D975XBX2 SATA IDE Marvell Matrix Help!

[raul666]

Hi! i could really use some help
My System:
D975XBX2 (BIOS updated yesterday)
Core 2 Duo E6420
two 320gb Barracuda SATA Hard Drives (connected to the black SATA connectors)

the problem is: i dont want to put my drives in any RAID array, i just installed windows xp without the matrix/marvell drivers, (i tried to install matrix but an error ocurred while reading the floppy).
everytime i turn my computer On, before windows logs, on the screen appears something about the marvell controller that no array is defined and no hard disk is detected. So, should i install marvell or matrix? even if my drives are not on RAID? and also on windows, under My Computer, just one hard drive is detected, should i update the hard drive drivers/firmware? please help

[Sparky]

I just disabled my Marvell controller in BIOS to stop that message you are getting.

[raul666]

but is there any advantage/disadvantage to installing the marvell/matrix RAID controllers without having a RAID array?

[DaddyRabbit]

Yes there is an advantage, with the RAID drivers installed you can use AHCI mode which enables a couple of performance features. You don't need to have RAID configured and can still use the drives as separate drives.

I'm assuming you have the Matrix controller set to "IDE" mode currently. If that is the case you need to download and install the latest Matrix drivers from Intel here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_ ... bmit=Go%21

Standard Disclaimer

Ensure all data is backed up and/or you are willing to re-install XP before attempting!

You don't need to install them from a floppy, just extract them to a folder on the desktop.

Go to device manager and open the properties for the drive controller and under the driver tab select "Update Driver" and when asked select "Have Disk" and point to the folder that holds the Matrix drivers. Make sure to select the RAID drivers and not the AHCI drivers. As soon as the update is done and you see the RAID controller in device manager restart. THIS IS IMPORTANT=Before booting into Windows after the restart go into the BIOS and set the Matrix controller from "IDE" to "RAID" otherwise you'll be in an endless blue screen cycle until you do.

You should boot right up into XP after you set the BIOS to RAID. You will have a slight boot delay and a BIOS message from the Matrix at startup but it's short.

I have a more detailed post on doing this but since I don't have the BX2 or XP anymore I'm typing this from memory

EDIT - There is more info in this post:

http://forums.legitreviews.com/viewtopi ... highlight=

[raul666]

thanks a lot i was starting to give up on my post
i just disabled secondary drive
i just read about AHCI ON Wikipedia and i dont really need hot-plugging and i dont think the NCQ can offer that much of a performance improvement for my needs
so if im staying with IDE should i install matrix anyways?

oooo and what are the consequences of: BIOS - Advanced - Drive Configuration - Use Automatic Mode - Enable/Disable???? wich one should i use?
thanksss

[Sparky]

I forgot about the AHCI settings but again, I'm using them but not using the Marvell SATA on my mobo. Maybe I'm getting forgetful in my old age and I did install them (I don't see any yellow bang icons in device manager) but I know for sure I disabled them in BIOS to avoid the anoying Marvell startup message.

[DaddyRabbit]

thanks a lot i was starting to give up on my post
i just disabled secondary drive
i just read about AHCI ON Wikipedia and i dont really need hot-plugging and i dont think the NCQ can offer that much of a performance improvement for my needs
so if im staying with IDE should i install matrix anyways?

oooo and what are the consequences of: BIOS - Advanced - Drive Configuration - Use Automatic Mode - Enable/Disable???? wich one should i use?
thanksss

To be honest, if everything is working good I'd just leave it.

[Sparky]

I just updated my Intel Matrix Raid Drivers (already had installed and had AHCI enabled in BIOS) and I think the device you want it update is actually Intel ICH7R/DH SATA AHCI Controller. Tried the other one (Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF) because I couldn't remember which ones I had updated last time and it wouldn't install the driver until I chose the AHCI device. Updated no problem and prompted for restart. Upon reboot I tried to choose RAID over AHCI and blue screened leading me to believe AHCI is all that's available unless your are prepared to configure on boot (when the Matrix Raid choices appear before Windows boots). I only have 2 HD's running, maybe if I had a 3rd I could boot with RAID enabled then use the Matrix Storage Manager that's available in Windows to configure a RAID array. I understand it's a right click option but I've never used it to create an array, only to rebuild one on my previous installation when I was running RAID.

[raul666]

i tried to install matrix controller upon windows install but the floppy reported an error reading file iastor.sys or something like that, i dont mind installing windows again but i think that error would occur again when i try to install matrix, any ideas whats that about?

[DaddyRabbit]

i tried to install matrix controller upon windows install but the floppy reported an error reading file iastor.sys or something like that, i dont mind installing windows again but i think that error would occur again when i try to install matrix, any ideas whats that about?

Download the latest version from Intel (link is above) and install from a folder on your hard drive instad of the floppy. If Windows is already installed that will work, the floppies are really used for the "F6 to install additional drivers" during installation.

EDIT - One question, if AHCI, NCQ, Hot Swap, and RAID aren't important why do you need Matrix? You won't see any appreciable performance gain over the Windows drivers and could "muck up" your system. I follow the "if I don't need it, and will never use it then don't install it" mantra. Sometimes less is better.

My 2 pence

[raul666]

haha i dont know i guess since i installed all the other drivers and thats the only one thats missing also on windows under my computer only one of my two hard drives is displayed, i dont know if that has to do with the drivers though, if i do install matrix will i have an annoying message like marvell on boot?
where are the drivers from the mobo saved? do i have to install them again on windows reinstall? like the bios update will i have to do that again also?

[DaddyRabbit]

haha i dont know i guess since i installed all the other drivers and thats the only one thats missing also on windows under my computer only one of my two hard drives is displayed, i dont know if that has to do with the drivers though, if i do install matrix will i have an annoying message like marvell on boot?
where are the drivers from the mobo saved? do i have to install them again on windows reinstall? like the bios update will i have to do that again also?

1- Unless you have a missing device in device manager you should be OK.

2- If the second disk shows up on boot then go to "Disk Management" and see if the disk shows up there. If the partition table is corrupt, or Linux was installed, or the disk is not formatted it will not show up under "My Computer". If it doesn't show up under "Disk Management" the check all cables to the disk.

3- The initial POST and boot process is hardware and BIOS and the OS doesn't even come in to play. Unless you enable RAID or AHCI mode in BIOS the message will not appear regardless of which drivers you install in Windows (however if you install the wrong Windows drivers you will be in "blue screen Hell").

4. I'm not sure about the question "where are the drivers from the mobo saved?". BIOS settings are saved in CMOS on the mobo. If you update the BIOS you update the mobo and the OS doesn't matter. If you flash from BIOS version 1 to BIOS version 2 you can pull the mobo and put it in an entirely different PC and you will still be at BIOS rev 2. If you had to do a BIOS update after a Windows re-install then something is serioussly wrong . That said, YES if you re-install Windows you will need to re-install all drivers.

[raul666]

2- If the second disk shows up on boot then go to "Disk Management" and see if the disk shows up there. If the partition table is corrupt, or Linux was installed, or the disk is not formatted it will not show up under "My Computer". If it doesn't show up under "Disk Management" the check all cables to the disk.

my two hdisks are displayed on the device manager under disk drives and also on disk management, i dont know what do you mean by my disk showing up on boot also i havent partitioned my disk or installed linux, my second hdisc disk isnt formatted since i wasnt asked on windows install and i dont know how to do this, maybe you could help me
and thanks for the info on the updates btw

also, can i still access BIOS by pressing F2 after POST even if i disable "display setup prompt" ??????