Trouble Booting RAID0 with Windows XP

[GrassyKnoll]

I have had a hell of a day trying to get this working!

I am trying to set up RAID0 striping with two SATA HDDs. I set everything up as RAID in BIOS and then used the RAID setup to set the two drives as striping. It shows the 2 drives as a single 'healthy' drive.

The problem is when I try to install windows. I have tried pressing F6 then S but all that comes up is "Please insert disk labelel manuf. support disk." I insert the RAID driver disk but it doesnt work (same screen comes back). I have tried all sorts of different driver versions (it seems like it doesn't have the right drivers in there) but still nothing.

Now, here's the kicker. About 2 hours ago I noticed that the SECOND RAID controller on the motherboard was set to RAID (no drives plugged into it). So, I turned it off, then tried booting again. It worked! Or so I thought. I was able to choose the 2 nvidia RAID drivers in windows install. Then, I formatted the RAID array as a single partition. When it was done formatting, it said (unable to read disk. Please try again or replace damaged disk. I pressed enter and it said "unable to find drivers for NVIDIA RAID Controller" and told me to replace the disk again. I tried several times (with several different NV RAID driver sets) and it didn't work. So, I was forced to exit setup and try again. Now, I am back to square 1! When I press F6 and S in windows install, it says "please insert disk" and I am unable to pass this point. I checked bios again, and the second RAID controller is still disabled from before. I am at a completel loss right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Pain]

Where did you get this raid driver disk? Did it come with the board of did you create if from the CD? Did you set the array as bootable in the raid setup menu

What motherboard is it, btw? Check on the disk that you have the file nvchflt.sys

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Yes it is set to bootable. The motherboard is ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe.

The disk was created using the CD the motherboard came with. I chose 32-bit Windows XP NVRAID disk. However, it does not contain nvchflt.sys. Is the disk missing driver files or other files that it should have?

Thanks

 

[maury73]

You simply don't need any driver! You set up an hardware RAID array, so it's transparent to the OS. Go straight with normal XP install and you'll be ok.
You obviously need to install the mobo drivers in XP after installation is completed.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

When I try to run it regularly, it says "setup did not find any hard disk drives on your computer" and I can't setup windows. Please Advise, thanks.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Ok, the main problem ive been having has been fixed. Apparently, you can't have the floppy in until windows asks for it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841813/en-us

However, now I am getting the same thing as I did before. After it formats the drives, it says "insert disc labeled NVIDIA RAID DRIVER(SCSI) and press enter.

When I press enter (with the disk still in) it says the disk or cd you inserted may be damaged. press enter to try again. if you continue to see this, try using a different disk.

All I have is the RAID disk that my motherboard made. should i be using a different disk for this? Thanks

 

[Pain]

I have sometimes found I needed to download a driver from the manufacturer, and sometimes it's not the latest version, so if the newest doesn't work, try an older one if you can find it in the archive.

I've also found that sometimes I have to create the floppy on another machine. Sometimes the floppies are sort of out of alignment.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

I tried 3 different floppy drives. I also tried an older copy of RAID drivers which didn't work at all (didn't detect hard drives).

Now I am still in the same place (damaged disk?). Any other ideas? Im getting desperate

 

[GrassyKnoll]

HDDs are set to 3gbps which is mobo default. I chceked floppy cabling and even tried using that floppy to install drivers on other computers. It would make sense that the problem is regarding the driver files, but I checked and the disk contains the driver files for both teh NV Raid Controller and the nForce Mass Storage (the 2 raid devices that I am installing with windows).

Im trying to think of possible scenarios. If it is detecting a damaged disk, I would think that it detects the driver files on that disk in the first place and then can't process them correctly. So it would make sense that it is the floppy but I have tried so many different floppy combinations that doesnt make sense (plus it is detecting the 2 drivers on there in the first place before the HDDs are formatted). So, I think it may be a driver compatibility issue?

I am using 2 Seagate 3gbps 7200rpm HDDs, and the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe mobo. The drivers I am using are the RAID drivers from Nvidia for the nForce 590 chipset. Any other suggestions on things to try?

Thanks for tryin to help guys... this problem is by far the most baffling ive ever had to deal with in my computing career.

