Onboard Promise on OS drive?

I've been having this problem in various forms for over a year, and I'm frustrated that it hasn't been fixed yet. A quick googling of the web turned up nothing similar to it, and I find it hard to believe that no one else has run into this. Maybe there are techs having these problems, but just using workarounds and not actively persuing a real solution. But enough ranting, on to the problem.

Components:
Any motherboard with onboard Promise Fasttrack RAID controller
Any NT-based operating system
(it may also occur with add-in RAID controllers based on the Fasttrack chipset (no experience with them, not tested), but does not occur with the Ultra line of non-RAID add-in controllers)

Problem:
When installing Windows 2000/XP, when it gets to the point of copying files, Windows Setup reports that it cannot copy a certain file from the diskette.

Workarounds:
Method 1: (Easiest) Connect single drive to motherboard southbridge IDE, install Windows, install drivers for RAID controller (installed from the same diskette that Windows Setup claims it cannot read), then move the drive to the Promise controller, and continue normally
Method 2: (Harder) Attach a spare drive to motherboard southbridge IDE, install Windows, install drivers for the RAID controller. Create RAID array, if needed. Use symantec ghost to duplicate the windows install on the spare drive over to the attached drive or RAID array. Continue to install drivers and other software normally.

Details:
When first booting from the CD, Windows Setup prompts to hit F6 to install a third party SCSI or RAID adapter (if this is not done, Windows will say later that it cannot see any hard drives attached). Windows loads a few files, then prompts for the driver diskette. The correct driver must be selected (usually it'll have an entry for NT4, 2000, and XP, it may also list RAID-array and non-RAID-array versions for each OS). It then loads the rest of the setup files, and proceeds with hard drive partitioning and formatting. At this point, logically, it has used the driver and it's working properly, otherwise it wouldn't see the drive at all, but screw logic. After the partition is finished formatting, it starts to copy Windows setup files, then immediately reports an error message, stating that it cannot copy a file (previously something like 'fasttrak.sys', but in my current problem system, it's 'fasttx2k.sys'). If this file is skipped, it will contine to report problems copying the .cat and .inf versions of the file too. If they're all skipped, it will eventually be unable to find the hard drive.

I've had this problem on Asus and MSI motherboards, all with the Promise raid controller. From what I've found, the driver version is tied to the BIOS version, so they must be updated together. I've used the stock BIOS and bundled driver diskette. I've flashed the BIOS to all available versions, and used that version of the drivers. I've even used drivers from Promise's website (making sure to match the version of the RAID card's BIOS). And of course I've tried an older BIOS with newer driver and newer BIOS with older driver, not really expecting it to work, but just in case. None of it works the way it's supposed to, but I can get around it using the workarounds listed above.

I've emailed Asus about it a few times, with no response. Promise just says since they didn't manufacture it, talk to the mobo manufacturer. I just emailed MSI about it today, since this is the first encounter we've had with loading the OS on a RAID-attached drive with one of their motherboards.

A few of the guys around the shop have some onboard RAID controllers made by HighPoint (including me) and can install Windows on them the same way with no problems.

So, basically, I *can* work around it and have a good stable solution, but I'm not liking that much, as it's not doing the customer any good. End-users should be able, using only the provided equipment and software, to reinstall their OS or install a different OS. And I'd think most people who have a computer built for them wouldn't want to much around with rearranging cables and having spare equipment on-hand. (Those that would screw around with recabling and have spare equipment would generally build the computer themselves)

And that concludes my story. Any one have a similar problem, and been able to find a genuine fix for it?

(while I was typing this, a co-worker found a thread somewhere that someone had the same problem, but fixed it by renaming the drivers from uppercase to lowercase filenames. Just tried that, and that didn't work either.)
:sad:

Update: I did receive a reply from MSI, the gist of which recommends I try a different pair of drives, a single drive by itself, or a new cable. I tried this (used a Seagate SATA drive with a SATA cable of a different brand) without success. I even attached a regular hard drive to the motherboard southbridge, with nothing attached to the Promise controller, and after loading the drivers as described above, I still get the "cannot copy file" error. Of course, this way, skipping all three files allows the installation to continue normally.

