Booting from RAID striped

>>>>> "Terry" == Terry <kilowatt DeleteThis @charter.net> writes:

Terry> XP asks where to install itself. I get two choices
Terry> C:Partition1 (unknown) 160 unpartitioned 160

Terry> Is this what I should see? I would expect only have one
Terry> 320 drive.

I'm not an expert on RAID but I did what you did (but with 4
drives). The BIOS probably doesn't know anything about real RAID
(google fake RAID and you'll see what I mean) so just install XP on
partition 1. When everything is loaded, then you should have some
higher-level program to install which will let you switch RAID styles
and whatnot. At that point you will add your second disk partition
and you get to choose which RAID to use.
--
Comparing to another activity is useful if it helps you formulate
questions, it's dangerous when you use it to justify answers.
Martin Fowler
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped 

Which SATA controller are you using?

Your mainboard includes two separate SATA controllers: the native Intel 975X
one, and a third-party one from adaptec. At a guess, you're installing the
RAID drivers for the wrong controller.

If you've lost your manual, it is available for download:

http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/E7210/MNL-0719.pdf

(The manual isn't clearly written, unfortunately.)

HTH.

Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"Terry" <kilowatt.RemoveThis@charter.net> wrote in message
news:1189472119.119954.128540@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
>I have made an XP drivers disk for my P4SCT mobo. I have changed my
> bios to RAID. I have made an array RAID 0 and made it bootable. I
> have 2 SATA 160G WD hard drives.
>
> When I run XP SP2 setup disk I press F6 and load the driver disk from
> floppy.
>
> XP asks where to install itself. I get two choices
> C:Partition1 (unknown) 160
> unpartitioned 160
>
> Is this what I should see? I would expect only have one 320 drive.
>
> TIA
>
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped 

Ah. The plain P4SCT doesn't include the Marvell SATA controller.

If you've built a RAID 0 in the BIOS settings, and installed the RAID
drivers (C20 on the downloadable manual), I don't know why it didn't work.
When you were installing the drivers, did you get the screen listed in step
J (where you get to choose the "Adaptec Embedded Host Serial ATA Raid
Controller" from a list of devices)?


"Terry" <kilowatt DeleteThis @charter.net> wrote in message
news:1189479288.494223.207180@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>I have no clue what SATA controler I am using.
> How do I find that out?
> The mobo only has two SATA ports.
> I have one drive plugged into each port.
>
> I am afraid I have read the manual. I just don't understand much of
> what it is saying.
>
> I know what a hard drive is and I know what the mobo is, but that is
> about it.
>
> The manual says make a boot disk using Intel Hance Rapids Driver
> (Adaptec)
> That is what I have done.
>
>
> On Sep 10, 10:20 pm, "Bob Knowlden" <nk... DeleteThis @comcast.net> wrote:
>> Which SATA controller are you using?
>>
>> Your mainboard includes two separate SATA controllers: the native Intel
>> 975X
>> one, and a third-party one from adaptec. At a guess, you're installing
>> the
>> RAID drivers for the wrong controller.
>>
>> If you've lost your manual, it is available for download:
>>
>> http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/E7210/MNL-0719.pdf
>>
>> (The manual isn't clearly written, unfortunately.)
>>
>> HTH.
>>
>> Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
>>
>> "Terry" <kilow... DeleteThis @charter.net> wrote in message
>>
>> news:1189472119.119954.128540@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> >I have made an XP drivers disk for my P4SCT mobo. I have changed my
>> > bios to RAID. I have made an array RAID 0 and made it bootable. I
>> > have 2 SATA 160G WD hard drives.
>>
>> > When I run XP SP2 setup disk I press F6 and load the driver disk from
>> > floppy.
>>
>> > XP asks where to install itself. I get two choices
>> > C:Partition1 (unknown) 160
>> > unpartitioned 160
>>
>> > Is this what I should see? I would expect only have one 320 drive.
>>
>> > TIA- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped 

Terry <kilowatt.RemoveThis@charter.net> wrote in news:1189472119.119954.128540@
19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com:

> I have made an XP drivers disk for my P4SCT mobo. I have changed my
> bios to RAID. I have made an array RAID 0 and made it bootable.

Hello Terry,

Page C1 of the manual says that you need the Adaptec RAID drivers found
here:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/875/P4SCT.cfm
Left Click 'Download the Latest Drivers and Utilities'. Select
'Microsoft', 'XP + SP2" and 'SATA'. Left Click 'Submit'. Left Click
'Download'.

Create a new floppy with the Adaptec drivers if needed.

> I have 2 SATA 160G WD hard drives.

For the sake of others reading this, they should read the other post I
wrote. There are warnings in there that should be read carefully.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.hardware.pc-
homebuilt/msg/94b5418e121b0f5f

Press Ctrl-A during Power On Self Test (POST) to enter the Adaptec RAID
Configuration Utility (ARC).

Page C6 in the manual shows how to enter the Array Configuration Utility.
Then select Manage Arrays. You should see one large volume or as your
manual refers to it one large array and it should be 320 GB.

Page C7 shows how to select the disks that you will use for the array.
Did you select *both* hard drives before pressing <Enter>?

The ARC menu also allows you to format and verify your disks.

If you have created an array on only one drive, you will have to delete
the array and start over.

When recreating the array, select the first drive by pressing the <INS>
(insert) key to select the first drive. Then press the <DNArrow> (down
arrow) key once to move to the second drive. Press <INS> key again. You
should see two drives in the box on the right. Press <Enter> to finish.