 

[deweycd]

I have had problems trying to install drivers for my raid setup, i tried several floppies and drives only to find that my first disk, created when i didn't uses raid0 worked. All the other disks were unreadable or errorous and would not work properly.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Yes the floppy is detected. The BIOS settings for the HDDs are set to RAID and are working correctly. After bios starts up, the RAID controller reports the two HDDs as a healthy array with 1 300GB partition. When I am installing windows, I select the NV Raid and nForce controllers to install, then it formats the RAID drives as a single partition. After formatting is complete, it goes to copy files and reports the damaged disk. This is why it seems like it would be a driver issue... but I have tried so many different drivers.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

I would try that but it seems like the problem is with the drivers not the drive formats. It formats the entire RAID0 partition before I get the error...

Do you still think I should try what you said (I would it just seems quite time consuming).

 

[badge]

Yes the floppy is detected. The BIOS settings for the HDDs are set to RAID and are working correctly. After bios starts up, the RAID controller reports the two HDDs as a healthy array with 1 300GB partition. When I am installing windows, I select the NV Raid and nForce controllers to install, then it formats the RAID drives as a single partition. After formatting is complete, it goes to copy files and reports the damaged disk. This is why it seems like it would be a driver issue... but I have tried so many different drivers.

TO MAKE A FLOPPY DISK OF A SATA DRIVER TO LOAD AT THE F6 COMMAND.

PUT THE MOTHERBOARD CD IN AND OPEN MY COMPUTER AND OPEN THE DRIVERS FILE. THEN OPEN THE SATA DRIVER FILE. COPY ALL TO FLOPPY EXCEPT THE GUI, README AND LINUX FILES.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

I have tried this, in addition to the RAID drivers from the NVIDIA site.

 

[badge]

I have tried this, in addition to the RAID drivers from the NVIDIA site.

So you have to find a floppy driver disk that will work with you HD's to load the SATA/RAID drivers at the F6 command. You tried making you own Floppy with the files from the MB CD and it didn't work? So no floppy driver disk works? Hmmmmm? Time to call tech support. It has to work BTW.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Yea, i just emailed Nvidia and I am currently attempting a non-raid windows install to make sure no faulty hardware. This has been such a headache im tempted to set it up without RAID. BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP THIS EASILY.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Everything installed fine without RAID. My conclusion is that it must be a driver issue. Anything else I could try before I wait for Nvidia?

 

[badge]

Everything installed fine without RAID. My conclusion is that it must be a driver issue. Anything else I could try before I wait for Nvidia?

Apparently it was that floppy RAID driver the whole time. I would guess there is someone on here who can help you from here.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

I have another question. Would the system run well if I bought a Raptor to boot windows off of. I was thinking I could use the raptor to boot windows then throw everything on the RAID array HDDs once Windows is on the computer. Would this be a good way to run things or would I be better off trying to get this RAID array working for windows boot?

 

[badge]

I have another question. Would the system run well if I bought a Raptor to boot windows off of. I was thinking I could use the raptor to boot windows then throw everything on the RAID array HDDs once Windows is on the computer. Would this be a good way to run things or would I be better off trying to get this RAID array working for windows boot?

I have a 74 gig Raptor running my OS. Then a 250 WD SATA for storage. Works well. I think most hard drives work at full speed up to about 50 percent laoded. After a certain point the HD's performance will slow when cramming it full.

 

[deweycd]

The only thing I can think of is that you have your BIOS setup incorrectly.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

It is definately correct becuase it works fine now. I have the Raptor running for windows boot and the 2 drives run fine in RAID now that windows is installed (not on the raid array).

Must have been a driver problem...

 

[deweycd]

The harddrive will continue to get slower the more information you put on it, this is the principal of rotating disks, the center of a disk is not rotating at all where as the outer edge is traveling at the maximum speed, therefore as you write data from the outside to the inside, the ability to read and write decreases because of the variances in velocity.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Thanks for all the info.

 

[GrassyKnoll]

Thanks, it is finally done!

-AM2 5000+ X2
-ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Mobo
-2 GB Corsair 6400 DDR2
-2 SLI XFX 7900GT GFX
-74GB Raptor HDD
-2 RAID0 150GB Seagate 3gb SATA

Just ran 3DMARK,

8,000 3DMARK06
12,000 3DMARK05

I'm happy with it! Can't wait to throw some games on.