Difficulty installing Windows XP on RAID

[mpbrede]

I am building a new rig using the following gear

Motherboard: Intel DP35DP ICH9R raid controller
Processor: Intel Core Duo E6420
Harddrive: Maxtor Sata/150 250GB
Video card: eVGA e-GeForce 7600 GS
DVD-ROM: Hitachi mod GD-500
CD R/W: TEAC CD-W54E
Floppy: USB attached

(The optical drives are salvage from my old system)

I'm having real difficulties installing XP on here. I had the drive in IDE mode and things went well, but I prefer to install it in "RAID-ready" mode as Intel refers to it. For this the drive has to be defined as RAID.

When I do this, I have to install the ICH9R driver from floppy disk (I specially had to buy a USB floppy drive as the card doesn't have connectors for an internal floppy). When Win XP install prompts me to press F6 to install additional drivers, nothing happens. The system continues to load drivers for a while, and then it stops with a message that it can't find a drive and that I should enter "S" to load drivers. I do this, load the ICH9R driver from the floppy and the system continues. As soon as it enters setup it reports that it can't find a drive to install on.

Then I'm stuck.

Am I missing something or doing something wrong? Any help appreciated.

 

[Blain]

It looks like it's RAID/HD season in the General Hardware forum again.

I kind of miss NAS season.

 

[mpbrede]

Gee, sorry. Where would have been a better place?

 

[Blain]

The GH forum is the correct place to ask.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: mpbrede
I am building a new rig using the following gear

Motherboard: Intel DP35DP ICH9R raid controller
Processor: Intel Core Duo E6420
Harddrive: Maxtor Sata/150 250GB
Video card: eVGA e-GeForce 7600 GS
DVD-ROM: Hitachi mod GD-500
CD R/W: TEAC CD-W54E
Floppy: USB attached

(The optical drives are salvage from my old system)

I'm having real difficulties installing XP on here. I had the drive in IDE mode and things went well, but I prefer to install it in "RAID-ready" mode as Intel refers to it. For this the drive has to be defined as RAID.

When I do this, I have to install the ICH9R driver from floppy disk (I specially had to buy a USB floppy drive as the card doesn't have connectors for an internal floppy). When Win XP install prompts me to press F6 to install additional drivers, nothing happens. The system continues to load drivers for a while, and then it stops with a message that it can't find a drive and that I should enter "S" to load drivers. I do this, load the ICH9R driver from the floppy and the system continues. As soon as it enters setup it reports that it can't find a drive to install on.

Then I'm stuck.

Am I missing something or doing something wrong? Any help appreciated.

So let me see if I have this right. You have one hard drive that's not setup in a RAID, but you want Windows to install on a non-existent RAID?

 

[mpbrede]

Yea, that might look like a show-stopper right there. However, Intel refers to it as "RAID-ready" installation. Later, when a 2nd harddrive is added to the configuration, the Operating System does not have to be reinstalled.

Setting Up a ?RAID Ready? System

The Intel Matrix Storage Technology Console software offers the flexibility to upgrade from a single Serial ATA drive to RAID without reinstalling the operating system, when a second SATA hard drive is added to the system.

Follow the steps described in the headings from this section: "Configuring the BIOS for Intel Matrix Storage Technology" and "Loading the Intel Matrix Storage Technology RAID Drivers and Software".

Once additional SATA drives have been added, open the Intel Matrix Storage Technology Console Software and follow the directions to update to a RAID setup.

Here's the link. Did I misunderstand it somehow?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Per the Link you posted, Did you follow the steps underneath "Configuring the BIOS for Intel Matrix Storage Technology"? They still require you to create the RAID, even tho it will not be a complete array. also, what type of RAID will you be using in the end?

 

[mpbrede]

Well wow. I know that sometimes people ask dumb questions or the wrong question and then it is difficult to help them.

I figured out a way past the problem.

One of the Intel Downloads for the DP35DP motherboard is a series of INF files for Windows XP. This is the Chipset: Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility for Intel® Desktop Boards.

