Driver Issue on GTX 285

[Sharptack]

I put together the following system in June:

[CPU] Intel® Core™ i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GH
[RAM] 6GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 Triple channel
[MOBO] Asus Rampage II Extreme
[GPU] GTX 285 Zotac
[HDD] WD Black 1.0tb x2 raid 0 stripe
[PSU] Corsair TX850W
[Case] Antec 1200
[CPU Cooler] Dark Knight
[OS] Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64

I originally got just one WD Green 1.0 tb HD and was pretty happy with it, but then thought I needed to see what a Raid0 would do to speed up reboots, etc, so I bought two more HDs. The system with WD Black 1.0tb x2 raid 0 stripe worked very well as I was configuring it, until I updated the video driver. After that, I could only see the center of the screen image, losing the outer icons, losing the start button, etc. I went into device manager and clicked on 'roll back driver' which did not fix anything. It did not matter what monitor resolution I used, I could never see the edges.

In case I had a hardware issue, I went back to using the WD Green 1.0 tb HD. But the video still works fine on that install, so it seems to be the video driver on the install using the WD Black 1.0tb x2 raid 0 stripe. I have no reason to think that raid0 has anything to do with this problem

I have spent a bit of time going over other posts on how to remove video drivers and have followed detailed instructions including using drivercleaner in safe mode.

I am about ready to reformat the drives and start over but thought someone out there might know of something, or maybe lots of things I am overlooking. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[photonboy]

Copy and Print this:

If I read this correctly, you had everything working on a single hard drive, then went RAID0 with two new ones then left the first one laying around with your full copy of Windows etc on it? You probably intended to leave things like this until you confirmed RAID0 worked properly, which is a good plan.

It sounds to me that you have software corruption. It could be a physical problem with your hard drives or a software-related issue.

The quick solution is to CLONE your single drive to your RAID0 configuration.

This is NOT 100% foolproof because if you have a bad sector on one of your RAID drives you will still have problems, but this is the easiest and fastest thing to try.

When you install Windows for the first time, you have the option of "FULL" versus "QUICK". You always want "FULL" which takes longer but it checks all the physical locations on your hard drive to ensure you can read and write correctly and builds a "bad sector table" and won't write to these locations in the future.

Acronis True Image:
You should get a copy of "Acronis True Image", then make an Image of your C-Drive (with Windows). I would put this on a folder in your third hard drive. You can use the boot CD to restore your Windows partition at any time.

Personally, I'd do this:
1. copy all important data, settings etc to the third drive, DVD or USB stick
2. Reinstall Windows as RAID0 in "FULL" mode (make two partitions such as 250GB for Windows and the rest for "D:" drive)
3. Do a quick check to make sure everything is working
4. Insert the third hard drive and reformat (copy any data over first), then go to "My Computer" and get to "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors (under properties-> Tools-> "check now")
5. Make a folder called "Acronis TI Windows Images" (or whatever you want to name it) on your third drive, then another folder called "Basic Windows Vista Image" or similar name. Now create an image (use the 4.7GB, DVD file sizes).
6. Start installing drivers and software.

*I have four images on my second hard drive (I don't have RAID) of my Windows setup. I have a "Basic Image", a "Windows Updates plus drivers" image, a "90 percent complete" image and a "Everything installed image". After several months I end up deleting the middle two. I can now jump to a basic or "Everything Installed" in a matter of minutes.

It's still important to backup e-mail or other data periodically to your third hard drive.

 

[sol45]

WD 1TB Black not recomended for RAID, this can be root of your problem. Dissable raid and use old WD to boot, install new video driver. Aronis - very good idea, i using for last 5 years and this save me time to debug problem and restore system to working stage.

 

[Sharptack]

Photonboy: Thanks for the excellent detailed suggestions. I will have to look for Acronis. Yes, I did keep the third drive as a backup for exactly this sort of thing. I eventually planned to use it to back up important data from the raid.

Sol45: I did hear that certain HDs are better for raid but also heard the non-raid drives often work and cost less. If I try raid a second time, after format, and get another failure, I will have to re-evaluate my plan. Thanks for the info.

 

[photonboy]

Which RAID drive to buy is about how MUCH it's going to be used. Enterprise drives are designed for constant 24/7 access whereas home drives are only really used when the person has their computer on and even then they mostly IDLE.

2xWD 1TB Black for RAID0:

I don't think i agree that it's a bad idea. I know many people who have used it just fine.

In another year, I recommend getting an SSD. It doesn't have to fit all your games, but I'd install Windows to it (maybe get a 120GB with 250MB/second read). When you start running out of space, install to D:/ drive (your 1TB drive).

 

[sol45]

You right on money: "Which RAID drive to buy is about how MUCH it's going to be used."

If this OS drive this safe, if you make regular backups.
I test this drives in raid0, for video capture(rate was <> 100MB/s) after 1 hour i start see dropped frames, drive temp > 60c, in 2 hours -1 drive - stop
responeding. I spend little more and got raid drives, no problems.

Again all about how mush you going to use and what task going to use this raid.

B.T.W. what about orig. problem, resolved?

 

[Sharptack]

I have not gotten to the raid re-do yet since my business is booming. (Recession? What recession?) I do research & development on analytical biochemistry tests called immunoassays.

I plan to do regular backups on the raid0. I already store backups offsite in a safe deposit box since my company would be toast if I lost all my data. After I get the raid0 going, I will investigate a raid0+1 or 1+0. I think I want the one where each raid drive has a backup raid drive. I am an absolute novice on raid, but like the concepts.

I almost went SSD with this build. I was looking at a 128gb version. But I knew I would need more storage than that. When I learned about raid0 it seemed a nice bridge until the SSD costs come into line.


Thanks for taking the time to comment on my system. Your suggestions are very welcome!

 

[sol45]

You need Raid 5

 

[photonboy]

Acronis True Image.
Acronis True Image.
Acronis True Image.

I have an exact image (compressed) of my Windows drive stored on a separate hard drive. If my original drive physically fails for whatever reason I can simply initiate the RESTORE function (from within Windows or from CD/USB) and walk away for a half-hour or so then come back to an EXACT image of when things were backed up.

I also use Syncback to do daily backups of my "My Documents" folder. I do manual e-mail backups but you may wish to get a program to do this automatically.

RAID is fine, but I find that this method works really well. You may wish to actually RAID1 (3 or 4 HDD) your backup instead of Windows. Perhaps a home-brew networked file server?