If MSI reply to your e-mail they'll probably tell you to read the instructions that came with your motherboard!!

These clearly state that for 2000 / XP you must install follow the procedure installing the RAID driver first in a broadly similar manner to your Method #1.

You load the RAID driver onto one disk connected to the normal IDE socket, then move the drive to the RAID, configure, then load the OS.

It worked perfectly for me on my MSI KT333 board.

This is in the separate RAID booklet not the motherboard booklet.

If you have'nt got this booklet you can download a PDF here: You want page 17.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...=ATA133%20RAID

John

At 09:02PM on 05-30-2003, Atodini wrote:

Quote:

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If MSI reply to your e-mail they'll probably tell you to read the instructions that came with your motherboard!!

These clearly state that for 2000 / XP you must install follow the procedure installing the RAID driver first in a broadly similar manner to your Method #1.

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I tried to, of course, read all pertinent documentation before asking for help. (And as a side note, I do not think any of these Taiwanese-English translated manuals clearly state anything ;) )

But yes, I have referred to the included documentation, and it does give the impression that what I call a "normal" installation of Windows is possible, and recommends it for new installations of Windows. My Method #1 is also stated as being required if the RAID card is being installed on an existing installation of Windows.

The problem is, in my particular instance, the motherboard is the GNB Max MS-6565, with the Promise controller only having SATA connections, and the hard drives are a pair of WD Raptor SATA ones. As far as I know, there is no way to attach a SATA drive to a normal parallel IDE controller. (Not to be confused with devices that permit a parallel drive to be used on a serial controller, these are plentiful.) If such equipment existed, it is clearly not included with the motherboard, and would qualify as "spare equipment" that originally concerns me.

I did receive a reply from MSI concerning my problem, in which they recommend I try a different hard drive and/or a different cable (which didn't work). See my updated post for more information.

And taking a look through the PDF you linked to, it does look very similar (the controller name may be different, but the text looks the same, down to the punctuation errors) to the documentation included. I don't have the manual with me at the moment, but I'll go ahead and say it's the same text. I did read it thoroughly, but did you?

On page 2, it says that there are two methods for installation, something similar to my Method #1, and this:

Attach the drive you desire to the ATA133 RAID connectors. Then install the Windows NT4, 2000 or XP software together with the ATA133 RAID driver (in the floppy disk) into the drive by pressing <F6>. For detailed information, see "Installing Driver During New Windows NT4.0/2000/XP Installation" on page 17.

That's what I like to describe as a "normal" installation. The 'detailed information' on page 17 is below.

Windows NT4.0/2000/XP

Installing Driver During New Windows NT4.0/2000/XP Installation
1. CD-ROM Install: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press <F6> after the message "Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver" appears.
2. When the "Windows NT4.0/2000/XP Setup" window is generated, press "S" to Specify an Additional Device
3. Insert the MSI driver diskette into drive A: and press "Enter" key.
4. Choose "NT4.0/Win2000/XP Promise MBFastTrak133 Lite Controller" from the list that appears on screen, then press the "Enter" key.
5. The Windows NT4.0/2000/XP Setup screen will appear again saying "Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices:" The list will include "NT.40/Win2000/XP Promise MBFastTrak133 Lite controller"..
6. From the Windows NT4.0/2000/XP Setup screen, press the Enter key. Setup will now load all device files then continue the Windows NT4.0/2000/XPinstallation.

No doubt about it, this describes the method I'm trying to use to install Windows.

