Can I boot off a RAID card with only 1 hard drive plugged into it?

[RonPaul2k12]

Can I use a RAID card just for extra internal SATA ports?

If so, how can I boot 1 hard drive by itself off of one. The motherboard's SATA ports went bad which is why I am using the PCI RAID card.

 

[GhislainG]

As long as the drive isn't a RAID member, then it will work. That would also be the case of a DVD-RW, etc.

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Then how come the computer boots to a black screen with an underscore (_) at the top left corner when I try?

 

[GhislainG]

Since the OS was installed using the onboard SATA controller, you may have to reinstall it. You didn't mention which controller you bought; does it have a BIOS?

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Which controller I bought? The card has a BIOS but there's no options to do anything useful there besides reformat. The BIOS I changed some stuff too.

 

[smorizio]

first off did you in your main bios of the computer change the first boot device to add in card??

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Yes. It says RAID in the name of the boot device but I definitely made it first priority.

 

[GhislainG]

Did you add the hard disk as a non-RAID member? Depending on the controller, you may not be able to do that. Unfortunately we can't help much more if you won't tell us what controller you bought.

 

[RonPaul2k12]

SYBA SD-LP-SIL2IR Low Profile PCI SATA 2-Port Raid Card with SIL3512

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JTO79Q/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

How do I add it as a "non-RAID" member? I do not see any options anywhere for that.

 

[GhislainG]

Review on Newegg.com: "There are NO instructions for setting up the board and, while there is a message when you boot to press Ctrl-S or F4 to configure the board, there is NOTHING in the manual that discusses this (or the setup process)." Do you see that message at POST and did you press Ctrl-S or F4?

From another review: "Just be sure it's highest on the PCI slots, above sound cards, lan etc... or it won't initialize. Pretty sure it's an IRQ thing."

This review also is interesting: "SATA drive wasn't recognized by the XP Pro install until the txtsetup.eom file was edited. The instructions that came with the card didn't specify the need to edit the file for an XP install. Within the file, it does describe the edit for a Win 2K installation. The same edit enables XP Pro to recognize the drive." How will you get the Windows drivers loaded?

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Yes, I went into that menu and the only options are to setup a RAID, format, etc. Nothing that appeared to be useful. I tried all PCI slots. The Hard Drive is being read but it is as a RAID and not booting Windows like it was before the SATA ports on the mobo died. I might have to reinstall Windows.

 

[GhislainG]

The hard disk has to be detected/configured as a non-RAID member. It may already be that way, but I'm not familiar with that controller and there are no configuration instructions. Can you post the configuration screen?

 

[RonPaul2k12]

http://imgur.com/xh9kU

I have pressed enter on every option minus the format one.

Create RAID- needs another HD.
Delete RAID- needs to have RAID in the first place.
Resolve Conflicts- no problems found.

 

[GhislainG]

It looks like the hard disk is detected as a non-RAID member. Have you tried to reinstall Windows? You shouldn't expect too much from such an inexpensive controller.

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Yeah I tried that and the hard drive wasn't detected during the Windows 7 install even though it appears to be detected on boot and by the RAID card.

 

[GhislainG]

It should be detected once Windows 7 has been installed on the boot drive and drivers have been loaded. To install Windows 7 on that drive, you have to load drivers. Visit http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=29&cat=3, download the drivers and use them at installation time if need be.

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Well I tried two different 64-bit downloads on that page. Assuming I chose the correct ones that didn't work. I was at the Windows 7 install page and I clicked every single file that I downloaded and extracted individually off of the flash drive. None of them worked. Are there any other solutions out there or can you be more specific?

 

[GhislainG]

Is Windows 7 already installed or are you trying to install it on the drive that's connected to the new controller?

 

[RonPaul2k12]

I'm trying to install it on the drive that's connected to the new controller.

 

[GhislainG]

That may be tricky. To start with, which BIOS has been flashed to that controller? SATARAID5 or IDE BIOS (non-RAID)?

http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=32&cat=15&ctid=2&os=0&

Make sure that you understand the first 3 sections before downloading and flashing the BIOS:

* BIOS Update Utility for Windows
* BIOS Update Utility for DOS (the one taht I would use on an old system that has a floppy drive)
*Sil3132 BASE, SATARAID5 and system BIOS. Note: "The b####.bin file is the IDE (non-RAID) BIOS. The r####.bin file is the SATARAID5 BIOS." You should delete the
####.bin which is an abbreviated BIOS intended for integration into system BIOS because you don't need it.

Once you know if your controller has the SATARAID5 or the BASE BIOS, you need to use the corresponding drivers.

http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=32&cat=3&ctid=2

 

[RonPaul2k12]

How do I flash a new BIOS to the controller?

 

[GhislainG]

Follow the instructions provided by Silicon Image. Download the BIOS utility for Windows or DOS, then flash the b####.bin file (basic for non-RAID) or the r####.bin file (RAID).

 

[RonPaul2k12]

This is frustrating, I can't figure out what to do or download from your instructions or the ones on the website. Just tell me what to download and what to do please.

What I did: I put The first download here- http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=29&cat=15 * BIOS Update Utility for Windows on a flash drive. Then I put r4384.bin also on the flash drive and did not use any folders. I booted from the flash drive and it said: "No DEFAULT or UI configuration directive found!"

I read all of the instructions and they only say how to update in Windows, which obviously I can't boot up the drive to do. I've been reading nonstop and can't figure it out.

Attempting this during a Win7 installation it doesn't work when I try to load the drivers. It says "Installing an unsigned 64-bit device driver is not supported..."

 

[RonPaul2k12]

Does anyone else have any advice?

 

[GhislainG]

If you can't boot into Windows, then you need to download the DOS utility and boot from DOS. There isn't much else that you can do to flash the correct BIOS. In order to use the latest drivers for Windows 7, you first have to update the BIOS. You could contact the card manufacturer for support, but don't expect too much for such an inexpensive card.