P5B Deluxe and setting up a RAID array.

I'm about ready to start drinking. I have never had so much trouble trying
to get a board up and running properly.



I set up the system with a single SATA HD using WindowsXP Pro. That went
quite well. I fully updated WinXP and then started the process of trying to
get a 2 HD RAID 1 array installed. These are 2 drives in addition to the
one I installed the OS on.



By the way, the system worked fine with the two additional drives not
configured for RAID.



I have the three HDs plugged into the red connectors. Now I try to
configure the Intel controller for RAID. In the BIOS I set the option from
IDE to RAID.



When the system boots the CRTL-I message is there for a brief time, I hit
CRTL-I but it just blows right past it and starts to boot Windows for a few
seconds and then reboots itself. I tried this several times, always with
the same results.



Next project is to upgrade the BIOS from 904 to 1004. That was a real trip
in itself. Tried using the BIOS utility. I had a floppy installed with the
1004 ROM file but I'll damned if it would be recognized. It just showed the
floppy as empty.



I don't know why but I loaded the ROM file on a USB pen drive and now it's
recognized. The update went without any problem.



Now I can get to the Intel RAID utility by hitting CRTL-I, set up my array
using two drives and all seems fine. Wrong.



When I try to set the boot priority in the BIOS the third HD with the OS
installed isn't even listed as an option. The options are RAID, Floppy,
IDE: Sony DVD RW DR (which is installed) and the fourth is ATAPI CD-ROM,
whatever the hell that is. There is not plain old CD-ROM installed in the
system. I did try to make the so called CD-ROM as the first boot device but
no go.



Does anyone have any ideas on how to make my system bootable from the
non-RAID HD. I'm about out of ideas. The more I read the more I'm abut
ready to ditch this board. I wonder if Newegg will exchange it for another
vendors board.





Any suggestions are appreciated on how to fix this mess? Thanks...

Bishoop wrote:
> I'm about ready to start drinking. I have never had so much trouble trying
> to get a board up and running properly.
>
> I set up the system with a single SATA HD using WindowsXP Pro. That went
> quite well. I fully updated WinXP and then started the process of trying to
> get a 2 HD RAID 1 array installed. These are 2 drives in addition to the
> one I installed the OS on.
>
> By the way, the system worked fine with the two additional drives not
> configured for RAID.
>
> I have the three HDs plugged into the red connectors. Now I try to
> configure the Intel controller for RAID. In the BIOS I set the option from
> IDE to RAID.
>
> When the system boots the CRTL-I message is there for a brief time, I hit
> CRTL-I but it just blows right past it and starts to boot Windows for a few
> seconds and then reboots itself. I tried this several times, always with
> the same results.
>
> Next project is to upgrade the BIOS from 904 to 1004. That was a real trip
> in itself. Tried using the BIOS utility. I had a floppy installed with the
> 1004 ROM file but I'll damned if it would be recognized. It just showed the
> floppy as empty.
>
> I don't know why but I loaded the ROM file on a USB pen drive and now it's
> recognized. The update went without any problem.
>
> Now I can get to the Intel RAID utility by hitting CRTL-I, set up my array
> using two drives and all seems fine. Wrong.
>
> When I try to set the boot priority in the BIOS the third HD with the OS
> installed isn't even listed as an option. The options are RAID, Floppy,
> IDE: Sony DVD RW DR (which is installed) and the fourth is ATAPI CD-ROM,
> whatever the hell that is. There is not plain old CD-ROM installed in the
> system. I did try to make the so called CD-ROM as the first boot device but
> no go.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas on how to make my system bootable from the
> non-RAID HD. I'm about out of ideas. The more I read the more I'm abut
> ready to ditch this board. I wonder if Newegg will exchange it for another
> vendors board.
>
> Any suggestions are appreciated on how to fix this mess? Thanks...

If you look at page 12 here, does your non-RAID drive show "normal" and
"bootable yes" at the bottom of the screen. AFAIK, the interface is largely
unchanged, so maybe this picture is similar to what you'd see on
an ICH8R.

http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/ICH6R.pdf

The Intel document makes no mention of ordinary drives co-existing.

The ICH5R manual, has the "co-existence statement" on the last page
of the document. The statement implies the user doesn't have to do
anything.

http://support.asus.com.tw/technicaldocuments/ICH5R.pdf

So, while it probably won't help you, I'd want to review what
status the boot drive has got. Apparently, drives can be declared
as "spares", in which case they can be used for rebuilds, and
you wouldn't want that drive to be classed as a spare.

