Hello all, My setup: ASUS P4S800D-X mobo, P4(3.0 GHz), 2 Western Digital 250 GB SATA drives, built in SIS 180 Raid controller, current BIOS from ASUS, updates, etc. My problem: I'm attempting to RAID 1 my 2 drives that are connected to the SATA controllers. The primary master drive has WinXP already loaded and working, the secondary master is blank and is recognized by both the BIOS and Windows. However, when I try to create the RAID array by pressing ctrl-s and entering the setup utility, the creation of the raid halts at about 10% completion. Then I have to reboot, and start again. But it always halts before completing. I've tried using the ASUS RAID utility within Windows, but it also halts and I have to reboot. Very weird. Has anyone had this problem, and what was your solution? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I know this won't be a very constructive or informative post, but... I think you allready know the problem, it's the onboard RAID controller. Motherboard manufacturers ship their products with onboard RAID, but they use crappy controllers for it, because it sounds good to have one. If you want a good array, get a good PCI(x) RAID card. That solves a lot of problems... Now, what might be your problem, did you load the RAID drivers when you installed windows (at the beginning of the setup?)? That might be your problem.
Yep, loaded correct drivers from ASUS at beginning Windows installation. Didn't seem to have any problems, plus BIOS and Windows recognize the drives, and I can get the RAID creation process started... You're probably right that I should just get a PCI card and go that route. I just figured the mobo would have this capacity.
Normally RAID 1 is something that could be handled by onboard so you are right that it should work... But I don't trust onboard RAID solutions, and it doens't help that I've read plenty of questions around here concerning them... But I certainly recommend, if you ever want to go a higher RAID level (like 5-6) you get a decent HARDWARE RAID card But... So, you created the array and tried to rebuild it... I don't know if this erases everything, but you could maybe try to remove the array and then recreate and rebuild it. Or, boot with the 2nd detached and see how your PC reacts... If it informs you of the broken array, you could be lucky if you reattach the HD. But I'm just guessing here...
My experience only comes from servers where QA is very tight, and RAID must work. Typically, RAIDs need to be initalized by the controller. It puts some 'magic data' on the drives to help it sort out the array. The process will wipe the disks. I don't know if Asus tried to be more user friendly though, and provide tools to try and convert drives into an array. If you have your stuff backed up and don't mind wiping the drives, look for an option to initalize the array in the RAID BIOS.
Yeah, I had thought of just starting from the beginning and reloading Windows, but what a hassle! The ASUS BIOS Raid utility should duplicate the data and create the Raid array. I guess it's possible that creating the raid before loading Windows might make a difference... I think I'll just get a card...thanks all for your input!
glider, actually I was in the process of building the array when it stalled out. After I reboot, it seems to have named my 2nd drive in the array the same as my 1st one, and the same amount of disk space is used on both of em..strange. Whether I disconnect the 2nd drive or not, it still boots up fine. But I know the raid's not working because drive c's drive space changes and not the D drive.