Thanks anyway, John, for taking the time to try to correct the issue, and even doing a bit of research on MSI's website. Unfortunately, it still doesn't solve my problem. :(

-David

Had to search for this topic.
Same problem with IDE drives and Promise
FastTrak on Gigabyte on a WinXP upgrade.
Nothing I did works.
Been researching for three days now.
Have you found anything else on this?
Hope so because thiis is a bigtime headache.
RRR

If nothing else works, one of these will, installed NT4 just the other day. Should work fine with 2k and XP

Adaptec 1200a

Ya-Know, that was part of the research: what other cards WOULD work? But as the original post states, how can we get it to work with what was already working before and SHOULD work now but doesn't? The board in question has onboard RAID. I did everything the original poster did to know avail. I suppose the easiest way is to get a card that works with original XP (built in) drivers which are autodetected. Is that the case with this card? Remember that this is an XP upgrade, and now I have to get his mirror back. Right now it is working off of the IDE sans mirror.:mad:

Quote:

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Originally posted by TripleRLtd
Ya-Know, that was part of the research: what other cards WOULD work? But as the original post states, how can we get it to work with what was already working before and SHOULD work now but doesn't? The board in question has onboard RAID. I did everything the original poster did to know avail. I suppose the easiest way is to get a card that works with original XP (built in) drivers which are autodetected. Is that the case with this card? Remember that this is an XP upgrade, and now I have to get his mirror back. Right now it is working off of the IDE sans mirror.:mad:

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My best advice to you is to start your own thread, and perhaps reference this thread, but go over the short version of what you did, and what you want to achieve. I didn't read a lick of what went on above, the post are just to long, and a few months old...I bet a lot of people are over looking this thread for the same reasons...

As far as the Adaptec card...with NT it required hitting F6 to load additional drivers. I don't know if the XP setup has these drivers available, but it wouldn't take much to test that out...just booting off of the XP CD and let it go, see if it sees the array.

I guess if new posts, whether continuations of old ones or not, don't get read, then perhaps this is not the right forum. And, if posts are too long to read, ditto.
You know, I have been accessing this forum since 1999 and was actually registered with the original Driver Guy, but my reg was "lost" in the takeover. I may seem to be a "newbie" to you, but I am one of the originals.
I KNOW how to post and how this alll works.
Ya_Know, have you ever had a problem which you really have to explain? In detail?
Any tech has had them.
To tell the truth, I have never posted a problem I have been having, because I have always figured them out myself, without having to format and start fresh.
That seems to be the going solution in the tech world, but not my world.
ANYONE can do that!!!
Anyone.
I don't mean to be harsh, but this site used to be the best, which is why I searched here, and why I re-registered to post again.
Geez, all you had to do was read the original post.
Richard
Millenniium Computers
Pine Island
Florida

Quote:

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Originally posted by TripleRLtd
I guess if new posts, whether continuations of old ones or not, don't get read, then perhaps this is not the right forum. And, if posts are too long to read, ditto.
You know, I have been accessing this forum since 1999 and was actually registered with the original Driver Guy, but my reg was "lost" in the takeover. I may seem to be a "newbie" to you, but I am one of the originals.
I KNOW how to post and how this alll works.
Ya_Know, have you ever had a problem which you really have to explain? In detail?
Any tech has had them.
To tell the truth, I have never posted a problem I have been having, because I have always figured them out myself, without having to format and start fresh.
That seems to be the going solution in the tech world, but not my world.
ANYONE can do that!!!
Anyone.
I don't mean to be harsh, but this site used to be the best, which is why I searched here, and why I re-registered to post again.
Geez, all you had to do was read the original post.
Richard
Millenniium Computers
Pine Island
Florida

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Welcome back d00d.......:p

Don't mind him........He's a good guy.

A bit anal, but just fine. :D


That is all.

So Doc.
Any suggestions?

Quote:

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Originally posted by TripleRLtd
So Doc.
Any suggestions?

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Sorry...no. I never had this issue. :(

Always works for me.

...for everything.
Where is NOONOO when you need her?
Where is CONFUSSED when you need him?
Sleeping I guess.
WAKE UP DAMN YOU!!!!
:D :D :D

Quote:

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Originally posted by TripleRLtd
...for everything.
Where is NOONOO when you need her?
Where is CONFUSSED when you need him?
Sleeping I guess.
WAKE UP DAMN YOU!!!!
:D :D :D

---

They will be along soon.....UK ya know....:cool:

They will be yelling:
Wake up damn you in their morning while I am still sleeping.:o :D :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally posted by TripleRLtd
They will be yelling:
Wake up damn you in their morning while I am still sleeping.:o :D :rolleyes:

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Huh? yaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnnn whats all the fuss about?

