Help with ICHR5R Raid-1 P4C800-E Deluxe

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Group,

About 14 months ago I built a computer using the P4C800-E Deluxe. This
computer uses the ich5r to to support a RAID-1 array. In the last month
the following has happened twice.

On boot, the BIOS reports that attempted oveclocking has failed. The
computer is not overclocked.

The BIOS offers the choice of resetting to defaults or to enter BIOS
setup. My son, since it is his computer, selected enter BIOS setup and
then selected exit without saving. This may be a second problem.

The computer then starts XP Pro and XP reports that it has found new
hardware. This hardware is the Promise RAID controller. The BIOS
configuration has changed from enabling RAID support on the ich5r and
disabling the Promise controller to disabling the ich5r RAID and
enabling the Promise.

The system is now using the the formar RAID array as two separate
independent disks. To clean this up I have to reconfigure the BIOS and
rebuild the raid array, an annoyance.

I have run the manufacture's diagnostics on the hard drives (Seagate
120GB 7200.7) and they report no errors. The ich5r is not hot to the
touch and the problem does not appear to be temperature related as it
occurs on a cold start. In operation, asusprobe is not reporting high
temperatures anyway.

Here is the rest of the configuration:

2.8 GHz Intel retail CPU
ATI 9600 Pro
Sony DRU-510A
512 MB Crucial ECC DDR

Thanks,

Don

 

[Paul]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <J539e.92$Oe5.2011@news.uswest.net>, Donald White
<dbwhite@asu.edu> wrote:

> Group,
>
> About 14 months ago I built a computer using the P4C800-E Deluxe. This
> computer uses the ich5r to to support a RAID-1 array. In the last month
> the following has happened twice.
>
> On boot, the BIOS reports that attempted oveclocking has failed. The
> computer is not overclocked.
>
> The BIOS offers the choice of resetting to defaults or to enter BIOS
> setup. My son, since it is his computer, selected enter BIOS setup and
> then selected exit without saving. This may be a second problem.
>
> The computer then starts XP Pro and XP reports that it has found new
> hardware. This hardware is the Promise RAID controller. The BIOS
> configuration has changed from enabling RAID support on the ich5r and
> disabling the Promise controller to disabling the ich5r RAID and
> enabling the Promise.
>
> The system is now using the the formar RAID array as two separate
> independent disks. To clean this up I have to reconfigure the BIOS and
> rebuild the raid array, an annoyance.
>
> I have run the manufacture's diagnostics on the hard drives (Seagate
> 120GB 7200.7) and they report no errors. The ich5r is not hot to the
> touch and the problem does not appear to be temperature related as it
> occurs on a cold start. In operation, asusprobe is not reporting high
> temperatures anyway.
>
> Here is the rest of the configuration:
>
> 2.8 GHz Intel retail CPU
> ATI 9600 Pro
> Sony DRU-510A
> 512 MB Crucial ECC DDR
>
> Thanks,
>
> Don

That sounds like the overclock recovery procedure has activated.
Maybe the BIOS did not successfully start up, the last time
the computer was used, and it reported a failure on the next
startup ? In my limited experience, the "overclocking failed"
isn't necessarily associated with the current session, but
may be the result of what happened in a previous session.
That is just a guess as to what is going on.

For example, if you were to quickly turn on and turn off
the computer, perhaps that would be enough to simulate an
event like that.

As for losing BIOS settings, I'm all too aware of the
nuisance of that happening on the board. I tried doing a
little overclocking on the board, only to have to set
everything up in the BIOS, all over again. I've also lost
settings by removing the motherboard from the case and later
reinstalling it. It seems to be pretty easy to short something
on the bottom of the motherboard, while attempting to get the
motherboard into position inside the computer case.

I don't really know what to recommend in a case like this.
On the one hand, you could move the disks to the Promise
controller, so that if the computer ever loses settings
again, it will default to using the Promise, so the
array won't be disturbed. But, that is a pretty pathetic
workaround. I don't know of a way to lock BIOS settings
into a board, so they cannot be changed.

If you were just losing the settings, that could be the
CMOS battery. The CMOS memory is maintained by +5VSB, when
the switch on the back of the computer is in the "ON" position.
When the switch on the back of the computer is "OFF", the
CMOS memory is run from the CR2032 battery on the motherboard.
But, since you are getting the "Overclocking failed" message,
it sounds like the BIOS is attempting to recover from what
it thinks are invalid BIOS settings, by erasing all of
your custom BIOS settings. Somehow, you have to figure out
why the BIOS thinks the last session, or the startup of
the current session, is failing to work properly.

Just for the hell of it, set "AGP/PCI Frequency" to [66.66/33.33]
instead of Auto. I don't really trust the BIOS, and forcing
the setting to those normal values prevents the Northbridge
from ever getting overclocked (whether you are trying to
overclock or not, it is a safer setting to use, to "force"
the normal values). The Northbridge uses what is called the
"hub clock" for the bus that runs to the Southbridge, and
the "hub clock" is the same signal as the AGP clock. This is
also referred to informally, as "enabling the PCI/AGP lock".

Paul

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

Paul,

Thanks for the suggestions. I will change some autos to fixed values.
Further investigation indicates that the RAID-1 array may have failed a
few days earlier as the contents of the two disks were not identical.
This may have led to a boot failure. It all this, my son is not as
observant as I would have liked. Although the case temperatures are
generally OK, there may be a hot spot around one of the two drives in
the array.

Don