Integration of nvRaid drivers into XPx64 and W2k3x64

[tomb18]

Hi, thanks for answering.

"And what is about SCSI- and Raid Controller? What do you see there?"

I see three device drivers (I don't recall what they are, I'm at work my system is at home), but the first is nvidia raid class driver and the 2nd and third are the same and are "nvidia nforce storage..?." So they seem to be installed.

"Was saying no to the nvidia raid not a good idea?"

oops, i meant to say "was saying no to the nvidia ide not a good idea?"

I get a message that the nvidia ide drivers should be installed, but I heard that they shouldn't so I don't

"The problem is that RAIDTOOL is nowhere to be found! "

The raidtool is what is used to configure and manage raid within windows. However, once the installation is done there is no software installed to do this. The doc say that there is "RAIDTOOL application version 6.21" but the manual says to use mediashield which also doesn't exist. The only thing I find in the disk directory structure is

C:\NVIDIA\nForceWinXP64\8.22\IDE\WinXP\raidtool which contains raidtool.cab

and the subdirecotires of

C:\NVIDIA\nForceWinXP64\8.22\IDE\WinXP

are ...\raidtool

.........\sataraid

.........\sata_ide

So, what do you use to configure the raid from windows? It seems that the installation does not complete for some reason.

Thanks.

Edited February 23, 2006 by tomb18

[blank]

i get the mediashield after install my nforce package, but as i say before i have a raid configured and perhaps it's join with nv sw ide driver, coz i install them during nforce setup.

edit: the mediashield exe is in \IDE\WinXP\raidtool\NvRaidMan.exe (nforce 4 16x 6.85)

Edited February 23, 2006 by blank

[tomb18]

Ok I have this file as part of the raidtool.cab but that is all it is, part of the cab. How do I install this???

[blank]

U don't need ti install it to make it work, i have launch it from driver folder and it's working & viewing my raid. But if the exe is a cab file u need to expand it to get some needed dll's.

[Fernando 1]

"And what is about SCSI- and Raid Controller? What do you see there?"

I see three device drivers (I don't recall what they are, I'm at work my system is at home), but the first is nvidia raid class driver and the 2nd and third are the same and are "nvidia nforce storage..?." So they seem to be installed.

How can you see that when you are at work? You don't have a Raid array, so I assume, that no Raid drivers have been installed.

"Was saying no to the nvidia raid not a good idea?"

oops, i meant to say "was saying no to the nvidia ide not a good idea?"

I get a message that the nvidia ide drivers should be installed, but I heard that they shouldn't so I don't

A lot of people say this, others say that. I have always used the nForce P-ATA (=IDE) drivers and had never any problem.

"The problem is that RAIDTOOL is nowhere to be found! "

The raidtool is what is used to configure and manage raid within windows. However, once the installation is done there is no software installed to do this.

The "Raidtool", which you can find within the nForce driver package, has nothing to do with the Raid creating "NVIDIA Raid Utility" which you have to use before you install any OS. While you are booting you have to press F10 or similar. Look into your mainboard book!

Once more:

Forget the "Raidtool" you are searching for on your hdd.

If you want to create a Raid array, you need 2 or more hdd's.

Then you have to do the following:

a ) Format the 2 hard disk drives.

b ) Enable the Raid ports in BIOS

c ) Configurate your Raid by using F10 and the NVIDIA Raid Utility.

d ) Enable the boot option of your Raid array.

e) Set the Raid array as first bootable hard disk device within BIOS.

After you have done all this and if you see "Healthy Raid Array" at the second boot screen, you can try to install Windows XP or Windows XP x64 onto your fresh created Raid array.

If you do not succeed creating your Raid array, please do not reply within this thread, because we are discussing about the nForce Raid driver integration and not about the creation of a Raid array and the use of a Raidtool or the NVIDIA Raid Utilitity.

Please have a look into the handbook of your motherboard or ask the producer of it, if you have any question about these things.

[tomb18]

Ok sorry to interupt here. But I do think it's related.

The raid can be created no problem using the BIOS.

I believe the problem is that these drivers for the nforce pro have the same issue as above with the nvidia ide but in my case I did not install it. When this happens, the raid tool does not get installed.