Edit: I have only played with promise ide controllers and boy those caused me some grief...turned out the 2k drivers were much more stable.

But two things strike me about these posts, 1, no one has mentioned configuring the raid bios and 2, the first posts says that "windows couldnt copy a certain file" Which file? is it the same one every time?

Only had to deal with few Giga-Byte mobos with on-board Promise controllers. However I've had no problem with NT4,2K and XP using the controller as either normal IDE or RAID. I also have some Promise external controllers on different mobos, no problems...

Quote:

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Originally posted by Ya_know
My best advice to you is to start your own thread, and perhaps reference this thread, but go over the short version of what you did, and what you want to achieve. I didn't read a lick of what went on above, the post are just to long, and a few months old...I bet a lot of people are over looking this thread for the same reasons...

As far as the Adaptec card...with NT it required hitting F6 to load additional drivers. I don't know if the XP setup has these drivers available, but it wouldn't take much to test that out...just booting off of the XP CD and let it go, see if it sees the array.

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TripleRLtd
Since our last posts were deleted for “off color” remarks, I will try my best to keep this in the primary color spectrum...;)

I suggested that you start a new thread simply because you hadn’t explained your specific problem, you merely piggybacked. As a seasoned tech yourself you of all people should know that each circumstance, and specific skills of a tech, differ. That said, I am not going to read someone else’s problem, and their steps in an effort to understand your problem, unless they are brief.

If it took you three days of research before you came here, sounds like you might just possibly have an unsolvable issue. So, since time is money, and you can’t charge the customer 3 days worth of labor, (plus today if you haven’t reached a conclusion) then perhaps the first viable working solution you can think of might just be the best thing in mind. Charge for the expansion card, configure the system on a new array, and get it out the door. If it isn’t exactly the way you want it, spend another three days troubleshooting if you wish. Me, I have a weekend to plan…

As far as your standings…original member and all, so what. If you want respect here you have to earn it all over again. You cast aspersions to me, one member, but also implied that the “board” isn’t what it is cracked up to be. Well, if you were here helping out maybe it would be. But since you aren’t, you have no room to bitch. I certainly don’t want one, but you owe everyone else on the board an apology for denigrating their efforts.

Quote:

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Originally posted by NooNoo
Huh? yaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnnn whats all the fuss about?

Edit: I have only played with promise ide controllers and boy those caused me some grief...turned out the 2k drivers were much more stable.

But two things strike me about these posts, 1, no one has mentioned configuring the raid bios and 2, the first posts says that "windows couldnt copy a certain file" Which file? is it the same one every time?

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Oh, I didn't mention configuring the RAID 'cuz nothing special was done about that. Either two drives setup in a mirroring or striping array, or a single drive by itself. Nothing was wrong with the hardware as Win9x would install just fine in the same configuration.

The exact files are mentioned in the Details in the first post, and varies depending on the model card used. With the earlier FastTrack add-in cards and chips, it was 'fasttrak.sys' for the main file, and in that particular problem it was a later model FastTrack chip, and was 'fasttx2k.sys'. It also had trouble copying the .cat and .inf versions of the file in question, too.

Sorry for the very detailed post, I tried to include as much information as possible to prevent a lot of "Oh, did you try (obvious thing 1)?", "Yes", "How about (obvious thing 2)?" posts that do nothing but prolong the problem. I was hoping to ensure that any replies would be useful information.

Since then, the shop's stopped building computers based on Promise cards and chips, at least for the OS drive. And I'm actually going to be leaving there in a few weeks, so I wouldn't have a chance to try something. But if you or anyone else can shed light on this problem, I could forward it to my coworker, who's just as mad at Promise as I am.

For reference, the files that it claims are corrupted can be read fine on another PC, and can be installed on the same machine if 9x is installed, or if 2000/XP is installed on a drive attached to the motherboard's IDE. They're only unreadable during initial setup (where it counts).

