RAID configuration not working on ASUS Mobo

[BorisChechev]

I'm trying to get a RAID 0 array (2x2Tb SATA) and a 120Gb IDE drive working on an Asus M3A78-CM motherboard. It’s not working out as I had expected.

Here’s what I’ve done:

1 – Attach drives, 120gb to EIDE, 2 1Tb drives to SATA 1 and 2 and DVD to SATA 5
2 – Load Windows XP on IDE drive in a non-RAID setting, all drives work
3 – Change BIOS from SATA to RAID and reboot
4 – Upon reboot, hit Ctrl-F and configure 2 SATA drives to RAID 0 in the RAID configuration utility
5 – Check BIOS settings. SATA drives appear as “Not Detected” on “Main” BIOS menu but do appear under the “Boot” menu. Set the boot order to DVD then RAID drives then IDE drive.
Upon reboot, RAID drives appear to be okay
6 – Try and reinstall Windows XP (also tried Windows 7) unsuccessfully. XP crashes with blue screen, seems to be related to RAID setting. Windows 7 can’t find RAID array.
7 – Updated BIOS and repeat step 6 - Didn't solve roblem

Here are some of my thoughts on the problem:

The ASUS manual shows an option in the BIOS for “SATA IDE Combined Mode". I don’t have this option in my BIOS and I can’t figure out why I don’t.
The setting here might be an issue, but I can’t tell what it is set to.

The SATA RAID drives and the DVD drive appear as “Not Detected” on “Main” BIOS. I don’t think that’s okay.

Can the board support a 2Tb array, or is that too large?

I don’t have the 3rd party driver for the RAID array, so I can’t hit F6 to allow Windows XP to find the raid driver during the install. If I need it, where can I get it?

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (Dual Core)
Mobo: Asus M3A78-CM
Ram: 2GB DDR2 - PC6400 / 800MHz (Dual Channel Kit) High Speed
Hdd: 1Tb Seagate 7200 SATA (x2); Maxtor 120Gb IDE
CD/DVD: LG DVD RW (SATA)

 

[MRFS]

> I don’t have the 3rd party driver for the RAID array, so I can’t hit F6 to allow Windows XP to find the raid driver during the install. If I need it, where can I get it?


In the Downloads section for that motherboard
at the ASUS website.


Where do you want your OS to end up --
on the IDE drive or on the RAID array?


I don't have experience with ASUS motherboard s
that support AMD CPUs; all of our motherboards
are ASUS w/ Intel chipsets.


Generally, you need the RAID device driver on a floppy disk
if you plan to install XP onto a RAID during Windows Setup.
See the "F6" option.


If you want to install XP onto your IDE drive and leave it there,
you should try setting the BIOS to "RAID" before running Windows Setup,
but leave your SATA drives disconnected until Setup is finished.

Then, connect your SATA drives and initialize your RAID
with the motherboard's option ROM (Ctrl-F).

Then, XP's Plug-and-Play feature should detect the need
for a new device driver, and you can point it to your
floppy disk with that driver.

After that, just format the RAID array as you would
any other new hard drive.


That's how we've done a similar sequence in the past,
using Intel chipsets.


I hope this helps.


p.s. “SATA IDE Combined Mode" should be visible in your BIOS options,
as far as I know: on our Intel chipsets, we have always selected
"SATA+PATA" when mixing the two types. However, "SATA IDE Combined"
may set the SATA ports to "Standard IDE mode" instead of RAID.

That's my "best guess" without having "hands-on"


MRFS