disc) F6 business before installing the OS, or is it still just the same disjointed process as before?

I know the Marvel RAID/IHCI drivers can be installed after the OS is functioning, which is nice, but I probably would never use it in a RAID configuration since that controller is for the 2 SATA 6 Gb/s ports.

Thanks,

Yes, Windows 7 has the necessary AHCI and raid drivers available during install. I Installed windows 7 successfully on a SSD when the sata mode was set to AHCI.

As to raid support of the ICHR10 chipset, I believe the support is there, but since I have no use for raid, I cannot personally verify that option. The normal ICHR10 support is there.

 

[avatar_raq]

I have 2 x 1TB drives in RAID 0 on the same intel southbridge chip, and win 7 installation was a breeze, exactly as installing into a single drive, so yes win 7 has all the drivers needed. And I believe I once installed vista on a friend's PC with 2x 250 GB drives in raid 0 and it also went smooth and vista automatically installed all the the drivers, so it's only the XP than needs some extra effort!

 

[bilbat]

Ahh - you've gotten my attention! I'd like to get this clearly; are you saying you did seven installs to RAID without putting in 'pre-load' RAID drivers at the LoadDrivers segment of the install?

Wish I'd have heard this a week back - I just did a full reinstall of my main dev system (7U64), and I would have loved to have tested this! Well, no matter, I boot to nine OS living on thirteen partitions; pending confirmation, one of 'em just became 'expendable' for testing!! Ah well, maybe I'll have 'em 'draw for the short straw': run a random number generator in each - whoever pops the smallest number gets formatted!!

 

[comzee]

OK - found a bit... First, booting from > 2Tb disks is only possible on systems with UEFI instead of BIOS, and there are only a handful of those - mostly server boards. Small article from MS on GPT format

Ok so what you saying is with my mobo (ga-x58a-ud3r) it is impossible for me to setup a raid 0 array with my disk and boot from them?


It it possible to partition my hard-drives into 1tb partitions and make a bootable raid 0 array?

 

[bilbat]

Yes, indeed, that is what you'll be forced to do, and it's the best practice, anyway! You'll have to make your RAID0, then set up the first partition to be the boot partition (I'd suggest a max of 100G, I run 7ultX64 with several large programming suites, a CAD package, and more than a hundred fifty programs, on a 96G partion with ~24G free...), and partition the rest for data. You will have to follow one set or the other of the instructions I showed you from Areca (pages 5 through 14) to get win to recognize and use the large partition - or, you will have to break it up into two partitions, each smaller than 2T...

I am still unsure of why you want to do this in the first place. You are cognizant that, if a drive goes, or corruption occurs, you will lose all data on both drives? Is there some particular reason you need a single partition this big? I am aware of the speed advantage that RAID0 offers, but on my system, I run two pairs of fast, small VelociRaptors in RAID0 for alternating boot and swap partitions - I keep my TB RE3's in RAID1, so all my data is 'backed up' (duplicated) automatically - I have already had an RE3 fail (and these are 'enterprise' class drives!); dropped it out of the array, rebuilt the replacement a few days later, and never had a byte of data at risk

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to Geofelt for giving us accurate information about Win-7 having the RAID drivers on the DVD. Makes sense since MS has had the Vista & Win-7 iterations to make standard drivers available at installation, and probably why Gigabyte did not mention about needing the "pre installation" drivers for setting up RAID in Win-7.

In regard to Compee's questions, you can install RAID 0 using your new HDD's. Just partition them so you have the same size partitions on each one to use in RAID 0, and leave the other space unallocated, or partition it as Primary Basic IDE drives to use for data storage or for cloning (ghost or acronis).

You need to decide what purpose you are going to use the RAID 0 for, and how much space you need. If you are using it just for fast gaming, that's one thing. If you are storing data on it, then if any part of either RAID 0 drive fails, you've lost everying on that volume. There are other forms of RAID with redundancy, like RAID 10, but that is more complex and takes an even number of multiple drives.

I agree with Bilbat, that's a huuuuge space for 1 volume, and risky I've been using Win XP for 9 years on a single 80 GB HDD, with multiple apps, , installs, uninstalls, documents, and images, and still have half the disc free. I use separate drives for cloning and folder backup for safety, so that if the primary physical drive crashes, or if a volume becomes corrupted, it can easily be restored. You can't do that with a big RAID 0 volume. If either one of the drives crashes, or if part of the volume on either drive becomes corrupted, you are out of luck.

2 TB drives are centainly impressive (I remember buying my first 2 GB HDD and thought that was wonderful) but you need to partition them for useability and safety.

 

[bilbat]

I was planning to test that business today, on an existing RAID0 partition, but someone brought me an 'already repaired' PC that sounds to me like a memory case, but will likely suck up a couple hours!

The RAIDing take precedence - once you have RAIDed a pair, you needn't, necessarily, RAID it all, and you needn't, necessarily, partition it all (I don't, I use about two thirds of the space on both my RAID0's - just don't have a use for any more of it - and it's faster that way!), but anything unpartitioned cannot be recovered in some sort of IDE setup - the volumes themselves are gone, and form the RAID volume...

I actually have a use for a huge partition. Next workstation iteration, I am planning an eight drive by 2TB RAID6. Have a particular use that, if I'm figuring correctly, will need a 4½ TB data set, and for these purposes, I like to have twice the space, so I can leave the original data untouched, to allow examining the two to check that what I thought I was doing - actually got done! However, this is the reason for the higher RAID levels - every time you add a drive to an array, you also increase the possibility (certainty??) of a drive failure. RAID5 stripes parity, so you can lose a drive with your data secure; RAID6 double-stripes parity, so you can tolerate a dual, simultaneous failure of two drives - but the biggest advantage of RAID6 is its ability to designate hot-spares, so if (when!) you do lose a drive, another can be automatically promoted into the array... The server guys, tending data farms, calculate their MTBF's in projected failures per month, as they know they're going to have 'em - and need to minimize the manpower cost of maintaining them, while guaranteeing the safety of their data!

Hardware progress is amazing! When I last did an inventory, I realized that I have in excess of two-thousand files on my system that are bigger than my first twenty-meg Seagate back in eighty-seven! And, when I first learned FORTRAN on a main-frame in high-school (which would, I think, [:bilbat:6] have been in '68 or '69), using punch cards (!!), I immediately got familiar with the 'systems guy' running it - and I recall him bragging about getting their very first disk drive - which was the size of a chest freezer, and held, I can't remember which, 5 or 10 megabytes!!

 

[comzee]

There are a few reasons, I don't want it for general gaming, just WoW. That game loads half a gig into the ram consistently for whatever zone you going into, raid-0 would make this much faster. I also like to load all my programs that I use when my OS loads. I have 8gb 1600mhz Memory so thats not a problem there, I can use and abuse memory usage lol.

To be honest I got both my hard-drives for free, I don't really need the space. I'll probably make a 500gb partition on each and make a 1tb array with them, and leave the other 3tb in limbo.

 

[comzee]

I got it up and running, not sure if these speeds are good or not? I've never run a raid-0 system.

 

[John_VanKirk]

Best answer selected by John_VanKirk.