Paul

"Paul" <> wrote in message news:eqhdds$p92$...
> Bishoop wrote:
>> I'm about ready to start drinking. I have never had so much trouble
>> trying to get a board up and running properly.
>>
>> I set up the system with a single SATA HD using WindowsXP Pro. That went
>> quite well. I fully updated WinXP and then started the process of trying
>> to get a 2 HD RAID 1 array installed. These are 2 drives in addition to
>> the one I installed the OS on.
>>
>> By the way, the system worked fine with the two additional drives not
>> configured for RAID.
>>
>> I have the three HDs plugged into the red connectors. Now I try to
>> configure the Intel controller for RAID. In the BIOS I set the option
>> from IDE to RAID.
>>
>> When the system boots the CRTL-I message is there for a brief time, I hit
>> CRTL-I but it just blows right past it and starts to boot Windows for a
>> few seconds and then reboots itself. I tried this several times, always
>> with the same results.
>>
>> Next project is to upgrade the BIOS from 904 to 1004. That was a real
>> trip in itself. Tried using the BIOS utility. I had a floppy installed
>> with the 1004 ROM file but I'll damned if it would be recognized. It
>> just showed the floppy as empty.
>>
>> I don't know why but I loaded the ROM file on a USB pen drive and now
>> it's recognized. The update went without any problem.
>>
>> Now I can get to the Intel RAID utility by hitting CRTL-I, set up my
>> array using two drives and all seems fine. Wrong.
>>
>> When I try to set the boot priority in the BIOS the third HD with the OS
>> installed isn't even listed as an option. The options are RAID, Floppy,
>> IDE: Sony DVD RW DR (which is installed) and the fourth is ATAPI CD-ROM,
>> whatever the hell that is. There is not plain old CD-ROM installed in
>> the system. I did try to make the so called CD-ROM as the first boot
>> device but no go.
>>
>> Does anyone have any ideas on how to make my system bootable from the
>> non-RAID HD. I'm about out of ideas. The more I read the more I'm abut
>> ready to ditch this board. I wonder if Newegg will exchange it for
>> another vendors board.
>>
>> Any suggestions are appreciated on how to fix this mess? Thanks...
>
> If you look at page 12 here, does your non-RAID drive show "normal" and
> "bootable yes" at the bottom of the screen. AFAIK, the interface is
> largely
> unchanged, so maybe this picture is similar to what you'd see on
> an ICH8R.
>
> http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/ICH6R.pdf
>
> The Intel document makes no mention of ordinary drives co-existing.
>
> The ICH5R manual, has the "co-existence statement" on the last page
> of the document. The statement implies the user doesn't have to do
> anything.
>
> http://support.asus.com.tw/technicaldocuments/ICH5R.pdf
>
> So, while it probably won't help you, I'd want to review what
> status the boot drive has got. Apparently, drives can be declared
> as "spares", in which case they can be used for rebuilds, and
> you wouldn't want that drive to be classed as a spare.
>
> Paul

Yep, the Intel screen shows normal/bootable.

There is something going on here. Sometimes when Intel CTRL-I screen
appears during boot I can access the RAID setup utility. Other time, no.

When I do get a RAID array setup and tries to boot it gets to the WindowsXP
logo start up screen and after a second or two it reboots itself and stays
in this loop. Something else weird, for the short time the startup screen
is visible is in noticeably dimmed. I tried another video card with all the
same results.

These same problem occurs if I option the BIOS for ACHI.

I think I'll just RMA the board and hope for the best with the next one.

Thanks for your input.

The DVD burner won't burn either. It reads OK. If I do a "send to" the
context menu doesn't even show the device. It does show in Windows
Explorer.

More grief!