I used this and also the RAID: Intel Matrix Storage Manager in conjunction with the nLite utility and the instructions on SoftPedia to create a new Win XP Install CD with the drivers and the updated INF drivers.

This installed great.

I still have some problems that the motherboard's on-board LAN card isn't recognized and I don't think I have all the drivers for the board right, but I'll be working on that today.

 

[mjavid]

Hi,
I have the exact same problem with this board, which I got primarily for the RAID. I think this topic is quite relevant.

1.Can you tell me whether you used the 32 bit version of the RAID driver or the 64 bit? While I am running XP Pro (32bit) my CPU is a C2D E6750 (64Bit).

2.If windows can be installed, the intel chipset driver can be easily installed from within windows, why did you add it to your boot disk?

3.How about giving step by step instructions to make the boot disk?

4.By the way I noticed that my DP35DP I/O hub temperatures are running at 90 C !!!!! (using Intel desktop utilities). The CPU is at 40-42 C, Memory Controller Hub 67 C. How is your MB doing???

All the best,

M Javid

 

[mpbrede]

Originally posted by: mjavid
Hi,
I have the exact same problem with this board, which I got primarily for the RAID. I think this topic is quite relevant.

1.Can you tell me whether you used the 32 bit version of the RAID driver or the 64 bit? While I am running XP Pro (32bit) my CPU is a C2D E6750 (64Bit).

2.If windows can be installed, the intel chipset driver can be easily installed from within windows, why did you add it to your boot disk?

3.How about giving step by step instructions to make the boot disk?

4.By the way I noticed that my DP35DP I/O hub temperatures are running at 90 C !!!!! (using Intel desktop utilities). The CPU is at 40-42 C, Memory Controller Hub 67 C. How is your MB doing???

All the best,

M Javid

1. I used the 32-bit drivers. I'm running Win XP Pro 32-bit.

2. Windows wouldn't install. The text-based portion of the setup program could not see the disk drive. After the startup process to load the drivers (including the F6-setup), I could go no further.

3. The majority of the steps to follow is in the article on softpedia that I originally linked. What I did was as follows:

- Used nLite to create a HDD copy of my original boot disk.
- Followed the instructions in the readme for the chipset drivers to add te relevant directories under the \i386\ directory on the HDD copy. I also reviewed the instructions in MS's knowledgebase article 314479 to double-check what I was doing.
- the nLite instructions referenced included instructions for adding the drivers to the HDD image.
- nLite can be used to burn the new CD directly. This seems ot be a newer feature of nLite and was useful in skipping a few of the steps in the original article.


4. I noticed mine running at 80C. I have the desktop utility installed and it does seem to run very close to the upper range. Not much I can do about that, though.

 

[mjavid]

Hats off to you mpbrede!
I finally managed to intall XP using the procedure outlined by you. Here is what I did:

1. Copied all the files in the Raid installation floppy to a folder on the desktop.
2. Used the command filename -A -P<pathname> to uncompress and place the chipset inf files in a folder on the desktop after downloading the latest chipset file from the Intel website.
3. Used nLite v 1.4 to copy my XP CD to a folder on my laptop
4. Used nLite to add the two folders on the desktop to the XP copy using the 'add driver' option. For the chipset files, I specified the path to the extracted folder other than the 'Vista' folder.
5. Used the option in nLite to burn a bootable ISO WinXP cd and then booted successfully with it, installing windows.
6. With windows running, installed the Intel RAID Matrix management console.

After this I could not manage to install the SigmaTel audio using the Intel Express installer or manually either. After uninstalling the device using device manager and also uninstalling the audio software which was showing up in the 'installed programs', I re-booted. Windows found 'new' hardware and I managed to install the audio the usual 'insert CD containing drivers' way.

I have also installed a PCI-E graphics card which has a ducted fan heatsink. I find that the ducts are directing air at the I/O hub, which is now running at 83-86 C. I have got a small 5V fan which I will mount on the hub heatsink and connect to the floppy power cable to provide additional cooling.


M Javid