SATA Controller Disables main SSD?

[gabstero]

Hi all!

So, I am trying to install a RAID5 array (4x 3Tb HDD) in the BIOS via Intel Rapid Storage Technology (in the bios) on a GIGABYTE Z270-GAMING K3 (rev 1.0) motherboard.

I have a main SSD with win 10 on it, works fine by itself, etc., but when I enable the SATA Controller(s) in the bios (periferials/SATA and RST configuration), the SSD is not seen anymore as a boot option.

Subsequently, trying to configure the RAID via EZ raid, when choosing RAID5 (parity) method, I only have the option of selecting 3 (out of 4) drives. I have a similar machine, that has the exact raid5 array using the same 4x 3Tb HDD and it works fine (total of 8.1Tb storage).

Am I doing something wrong?

thanks!
Gabster

 

[Snipergod87]

Do you mean you are changing the SATA controller in the BIOS from AHCI to RAID? If Windows was installed and it was set as AHCI you will need to do some registry tweaks to allow it to boot if the controller is swapped to RAID (even if its not in an array) or you will have to reinstall Windows.

 

[gabstero]

Do you mean you are changing the SATA controller in the BIOS from AHCI to RAID? If Windows was installed and it was set as AHCI you will need to do some registry tweaks to allow it to boot if the controller is swapped to RAID (even if its not in an array) or you will have to reinstall Windows.

Thanks for the reply -
I have two actually 3 configurations in the SATA and RST Configuration panel in my bios:

SATA Controller(s) - enabled/disabled (this is the setting that makes my SSD appear or hide)
SATA Mode selection - AHCI/Intel RST Premium With Intel Optane System Acceleration
Aggressive LPM Support: Enabled

I was initially able to configure a RAID via the UEFI RAID configuration using the Intel Rapid Storage technology (as in the manual), which required the Windows 8/10 Features to be set to Windows 8/10 and disabling the CSM support. That's when I was able to use up all 4x drives for a RAID5 configuration. But I wasn't able to see the RAID drive in Windows at all.

Also why wouldn't EZ raid let me choose the total of 4x (3 Tb/each) hdd drives in a raid5 configuration? It only lets me use 3x for a total of 5Tb.

thanks

 

[boosted1g]

As snipergod said, if windows was installed as AHCI and you changed the raid controller to RAID then it wont boot.

Check your mobo manual to see if all 6 sata ports are on one controller or if there is 2 sata/raid controllers on the board.
If so then move your SSD to the SATA ports of the other controller.

 

[gabstero]

As snipergod said, if windows was installed as AHCI and you changed the raid controller to RAID then it wont boot.

Check your mobo manual to see if all 6 sata ports are on one controller or if there is 2 sata/raid controllers on the board.
If so then move your SSD to the SATA ports of the other controller.

I have my main SSD (with the Windows 10 on it) sitting on a M.2 socket connector. The mobo manual shows a table with connecting the RAID hdd to the right slots I suppose. I now have the HDDs connected into:

SATA3_1
SATA3_2
SATA3_4
SATA3_5

EZ raid sees them but only gives ports 2, 4 and 5 for a RAID5 config:

Here's that table in the manual:

thanks!

 

[boosted1g]

Try putting hard drives in ports 2-5 and leave ssd in port 0.

You will still need to modify registry to get windows to work on RAID.

Shame you did not get an NVMe SSD, as then you could just use PCIe lanes and not be an issue

 

[gabstero]

Try putting hard drives in ports 2-5 and leave ssd in port 0.

You will still need to modify registry to get windows to work on RAID.

Shame you did not get an NVMe SSD, as then you could just use PCIe lanes and not be an issue

Thanks! The SSD is an NVMe SSD indeed. It's a Samsung SSD 960 PRO 512Gb. The mobo only has one M.2 socket to be mounted in.
I tried plugging the HDDs into ports 2-5, same result. EZ RAID wouldn't not let me select all 4. And I discovered that the SSD gets bootet off the boot options when I switch the SATA Mode selection from AHCI to Intel RST Premium With Intel Optane System Acceleration.
Oh, I also noticed that when I try to enable EZ RAID, the system prompts me to reboot saying that RAID needs to be enabled first. Rebooting, resets the SATA Mode selection to Intel RST Premium With Intel Optane System Acceleration and this subsequently makes the SSD to disappear from the boot options.
So I am suspecting something with the SATA Mode selection.

Here are the BIOS screenshots if it helps:

The BIOS tab:

SATA and RST Configuration Tab. Notice how the SATA Mode selection is set to AHCI. This is when I see the SSD as a boot option, but when I try to even enable EZ RAID, that AHCI selection automatically switches to Intel RST Premium With Intel Optane System Acceleration making my SSD disappear.

The NVMe configuration tab:

And the EZ RAID screen showing only 3 HDD as options for a RAID5 method. See on the left column all the available ports and drives:

I think I am missing something very obvious.
Thanks!

 

[boosted1g]

In your manual, try both the C2 and C3 way of setting up raid array instead of using ezraid

 

[gabstero]

In your manual, try both the C2 and C3 way of setting up raid array instead of using ezraid

I tried C2, and I ran into the issue from the post above.
I tried C3 and my Ctrl+I is ignore after the POST, it goes on an boots the OS. I did what the manual stated to set:

CSM Support: Enabled
Storage Boot Option Control: Legacy

Thanks!

 

[gabstero]

Looks like The GIGABYTE 270-GAMING K3 has some major issues with setting up a RAID array. You can either set up the Intel RST Premium With Intel Optane System Acceleration as a SATA Mode selection, but as a consequence you'll end up loosing your main SSD as a bootable option or the other way around (setting the SATA Mode Selection as AHCI)
Here's a whole thread I found on GIGABYTE's forum detailing this issue with no answer in sight yet: http://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/1084/z270x-gaming-boot-ssd-raid

If anyone has a clue please let me know -- i hit a wall.

thanks!