Having trouble installing on a RAID 0

[zaneyard]

I have a new build that I had planned on configuring a RAID 0 on and installing Windows 7 on.
Set it all up properly, I know the machine works because I installed Windows 7 on it with one hard drive. (Plan on re-installing if I can find a solution)
When I enable the RAID array in bios and boot up the Windows 7 install disc, I get an error: "A required CD/DVD Drive Device Driver is Missing"
From what research I have done, this is related to a RAID controller missing, as a CD/DVD drive doesn't use a driver.
I loaded up the drivers from the Asus website, and from the disc I got with the Mobo onto an external hard drive, went to the drive and had the install disc scan it. Windows couldn't find anything of use.

Specs
AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 ghz
Asus M4A79T Deluxe
Gskill DDR3 1600 8gb
Xfx ATI Radeon HD 4890
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=10268245

I've emailed Asus tech support about this, but I have yet to receive a response other than that of: "You need to load the controller driver"

Thanks in advance everyone!

Also, I forgot to mention I was having problems installing Windows XP in the same situation as well, so the problem isn't specifically related to seven.

If it's relevant, my mobo revision is 1303. I don't think I saw any revisions to fix RAID problems.

 

[topper743]

I understand your pain, I just went through this last night. Check this site:

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=lhJiLTN5huPfCVkW&content=download

Load the extracted files onto a thunb drive, look for the raid controller driver, there are several the correct one is the smaller one the other you will load later.

 

[zaneyard]

That's exactly what I did, I'll try it again in a few days to see if maybe I did something wrong.
To reiterate, when I loaded the files in, Windows 7 didn't detect anything usable.

 

[jitpublisher]

Well, this may be a dumb question, but after you enabled RAID, did you enter the RAID BIOS and build the array?? Did you then return to the regular BIOS and set the newly established striped drive array as bootable, and add it to the boot order?

 

[zaneyard]

Yeah I played with all that. In the boot order, after I build the array, the name of my optical device changed in the boot order.

Official Response:
"Unfortunately, there is no sata driver for win7 of this motherboard.
If you wanto build the raid array we suggest you to use winxp or winvista for instead."

So what do you guys say? Are they giving me a line? Has anyone else successfully set up a RAID 0 on Windows 7 with the Asus M4A79T Deluxe motherboard?

 

[topper743]

Yes it can be done. As J said first you have to configure your hardware. The Motherboard manual will go step by step. Then enter the Raid utility and build the array. Now you have the "Vista" drivers either the 32 or 64 bit correct verision ready on the thunb drive. Install the drivers when windows asks, if you don't see the controllers listed then you don't have the correct drivers for windows to install. Go and get the correct ones. I believe that your MB has two raid controllers most do. Ensure that the drives are connected to the same controller ports and not cross connected. I sense a high level of frustration, no need, vanquish FUD.

 

[zaneyard]

I went into the the raid setup utility and put the two discs into one array.

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm going to reply to Asus and say that it has been done.
Thing is, the download for the SATA driver from the Asus website for Windows 7 64 bit came with Windows 7, XP, and Vista folders in the driver folder when I unzipped it.

I'm not really frustrated, as the computer works, it's just that the solutions that are being given to me are one I thought I already did.

I'm pretty sure I have both discs connected to port one, and port two.

I'm going to try it again this weekend, but if anyone has any advice before then I would be grateful.
Thanks for the help so far guys.

 

[zaneyard]

Here's a possibly useful item from the Asus FAQ pages
Q: My system has 2 HDDs in SATA Port1 and SATA Port2. I plan on building a RAID0 with these HDDs. The system also has a SATA DVD-ROM connected to SATA Port3. When I set SATA to RAID mode in the BIOS, the DVD-ROM is no longer detected. How do I resolve this issue?
A: Please install the SATA DVD-ROM in either SATA Port5 or SATA Port6. Then, update the BIOS to the latest version. Here is the download site for the BIOS: http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us. Then, set SATA Port5 - Port6 (BIOS setup-->Main-->Storage Configuration-->SATA Port5 - Port6 ) to IDE mode in the BIOS setup. This allows you to use your SATA DVD-ROM in IDE mode while your HDDs are set to RAID mode.
When I retry this on Saturday or Sunday, I might try moving the DVD drive somewhere else.

Would there be any disadvantages if I set my SATA DVD drive to IDE mode?

Does anyone have any comments on this?
Also, I'll try updating the bios just because.

topper743, do you happen to know what ports you have everything plugged into?

 

[zaneyard]

Well, I got it working!
Dunno what I did different, maybe I forgot to navigate far enough into the directory structure for the driver.
Anyways, didn't change my drive layout at all.
/shrug