RAID 0 setup problem

[Flybywyre]

I am in the process of upgrading my computer and have encountered a problem setting RAID 0. I have setup RAID 0 before without any problems, but this seems to have beaten me.
ASUS P4P800S-X MB
Two Maxtor Diamond 80GB SATA drives
The problem is that I am unable to find a way of entering the RAID details during Windows setup. I have downloaded what I think are the correct drivers on to a floppy, when I get the F6 prompt I insert the floppy and keep getting the same message:
THE FILE TXTSETUP.OEM COULD NOT BE FOUND
Anyone got any ideas ?
Thanks in anticipation,
FBW

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Here are the steps to take in order to get a working driver disk you can use
when booting the Windows XP for AMD 64-bit installation CD and hitting F6 to
specify additional drivers:

1. Download the VIA Hyperion Pro driver archive from VIA's site:
http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/Hype...ro64_v096P2.zip

2. Extract the contents of the archive downloaded in step one using winzip.

3. Extract the contents of "VIAHyperionpro64-096P2.exe" (the only file in
the archive you downloaded in step 1) using winzip.

4. Open the "SATA" directory.

5. Open the "driver" directory.

6. Copy the "X64" directory and its contents to a blank floppy.

7. Save the text below between ;;start and ;;end to a file named
TXTSETUP.OEM in the root of the floppy.

;;start

[Disks]
d1 = "VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller Driver", \X64\viasraid.inf, \X64

[Defaults]

scsi = VIARAID_VT3149_X64

[scsi]
VIARAID_VT3149_X64 = "VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller (AMD 64-bit)"

[Files.scsi.VIARAID_VT3149_X64]
driver = d1, viasraid.sys, viasraid
inf = d1, viasraid.inf

[HardwareIds.scsi.VIARAID_VT3149_X64]
id = "PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3149","viasraid"

[Config.viasraid]
value = Parameters\PnpInterface, "5", REG_DWORD, 1

;;end

Disregard last post.


Just noticed your mobo is Pentium 4. I\'ll try find the Text Set-up for that, although you could google for it yourself as the process will be pretty much the same as just described.

[Flybywyre]

I've spent most of the day trying to find this txtsetup.oem.........
no luck :(

[Toxteth O'Grady]

What's your mobo raid controller? Is it Intel ICH5?

[Flybywyre]

Yes :ok:
(Thanks for your help)

[Toxteth O'Grady]

You need to download and instal Intel Application Accelerator Raid Edition. Use the readme to create a floppy for use at F6. It will contain the txtsetup.oem

Go to this Intel (http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa_raid/) link to download IAAR. Go to bottom of web page and download the IAAR manual and quickstart guide.

This (http://www.techsupportforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=9888) may help.

[Flybywyre]

Thanks for your very helpfull posts TOG........
I kept getting a message that stated "incompatable software" when I tried to instal the IAAR. Thought I might have got the wrong one so I tried another one and had exactly the same error message.
I have just downloaded and run the Intel Chipset ID utillity which has detected a different Chipset to the one that should be installed. The chipset that should be on the MB, and all references to it in documentation etc is the P848P and ICH5.
However the actual chipset according to the Intel ID utillity is a
865 chipset familly with ICH5R
I will now start downloading drivers for the 865 and see what happens.
Regards
FBW

[Toxteth O'Grady]

From the Techsupport forum link;

2.2. Open the .EXE file using WinZip and extract all files to a folder you will be able to find later for Step 11. This will create a subfolder (eg. "Disk1") containing, among other things, Setup.exe.

(Although the IAAR EXE file is self-extracting, assuming you do not yet have Intel RAID enabled on the mobo, you cannot run it. The downloaded "iaar353_enu.exe" tool will report "Incompatible hardware" and will not run. This is why you need WinZip.)

Note: if you get the error...

"Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset."

...it means something went wrong The IAAR software is not seeing your ICH5R chip as an ICH5R: you missed a BIOS step, a floppy step, the SATA drive on the ICH5R is not working, or your mobo does not have an Intel ICH5R chip. You can try reinstalling the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility but that is unlikely to help.

