Setting up RAID 0

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

ok, my other 80gb seagate barracuda has shipped, and my motherboard appearantly has an onboard RAID controller, but when i searched the disc that came with my mobo, there were two different things in the RAID folder...when installing windows, and if i opt to install thr RAID drivers, can i try more than once without messing things up? cause i'm not sure which folder has the proper drivers...also can i use to the CD or should i put the files on a floppy...thanks guys

i've never ran a RAID array before...so i'm a bit of a newb in that respect..

[FrozenMercury]

One could be a SATA driver and the other the RAID driver. Or most likely the 32bit and 64bit version of the driver. You want to put the driver you want on a floppy, whipe both drives and plug them into the RAID controller on your mobo. Mine's colour coded and matters where I plug them in, not sure about yours.

[AKHandyman]

Garrett, are your drives IDE or SATA? And were you going to use this RAID array as a system boot or as a page file? I can't remember what you said ... :confused:

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

they are both 80gb seagate barracudas, both SATA2 (check my specs AK ;)), i want both drives in RAID 0 and i want to OS to run on both at once...

[FrozenMercury]

Just don't put anything important on them.

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

i backup everything important onto a 20gb IDE :) and anything super important goes t DVD and then in a box, oron the shelf...and it's basically my photoshop work, web design stuff, pics of friends and family and my music...everything else is games...i'm building my original A64 3000+ and x1600xt into a second PC for my G/F...and i'm building a storage machine out of a P3 866mhz..

[AKHandyman]

Okay, I was out of the room for awhile ... what motherboard are you using for the RAID setup? Do you have the RAID drivers on a floppy for your controller? Can you set-up RAID array from within your BIOS before you install your OS? I know these are a lot of questions, but they are important for a successful RAID 0 implementation ... :)

[owen]

i have raid 0 on my rig and i havent noticed THAT much of a performance increase

[AKHandyman]

But you have noticed at least SOME difference, right?

[owen]

But you have noticed at least SOME difference, right?

yea definatly an improvement

[Zefram]

i have raid 0 on my rig and i havent noticed THAT much of a performance increase

You do video editing?

I can see lots of performance increase coming from using RAID-0 when you edits videos........... importing video from miniDV camcorder could weigh in at >12GB, and having fast harddrives would help fasten up the encoding and stuff (the main factor still your CPU capability to process the video though)

[owen]

You do video editing?

I can see lots of performance increase coming from using RAID-0 when you edits videos........... importing video from miniDV camcorder could weigh in at >12GB, and having fast harddrives would help fasten up the encoding and stuff (the main factor still your CPU capability to process the video though)

i dont do video editing. Maybe i would see more of a performance increase - but games and other stuff i dont really notice.

[Joe]

you will notice a difference when transferring large files. such as your camera files you mentioned. if you are just a gamer... you wont notice much of a difference. but don't expect anything crazy ;)

also those two drivers are most likely one for IDE and one for SATA raid.

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

oops, i sorta forgot i posted this...my second HDD is set to arrive today, but i'm in alberta, so i won't be able to do anything till i get home, but i haven't gotten a chance to check for RAID config in my BIOS...and when installing RAID drivers, will trial and error work if i'm not sure which driver is which??

[AKHandyman]

I am not sure on your motherboard which chipset you have ... you'll need the RAID drivers for the particular chipset you have ... make sure it is on a floppy so you will be able to load it during your Windows installation (F6 comes up real quick, so be ready for it :) ) Windows will then be able to install on the RAID set-up you chose ... you'll no doubt chose a ZERO configuration with stripe size of 64K or higher (I use 128K because of the larger capacity HDs I have) Unlike the Intel RAID Matrix controller that is on my DFI board, which shows up during POST, I do not know what the nForce controller options are during POST ... someone might have that info for you ... I hope all is going well with your father ... still thinking about you ... Good Luck, Bro!!

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

nForce 4 ultra (15)

[jdrom17]

I believe theres an option in the BIOS to enable it (possibly per port). Once that's set, just after the post screen, you'll see this NVIDIA RAID screen. I believe its F10 you want to hit. It'll open up a DOS looking screen where you can set your RAID0. That's how it is on my 650i and I believe my nForce 4 Ultra was the same too, however I set that up a while back so I can't remember fully.

And then to install Windows, I'd recommend integrating in the drivers using DriverPacks BASE with the DriverPacks MassStorage. Which can be found here: http://www.driverpacks.net/DriverPacks/. That will pretty much cover all drivers for any RAID controller. Then you don't have to mess around with this whole F6 and Floppy Disk garbage.

