Cant get Raid0 to work

[franco_cov]

Hi,

 

Need some serious help with getting Raid 0 to work on my Asus Rampage Extreme iv board.

 

I have got latest bios and then enabled raid (tried both rste and irst)

 

then did ctrl and i and created raid volume then booted windows 7 pro with sp1 (and other various versions of windows 7) and then loaded a iastor driver and then created partition to install to and then it just hangs on 0% or on some occasions it created a MSR partition?

 

Please can someone help me its doing my head in now.......

 

I am trying to raid 2 x 240gb Intel 520 SSD drives

 

Also i have my dvd plugged into port 6 (black) and my 2 ssd's are in the 2 intel 6gb "red" slots

 

Please Help!

[franco_cov]

^^Bump^^

 

Someone suggested the following:-

 

Once you install IRST on your single boot drive, it will allow you to create RAID arrays, including migrating your data to other disks that you want to use in the array. At this point you have already got the RAID drivers installed on your boot drive, and IRST can handle creating and communicating with the array.

The way you were trying to do it means you need a boot disc with the RAID drivers so that the install disc can communicate with (and install to) the RAID array you've created from within the BIOS. Doing it this way means you have an array, but no drivers to talk to it, hence you needing to provide them at install time.

My suggestion is simple because you already have an OS installation that can talk to the RAID array before you create it, and with IRST installed it handle the creation, communication and migration of data to the array.

So in summary:

1. Set your drives to RAID in the BIOS. Ignore creating RAID arrays in the BIOS OROM.

2. Install the OS on one drive.

3. Install Intel RST.

4. Use the IRST utils to create an array and migrate the existing data (from the drive you installed at step 2).


You will get a slightly misleading "all data will be destroyed" warning, but this is the data on the target drive. You will get to choose which drive's data is migrated, and which drive is wiped (because it will get copied over).

It's pretty simple and self explanatory once you're in IRST. Just read the screens and it makes sense, and make sure you're selecting the correct drives to keep/wipe when creating the array.

 

** But I get your platform is not supported ** I have an X79 Rampage Extreme IV

[MG2R]

then did ctrl and i and created raid volume then booted windows 7 pro with sp1 (and other various versions of windows 7) and then loaded a iastor driver

That should be all you have to do, I wouldn't know why it isn't working for you, as I did the same on my system...

 

 

1: Install physical drives into system

2: Format all drives

3: Install the OS onto only ONE drive

4: Install the SATA RAID controller (This part is confusng for me, because according to my motherboard manual I need to install these drivers PRIOR to installing the OS)

5: Configure the RAID0 array in BIOS after OS and Controller drivers are installed.

 

I have never heard of the way OP has been told to do it. The way I know that works is by

1. Set SATA controller to RAID mode in BIOS
2. During POST, the RAID controller will initialize and tell you to press 'Ctrl-I' (for intel controllers) to configure the arrays, do this
3. Set your RAID array the way you want it, save and reboot
4. Boot your Windows setup.
5. Windows needs additional drivers (iastor), which you can load by pressing 'Load driver' in the bottom left on the drive selection menu, see here.
6. You'll need to provide this driver with something like a USB flash drive, I always put it on the flash drive I'm installing Windows off
7. Once you've provided the needed driver (your motherboard manual should indicate you where you can find it), the installation can be continued like any other regular Windows installation

 

Now, if I may give you my two cents... Don't RAID0 your SSDs! Instead, just buy a single large one. Unless you absolutely need the gian sequential read/write speeds provided by the array, it won't help your system be faster or more responsive at all. The  RAID controller actually limits the number of random IOPS (which is the biggest factor in making your system feel fast). Your booot sequence will be longer because the RAID controller has to initialize. You'll be more prone to data corruption due to drive crashes.

Basically, if you don't need huge sequential transfer speeds, creating a RAID 0 using SSDs doesn't do you any good. Trust me, I'm running it, unfortunately.

 

PS: you don't need to format your drive prior to creating the array. All data will be destroyed automagically as the RAID controller will overwrite the superblock on your drives. Only if you want your drives to be wipe securely (so that no previous data can be recovered after theft, for example) should you manually format them before RAID array creation.

 

 

Also once it's all said and done, does it display 2 drives in the "computer" section of your PC, or a single combined drive? In my case 2 x 60GB = 120GB

Your array will show up as any other regular drive:

 

In this case, my C: drive consists of two 120GB Kingston SSDs in RAID 0.

[MG2R]

Regarding your comment on the need fot a raid0 setup. Im only really doing it simply because I have 2 identical drives, speed etc isnt important. So perhaps I ought to forget about raid and just use a single boot SSD. Could use the other SSD for intensive games

If you already have the SSDs and you want them to show up as a single drive for conveniece, go ahead. Just wanted to make sure that you understand it won't increase the perceived performance of your system by much (if at all)

 

 

I have the option as you stated for installing the RAID/AHCI drivers during the OS install. Now I never did this with my current SSD, yet I am still able to take advantage of ACHI. Would you suggest I install those drivers to possibly gain any improvements, or just leave it as is and not install them?

AHCI doesn't need any drivers, Windows knows how to handle it by default

 

 

According to my motherboard manual, I click the "load driver" button and than install my motherboard CD and locate the driver off there. (although I might get the latest driver and make a CD or use a USB drive ) I've got no idea on how to place my OS off a CD onto a flash, it's not something I'm required to do.

Doesn't really matter how you get them to your PC, as long as you do. If you would be willing to create a USB flash drive, use the Windows7 CD to USB tool.