[Biomech]

O.k., once I make it to the "Array List" in the Media Shield Utility, I do NOT have the "Set Boot" or "New Array" options available to choose.

2 WD 250 Caviars for RAID 0

NVIDIA Raid Fuction "Enabled" in IDE Configuration window in BIOS
Drives are on SATA1 and SATA2 ports
SATA3 and SATA4 are Disabled

In Raid Utility:

Set mode to striping
striping block @ 128KB
moved both disks from Free Disks window to Array Disks window.

When finished (F7) option to clear disk data. I select YES.

Then I am taken to the ARRAY LIST and I see:

BOOT Id Status Vendor Array Model Name
N/A 2 Healthy NVIDIA Striping

I am curious as to why BOOT shows N/A? I cannot select the option to Set Boot or [N] New Array. I can only select [Ctrl-X] Exit and [ENTER] Detail.

Any ideas?

 

[Biomech]

Disks have no jumpers set.
Drives show up as Third & Fourth. Not Primary and Secondary.
Does not make a difference if Silicon Image Mode is set to Disabled, SATA2, or RAID Mode.

Still can't choose Set Boot or [N] New Array.

If I exit setup with CTRL-X windows begins system inspection. After Choosing F6 option with Raid Drivers on Floppy, inspection continues. When prompted for RAID drivers from floppy, Floppy is initiated but is not successful. Raid drivers are set on Floppy from MOBO CD.

Almost ready to give up on RAID. I was successful with a installation on a single disc.

 

[Mastacator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech O.k., once I make it to the "Array List" in the Media Shield Utility, I do NOT have the "Set Boot" or "New Array" options available to choose. 2 WD 250 Caviars for RAID 0 NVIDIA Raid Fuction "Enabled" in IDE Configuration window in BIOS Drives are on SATA1 and SATA2 ports SATA3 and SATA4 are Disabled In Raid Utility: Set mode to striping striping block @ 128KB moved both disks from Free Disks window to Array Disks window. When finished (F7) option to clear disk data. I select YES. Then I am taken to the ARRAY LIST and I see: BOOT Id Status Vendor Array Model Name N/A 2 Healthy NVIDIA Striping I am curious as to why BOOT shows N/A? I cannot select the option to Set Boot or [N] New Array. I can only select [Ctrl-X] Exit and [ENTER] Detail. Any ideas?

Not quite sure what the issue is your having. The image you shown says under the the boot column "yes", so its set as a boot array already. And you would have to have more drives to make a new array. You have to delete the array shown, to select "new array"

 

[Biomech]

Could the Media Shield Utility need updating? Would a BIOS update take care of that? Should I set Jumpers on the drives?

 

[Mastacator]

are you trying to set it up from bios? pressing F10?
Or from in windows?

 

[Biomech]

After I enable RAID in the BIOS, I save and exit. After BIOS post and before booting from CDROM, I enter the Media Shield Utility via F10.

My problem is that I can't select the option to make the array bootable after I create it. I checked both drives and all connections. The array shows healthy after creating in Media Shield. You just cannot select " Selet Boot or [N] New Array.

 

[Mastacator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech After I enable RAID in the BIOS, I save and exit. After BIOS post and before booting from CDROM, I enter the Media Shield Utility via F10. My problem is that I can't select the option to make the array bootable after I create it. I checked both drives and all connections. The array shows healthy after creating in Media Shield. You just cannot select " Selet Boot or [N] New Array.

The media shield utility show a raid array already though?

 

[Biomech]

Yes. What I see is:

BOOT Id Status Vendor Array Model Name
N/A 2 Healthy NVIDIA Striping 462.32

 

[Mastacator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech Yes. What I see is: BOOT Id Status Vendor Array Model Name N/A 2 Healthy NVIDIA Striping 462.32

That img says it bootable already. isn't there another screen also, one that has "delete array" on at the bottom?

This is on an nVidia controller right?

 

[Biomech]

Sorry! That is just an image I pulled from the manual. My actual screen shows N/A under BOOT.

I'm not sure why the option for making it bootable isn't highlighted. Yes, Nividia Controller. If you ENTER the array from that screen, then you have to option to Delete, Clear, etc. I have deleted, reset CMOS, etc. several times, and to no avail.

 

[Mastacator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech Sorry! That is just an image I pulled from the manual. My actual screen shows N/A under BOOT. I'm not sure why the option for making it bootable isn't highlighted.

Ah ha! Gotcha!

Hmmmmm

let me think....

Is that, or one like that, the first screen you see after pressing F10?

