Can't boot from 2nd Sata controller

[miston]

I have the MSI K8N Diamond Plus, which has 2 SATA controllers, the Nvidia (4 ports) and the Silicon Image 3132 (2 ports)

I have 2 Raptors in Raid 0 and 2 WD Caviar RE2 WD4000YR in Raid 0.

When I first built the system I couldn't get the Raptors to boot from the SI controller, but they booted fine from the Nvidia. I couldn't figure it out, so I said f'it, I'm ready to install XP and see how fast this puppy is. This was about 6 weeks ago.

Well this weekend I finally got around to adding some extra fans and another hardrive cage to separate the drives. Well I forgot to note which controller was using which drives when I unhooked them, so I guessed, but I guessed wrong, and hooked up the OS drives on the Silicon and the storage drives on the Nvidia.

Well it still wouldn't boot, even after I confiured the bios to boot from the SI controller.

Any ideas? I didn't hurt the array by hooking them up to a different controller did I? I did go to each of the controller's menu and each array detected fine.

 

[miston]

anyone? anyone?

 

[miston]

3 forums 0 responses

 

[obeseotron]

First you should relax about no responses within 3 hours.

Now I'll try and answer your question at least as much as I understand it. RAID0 arrays on both of those controllers are proprietary software RAIDs and are not necessarily (or at all likely) compatible. RAID is not as standardized as you might like and arrays will usually break when they are moved between controllers from two different brands. Even without the RAID issue (which is huge) various configuration files in Windows reference the location of the OS physically in the computer - like device x on controller x on bus x. Moving a plain hard drive from one controller to another and trying to boot windows may not work, forget about a RAID array. You need to reconnect the cables to where they were originally and hope you didn't break the array. It should work at that point provided the array is correctly detected on its original controller and the data is still there.

 

[miston]

No, I couldn't get XP to boot the first time. But perhaps I didn't set the bios correct the first time. But what you said makes sense, so I'll just put the cables back. Hopefully I didn't screw the array up, but since nothing was written or even attempted to be written I shoudl be okay.

No, they are both hardware RAID controllers, except for the RAID-5 which is software based on the SI. (I don't know nor care if the Nvidia has RAID-5)

Well, with the GAZILLIONS of peeps on the internet who are knowledgble on computers you would expect a little quicker response. Had I not kept bumping it up it would have gotten lost.

There should be a computer SUPER-FORUM, instead of the 20 or so crappy forums which spreads out the people to thinly. Anand is by far the best, but their could still be more activity.

Thanks.

 

[Nick5324]

Paging mechbgon to explain what is going on.

OP, I think you are being unreasonable about your expected response time from a free, public computer forum.

 

[miston]

Perhaps, but I visit other forums, and you ask a question and you'll get virtually instant, numerous responses, similar to a chatroom. Yet whenever I visit computer forums they are pretty much DEAD.

Anand is by far the best computer forum, but still no comparison to the other non-computer forums I visit.

 

[obeseotron]

"What's your opinion of?" questions that would appear on non-computer forums will obviously be answered quickly because it doesn't require specific knowledge of the question, just a quick opinion. You have 49 total posts (5 in this post) in over a year, so you obviously don't spend a ton of time helping other people either. Finally, write more clearly if you want clearer responses.

First off, they are software RAIDs, just because your SATA controller says RAID all over it doesn't mean it is a full hardware RAID, it means it supports RAID of the levels it says it does in software or hardware. Both the controllers you mentioned are software, the array will not be displayed to windows via the BIOS as a single drive plugged into the nvidia SATA ports would, it needs a driver. RAID 0 and 1 require virtually no math, so the overhead of using software vs hardware is minimal, RAID5 is a different story. If you mean you are having trouble installing Windows for the first time and having it boot correctly, you probably aren't pressing F6 and loading the storage drivers before trying to install. If you do not load the driver, the two individual disks on your RAID0 array that are plugged into the nvidia controller will show up in the installation process instead of the RAID array, and installing onto one of them directly will not work and may wipe out the whole array. If you don't have a floppy start googling SATA and Slipstream. Sorry if I can't muster the will to explain more to such a grateful and valued member of the AT forums. This is my last post on this topic, hope it helped and I hope you'll show a minimum level of respect and gratitude next time.

 

[miston]

Originally posted by: obeseotron
Both the controllers you mentioned are software, the array will not be displayed to windows via the BIOS as a single drive plugged into the nvidia SATA ports would, it needs a driver.

um...NO! Like I said in my previous posts both on-board chips are hardware based RAID controllers EXCEPT for RAID-5, which is obvious as you can't find a hardware based RAID-5 controller for under $300.

And you don't have to explain slipstreaming to me! But thanks for the (((offer)))

Originally posted by: obeseotron
This is my last post on this topic, hope it helped and I hope you'll show a minimum level of respect and gratitude next time.

Where did I show any disrespect? Impaitent - perhaps! After 3 hours and my post falling to the second page I felt the need to bump it up.

The only disrespect in this thread was from you spewing false information to booster your ego!

 

[obeseotron]

Again, both those arrays require the interaction of a driver to operate, if the nforce chipset was actually fully hardware RAID then the BIOS could report the array to a windows install disc without a special driver. I understand they aren't software RAIDs in the sense of Windows, Linux or Mac totally software based RAIDs setup via the operating system. They still are not totally hardware based RAID, capable of transparent use. Even if they were, there is still no totally standard way to format a RAID array, you can't just go mixing them up and thinking everything should still work.