A7N8X-E Deluxe: Can't install OS and boot from RAID while USB drive attached.

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Scopacetic

I recently built a computer based on the A7N8X-E Deluxe MB after my old
motherboard died. I first used my old computer's hard drive and got it to
work using the XP Pro install disk to do a repair.

I got the fever and bought a couple of Seagate SATA drives to make a RAID-0
disk. I tried a clean OS install on the RAID. I did the F6 -> floppy with
SATA driver routine (got forbid having a legacy free PC with no floppy
drive) but after the XP Pro installer copied files and rebooted to
configure, it couldn't find the RAID ("nonsystem disk or disk error").

I tried tech support, but they had no answer. They gave me new drivers which
didn't help. The issue I finally stumbled upon was a couple of attached USB
drives. They are seen by the installer (without special drivers) and for
some reason, that results in apparent misconfiguration of the MBR on the
RAID. Unfortunately, the guy in tech support was completely uninterested. I
am writing this just to get the word out.

I suspect the problem relates to the BIOS. I don't think it clearly lays out
the sequence of drives. It certainly isn't clear when you go into BIOS to
select the boot drive and there's no entry for the SATA drive(s).
 
Il Wed, 02 Jun 2004 22:29:28 -0400, Scopacetic ha scritto:
I suspect the problem relates to the BIOS. I don't think it clearly lays out
the sequence of drives. It certainly isn't clear when you go into BIOS to
select the boot drive and there's no entry for the SATA drive(s).
Click to expand...

Your bios version?
 
Scopacetic said:
I recently built a computer based on the A7N8X-E Deluxe MB after my old
motherboard died. I first used my old computer's hard drive and got it to
work using the XP Pro install disk to do a repair.

I got the fever and bought a couple of Seagate SATA drives to make a RAID-0
disk. I tried a clean OS install on the RAID. I did the F6 -> floppy with
SATA driver routine (got forbid having a legacy free PC with no floppy
drive) but after the XP Pro installer copied files and rebooted to
configure, it couldn't find the RAID ("nonsystem disk or disk error").

I tried tech support, but they had no answer. They gave me new drivers which
didn't help. The issue I finally stumbled upon was a couple of attached USB
drives. They are seen by the installer (without special drivers) and for
some reason, that results in apparent misconfiguration of the MBR on the
RAID. Unfortunately, the guy in tech support was completely uninterested. I
am writing this just to get the word out.

I suspect the problem relates to the BIOS. I don't think it clearly lays out
the sequence of drives. It certainly isn't clear when you go into BIOS to
select the boot drive and there's no entry for the SATA drive(s).
Click to expand...

You should set the BIOS to boot from SCSI and set the "Boot Other
Device" to disable.

After the IDE check during POST you should see your SATA drives
listed and have the option to enter the RAID configuration utility. (I
assume you already did this once to setup the array in the first place.)
The status of your drives and the array should be displayed.

Luck;
Ken

P.S.; As has been stated you need to check your BIOS version
as some have had problems with RAID.
 
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