Also, I've only encountered this on the FastTrack series by Promise, the non-RAID cards (Ultra66, Ultra100, Ultra100 tx2, etc.) work fine when installing with this method.

:sad:

Quote:

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Originally posted by TripleRLtd
Ya-Know, that was part of the research: what other cards WOULD work? But as the original post states, how can we get it to work with what was already working before and SHOULD work now but doesn't? The board in question has onboard RAID. I did everything the original poster did to know avail. I suppose the easiest way is to get a card that works with original XP (built in) drivers which are autodetected. Is that the case with this card? Remember that this is an XP upgrade, and now I have to get his mirror back. Right now it is working off of the IDE sans mirror.:mad:

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Did you try my listed workarounds? Those did appear to function. Leave the one drive attached to the onboard, install the drivers from the diskette and/or CD, make sure XP can recognize any old spare drive attached to the controller, (optional: make a ghost image of the 'working' drive with drivers installed, in case something goes wrong later), then reattach both drives to the RAID controller and use its BIOS to rebuild the array from the 'working' drive. That should do it. If that doesn't work, then I'm sad to say, I don't think it's related to my original problem, and you might be best served if you started a new thread explaining what's going on.

Oh, and I haven't used the Adaptec card that Ya_Know mentioned previously, but I have used integrated chips by Highpoint and Silicon Image, and they ran as advertised, without this problem. Unless I find otherwise, I'll assume that this is linked only to the Promise FastTrak series.

Quote:

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Originally posted by crazyman
thats it,she has answered it ,I have a onboard promise controller,and I use win2k,and during the install the f6 and floppy drivers thing all has to be done,yes,
and I use the promise fastrak ide setup,so all four of my ide channels are working on my soyo mobo,and I use all four successfully,

but to what noo noo said,in order to make the promise controller work(atleast for my install) I had to enable the "raid/scsi" in the bios.

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Enable in the bios? You mean, enter the main motherboard BIOS setup, and make sure the controller is enabled? Or do you mean change the boot order, so it tries add-in cards before giving up? Or do you mean entering the RAID controller's BIOS setup, and configuring the array?

As far as my original problem, all three were done, to no avail. :(

OK, done a little more digging...
Mycroftb would you describe the floppy diskette you created please? What files when in what folders?

I am asking this way around because of a hunch... nothing more :)

I know this is an old post but I wanted to highlight this to everyone else who might read this later. Do not the winxp drivers for this topic, only the win2000 drivers regardless of what win os you are installing. You shouldn't have any problems then

Ok, I have the answer to the original post by "mycroftb" about the issue with the Promise Onboard Raid and there is no question about it.

Low and behold is isn't legal though.

I have tried countless versions of WinXP Pro, whether it was with Service pack 1 or 2 and I'm simply not able to by-pass the "cannot copy file" fasttrak.sys, fasttrak.cat, fasttrak.inf in the WinXP installation process.

The solution to not having this message pop up to me has nothing to with the bios of your motherboard or the bios of your raid controller, but it has everything to do with the version of WinXP Pro you are using.

The only version that doesn't prompt me saying "cannot copy fasttrak.sys... etc... is WinXP with no service packs. It's an older download of WinXP Pro but it's out there... I'll even go as far as saying the password of this copy of WINXP PRO starts with... FCKGW

Downside to all of this is you can't upgrade to service pack 1 let alone service pack 2.

The closest I have come to experiencing similar problems involved bad drives. I could sometimes get the array up and running, but got file copy errors during Windows installation, or got Windows installed, but had operational problems after such as lock-ups, or software installations which would trash Windows causing me to repeat the process from the beginning. Even manufacturers diagnostics didn't isolate the problem. Sometimes rebooting would generate an error message about a non-functional array in the controller's BIOS.

Eventually, I did a basic Windows installation on the individual drives, connected separately in turn to the RAID controller, and then ran them, installed software, etc. At some point, one of the two drives always puked up and I contacted the manufacturer about a replacement. After this happened a couple of times, I just made it a practice to RMA both drives (it is good to be a dealer, sometimes) and put in a new pair. I think the problem with Promise controllers is that they may run very rigorous hardware diagnostics without much in the way of an explanation if there is a failure in the array.