As to a mainboard document, not to be found at all, no documentation for any of this. Just this thread...

[Fernando 1]

Ok sorry to interupt here. But I do think it's related.

The raid can be created no problem using the BIOS.

That's right, but did you do it??

I believe the problem is that these drivers for the nforce pro have the same issue as above with the nvidia ide but in my case I did not install it. When this happens, the raid tool does not get installed.

The Raidtool is a tool and not a driver. You don't need it at all.

As to a mainboard document, not to be found at all, no documentation for any of this. Just this thread...

Open your computer case and have a look on the name of your mainboard or let a hardware diagnostic tool detect it. Then you can search via google for a handbook for your board! That would be really helpful for you.

CU

Fernando

Edited February 24, 2006 by Fernando 1

[ericthered8]

Hi Fernando,

Your work on this subject is impressive and much appreciated

But having said that, I've to admit I can't get my system installed after the latest hardware upgrade

It looks as if I can use some help, so here's an exact description of what's happening. First, the hardware specification:

Asus A8N-SLI DeLuxe, BIOS 1016, NVIDIA RAID BIOS 4.84

4 x Seagate ST3300622AS 300 Gb SATA-II in RAID0+1, capacity 558.92 Gb, stripe block 64K.

The goal is to install Windows XP 64 Professional x64 onto this array, using a CD with integrated drivers prepared with nLite 1.0 RC7.

I tried integration of all drivers described in the first post on this thread: the Legacy drivers from the 6.67 release, as well as the drivers from the 6.69 release, plus some combinations of both methods just to check if this would change something. But it doesn't - no matter which drivers I use, the installation of XP x64 onto the RAID array always goes wrong in exactly the same way.

After defining the bootable RAID0+1 in BIOS the installation starts smoothly: Setup loads the necessary files and reaches the point where partitions can be created. Unpartitioned space is reported correctly as 558.92 Gb. I always choose C to create a 20 Gb NTFS partition, then for installing Windows onto this partition.

Next, the Setup program starts the installation by formatting the partition. This gives the first indication that something is wrong: formatting takes an unusually long time. Even a quick NTFS formatting is problematic: the system seems to hang after formatting the first 20% - it takes 5 to 10 minutes at least before suddenly the rest of the formatting is shown as 'completed' and the Setup program continues.

After the necessary files have been loaded, the system reboots. Then it becomes clear that the RAID array is not what it should be: the system suddenly reports 2 arrays.

Array 1 is RAID0+1 with a capacity of 558.92 Gb, 'Boot' is reported as 'N/A', and the status is 'Error'. Only 1 drive is specified as being part of this array: the drive on adapter 1 channel 0.

Array 2 is RAID0+1 with a capacity of 558.92 Gb, 'Boot' is reported as 'Yes', and the status is 'Degraded'. 3 drives are specified as being part of this array: adapter 1 channel 1, and both channels 0 and 1 on adapter 2.

By now, I know better than to proceed with the installation beyond this point - the best option is to delete both arrays and then try again with other driver combinations.

Actually, it is possible to continue the installation and get an installed system. This system is even operational, up to a point - it's slow, but appears to work. However, MediaShield reports the existence of 2 arrays as well - and any attempt to rebuild an array seems to lead nowhere.

I realise there may be a hardware problem somewhere, but even if that's the case I've no idea what it might be.

So, any bright ideas are welcome

Eric

[Fernando 1]

I realise there may be a hardware problem somewhere, but even if that's the case I've no idea what it might be.

Hi Eric,

I am sorry for my late answer, but I was not at home for some days.

Your problem has definitely nothing to do with my guide (post 1 of this thread). As you already supposed, you probably have a hardware problem.

Try the following:

1. Test your hdd's with the Seagate hdd test tool.

2. If the hdd test is ok, create the partition C: and format it by using a partition tool like Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Director Suite (take the newest version).

3. If you succeed with point 2, retry the install of your nLited XPx64 CD.

Good luck!

CU

Fernando

[Fetcher]

For the nVRAID driver choice and preparation,

How about those of us with a nForce 430/410 chipset?

The 8.22 Driver package from Nvidia has one SATA_IDE and one SATARAID folder but no LEGACY folder.