For the ICH5R to identify as a RAID controller instead of as a normal ATA controller, ALL of the following conditions MUST be met:

(a)the ICH5R must be in RAID mode in the BIOS, and
(b)the Intel BootROM must be enabled in the BIOS, and
(c)at least one SATA drive must be attached to the ICH5R.

Once you enable RAID mode in the BIOS and attach a SATA drive, the ICH5R stops looking like a standard ATA controller and starts looking like a RAID controller. And once that happens, you need RAID drivers to run it. If the RAID drivers have already been loaded at OS install time, you are set. Otherwise you are stuck in what we call a "chicken-and-egg" situation:
Unless the ICH5R identifies as a RAID controller, the Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition driver software will not install. You will get an "Incompatible Hardware" error.

But unless the IAAR is already installed, you cannot boot an existing OS on an ICH5R which is in RAID mode.

(Note to our friends around the world:
If you have never heard of a "chicken and egg" situation, it relates to a very old saying, "Which came first... the chicken or the egg?" If the egg came first, then how did it get there without there being a chicken? If the chicken came first, then how did it get there without there being an egg?)




PITFALLS:

Mistake 1:
Let\'s say you installed an OS to a SATA drive running on your Intel ICH5R chip, set to RAID=No. Intuitively you would think all you need to do to enable RAID would be to set it to RAID=Yes and BootROM=Enabled in the BIOS, then boot and install the IAAR. Wrong!

If you try this, boot will begin as usual, but a few seconds after the black Windows XP screen, an error will occur. If you had "Automatic Restart" enabled in the Control Panel, the system will continuously reboot. Otherwise you will get a BSOD with the following error:

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7C84640, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

This is occurring because your HDD is now on a RAID controller but the system has no driver for that controller. The only way out is to go back into BIOS and disable Intel RAID again.


Mistake 2:
If instead you boot your SATA HDD, on Intel, in ATA mode, into Windows and then attempt to install IAAR, it will not install. Whether you run the self-extraction .EXE, or the Setup.exe, in both cases you will get the following runtime error,

"Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset. Please select \'Yes\' to view the Readme file for a list of supported products. Refer to section 2 titled \'System Requirements\'."

So the IAAR will not install if the ICH5R is not set to RAID mode, yet you cannot set it to RAID mode --and boot-- unless the IAAR is already installed.

Mistake 1 + Mistake 2 illustrate the chicken-and-egg problem.

[Flybywyre]

For the ICH5R to identify as a RAID controller instead of as a normal ATA controller, ALL of the following conditions MUST be met:

(a)the ICH5R must be in RAID mode in the BIOS, and
(b)the Intel BootROM must be enabled in the BIOS,

Unable to find any reference to these items in the BIOS ???

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Do you have latest bios for your mobo?


6. Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
The following example is for Asus mobos using AMIBIOS (eg. P4C800-E Deluxe). If your mobo is different, take whatever action is necessary to enable Intel RAID.

6.1. Reattach power, power up the mobo, wait 2 seconds, press DELETE, and enter the BIOS setup.

6.2. Arrow-down to the Main- IDE Configuration screen and hit Enter.

6.3. On the IDE screen which appears, use arrow and +/- keys to set the fields like this:

Onboard IDE Operate Mode= Enhanced
Enhanced Mode Support On= S-ATA
Configure S-ATA as RAID= Yes
Serial ATA BOOTROM= Enabled
IDE Detect Time Out= 35

6.4. Note that when you set "Configure S-ATA RAID= Yes", a new "BOOTROM" field will appear below it; don't forget to set this to "Enabled".

6.5 ESC back to Main, then arrow-right to the Boot screen.

[Flybywyre]

This is another problem...........

Onboard IDE Operate Mode= Enhanced
Enhanced Mode Support On= S-ATA
Configure S-ATA as RAID= Yes
Serial ATA BOOTROM= Enabled
IDE Detect Time Out= 35

The items in red DO NOT APPEAR ?
I do have the latest BIOS

A VERY FRUSTRATED FBW