If everything checks out and you have one 320 GB array, you should be
able to install XP as you have already done by pressing F6 using your
Adaptec RAID floppy.

If you still don't see one 320 GB array:
Did XP read your floppy and load the RAID drivers?

You will probably want to set up a partition smaller than 320 GB to load
XP on.

By the way, the RAID section of the manual is very good. I couldn't
state it any clearer myself. Most motherboard manuals have *no*
information at all about installing and configuring RAID.

--
Alan Norton - Pecos SoftWareWorks
Review of Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H, ECS P965T-A and ABIT AN8 SLI MB's,
IT Articles - Arizona Pics and Cute Animal Pics
http://www.pecos-softwareworks.com/
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped 

On Sep 11, 10:38 pm, Pecos <anortRemOveThIs&2....DeleteThis@phreego.net> wrote:
> Terry <kilow....DeleteThis@charter.net> wrote in news:1189472119.119954.128540@
> 19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com:
>
> > I have made an XP drivers disk for my P4SCT mobo. I have changed my
> > bios to RAID. I have made an array RAID 0 and made it bootable.
>
> Hello Terry,
>
> Page C1 of the manual says that you need the Adaptec RAID drivers found
> here:http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/875/P4SCT.cfm
> Left Click 'Download the Latest Drivers and Utilities'. Select
> 'Microsoft', 'XP + SP2" and 'SATA'. Left Click 'Submit'. Left Click
> 'Download'.
>
> Create a new floppy with the Adaptec drivers if needed.
>
> > I have 2 SATA 160G WD hard drives.
>
> For the sake of others reading this, they should read the other post I
> wrote. There are warnings in there that should be read carefully.
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.hardware.pc-
> homebuilt/msg/94b5418e121b0f5f
>
> Press Ctrl-A during Power On Self Test (POST) to enter the Adaptec RAID
> Configuration Utility (ARC).
>
> Page C6 in the manual shows how to enter the Array Configuration Utility.
> Then select Manage Arrays. You should see one large volume or as your
> manual refers to it one large array and it should be 320 GB.
>
> Page C7 shows how to select the disks that you will use for the array.
> Did you select *both* hard drives before pressing <Enter>?
>
> The ARC menu also allows you to format and verify your disks.
>
> If you have created an array on only one drive, you will have to delete
> the array and start over.
>
> When recreating the array, select the first drive by pressing the <INS>
> (insert) key to select the first drive. Then press the <DNArrow> (down
> arrow) key once to move to the second drive. Press <INS> key again. You
> should see two drives in the box on the right. Press <Enter> to finish.
>
> If everything checks out and you have one 320 GB array, you should be
> able to install XP as you have already done by pressing F6 using your
> Adaptec RAID floppy.
>
> If you still don't see one 320 GB array:
> Did XP read your floppy and load the RAID drivers?
>
> You will probably want to set up a partition smaller than 320 GB to load
> XP on.
>
> By the way, the RAID section of the manual is very good. I couldn't
> state it any clearer myself. Most motherboard manuals have *no*
> information at all about installing and configuring RAID.
>

Well lets forget about XP for a second.

I set my bios to RAID
I reboot and press Cntl A for Raid options.
When I pick create array I show my 2 160 Gig drives.
I have to highlight both of them to continue.
I get a report that I have one 290G array.
I set this to bootable.
I then go to disk options
I show two drives again.
I have the option to format one or the other. I don't have an option
to format the set.

Should I format each drive separately? I would think I should get an
option to format both at once.
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped 

On Sep 12, 5:42 pm, Pecos <anortRemOveThIs&2....TakeThisOut@phreego.net> wrote:

>
> Unless your BIOS has the Adaptec drivers 'built in' which I seriously
> doubt (and why you need the floppy driver disk to install XP), the BIOS
> can only see one drive at a time. I'm not 100% sure about that, but that
> is how it should work.
>
> It sounds like you now have one striped 290 GB array. That's good. It
> is time to start worrying about XP. I haven't used XP in a while so am
> unfamiliar with the disk options during setup. You may be able to format
> the array there once the Adaptec drivers are read.
>
I think I hit the right combination. Finally.

Thanks everyone
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped 

Terry <kilowatt.RemoveThis@charter.net> wrote in
news:1189632234.301354.271430@22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

<snip>

>
> Well lets forget about XP for a second.
>
> I set my bios to RAID
> I reboot and press Cntl A for Raid options.
> When I pick create array I show my 2 160 Gig drives.
> I have to highlight both of them to continue.
> I get a report that I have one 290G array.
> I set this to bootable.
> I then go to disk options
> I show two drives again.
> I have the option to format one or the other. I don't have an option
> to format the set.
>
> Should I format each drive separately? I would think I should get an
> option to format both at once.

Hello Terry,

Unless your BIOS has the Adaptec drivers 'built in' which I seriously
doubt (and why you need the floppy driver disk to install XP), the BIOS
can only see one drive at a time. I'm not 100% sure about that, but that
is how it should work.

It sounds like you now have one striped 290 GB array. That's good. It
is time to start worrying about XP. I haven't used XP in a while so am
unfamiliar with the disk options during setup. You may be able to format
the array there once the Adaptec drivers are read.

--
Alan Norton - Pecos SoftWareWorks
Review of Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H, ECS P965T-A and ABIT AN8 SLI MB's,
IT Articles - Vista EULA's explained
http://www.pecos-softwareworks.com/
 >> Stay informed about: Booting from RAID striped