"Bishoop" <> wrote in message
news: ...
>
> "Paul" <> wrote in message news:eqhdds$p92$...
>> Bishoop wrote:
>>> I'm about ready to start drinking. I have never had so much trouble
>>> trying to get a board up and running properly.
>>>
>>> I set up the system with a single SATA HD using WindowsXP Pro. That
>>> went quite well. I fully updated WinXP and then started the process of
>>> trying to get a 2 HD RAID 1 array installed. These are 2 drives in
>>> addition to the one I installed the OS on.
>>>
>>> By the way, the system worked fine with the two additional drives not
>>> configured for RAID.
>>>
>>> I have the three HDs plugged into the red connectors. Now I try to
>>> configure the Intel controller for RAID. In the BIOS I set the option
>>> from IDE to RAID.
>>>
>>> When the system boots the CRTL-I message is there for a brief time, I
>>> hit CRTL-I but it just blows right past it and starts to boot Windows
>>> for a few seconds and then reboots itself. I tried this several times,
>>> always with the same results.
>>>
>>> Next project is to upgrade the BIOS from 904 to 1004. That was a real
>>> trip in itself. Tried using the BIOS utility. I had a floppy installed
>>> with the 1004 ROM file but I'll damned if it would be recognized. It
>>> just showed the floppy as empty.
>>>
>>> I don't know why but I loaded the ROM file on a USB pen drive and now
>>> it's recognized. The update went without any problem.
>>>
>>> Now I can get to the Intel RAID utility by hitting CRTL-I, set up my
>>> array using two drives and all seems fine. Wrong.
>>>
>>> When I try to set the boot priority in the BIOS the third HD with the OS
>>> installed isn't even listed as an option. The options are RAID, Floppy,
>>> IDE: Sony DVD RW DR (which is installed) and the fourth is ATAPI CD-ROM,
>>> whatever the hell that is. There is not plain old CD-ROM installed in
>>> the system. I did try to make the so called CD-ROM as the first boot
>>> device but no go.
>>>
>>> Does anyone have any ideas on how to make my system bootable from the
>>> non-RAID HD. I'm about out of ideas. The more I read the more I'm abut
>>> ready to ditch this board. I wonder if Newegg will exchange it for
>>> another vendors board.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions are appreciated on how to fix this mess? Thanks...
>>
>> If you look at page 12 here, does your non-RAID drive show "normal" and
>> "bootable yes" at the bottom of the screen. AFAIK, the interface is
>> largely
>> unchanged, so maybe this picture is similar to what you'd see on
>> an ICH8R.
>>
>> http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/ICH6R.pdf
>>
>> The Intel document makes no mention of ordinary drives co-existing.
>>
>> The ICH5R manual, has the "co-existence statement" on the last page
>> of the document. The statement implies the user doesn't have to do
>> anything.
>>
>> http://support.asus.com.tw/technicaldocuments/ICH5R.pdf
>>
>> So, while it probably won't help you, I'd want to review what
>> status the boot drive has got. Apparently, drives can be declared
>> as "spares", in which case they can be used for rebuilds, and
>> you wouldn't want that drive to be classed as a spare.
>>
>> Paul
>
> Yep, the Intel screen shows normal/bootable.
>
> There is something going on here. Sometimes when Intel CTRL-I screen
> appears during boot I can access the RAID setup utility. Other time, no.
>
> When I do get a RAID array setup and tries to boot it gets to the
> WindowsXP logo start up screen and after a second or two it reboots itself
> and stays in this loop. Something else weird, for the short time the
> startup screen is visible is in noticeably dimmed. I tried another video
> card with all the same results.
>
> These same problem occurs if I option the BIOS for ACHI.
>
> I think I'll just RMA the board and hope for the best with the next one.
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
>
>

Just for the record, I installed Vista 32 bit on one of these boards
without problems. I admit I did struggle to get the RAID screen to
stay at times but I thought it worked on CTRL- l (That's a small L)
not I
I installed two SATA data drives in RAID 1 and then the OS on a
separate non RAID SATA drive. I had no problems getting it to boot. I
have since added a second OS drive and set that up within Vista to
RAID 1 using Intel Matreix Storage Manager. it worked brilliantly and
I did not have to reinstall the OS. With 4 hard drives, 2Gb memory,
Core Duo E6600 it is going like a train!


>
>I think I'll just RMA the board and hope for the best with the next one.
>
>Thanks for your input.
>
>

Thanks for the input.

I did confirm that it is CRTL - I (eye). But never the less it just won't
open the utility all the time.

I did install Matrix Storage Manager early on. I just tried to reinstall it
and it says my system does not meet the minimum requirements.

How do you access the console when it is installed?

Thanks again.