[yahooadam]

in the nf4 you could enable raid (somewhere)

then you can join IDE and SATA ports at will

[omga14]

I'll have to check that out cause I have the same chipset. I did the whole floppy deal but can't remember if it was cause the raid enable in bios did'nt work without the F6 deal or what.

[dark41]

Enable RAID in BIOS.

Follow the instructions in your motherboard manual or during post to enter the RAID configuration menu. Select both hard drives for the RAID 0 array and save the configuration.

When Windows starts setup, hit F6 to load drivers.

When the driver page comes up, install the floppy disk and install the drivers.

Don't worry about loading the wrong drivers. If they're wrong, Windows will still not see the hard drives (array). No biggy, you just need to try another set of drivers until you get the right one. Unfortunately you'll have to reboot after each wrong set of drivers to restart the Windows setup, and hit F6 again.

I've been installing RAID 0 on computers with many different motherboards for years and never seen where loading the wrong set causes any problems. In fact, Gigabyte was notorious for labeling their RAID/SATA drivers in a fashion that made no sense for years, where trial/error was the only way to find the proper driver. :)

[yahooadam]

When Windows starts setup, hit F6 to load drivers.
You mean the windows installer?

Or does it also work if windows is already installed?

[AKHandyman]

You mean the windows installer?

Or does it also work if windows is already installed?
If Windows is already installed, you can just load the drivers as usual ... :)

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

i'll be doing a fresh install though :)

[AKHandyman]

Good for you Crannie ... BTW, are you back home?

[dark41]

You mean the windows installer?

Or does it also work if windows is already installed?

No, I meant Windows Setup, which is the very first blue screen that appears when booting to the XP CD. Windows installer isn't even installed at this point, nothing is.

I should have added to change BIOS to boot to CD when enabling the RAID array, and put the CD in before starting up. Also, it's not necessary to format the drives prior to setting up the RAID array as the array will have to be formatted as a single drive through Windows setup anyway.

Hope this is clear. :-)

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

sounds simple enough...i'll let you all know how it goes :)

[yahooadam]

If Windows is already installed, you can just load the drivers as usual ... :)
Not allways

On some drivers (like for HDD's) if its not installed before windows loads, windows BSOD's and you cant install

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

OMFG!! i hate nvidia...the drivers that come on the nforce4 disc are ****ing useless...no wonder this whole RAID config has had me pulling out my hair...I had my damn PC turned off for a whole day cause i couldn't handle it anymore, BSODs and disk read errors...anyways what i ended up doing is downloading nforce4 chipset drivers onto my laptop, installing them to the desktop (lol, for simplicity) setup wouldn't work cause my P3 laptop doesn't have nf4 :p but i dug through the extracted files for a RAID driver and found one FFS put it on a floppy, threw the floppy in my main rig, and added it to the specified RAID drivers as well as the 4 drivers that came on the disc all at once, and finally got windows setup to see my array as a single 150 some-odd gigabyte volume...it's formatting now, and i'll have the OS installed before i go to bed...blah i hate late nights and stressed out troubleshooting...anyways all seems to be well, turns out the drivers were the problem, not my stupidity...so i'm going out for a well earned, and very much needed, cigarette...thanks to all who responded...and kept me digging through my brain for solutions...cheers

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

well ****...install seemed to go just fine, but now just after the windows xp splash screen i get a split second BSOD and a reboot...and it loops...i can't even boot into safe mode...WTF!>!>

*edit* i don't think it's my PSU or RAM, cause i used one stick of both my premier 1gb kit, and my platinum EL 2gb kit...plus i disconnected both my optical drives and my fans, all BIOS defaults are loaded....

[dark41]

Cranswick, what you're describing is a typical Nvidia chipset problem, not a RAID/Windows problem. With Nvidia, I've found that if I did a clean install enough times, eventually it would work (for no good reason). Even then, the RAID arrays tend to become corrupt at some point in time with Nvidia chipsets.

That's exactly why we stopped using Nvidia chipsets (love the video cards but can't stand their motherboard chipsets). I've never ever had such a problem on an Intel chipset system.