Sorry to be late to the party, and rest assured I have put on my Nomex.

Considering the extreme on-line vulnerability of XP without service packs & security updates, it would be wise to only experiment with this as a workaround on a system with no internet access.

I have in my hands an MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR mobo. I requires me to install this Promise Fasttrack 378 drivers and the SATA driver from the same company as well. The procedure is exactly the same as was described before: Windows XP install from scratch, press F6, choose the XP drivers, run the install, when it wants to copy the files from the diskette it won't budge. Windows crashes after this happens.

There are a few things I'm wondering if you guys tried.

-Since the Diskette is written in FAT12, a lot of support info to the files in there is not written to the disk - sometimes Windows actually creates a file with that supplementary info. Is it possible that the files are not being recognized by the Windows install? Could they be in "Read-only" mode? If this is the case, is there any way to rewrite the diskette's contents with downloaded files?

-would it be possible to do the first part of the install (partition, format, copy files, reboot) then load a Dos diskette, copy the files onto the SATA drive, then reboot and continue on with the install? (the Promise driver must be active during the copy of those files from DOS, otherwise Dos won't even see the destination HDs)

The procedure described previously, explaining how to connect and IDE drive at first and proceed from there, WILL NOT WORK. Here's why:
When installing Windows, if you decided to have 1 IDE drive and 2 SATA drives, then the IDE controller 1's master drive would be immediately prioritized by all BIOSES around the world (though I don't understand why, this has caused me many problems before) over the SATA drives. So you start installing Windows, say on D:. Windows will trick you and copy its NTLDR files on C:, which is the IDE. If you take out the IDE after having completed the install, Windows will never even load. Copying those files to the D: drive after the install won't work either - they are written specifically to not be copied. Windows would fail to see them.

So I need an install procedure that will work only when I have these 2 160G Seagate SATA drives, and both on their own Stripe 1+0 array (each are independant of the other, not running them in RAID). The files must be copied, and I need this PC to run ASAP.

If anyone has a good idea about this, please lemme know. I'd be more than happy to hear from you! Thanks!

Holy Thread Resurrection, Batman!

In the future you might want to create a new thread instead of tacking onto one that's several years old - it's more likely to get noticed widely.

Download the latest drivers from the MSI Web site and create your own driver diskette. I have installed Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 on the exact same motherboard using the RAID array with the downloaded drivers.

Thanks... will try your method.
BTW, I know the thead is old, my dear Robin, but I found no other occurences of this problem ever happening ANYWHERE... so I just wanted to keep this thread going, I guess.
In any case, thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgharper

Holy Thread Resurrection, Batman!

In the future you might want to create a new thread instead of tacking onto one that's several years old - it's more likely to get noticed widely.

Download the latest drivers from the MSI Web site and create your own driver diskette. I have installed Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 on the exact same motherboard using the RAID array with the downloaded drivers.

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I have also downloaded these files, and they do appear different when loading them during install, but to no avail - Windows will NOT copy these files.

I will have to install another drive. Piece fo advice: don't choose anything but ASUS next time as a motherboard.

Thanks for the help!

Hi All

Have not posted for a while, been away, but this one caught my eye.
May be a OLD POST but on a very pertinant topic.
Could suggest you need a STICKY on this.

It seems to me that no one can resolve these issues with simple answers.
Taking my logic as a simple Engineer.

a)Bios settings must be correct. (SATA,RAID)
b)Often bios must be latest version
c) You download the latest driver and put it on floppy.
d) You install with your OEM Slipsteamed CD (OR DO YOU!)
e) F6 loads the Raid Controller and Storage Device.
f) Windows does not then recogninse the inf,cat and sys file when installing.
g) Job stopped.

OK Let me put in my 2cents

a) Sometimes it fails on both SATA and RAID
b) It is interesting to note that in the case of MSI K8M NEO-V Boards the bios has gone from being a V1.1 to 5.X so is it a bios issue?
c) There is talk of the software having to match the bios how true can this be?
d) I have often had more success with installs using a basic XP Disc when the OEM disc will not perform the install. Some suggest you should slipstream the RAID,SATA drivers into your OEM CD and it will then function - how sad is that.
e,f) Is it really a windows issue? and is billy keeping quiet?

