Integration of nvRaid drivers into XPx64 and W2k3x64

[shodan]

Hi,

I have a nforce 570-based board (msi k9n platinum sli)

I downloaded 9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql.exe from nvidia (http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/9.16/9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql.exe)

(this file is for nForce 570 SLI/570/550 chipsets, there is a separate file for 590 users http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/...ternational.exe

that file probably isn't whql'd)

I did integrate drivers , then insert-> single driver , then selected IDE\WinXP\sataraid and textmode

next I tried to add IDE\WinXP\sata_ide as pnp driver but it said can't add it's already there

I ended up with this in my "last session.ini"

[Drivers]

C:\Public\Downloads\9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql\IDE\WinXP\sata_ide\nvata64.inf,0

C:\Public\Downloads\9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql\IDE\WinXP\sataraid\nvrdx64.inf,BUSDRV

C:\Public\Downloads\9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql\IDE\WinXP\sataraid\nvrdx64.inf,RAIDCLASS

made my iso , put it in the drive , install went fine without a sataraid-related itch

well I had another problem but I'm not sure it's related to this driver

when I ran my nlited install, first I got the textmode part (properly detected the driver & partitions)

but after it rebooted it complained that "system root/system32/ntoskrnl.exe" was missing or corrupt

with a rescue disk I checked and the file was in the right place

by chanced I though of looking at my boot.ini file

it said

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\SYSTEM\PROGRAMS\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition" /noexecute=optout /fastdetect

but the entry of my previous install said

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\USR\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /usepmtimer

so I changed the entry of the new system to

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\SYSTEM\PROGRAMS\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition" /noexecute=optout /fastdetect

and it worked fine

I had a usb drive plugged in that could be the cause (but I would have expected a wrong disk() not rdisk() ?? well anyway there are other things wrong with this install so I'll have to reinstall anyways, I'll keep you informed)

[Fernando 1]

I have a nforce 570-based board (msi k9n platinum sli)

I downloaded 9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql.exe from nvidia (http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/9.16/9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql.exe)

(this file is for nForce 570 SLI/570/550 chipsets, there is a separate file for 590 users http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/...ternational.exe

that file probably isn't whql'd)

I did integrate drivers , then insert-> single driver , then selected IDE\WinXP\sataraid and textmode

next I tried to add IDE\WinXP\sata_ide as pnp driver but it said can't add it's already there

I ended up with this in my "last session.ini"

[Drivers]

C:\Public\Downloads\9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql\IDE\WinXP\sata_ide\nvata64.inf,0

C:\Public\Downloads\9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql\IDE\WinXP\sataraid\nvrdx64.inf,BUSDRV

C:\Public\Downloads\9.16_nforce_winxp64_international_whql\IDE\WinXP\sataraid\nvrdx64.inf,RAIDCLASS

made my iso , put it in the drive , install went fine without a sataraid-related itch

Hi Shodan,

thank you very much for your report, because it might be very helpful for other users.

As you can see within the "last session.ini", nLite has integrated not only the SATARAID, but also the SATA_IDE subfolder. This is a new feature of nLite. Since v. 1.20 nLite will take automaticly both subfolders, if you present the SATARAID subfolder of an nForce chipset package. This explains why nLite "said", that the content of the SATA_IDE folder is already there.

well I had another problem but I'm not sure it's related to this driver

when I ran my nlited install, first I got the textmode part (properly detected the driver & partitions)

but after it rebooted it complained that "system root/system32/ntoskrnl.exe" was missing or corrupt

with a rescue disk I checked and the file was in the right place

by chanced I though of looking at my boot.ini file

it said

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\SYSTEM\PROGRAMS\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition" /noexecute=optout /fastdetect

but the entry of my previous install said

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\USR\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /usepmtimer

so I changed the entry of the new system to

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\SYSTEM\PROGRAMS\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition" /noexecute=optout /fastdetect

and it worked fine

I had a usb drive plugged in that could be the cause (but I would have expected a wrong disk() not rdisk() ?? well anyway there are other things wrong with this install so I'll have to reinstall anyways, I'll keep you informed)

This error message came because you had not removed your USB drive during the installation of your nLited CD.

The Windows setup routine always tries to install the OS onto another drive than a RAID one, if it finds one. That is the reason why I suggest to unplug all other drives during the OS installation onto a RAID array.

[gdogg]

please tell me the old method, is still hidden somewhere.

no method on the first post has worked for me, since beta 1.0 final.

anyone able to help me?

I havn't been able to install windows, for months.

