SATA RAID 0 on GA-MA69G-S3H...possible to add another SATA drive?

[idoc]

I have 2 SATA drives attached to SATA 0 and SATA 1 connectors, and configured as RAID 0, running XP. I'm thinking of replacing my current IDE back-up drive with another SATA drive if this is possible. Can I still add another SATA drive to my system and attach it to either SATA 2 or SATA 3 connector? Sent e-mail to Gigabyte but they have yet to respond. Does anybody have any experience regarding this or similar motherboard? TIA

 

[Regalk]

I haven't done raid for a long (no need to these days) - but I am sure you could since the ports are all independent

 

[idoc]

Thanks for the reply, but I'm just worried that the bios/system would have a problem with a mix of 2 SATA drives already on RAID 0, and another SATA drive, all on one SATA controller. Then I would have a new SATA drive that I can't use :-( Have you or anybody else had actual experience with this same situation? Thanks again

 

[Regalk]

No as i said never tried it - when you configure Raid it will ask you to select the drives you want in raid config - other dirves left in non-raid - do not see what the issue really is - try it

 

[idoc]

I know that for boards with 2 SATA controllers (one is on the southbridge, and the other is a 3rd party like JMicron or Silicon) that usually have at least 6 SATA ports that are color-coded for differentiation, a RAID array can be installed on one controller, and non-RAID drives, HDD or optical, can be installed on the other controller's ports. Without any conflict in the setup or configuration. I have read posts of such actually in use. But my motherboard has the the AMD SB600 southbridge (with 4 SATA ports) only. And there lies my uncertainty if I may simply add a new SATA drive to either of the remaining ports (SATA 2 or SATA 3).

 

[shamans]

I'm 95% sure the answer is yes.

you can define/initialize the functionality of each drive during boot (I think you press Ctrl-F) or using the webpam application (see ATI integrated motherboard drivers under graphics driver website)

Just plugging the drive in would not destroy your current setup, but it wouldn't allow you to use that drive without first initializing it in JBOD mode (or RAID 0/1 if you have 2 spare drives instead)

 

[idoc]

So that means I have to go into the RAID setup 1st before booting up. OK, I think I'll get a new SATA drive and try it out (Keeping fingers crossed) thanks

 

[idoc]

@ Shamans: I successfully installed my new SATA HDD. I initially connected the drive to one of the free SATA ports (SATA 3) and booted into Windows to check if the new drive was recognized: it wasn't. So I rebooted and went into the RAID set-up, and configured the new single disk as JBOD as per your instruction. After that, it was just a matter of partitioning and formatting it. Thanks again

 

[RaulF]

Well i can't say for that exact mobo, but for my mobo yes it is fine.

Once you add the new drive right click my computer and go to manage, you should see the new drive, now just have to format it.

I have two raptors in Raid0 and one Hitachi 1K just as regular, all 3 drives are hook up via SATA interface. My board is 965P-DQ6. I say it should work fine, best of luck.

 

[idoc]

As I mentioned, simply connecting the new drive to the available SATA port did not result in it appearing in Disk management. I had to go into the RAID set-up prior to booting, and assign the single non-RAID drive as JBOD. After that, it appeared in Disk management, and I was able to partition and format it. All's well that ends well