A Workaround is a compromise
We pay for products that work

If I want Raid1 on a PC it should just work.
When it comes to detailed instructions about how the customer installs RAID or SATA many of the Mobos seriously lack details.

Lasty therefore would you build a PC on Raid 1 for a small business, with the Mobo controlling the RAID or do you go for a seperate RAID system to build into the PC?

Is it fair to say that we should not depend on Raid built into motherboards because it is still at the gimmick stage?

Comments Please

Quote:

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Originally Posted by constructor

Is it fair to say that we should not depend on Raid built into motherboards because it is still at the gimmick stage?

Comments Please

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As I said, it worked for me in RAID 0+1 on the exact same motherboard. For that matter I have installed RAID 0 and 1 on three other systems with Promise, nVidia and Intel RAID S-ATA controllers without any problems.

I don't consider it a "gimmick" - if you properly install the drives, set up the RAID array in the hardware configuration, then use the correct driver diskette it works. Or anyway it has worked for me, first time, every time; but I have been exceedingly careful to do it right.

YMMV. Obviously. :devil:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgharper

As I said, it worked for me in RAID 0+1 on the exact same motherboard. For that matter I have installed RAID 0 and 1 on three other systems with Promise, nVidia and Intel RAID S-ATA controllers without any problems.

I don't consider it a "gimmick" - if you properly install the drives, set up the RAID array in the hardware configuration, then use the correct driver diskette it works. Or anyway it has worked for me, first time, every time; but I have been exceedingly careful to do it right.

YMMV. Obviously. :devil:

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Ok
Not suggesting it fails every time just that the results can be variable. Judging by the number of viewings of this post and ones I see of a similar nature elswhere it is apparent that many people find this task problematic.

Some report that the Raid although installed proves to be unreliable in that it is unstable.

One major factor seems to be that it is not practical to use a slipstreamed OEM CD but I have not found out why this fails.

As ever I'm confus-ed .. & maybe a bit too lazy to read it all properly ! :eek2:

But err umm what's wrong with just feeding windows the sata drivers, when it says press f6 if we want to install a single sata drive ? If any Raid options in bios are off, it'll just install (or it ought to, where folks slip up usually is getting confus-ed between raid drivers & sata drivers).

Now if you are talking about an existing install, the way to do that is by restoring a backup to a freshly done install (untick the bits about backing up hardware, you only want data), just in exactly the way M$ tell you to do a motherboard change, folks often confuse the hell out of themselves by trying to use image tools for this, but backup is what you want ..

..Is it really a windows issue? and is billy keeping quiet?..

Its a 'windows hasn't got a driver for this stuff' problem & your 'rubbishing' of the make a slipstreamed copy answer earlier, would infact fix things up (but all its doing really is saving you pressing f6 & making a floppy)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

As ever I'm confus-ed .. & maybe a bit too lazy to read it all properly ! :eek2:

But err umm what's wrong with just feeding windows the sata drivers, when it says press f6 if we want to install a single sata drive ? If any Raid options in bios are off, it'll just install (or it ought to, where folks slip up usually is getting confus-ed between raid drivers & sata drivers).

Now if you are talking about an existing install, the way to do that is by restoring a backup to a freshly done install (untick the bits about backing up hardware, you only want data), just in exactly the way M$ tell you to do a motherboard change, folks often confuse the hell out of themselves by trying to use image tools for this, but backup is what you want ..

..Is it really a windows issue? and is billy keeping quiet?..

Its a 'windows hasn't got a driver for this stuff' problem & your 'rubbishing' of the make a slipstreamed copy answer earlier, would infact fix things up (but all its doing really is saving you pressing f6 & making a floppy)

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Hi
OK
SATA not really a issue to me but the customers seem to struggle

You confused me about slipstream bit - or perhaps I confused you.
The Nvidia 3,4 chipsets seems to be problematic. - or is it the drivers.
Anyway many whoever they are suggest this is a issue and the solution therefore was to slipstream the drivers and therefore avoid the floppy issue.

particularly with regard to a RAID install.

