Nlite Windows XP SP2 install with SATA RAID 0

[howtodo]

Hi all,

I have an ASUS 2N-PLUS vista edition mobo for AMD X2 CPU, with 2 seagate sata HDs, 2 gigz of DDR2 ram and windows XP SP2 as the OS.

Here is how I got here. I bought all the equipment listed above and installed it into my ATX tower. Plugged the HDs in the SATA ports 1 and 3. When I first started my PC, I quickly pressed DEL and entered the BIOS menu to configure the HD' for SATA RAID. Then I continued by pressing F10 to enter the RAID configurations. I configured both the drives in RAID 0 eveything is fine and healthy.

Now, I proceeded to install WINXP SP2. Right after the initial blue setup screen I pressed F6 for RAID. I am asked to insert the proper drivers in the A: drive (made the disk from the ASUS mobo CD which already has a specific fonction for this case). Windows setup fails to continue because idecoi.dll cannot be red off the diskette.

So, I googled the file and I stumble on a few forums where they explained that this happens to Nforce 4 & 5 series chipsets and that the only way to install nforce RAID drives is to integrate them in a boot installation win CD with Nlite.

I did so, by following a couple of guides I saw on this forum and others. Finaly the CD was completed. I inserted the disk in and booted. It right away loaded MSCDEX, USB, etc ... in DOS and then announced that it couldn't find a FAT32 drive nor an NTFS drive. I am then left in DOS on the A: drive. I tryed to disable the A: drive later on and repeated with no great success.

Could this be related to how I made my Nlite windows CD? - or -

Should my hard drives be formatted in a specific format (FAT32, NTFS) prior to installation? - or -

Is there something I need to do in DOS to fix this? - or -

Has somebody succed at installing it after windows XP SP2 was installed? - or -

Do I have to keep trying with 434242432 different driver diskettes till it works? - or -

Am I crazy?

Thanks you for your time and support!

Asad