 

[Maxima]

Are you trying to delete your raid array? Right now you already have it set to boot, so "b" will not do anything for you, again, because it is already set to boot from that array. It is set to mirror not striping, which is raid 1. You can use control x to exit and delete your array and start over. Hope this is what you wanted to know.

 

[Maxima]

Oops, I guess we all posted at the same time .. hehe.

 

[SideTraKd]

You should be seeing the drive array in the hard drive priority list in your main bios. When I set up my ASUS board with my WDs in Raid 0, I used the nvidia controller to build my Raptor array, and left my other drives on the Silicon Image controller. My bios (ASUS A8N-SLI Premium) did not see the Raptors at all until after I had them built with the nvidia raid bios, and windows would not allow me to install to those drives until after I set the array to the top of the hard drive priority list in the main bios. A trick that I pulled with my DFI board may work for you when you install windows. Make sure that you have the latest nvidia raid drivers (on floppy, of course), and only install the two drives that you want to use in your raid 0... leave all other drives disconnected from the system. Set the array with the nvidia raid bios, and then reboot into your ASUS bios to make sure that they show at the top of the HD priority list. Then, when Windows starts it's install, F6 it and allow it to grab ONLY the drivers for the raid device that those drives are attached to. Mine installed XP without a hitch when I did that, and it had no problems accepting my other hard drives into the system when I installed them after that.

 

[Biomech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxima Are you trying to delete your raid array? Right now you already have it set to boot, so "b" will not do anything for you, again, because it is already set to boot from that array. It is set to mirror not striping, which is raid 1. You can use control x to exit and delete your array and start over. Hope this is what you wanted to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech Sorry! That is just an image I pulled from the manual. My actual screen shows N/A under BOOT. I'm not sure why the option for making it bootable isn't highlighted. Yes, Nividia Controller. If you ENTER the array from that screen, then you have to option to Delete, Clear, etc. I have deleted, reset CMOS, etc. several times, and to no avail.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastacator Ah ha! Gotcha! Hmmmmm let me think.... Is that, or one like that, the first screen you see after pressing F10?

Yes, this is the screen after pressing F10. I entered the Nvidia Media Shield utility, created a striped array with two discs at 128KB. Select F7 for Finish and it brings me to the posted screen (only my actual screen show N/A under BOOT and the option to make it bootable is not available to select.)

I have deleted the array several times and tried to recreate but with the same results.

 

[Mastacator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech Yes, this is the screen after pressing F10. I entered the Nvidia Media Shield utility, created a striped array with two discs at 128KB. Select F7 for Finish and it brings me to the posted screen (only my actual screen show N/A under BOOT and the option to make it bootable is not available to select.) I have deleted the array several times and tried to recreate but with the same results.

There must be something else wrong then....can't think what it could be. There are no jumpers on the drives right? I don't think so.
Try switching them to two different ports on the mobo.

 

[SideTraKd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biomech Yes, this is the screen after pressing F10. I entered the Nvidia Media Shield utility, created a striped array with two discs at 128KB. Select F7 for Finish and it brings me to the posted screen (only my actual screen show N/A under BOOT and the option to make it bootable is not available to select.) I have deleted the array several times and tried to recreate but with the same results.

You won't need to make it bootable with the nvidia controller. XP will automatically set it as the default boot drive when you install to it, anyway. I had a similar problem with my A8N Premium, and it was resolved when I set the raid 0 array to the top of the HD priority list.

Let me go grab my ASUS manual and I will find the setting, if I can. I would just reboot and look myself, but I switched over to a DFI board the other day because my video cards were covering my SATA slots...

 

[Mastacator]

I just looked up your mobo spec, its not and nVidia chipset. its Intel, with a Promise raid controller and an ICH5R South Bridge.
I would use the Promise one probably.
sidetrkd has a good point, connect only those drives for the raid set up the array, then just go to the install of windows. have your raid drivers ready for the F6 moment though.

 

[SideTraKd]

Hrmmm... Don't know too much about the promise controllers.

But, I do know that you'll need to make sure that the ASUS bios has those controllers enabled within the main bios. You can still get into the bios of those controllers to configure raid arrays without them being enabled in the main bios, which is the reason I was misled into believing that mine were already enabled, and windows would not install without the main bios recognizing my arrays, even though it could see the drives.

 

[Biomech]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mastacator I just looked up your mobo spec, its not and nVidia chipset. its Intel, with a Promise raid controller and an ICH5R South Bridge. I would use the Promise one probably. sidetrkd has a good point, connect only those drives for the raid set up the array, then just go to the install of windows. have your raid drivers ready for the F6 moment though.

This is what I'm setting up:

http://www.overclock.net/800393-post17.html