Intel Rapid Storage Technology don't show my Raid, just an error

[Delling]

Hello, 

 

i recently bought a new mainboard and cpu. Asus Strix z370h with an i7 8700k. Everything is set up and works. Theres just this one thing.

 

I got 4 ssd's and 2 hdd's connected with SATA. I wanted to make the 2 hdds a raid0 (ye i know ^^, dont worry about data safety) array. It worked. And the Raid is visible in Windows and i can copy file on it. Only the Intel Rapid Storage driver (rst) reports that there is an Problem and i should check the system storage manager (The Right Part of the RST Window). But my Raid array is not shown in this, only the 4 ssd's. 

 

Anybody knows why this is? I tried to reinstall the rst driver, doesn't help. I checked the hdd's with CrystalDiskInfo7_7_0 and it show everything is fine. 

 

The setup of the raid array was a litte bit strange. First i activate the option for intel rapid storage tech. in the BIOS (in ez mode). After restart i can access the Setup with Strg+i. I set a new raid for the hdds and safe. After another restart Windows won't boot anymore and it show an error message: unable to access boot device (or smth.). 

 

After another restart i go back into the bios and deactive the rst. Then Windows will boot up normaly and i cant use the raid in explorer. Just the rst error.   

 

I use windows 10.

 

Hope someone can help me, if i hate one thing it's unsolved notifications. Thanks in advance. 

[seagate_surfer]

Hello Delling,

 

What is an unsolved notification? 

 

I would recommend you to undo the RAID and test the drives separately with the manufacturer tools just in case, 3rd party software may read S.M.A.R.T. details differently than what was programed by the manufacturer of those units. What are your drives model numbers?  

[Delling]

Hi,

 

thanks for the quick reply. The HDD's are Samsung HD501LJ 500 GB. I already run them in non raid. Then the RST show them in the system storage manager. I will try to do what you suggested and check them with some other software. They are pretty old.

 

unsolved notification: Stupid Windows Popups that come back every time. I mean i could just ignore the problem, i still works in windows and all... but that would drive me nuts. =)

[seagate_surfer]

Check them out with Samsung Drive Manager, I will paste the link down below for your convenience and don't forget to check the user guide. If they are truly defective this will avoid possible unnecessary troubleshooting:

• https://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/samsung-drive-manager-master-dl/

[Delling]

Thank you for your help!!! Sorry to annoy you even more. I installed the drive manger software but it don't recognize my hdd. As i understand this software is only for external hard drives. And it don't support windows 10 officially (i tried running it in compatibility mode, but that doesn't help. I tried some other samsung software (hutil and samsung es), but i don't get them to even start. It seems like they are some dos based programs. I tried to install the image to an usb stick and boot into it. But that does not work ether. 

 

In preparation to test the disk i deleted the raid array, formated the disks again and they run normally. In RST there are no more errors and they show up in the System Storage Monitor.

 

 

[seagate_surfer]

Ok, at least they are now showing! It seems to be that only when you set them up in a RAID array the problem appears, do the firmware upgrade that's available for your motherboard from last month and then try again to set them up: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-H-GAMING/HelpDesk_BIOS/

[Delling]

I'am already running the latest firmware. And to make it clear. I also saw them in raid mode in windows. They are working fine, just the rst error. Sorry if i was expressing that wrong. 

 

[seagate_surfer]

So your BIOS Version is 1602 2018/07/10, that's great and sorry I didn't get the problem was just with the error message in RST! It is supposed that the RST application updates the Z370 chipset but run the updates yourself manually anyways, do update the chipset and SATA drivers and then check to see if the message is gone: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-H-GAMING/HelpDesk_Download/

 

[Delling]

Ok i downloaded the driver from Asus and installed them. I had a newer version of the Sata driver installed (from the Intel Website), but i removed it and installed the Asus one. 

 

After that i done the same steps as mentioned above to reset the raid array. It shows up in Windows and i can copy files. In the RST Tool its still the same error + drive are not shown anymore. 

 

After reading some other Thread in the asus forum i came to the following conclusion: 

 

The problem seems to be, that i run the raid array in ahci mode instead of raid mode. I could change that, but from my understanding, i would lose some performance on my ssd's. And thats not worth it. For the moment i will play it safe and use the hdds as normal drives. On the long term i will replace them with one bigger drive. Probably a Seagate after this ;-). 

 

Thanks you for your help and patience. I give up. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Don't use the intel raid for this, your much better off using storage spaces in windows. intel raid is known for having issues. Just make a storage spaces volume with them and it will work well.

 

Raid mode and ahci is the same unless your using raid(you probably shouldn't be)

[seagate_surfer]

 

20 hours ago, Delling said:

Ok i downloaded the driver from Asus and installed them. I had a newer version of the Sata driver installed (from the Intel Website), but i removed it and installed the Asus one. 

 

After that i done the same steps as mentioned above to reset the raid array. It shows up in Windows and i can copy files. In the RST Tool its still the same error + drive are not shown anymore. 

 

After reading some other Thread in the asus forum i came to the following conclusion: 

 

The problem seems to be, that i run the raid array in ahci mode instead of raid mode. I could change that, but from my understanding, i would lose some performance on my ssd's. And thats not worth it. For the moment i will play it safe and use the hdds as normal drives. On the long term i will replace them with one bigger drive. Probably a Seagate after this ;-). 

 

Thanks you for your help and patience. I give up. 

I see what you are saying, setting up the BIOS to "RAID" mode works when you want your drives to be in RAID and "AHCI" if you don't need to setup RAID for any drives. Sound almost obvious now that you say it! And unfortunate that people report problems losing performance with the additional drives that are out of the RAID configuration set to run at AHCI mode when the RAID configuration is enabled... I would still do it if that helps with removing that annoying message regardless of those reports and then will check to see if your benchmark is those SSDs that are out of the RAID are close to what the specs indicate when NOT using Rapid Mode (such as 550MB/s read and 520MB/sec write).