I was not convinced.

There are many suggestions that attempting to use my OEM Slipstream copy of windows results in the floppy drive "drivers" not being recognised.
Tomorrow I will repeat the exercise on a new Raid 1 configuration following all the rules with a OEM XP CD and see if it gets past stage 2 of the floppy install.
I am not convinced that it is a error on my part.

You may well appreciate that if you look at a lot of Manuals the refer to none existant instructions and any RAID support is well buried in their web sites.

I have also noted that when asking the questions about such issues there is a total lack of consistency to the responses. - not you, not me, but it it is apparent that there is much confusion HENCE my suggestion for a STICKY :drink:

I think Noo had a good point earlier which was never properly addressed: What file doesn't the installation find? If you are using diskettes made from a download, Promise in particular has some some diskette creation software which may fail to create an oem.txt file.

Quote:

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..HENCE my suggestion for a STICKY ..

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What you want a whole load of confusion 'stickified' ? :confused:

I'm really confus-ed just what you are asking, & why - tacking onto somebodies else's thread isn't helping any either - I think slgrieb just turned up, intent on answering the opening poster & I'm trying to answer you !, & there's also much confusion in this thread about RAID & SATA as various folks seem to be using the two phrases interchangeably, when they aren't.

Words of one syllable required if you would please ..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slgrieb

I think Noo had a good point earlier which was never properly addressed: What file doesn't the installation find? If you are using diskettes made from a download, Promise in particular has some some diskette creation software which may fail to create an oem.txt file.

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Good point will also check out the fileset on the floppy to ensure it is complete.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by confus-ed

What you want a whole load of confusion 'stickified' ? :confused:

I'm really confus-ed just what you are asking, & why - tacking onto somebodies else's thread isn't helping any either - I think slgrieb just turned up, intent on answering the opening poster & I'm trying to answer you !, & there's also much confusion in this thread about RAID & SATA as various folks seem to be using the two phrases interchangeably, when they aren't.

Words of one syllable required if you would please ..

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I can hardly be accused of hijacking this, all posts on this topic (and as far as I can see it is the only detailed topic on the subject) are relevant. Slgrieb made a very valid point which directly relates to my previous post

A reply on the issue as to whether you used a slipstream Windows install CD or a new microsoft CD would do at this stage.

If I resolve this a new post detailing the results and or issues may well be on the cards.

Ok
Thanks for the reply

In a nutshell slipstreamed installs do not like RAID with the exception of SP1
Even that is not guaranteed

So there is a problem here
with both Nvidia and Via Chipsets

I have tested this on 4 pcs
It is a windows issue

What a chew on

Fabulous I'm on a thread that is two years old with no solutions.
Someone made comment earlier about getting ASUS only..........well on someone else's suggestion to do just that replacing a burnt Soyo Dragon I bought an ASUS that just so happens to have that Promise controller. I swapped out the Soyo and the old chip for the ASUS and a new chip and did a Repair install to avoid a clean install with a bare version of XP no service packs. Yes there were some issues and I knew I was on borrowed time. NYE I'm moving about 5GB from the C drive to the D drive and this reboot and deleting of orphan files had started blanking out 60GB of data. So I research the prob and wind up here with the Promise driver issue I cannot get around.
Recently I grabbed a version of XP with sp2 on the disc and some of the files will not copy as we have heard..........I contacted the vendor and they are resending the disc which I thought was a nic or scratch keeping me from copying the setup files. This does not sound like it will be fixable unless I get rid of the board and get something without the Promise drivers. Tell me I'm nuts.
I am NOT running RAID or using the serial ports. All of my drives are on IDE.

ASUS P4800E
2.6 Prescott
1.75GB Corsair
200GB Seagate Barracuda
250GB Seagate Barracuda
40GB Maxtor as Photoshop scratch disc
NEC DVD-RW 3550A
UltraX 500W PS
ATI Radeon 9550 256mb