Non-boot raid possible?

[WilburNJ]

Folks,

I have a configuration question that I hope someone here can help with.

Right now, I have 4 sata hard drives, a 150gb WD raptor as the boot drive, 2x300gb maxtors I use as separate data drives, and a 74gb WD raptor as a scratch disk. I wanted to know if it's possible to set up the two maxtors in RAID0 format even if they will not be the boot drive. It didn't seem possible when I was first configuring the system, but maybe I was just missing something.

Also, if the answer to this is yes, then can I still do this without reinstalling vista on the 150gb raptor I already have as the boot drive?

Ultimately, what I'm looking to do is create a single, large (and faster) data disk instead of needing to separate the types of data between the separate maxtors as I am doing today. (I have a raid1 external setup that I use to backup my PC, so I'm not worried about the safety of my data on the raid0 on the PC.)

Thanks for your thoughts,

Wilburr

[DMB2000uk]

Yes you can have a non-Boot raid.

You can set up the drives in RAID from within windows XP, so maybe there is a similar option in vista.

Also, if your drives are plugged into the SATA ports with the raid controller on them (they need to be for the first option too), then you can create the RAID array from after the POST screen. My intel one is "Ctrl"+"I" (or something like that) to access the RAID BIOS and set up the drives. While setting them up you'll have to reformat everything that is on both disks before it will let you create the array.

Dan

[kenc51]

Yes you can have a non-Boot raid.

You can set up the drives in RAID from within windows XP, so maybe there is a similar option in vista.

Also, if your drives are plugged into the SATA ports with the raid controller on them (they need to be for the first option too), then you can create the RAID array from after the POST screen. My intel one is "Ctrl"+"I" (or something like that) to access the RAID BIOS and set up the drives. While setting them up you'll have to reformat everything that is on both disks before it will let you create the array.

Dan

I was trying this the other day with 2x 300GB drives on ports 2 + 3, I have my (seperate) OS drive on sata port one. I enabled the RAID array via ctrl+I but then the PC wouldn't boot into XP.

Do you need to install the OS with the ACHI drivers first?
I wanted to do some PCMark benchies as we haven't been submitting anything to hwbot recently.

[DMB2000uk]

I wouldn't have thought that you would have needed the drivers before installing windows if its not the boot disk, but to be honest I don't really know a whole lot about windows and RAID

Have you made sure that the raid drivers have been installed anyway? When the RAID array was made did it tell you what ports it was using? Maybe try putting your main drive on the secondary SATA controller ports?

Is it trying to boot off of the RAID anyway? Check the boot priorities just in case.

Thats about all I can think of, but you'll probably done half of those anyway.

Dan

[WilburNJ]

Hi guys,

I'm still not able to get RAID set up for my 2 maxtor drives (see original post above). I have vista32 booting off my Raptor150 and have tried the following, which all lead to boot failures:

1. Change to "RAID" in bios (from "IDE")
2. Establish the 2 x 300gb maxtor drives in an array in the Matrix setup
3. Ultimately, doesn't boot, whether in normal or safe mode

Then, I reset to "IDE" in bios, booted just fine, and then downloaded and tried to install the newest version of Matrix Storage Console. But I get an error stating I don't meet the minimum setup requirements (probably because I don't have any drives indicated as RAID, I assume).

So, short of completely re-installing Vista (which I'm reluctant to do), I don't know what else to try.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Wilbur

[Monk]

Hi Wilbur,
I am doing basically what you are trying to do. I have 4 drives on the Intel controller and only raid 2 of them. My boot drive is one of the non-raid drives on the Intel controller.

It sounds like the computer is trying to boot off the wrong drive(s). Change IDE in the Bios back to Raid. Make sure you have the correct drive set up in Bios to be the first Boot Drive. You may have to do this in two steps. Change to Raid, Save and Exit. Reboot, re-enter Bios and check the boot drive sequence to get things lined up right. I have forgotten this many times and my forehead is still sore from banging it on the desk!

Good Luck,

[WilburNJ]

Bottom line is that there appears to be problems with Matrix and my Maxtor drives. I'm not alone with this conflict (see: http://www.flyingnerd.com/intel-raid-pr ... ows-vista/).

Anyway, I moved my 2 maxtor drives to the Marvell ports and now things are working. Hurray! Now I have a RAID1 setup that mirrors 300GB data within my PC, plus 500GB of RAID1 redundancy on a pair of external drives. This should satisfy my data needs for a while....

Thanks to those who offered suggestions.

[Sparky]

For whatever it's worth, I'm running 2 Maxtor Diamond Max 300GB in Matrix Raid (0, 1) and have been lucky so far. All my drives are connected on the Intel controllers

[WilburNJ]

For whatever it's worth, I'm running 2 Maxtor Diamond Max 300GB in Matrix Raid (0, 1) and have been lucky so far. All my drives are connected on the Intel controllers

Hmmm, that's strange. I just couldn't my 2 maxtors to work with matrix, only marvell. Oh well, not big deal, I guess. I already have 4 HDs in my PC and 2 external HD units (the 1TB western digital unit that I've turned into a 500GB mirror drive) plus a 300GB external USB drive. So, for the moment, I think I'm OK and wont need to add more drives to the matrix ports. But then again, I keep thinking about how my boot drive is vulnerable, so maybe I'll get another Raptor 150 and RAID that puppy too....

Thanks for you input, Sparky.