RAID Array Deletion and OS Install Problems
I have worked with computers for 7 years now and currently work with our Network Admin but this problem has me stumped. I have wrestled with it for several days and finally decided to submit the problem as it is beyond my experience.
I have a Dell Dimension 8400 that WAS running XP Home with a mirrored array. I had two 150 GB drives mirrored giving me a total of 149 GB of useable space. I bought a 1000 GB external and decided to break the mirror, format, and reinstall XP so as to have two 150 GB drives I could use in addition to my external drive.
After breaking the mirror and formatting, I am left with this information on boot:
Drive 1 not found, serial/ATA, SATA-1
Drive 3 not found, serial/ATA, SATA-3
NOTE: My two drives are drives 0 and two. All drives are enabled in the BIOS and the detect configuration is set to the default of RAID Autodect / ACHI. There are three options here and I have tried all three.
Windows XP setup says no useable disks can be found. FDISK shows:
Disk Drive Mbytes free usage
1 - 15262 5 100 {The dell diagnostic CD I have ion CD?}
% C :1526 25 -
- 2 152 625 1
0 d:15 2625
I have tried to run the option from the diagnostic CD to extract RAID drivers to a floppy but get the message of a bad track 0 or unusable disk. It then displays F:\csd\drivers\IAA\XPG3\IAAHCI.CAT. I have gone through 5 or 6 floppies and even downloaded the drivers from Dell to my laptop. If I use the download, I always get an error message saying again, bad track, at about 94%. I have gone through 5 floppies with the download and even made the download again to ensure the download was not corrupted.
My intentions are to have two drives, C and D, at 150 GB each and my 1000 GB external as well.
What am I overlooking here and which direction do I need to move in. Right now, I’d just be happy to recreate the mirror, have only 150 GB of useable space as before, and just use the 1000 GB external.
Thanks!
Jeff Farrar