<chris@no_spam_chriswillsher.co.uk> wrote in message
news:...
>
>
> Just for the record, I installed Vista 32 bit on one of these boards
> without problems. I admit I did struggle to get the RAID screen to
> stay at times but I thought it worked on CTRL- l (That's a small L)
> not I
> I installed two SATA data drives in RAID 1 and then the OS on a
> separate non RAID SATA drive. I had no problems getting it to boot. I
> have since added a second OS drive and set that up within Vista to
> RAID 1 using Intel Matreix Storage Manager. it worked brilliantly and
> I did not have to reinstall the OS. With 4 hard drives, 2Gb memory,
> Core Duo E6600 it is going like a train!
>
>
>>
>>I think I'll just RMA the board and hope for the best with the next one.
>>
>>Thanks for your input.
>>
>>

Yes, you are correct and I was mistaken. It is CTRL I. After I
installed Matrix Store Manager it put itself into my Programs folder
so I access it from Start/All Programs I am running Version
6.2.1.1002

On Fri, 9 Feb 2007 17:08:34 -0500, "Bishoop" <>
wrote:

>Thanks for the input.
>
>I did confirm that it is CRTL - I (eye). But never the less it just won't
>open the utility all the time.
>
>I did install Matrix Storage Manager early on. I just tried to reinstall it
>and it says my system does not meet the minimum requirements.
>
>How do you access the console when it is installed?
>
>Thanks again.
>
>

"Bishoop" <> wrote in message
news: ...
> I'm about ready to start drinking. I have never had so much trouble
> trying to get a board up and running properly.
>
>
>
> I set up the system with a single SATA HD using WindowsXP Pro. That went
> quite well. I fully updated WinXP and then started the process of trying
> to get a 2 HD RAID 1 array installed. These are 2 drives in addition to
> the one I installed the OS on.
>
>
>
> By the way, the system worked fine with the two additional drives not
> configured for RAID.
>
>
>
> I have the three HDs plugged into the red connectors. Now I try to
> configure the Intel controller for RAID. In the BIOS I set the option
> from IDE to RAID.
>
>
>
> When the system boots the CRTL-I message is there for a brief time, I hit
> CRTL-I but it just blows right past it and starts to boot Windows for a
> few seconds and then reboots itself. I tried this several times, always
> with the same results.
>
>
>
> Next project is to upgrade the BIOS from 904 to 1004. That was a real
> trip in itself. Tried using the BIOS utility. I had a floppy installed
> with the 1004 ROM file but I'll damned if it would be recognized. It just
> showed the floppy as empty.
>
>
>
> I don't know why but I loaded the ROM file on a USB pen drive and now it's
> recognized. The update went without any problem.
>
>
>
> Now I can get to the Intel RAID utility by hitting CRTL-I, set up my array
> using two drives and all seems fine. Wrong.
>
>
>
> When I try to set the boot priority in the BIOS the third HD with the OS
> installed isn't even listed as an option. The options are RAID, Floppy,
> IDE: Sony DVD RW DR (which is installed) and the fourth is ATAPI CD-ROM,
> whatever the hell that is. There is not plain old CD-ROM installed in the
> system. I did try to make the so called CD-ROM as the first boot device
> but no go.
>
>
>
> Does anyone have any ideas on how to make my system bootable from the
> non-RAID HD. I'm about out of ideas. The more I read the more I'm abut
> ready to ditch this board. I wonder if Newegg will exchange it for
> another vendors board.
>
>
>
>
>
> Any suggestions are appreciated on how to fix this mess? Thanks...


One thing I notice in the manual (Page 5-30) is there should be an option
for enabling "Onboard Serial SATA BOOTROM". I can't find this option any
where in the BIOS. The BIOS version I have is 1004.

Anyone else have this option?

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:50:31 -0500, "Bishoop" <>
wrote:


>One thing I notice in the manual (Page 5-30) is there should be an option
>for enabling "Onboard Serial SATA BOOTROM". I can't find this option any
>where in the BIOS. The BIOS version I have is 1004.
>
>Anyone else have this option?
>

I am using 0910 Bios and I don't have this option either. My settings
for this section of BIOS are SATA Config enhanced and Config SATA as
RAID. It offers RAID, IDE or AHCI but no option to enable Serial-ATA
BOOTROM shows up anywhere. I presume that this must enable
automatically when you select RAID?

<chris@no_spam_chriswillsher.co.uk> wrote in message
news:...
> On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:50:31 -0500, "Bishoop" <>
> wrote:
>
>
>>One thing I notice in the manual (Page 5-30) is there should be an option
>>for enabling "Onboard Serial SATA BOOTROM". I can't find this option any
>>where in the BIOS. The BIOS version I have is 1004.
>>
>>Anyone else have this option?
>>
>
> I am using 0910 Bios and I don't have this option either. My settings
> for this section of BIOS are SATA Config enhanced and Config SATA as
> RAID. It offers RAID, IDE or AHCI but no option to enable Serial-ATA
> BOOTROM shows up anywhere. I presume that this must enable
> automatically when you select RAID?

Thanks for the input.

Have you tried to install a RAID array from the Intel chipset?

I've just about reached the conclusion that this board is broken.