Asmedia 1061R SATA controller problems

[GnatGoSplat]

I bought this Syba SI-MPE40095 Mini PCI-e SATA RAID controller, ASM1061R chip.
http://www.sybausa.com/productInfo.php?iid=1599
VEN_1B21&DEV_0622

I put it on an MSI AM1I motherboard w/AMD 5350 and 8GB RAM.

No drivers came with the card, and none available to download. Supposedly, it's compatible with Windows Standard AHCI Controller driver.

Desired OS is Windows Server 2012 R2. If I boot up the machine using the motherboard's AMD SATA controller, it detects the card as Standard AHCI Controller. Any drives plugged into it show up as "Other Devices" and not drives. They don't show up in Disk Management so I can't assign them drive letters or make them Online. I Googled and found some Asmedia 106x drivers, v.2.0.4.0000 for Windows 8.1. Windows does recognize those drivers as matching the card, but if I do a manual driver install, the computer spontaneously reboots. If I install from Setup, it also spontaneously reboots.

For no particular reason, I tried installing Windows 10 Build 10130. It recognized the card and I was able to do a clean install to a fresh drive and it works just fine, drives show up as "Hard Drive", so I know the card is good. Windows 10 uses the Standard AHCI Controller driver as well.

So I decide to try a clean install of Windows Server 2012 R2. It doesn't see the controller, doesn't see the drive. Same problem as the pre-existing Windows install. I tried loading the Asmedia drivers from the installation screen, and the drivers from the SCSI folder are detected and do nothing, the drivers from the STOR folder causes a BSOD, but no specific error. Since 2012 R2 is built on Windows 8.1, I tried clean installing Windows 8.1. Same story, no drives detected, SCSI driver does nothing, STOR driver BSODs.

Since Windows 10 worked, I tried replacing storahci.sys on the existing Windows 2012 R2 setup with the version from Windows 10. This required me to turn off driver signing. It does recognize the controller, but same problem with drives showing up as "Other Devices".

Decided to try the Asmedia drivers in the working Windows 10 install. It detects and uses the driver from the STOR folder, but BSODs in asstor64.sys with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. Every time it boots now, it goes straight to that BSOD.

Not sure what else to try. Also tried the Asmedia 2.0.3.0 driver and same result.

Syba customer support told me simply to "install the drivers". Gee, thanks.

Any ideas?

 

[PliotronX]

I am curious what the vendor and device ID is, normally found under device manager in the details tab in Hardware IDs but I found it in a roundabout way by using Macrium Reflect live CD and the dialog where it lets you load drivers has a function to show these IDs. Whenceupon googling with said IDs, I found a very specific set of drivers, on a sketchy drivers site somewhere in Europe or Asia I assume. Be careful with the "driver downloaders" with malware but sometimes you gotta experiment especially with these obscure drivers (use a browser with Sandboxie or in a VM!). Good luck!

 

[GnatGoSplat]

It's VEN_1B21&DEV_0622.
Yeah, I don't trust those drivers sites. I used some of the driver sites to find motherboards with ASM106x on them, then downloaded the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer's sites. Downloaded about a dozen different drivers until I found some that had the DEV_0622 in the .inf. 2.0.4.0 was the newest I could find, but it didn't work despite supposedly being for Windows 8.1.

 

[Burpo]

Use Windows 10.. What's the problem?

 

[GnatGoSplat]

I need a server OS. Server version of Win 10 (2016) isn't out yet. Or at least I can't find it.

EDIT: Managed to find Windows Server Technical Preview 2. Will give that a shot.

 

[Ketchup]

Since the device is listed om their site as being compatible with your OS, I would call Asmedia and ask them to provide you with a working driver.

 

[PliotronX]

You might have better luck like I did with older drivers in fact. I had drivers load and still not populate the volume listing as well. Ketchup's is a good suggestion, sometimes manufacturers have unofficial drivers that are not readily available on the internet.

 

[GnatGoSplat]

No luck with older drivers. 1.3.4.1 and 1.4.1.0 both install with no problems, but show many ATA channels from 0 thru 11 and no hard drives detected.

 

[GnatGoSplat]

Upgraded my install to Windows Server Technical Preview 2. It's very buggy. Settings don't work, not even with a clean install. Also is super, duper slow when hooked up to the Syba card. I think I've concluded that the ASM1061R is probably a steaming turd.
I'll probably send it back and have to eat return shipping and the restock fee.

 

[PliotronX]

Dang, sorry bud. You win some, you lose some. Treat yourself to one of these

 

[GnatGoSplat]

Oh damn, those are pricey! I was thinking just another FakeRAID card, like maybe one from Marvell.
Kind of surprised the Asmedia is such crap. I thought a subsidiary of Asus would do better.

 

[Ketchup]

Oh damn, those are pricey! I was thinking just another FakeRAID card, like maybe one from Marvell.
Kind of surprised the Asmedia is such crap. I thought a subsidiary of Asus would do better.

As they say, you get what you pay for. I will say that there have been a fair number of people in forums over the years who who think they are having hard drive / SSD issues, only to find that it is the fault of a Marvell chip. So if you want a good RAID system, you may want to get a nice card like the one PliotronX linked, or get a motherboard with a nice RAID controller built in.