Sorry you're having problems and hope you get it sorted out. :(

[yahooadam]

well ****...install seemed to go just fine, but now just after the windows xp splash screen i get a split second BSOD and a reboot...and it loops...i can't even boot into safe mode...WTF!>!>

*edit* i don't think it's my PSU or RAM, cause i used one stick of both my premier 1gb kit, and my platinum EL 2gb kit...plus i disconnected both my optical drives and my fans, all BIOS defaults are loaded....
Sounds like you dont have teh drivers in windows

Classic sympton

It sees the HDD, tries to load a driver, fails, and reboots

[Skorp]

What you're describing is a classic case of Windows using the wrong motherboard drivers, often seen when you try to swap the board with a different kind. But... this is a fresh install. Damned nGremlins! Still think my Impy-GPU metaphor is balls? ;)

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

i just did some reading and i guess there were/are a lot of people having problems with RAID arrays on the NF4 chipset...but i also read that the NF4 has two sata RAID controllers...one is nvraid, and the other is si3114, and appearantly each has its own 2 sata headers...i loaded the 3114 driver during setup as well, but i couldn't get windows setup to detect the array until i had loaded the nvraid drivers, so i'm gonna try the same thing that almost worked last time, using the other two sata headers, and then if that poops out, i'll be back to square one...

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

so i'm back to square one...i can't get window to load the drivers properly...it's really a pain in my ass...unless someone knows how to setup RAID properly on NF4 chipset, cause there's gotta be some sort of trick to it, cause i read it wasn't easy....but the point is, i think i'm just gonna say **** it, and i'll set up RAID when i get a new motherboard...

P.S. the PC i just built for my g/f, the motherboard CD comes with a "create RAID floppy" utility built into the auto-run :mad: why can't nvidia just make a proper floppy disc download file...

[AKHandyman]

Cranswick, I have tried to research your Mobo, but the manufacturer's website is no longer pointing to the motherboard ... however, try my buddy over at DIY-Street ...http://www.angrygames.com/nf4raid-1.htm
Angry has a couple of good tutorials ... he can be a little short at times, but he does know his stuff ... :thumb:

Check it out ... though the tutorial is for DFI board, it would apply basically to the NF4 chipset ... good luck ;)

[AKHandyman]

Another thought just came to mind ... where or what RAID drivers are you using? I would try to find the latest drivers and put them on a floppy ... maybe the DFI site would have the latest drivers ... NF4 is NF4 is NF4 and so on ... just a WAG for now ... :p

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

right now i'm following a guide (http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32751&page=1) for slipstreaming the nvidia 6.53 RAID driver...if it doesn't work, i'm gonna try jdrom's idea of slipstreaming a ****load of RAID drivers....


that guide you posted could have been written by me, cause that's exactly what i've been doing, and the guide ends before where i'm having problems...i get through the setup, enter my CD key and all my settings and all that, time and date whatever, it's the first boot after that that BSODs...

[AKHandyman]

Looks like an awful lot of work ... have you thought about upgrading to a newer motherboard? ... LOL just kidding ... I know you have! :p

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

good news, slipstreaming the drivers worked...but it might have been the txtsetup.oem file edit that did the trick...anyways windows boots up fine on the array, and i have a single drive weighing in at 150gb :D

so yeah, i'm a happy camper...now to start overclocking again :)

will RAID 0 offer any benefit to 3Dmark scores??

[AKHandyman]

Congrats! RAID 0 will help a bit but I don't think you notice a bunch of improvements ... 3DMarks due stress the CPU and Video card more than the HDD, but if you have a lot of memory, then it won't matter much, on the other hand, if the system has to go to the paging file, it might help then ... ;)

[-=CrAnSwIcK=-]

since i upgraded to 2gb RAM i disabled the page file all together....

[AKHandyman]

I am planning on getting two 150GB Raptors and configuring them in a RAID 0 config for a dual boot of Vista64 and XP64 and then use one of my 36GB Raptors as a paging file ... even though I'll have 4GB memory, there is always going to be a need for a paging file somewhere down the line ... :) might as well have a "fast" one ...right?

[owen]

two 150gb raptors = lots of money
^
lots of performace

[AKHandyman]

You know the saying about money, right Owen? "You can't take it with you when you go," so I plan on using it as often as I can while I am still here ... :woot: !

[owen]

haha yea, why not?! Having said that wouldnt you want to leave just a little bit for your relatives?

[AKHandyman]

haha yea, why not?! Having said that wouldnt you want to leave just a little bit for your relatives?

haha .... what relatives? I am the blackest sheep of my family ... I left them in Kalifornica a long time ago almost thirty years ago ... and my kids know I don't have any money (at least that's what I tell them!) If they thought I was going to leave them any money, they wouldn't go out and earn it! :p

[owen]

indeed! i wouldnt want to work either !speaking of work, as a retired FAA dispatcher were you like the guys in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BtaymrFZwk&feature=related">opening scene of top gun</a>?

[dark41]

Glad you finally got it going Cranswick.

Now hope you have better luck than I ever did at keeping the array from becoming corrupt. I don't think mine ever lasted much over a month on the DFI board, a few months on the Gigabyte boards. I'd recommend getting an image of the hard drive soon. At least your slipstream disc should make reinstalling a snap. :)