Promise FastTrack 378 PATA/SATA RAID

[LpBronco]

It seems like this has been an on-going issue and one that only recently came to my attention as I was using the controller without issue (or at least was able to see and use the raid for storage, as I was having some sound issues) but after an update to SP2 lost the RAID and have been unable to find drivers to restore functionality. Has anyone knowledge of a driver that I can use to remedy this problem.

Vista32
P4C800 Deluxe
P4 Hyper-threaded @3.56ghz
Sapphire 3850 Graphics
500gb OS drive
2-640gb WD HD's
Belkin 1gb ethernet
4gb Kingston ram(presently running two as I thought I might have a bad stick)
Riviera 5.1 Surround Sound

There was some conflict that interfered with Windows Explorer and when I disabled the Sound Card the issue resolved and then the Windows up date locked the system and gave me a memory error. I reformatted the drive and reinstalled the OS as I had also gotten a corrupted registry code. A fresh install failed to "see' the RAID and here I am.

 

[MRFS]

If you are trying to "fresh" install your OS onto a RAID array,
you'll need to invoke the controller's Option ROM so as to
initialize the component disks properly.

I'm guessing here that you either failed to invoke the Option ROM
and/or you failed to re-set the Boot Priority in your BIOS.

If you are booting from that RAID array, you'll also need
to double-check the Boot Priority in your BIOS, because
the BIOS needs to recognize that RAID array as a discrete
"device" -- NOT as multiple HDDs.

In general, if a BIOS does not detect a RAID array as a
single, discrete device, that's the problem you need to
solve first.

Next, the correct device driver(s) must be available
when you run Windows Setup: if the Setup disc
does not already have those drivers, you'll need
to provide them e.g. invoke F6 with XP and have
those driver files ready on a floppy disk.

I don't have VISTA experience, but I read that
you can also provide those driver files on a USB thumb drive.

The proper RAID device drivers are absolutely necessary
because that motherboard definitely does NOT have
"native" support for your Promise controller EVEN IF
it was integrated at the factory. We have the P4C800-E Deluxe
which I believe has the same on-board Promise controller.

The ASUS website should have the driver files for that
on-board controller.

If all else fails, contact Promise directly.


MRFS

 

[MRFS]

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=P4C800%20Deluxe&SLanguage=en-us


I just checked at the ASUS website (above), and I don't see VISTA
in the list of operating systems supported by that motherboard.

Here's what they list when I enter XP as my OS:

Promise FastTrak 378 RAIDDriver V1.00.1.30
Promise FastTrak 378 RAIDDriver V1.00.1.30 for Windows NT4.0/98/ME/2000/XP
For improving performance, please update motherboard BIOS to V1008 as well.

[end quote]

You'll probably need to contact Promise directly, then.


MRFS

 

[LpBronco]

I don't install the OS on the RAID. Its on a separate drive. It was also suggested that I install the XP drivers and I did and at least it doesn't come up as an "unknown device". I'll flash the BIOS today but it was working before a recent Vista upgrade. I'll probably check with Microsoft to see if an XP downgrade will resolve the issue. (I just didn't want to spend the money.)

 

[MRFS]

> I'll flash the BIOS today but it was working before a recent Vista upgrade.

Before flashing the BIOS (which can be risky), if I were you
I'd look into a modern Promise PCI add-on controller
that comes with VISTA drivers on the support CD.

Do you have an empty PCI slot available?

I'll take a quick look at Newegg to see if there is a
Promise PCI controller with VISTA driver support
from the factory.


MRFS

 

[MRFS]

"works with Windows VISTA":

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102060&Tpk=N82E16816102060


I've had good luck with the Promise TX4310 in the past
(also "works with Windows VISTA"):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102080&Tpk=N82E16816102080


From the photos at Newegg, both appear to come with a Support CD
with the necessary drivers.

$70 for the TX2300 is cheap insurance to obviate the need to flash the motherboard's BIOS.


MRFS

 

[MRFS]

Promise U.S.A.
Phone : (408) 228-1400
Fax: (408) 228-1097

 

[LpBronco]

Stumbled on a solution when I installed the WIN2000 bios for the controller and have been able to reinitialize the disc and am reformatting now. It may still have been a conflict with the sound driver as the SoundMax driver would not allow Windows Explorer to function. An upgrade to the sound driver seems to be the solution and the disc is using a Windows driver (6.0.6002.18005). Thank you for the feedback and support.

LpBronco