Attempted RAID Set-up on Asus Z97 mobo

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ejbragg

ejbragg

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There are some good guides on-line here about how to do this. Thank you guys for posting that information - very informative stuff. Nevertheless, I am dealing with an issue that doesn't appear to be addressed in the guides [including "If You Installed a New Disk But the System Can't See It"].... some of the options shown just don't seem to show up for me.

My drives and what I'm trying to do is as simple as many of the posts I've read:

1 120 GB SSD drive -> Windows 7 O.S. + Applications
2 1-TB HDD drives -> Client Data in RAID 1 Array
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A,

I would like to do this right; i.e., get it set up through the hardware configuration, instead of going through the O.S., if possible. However, if it isn't possible, setting it up via the O.S. is fine.

Here is what I've already tried, using the BIOS settings available with this board...(next post)
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Step by step, these are screenshots of what I attempted...

First, I tried to take the easy way out through the E.Z. Tuning utility:

IMG_1471.JPG



IMG_1472.JPG



IMG_1473.JPG



IMG_1474.JPG


At this point, clicking on a disk did nothing. There was no way to go from here, except back to the previous screen by selecting [OK]

IMG_1475.JPG
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Next, I went to the advanced menu and made an attempt...

From the main menu, went to Advanced...

IMG_1476.JPG



Scrolled down to "PCH Storage Confuguration"... (Notice that the bottom selection is "Intel Rapid Storage Technology". I'm going to address this again in just a moment...

IMG_1477.JPG



I originally had the "SATA Mode Selection" set to AHCI. when I did this, the "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" option mentioned above was missing altogether. So this time, as can be seen, I tried setting the mode to RAID.

IMG_1478.JPG



The drives on SATA6G3 & G4 are my target drives for RAID....

IMG_1479.JPG



Then entered the "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" option. It appears that my two 1-TB drives are correctly set-up as a RAID array, whereas the SSD was excluded - as I'd hoped

IMG_1480.JPG


Edit: I made corrections to my comments above.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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From here, I attempted to go in and make adjustments, but could not really do anything.....

IMG_1483.JPG



And here's a look at one of my RAID target drives: it's set for RAID, but I'm confused about what to do with it now!

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IMG_1485.JPG


And of course, the result is loss of my bootable drive.

IMG_1487.JPG



Attempted to reboot from that drive, by resetting the SATA mode back to AHCI. But no-go. Of course, the SSD is unreadable, and I have to start over.

IMG_1489.JPG



Before this happened, I had problems attempting to set up on the O.S., as well. Certain things you guys have screen shots of, didn't show up on my screen. But again, if this can be done via the BIOS, I'd rather start here, working directly from the hardware. If someone has any input, I'll do my best to follow along....

Thanks, guys.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Sort of looks like you have the RAID set up, you set the RAID as RAID 1 (mirrored) so in effect all you are doing is having 1 drive at about 1 terabyte 9 the second drive is but a Mirror or a backup up the first drive)...If you were running RAID ) the two drives would act as a single drive (total space about 1.9TB)
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Edit: You are correct, thank you. I misinterpreted the results above and have now corrected my comments above and below.

[strike]Yes, but I want the 2 HDD's to be a mirror. The SSD is not to be part of the RAID - it's just to hold the O.S.[/strike]

Seems like I read someone stating that to enable all drives, I just need to change the SATA mode from RAID to AHCI (at least temporarily). Of course, when I do this, it's impossible to get the other two drives set up for RAID. So far, I either have RAID and no O.S. visible, or I have an O.S., and no RAID configuration - with nothing in-between.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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I've been attempting to find the RAID set-up using "CTRL-I", as many have explained, but it doesn't seem to be working for me.

And I have searched the electronic version of the ASUS manual. I have covered everything under this topic.


Anyway, what I'm looking at appears to be a good thing. At least my desired target drive is looking like it's sighted in for RAID, while the SSD is labeled "non-RAID". When I select this button...

IMG_1492.JPG


It takes me to this page.... two drives at the bottom. Both are the correct drives. The note says "Rebuilding". Not sure what this means. Is something supposed to be happening right now? Because I believe nothing is going on at the moment. When I select one of the drives below, it takes me to the following screen...

IMG_1493.JPG


Info about one of the RAID drives....

IMG_1494.JPG


So anyway, I cannot boot into the O.S. - my SSD is no longer recognized. Where to go from here?

When I attempt to reboot (past post) I get nothing but a black screen. CTRL-I does nothing.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Well, for no apparent reason, the CTRL-I screen started showing up. Not sure if I did anything different... after the course of attempting to initialize the RAID drives in the Windows 7 about 10 times (10 different ways), it started showing up when booting with SATA mode in RAID. However, I still get the same problems:

* Cannot actually initialize the RAID drives in Win 7 Pro, when SATA mode is AHCI.
* Cannot boot into the O.S. when SATA mode is set to RAID.