Would this work?:

1) copy the NVATA.CAT, NVCOI.DLL and NVIDE.NVU from the SATA_IDE into the SATARAID folder

2) download the x64 driver package 6.67 (made for nForce4 AMD) and copy the NVATAX64.INF from the LEGACY subfolder into the SATARAID subfolder of the 8.22 (made for nForce 430/410) package.

3) Use the now ready SATARAID folder to import the drivers in nLite.

Thank you!

[Fernando 1]

For the nVRAID driver choice and preparation,

How about those of us with a nForce 430/410 chipset?

The 8.22 Driver package from Nvidia has one SATA_IDE and one SATARAID folder but no LEGACY folder.

Would this work?:

1) copy the NVATA.CAT, NVCOI.DLL and NVIDE.NVU from the SATA_IDE into the SATARAID folder

2) download the x64 driver package 6.67 (made for nForce4 AMD) and copy the NVATAX64.INF from the LEGACY subfolder into the SATARAID subfolder of the 8.22 (made for nForce 430/410) package.

3) Use the now ready SATARAID folder to import the drivers in nLite.

I think, that this should work (unless you will have wrong driver dates, when you look into the properties of the nForce4 S-ATA Controller driver, you can correct hese dates by editing line 11 of the NVATAX64.INF).

If you want I can send you a modded SataRaid driver package via eMail.

CU

Fernando

[Fetcher]

Actually, I think I'll wait for the jump to 64 bit. I might wait for Vista as 90% of what I do on my computer would probably not improve on a 64bit version. I mostly play games and browse.

I do some video editing but not enough to risk loosing everything through a RAID0 crash for a small performance improval.

If and when I try WinXP64, I'll be sure to leave a note here.

[Fernando 1]

Actually, I think I'll wait for the jump to 64 bit. I might wait for Vista as 90% of what I do on my computer would probably not improve on a 64bit version. I mostly play games and browse.

I do some video editing but not enough to risk loosing everything through a RAID0 crash for a small performance improval.

Hi Fetcher,

why are you so anxious? You should not "jump" to a 64-bit OS, you should try it on a parallel partition with Windows XP. There is no risk if you do that.

If you want to wait for Vista, you have to wait for a long time (and Vista is developed as a 32-bit and 64-bit version too).

[webbglider]

Hi, new guy here, attempting to install XP on an nForce4 chipset MOBO with a SATA HDD and whipped. I've read your posts and will try to follow your instructions - haven't attempted a build at this level but what the hey! One problem I have been having which led me to this forum is that everytime I try to do the F6 thing, I get a message that my files (NVRD64.sys and NVATAX64.sys) are corrupted. I got the files from the mainboard CD and then found two or three other sources and then emailed the MOBO mfg (Jetway) if they had any newer files and the ones they sent got the same result - so I haven't even gotten to the BSOD issue yet - can't wait! This hasn't been mentioned as far as I can see in the forum so I was wondering if the chipset you recommended will be okay or am I having some other problem? I've used two different floppy drives and several newly-reformatted 3.5 disks and keep getting the corrupted message. Any thoughts before I plunge into the nLite method?

System Info:

Jetway Athlon 64-939_754 Combo/NVIDIA nForce4 with 2 DDR400 RAM (1gb) Using the 754 chipset

Seagate 250 gb HDD - primary (only) HDD

DVD Reader/burner 16x - IDE

Webbglider

[Fetcher]

why are you so anxious? You should not "jump" to a 64-bit OS, you should try it on a parallel partition with Windows XP. There is no risk if you do that.

Quite simply, I hate restarting my computer. I usually do it twice a month on average and only if I really have to. There is only one driver that is not yet available for XP64 on my computer but it's the driver for my remote control and I use it quite often to watch movies or shows on my projector. However, it's an ATI remote and should eventually be supported in XP64 (as all their video cards are). I might then consider the switch.

...and Vista is developed as a 32-bit and 64-bit version too.

Grrr... that is the most stupid thing I have ever heard! Why do they do that? Ah. I get it. They want to sell a new OS for those who don't have a 64bit CPU too. I just hope that the 64bit version will be pushed harder on the markets than the XP64 one ever was.

Edited April 8, 2006 by Fetcher