I read this idea from another forum:

  • 1. In SATA=AHCI mode, booted into Windows and opened msconfig.
    2. Set "safe boot" mode (tried both "minimal" and "network" versions of this)
    3. Rebooted system, but went straight into BIOS and changed mode from AHCI to RAID, saved, reset
    4. Attempted to allow the system to boot into Windows, but the O.S. was again, not found.
    5. Had to go back and set SATA mode back to AHCI to enter O.S.
Each time I get hung up, I have the Windows installation disk in the DVD drive. When the boot hangs up, the windows disc attempts to repair. I have actually attempted the "repair" to see if it would do anything. But even that fails with "Windows repair cannot fix this problem".
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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From: Tradesman1
Sent on: June 10, 2014 11:30 AM
Might just start over, clear all the RAID info, make them single drives again, then clear the CMOS and then start with only the two platter drives, set up the raid then add the DVD driver, then the SSD and set the the boot drive to CD/DVD boot the OS DVD up and install on the SSD

----------------------------------
Wanted to include this suggestion in the thread, with Tradesman's permission.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Thanks, Tradesman1.

Hate to have to go back through all this, but I am willing to give it a shot. It will have to wait until after this weekend, though; wifey and I are going out for a few days to cruise on our bikes through some windy mountain roads (Yay!)

motorcycle.jpg
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Ok, came home, pulled out the SSD, plugged it into my working system, formatted the disk, then returned it to the new computer. Set the BIOS for RAID, restarted, installed Windows 7 and voila! Problem solved.

Unfortunately, this won't help a lot of people out there, but other than pride and some time lost sucking it up and having to reformat/re-install, I really didn't have anything else to lose. I already wasted way too much time just trying to figure out a shortcut. I hope somebody out there finds an easier way for causing Windows 7 to install the correct drivers for RAID mode disk activity when originally built in AHCI environment.

For me, time to move on and forget about this frustrating ride!
 
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dms1

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I am setting up a new PC with the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 Mb. I cant get RAID to work either, Win 7 rejects the Intel RAID driver. But to the above poster, the Intel RAID utility that uses CTRL-I only works if the BIOS configuration is set to RAID. If it is not set to RAID, CTRL-I does not work (at least on my MB).
 
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sspooner587

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I'm having the same problem. I just bought the Asus Z97-WS and the new i7-4790K cpu and this board apparently doesn't support ssd raid. The manual keeps referring to hdd raid! WTF! I'm not going to purchase an expensive raid card or M.2 because the board doesn't support ssd raid. I bet its because of the new ssd connections on the board. I'm not going to waste the 6 extra ssd's I already have paid a lot of money for.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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The funny thing about my system, is that the CTRL-I function just never showed up, whether or not I selected RAID setup configuration in the BIOS. However, at some point, while messing with it (trying to press CTRL-I while rebooting - guessing where I might press it, and after changing settings back and forth), it strangely began showing itself. The only thing I can guess is that it was there, but passing by so quickly I couldn't see it. Another of the parameters I changed was the user interaction delay setting - how many seconds you have to enter BIOS before that window disappears. Messing around with it, the CTRL-I setting started showing up sometimes - at times, before the BIOS window, at other times after the BIOS window. Eventually it just always showed up, as is happening now.

However, you are correct, that the RAID has to be enabled as well, which was an earlier mistake I was making.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Your board is an upgrade from mine. As a workstation mobo, I seriously doubt yours would not accept RAID if mine does. In fact, I considered buying the WS board simply because I suspected it would be more compatible with all kinds of other PCI cards; however, I only needed the -A version for my specific application. I'm sure you do not need an additional RAID card for that mobo.

To use it, you have to go into the Advanced menu of the BIOS and search for it under the "storage" configuration. Once set to RAID, you will have to THEN load your O.S..... and if you've done that under AHCI setting, you will probably need to re-format that disk and start over, whether or NOT it will be one of your RAID "members".

Basically, you set the BIOS to RAID, install your O.S., then shut down & add your extra hard drives.
Then reboot, select CTRL-I (hopefully you won't have to mess with it too much to get the CTRL-I option to show up - if so, see above explanation), then select CTRL-I. In that window, select your RAID members as such. Your O.S. drive does not have to be one of them.
 
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sspooner587

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sspooner587

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My Z97-WS is brand new yet had 3 bios updates! Once I flashed the new bios everything worked just fine. I'm annoyed that a brand new board would come and then need three bios updates. Just shouldn't be happening, I can understand it the board were two years old but brand new.
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Curious, how did you know it had 3 BIOS updates? Is there a queue somewhere in memory showing the updates?
 
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ejbragg

ejbragg

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Oh, I see. Yes, that makes sense. I thought you were saying you had to flash yours 3 times. Not sure why those late updates are there - but I'm sure the masses buying these boards and assembling all kinds of configurations, increases the likelihood of finding incompatibilities. Also, this new BIOS program of theirs is quite wonderful, but also in its infant stage. It's been upgraded quite a bit since the Z87 board. Maybe this has something to do with it.
 
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