I get bsod, on first boot after install every time, every method I try.

only thing that works, is a pre 1.0 final, cd I found, using old intergration method.

ive tried, old drivers, custom drive packages, offical drivers, vista drivers, bsod on all

Edited October 28, 2006 by gdogg

[Fernando 1]

please tell me the old method, is still hidden somewhere.

no method on the first post has worked for me, since beta 1.0 final.

anyone able to help me?

I havn't been able to install windows, for months.

I get bsod, on first boot after install every time, every method I try.

only thing that works, is a pre 1.0 final, cd I found, using old intergration method.

ive tried, old drivers, custom drive packages, offical drivers, vista drivers, bsod on all

The "old" method is to integrate just the LEGACY subfolder as TEXTMODE and not to integrate any other IDE\WinXP subfolder. Your problem might be the following:

As the big majority of users with an nForce SataRaid system have the best results by integrating the SATARAID and additionally the SATA_IDE subfolder, Nuhi had built into his nLite (since version 1.2) a new and automaticly running nForce SataRaid driver integration routine. If you offer nLite a complete nForce chipset package and point to the SATARAID or LEGACY subfolder, nLite integrates not only the content of the folder you pointed to, but additionally the content of the SATA_IDE subfolder. Exactly this combination might be not good for your nForce Raid system. You should prevent, that nLite additionally integrates the SATA_IDE subfolder.

The solution: Look into my guide to see which nForce chipset driver package is the best for you. It should have a LEGACY subfolder. Copy this LEGACY subfolder somewhere, but outside the chipset driver package (so nLite will not find the SATA_IDE subfolder).

The rest is easy: Just integrate the LEGACY subfolder as TEXTMODE.

Please report here, if you succeed this way. In this case I will give a message to Nuhi to remove the automaticly running additional integration of the SATA_IDE subfolder with the next nLite version and to substitute it by a popup window asking "Do you want to additionally integrate the SATA_IDE subfolder?"

[gdogg]

Thanks

I will be testing this today for sure, I need a clean install, bad.

I just lost 512MB of ram, so thats why it took so long to reply

edit

I don't think I am ever gonna be able to make an nlite cd that will actually install anymore, unless I don't remove a single item.

I am trying to test this, but I cant, cause I want a nlite cd with components removed like all my other installs, but that just causes a uregmp2 something or other error, then the install crashes at completing install.

So now I will try a full xp, with integrated drivers, so I can somehow get mwx 3.0 out, if that is even possible anymore.

Edited October 30, 2006 by gdogg

[gdogg]

sry for double post, just want it to be seen, and not forgotten about.

ok what I did to make it work was.

move sata_ide folder and legacy out of the same directory as sata_raid folder

intergated the sata_raid w/o sata_ide files

then intergrated the legacy folder as pnp.

this fixed the issue, it was the sata_ide drivers causing my issues, w/o them, issues gone. ( i tried using 3 different nforce driver sets, they all worked this way)

This was done under a full version of xp home oem, since shrinking only made it impossible for me to get it installed.

Edited October 30, 2006 by gdogg

[Fernando 1]

ok what I did to make it work was.

move sata_ide folder and legacy out of the same directory as sata_raid folder

intergated the sata_raid w/o sata_ide files

then intergrated the legacy folder as pnp.

this fixed the issue, it was the sata_ide drivers causing my issues, w/o them, issues gone. ( i tried using 3 different nforce driver sets, they all worked this way)

Fine, that you succeeded at least.

You probably would have gotten the same result by just integrating the LEGACY (instead of the SATARAID) subfolder as TEXTMODE driver. The LEGACY subfolder contains all needed files, there is no need for any additional IDE PnP driver, if you take this driver folder.

By the way: Nuhi has changed the nForce SataRaid driver installation routine a little bit with nLite 1.2.1. Now it is possible to integrate just the LEGACY subfolder even when you present the normal nForce chipset driver package. The SATA_IDE subfolder will only be additionally integrated, when the user decides to integrate the SATARAID subfolder. So there is no need any more to copy the LEGACY subfolder somewhere outside the chipset driver package prior to the driver integration.

[DrPhantum]

I can NOT get this to work. I have followed these directions to the best of my ability, too!

I currently have this setup:

ABIT AN8 Ultra mobo

1x 74GB SATA Raptor as C: Drive

2x 250GB WD SATA drives in 500GB RAID0 array as D: Drive

When I add SINGLE drivers w/ the latest version of nLite, and go through nLite setup... I can see the C: drive after windows is installed, but the D: drive is nowhere to be found. To get it recognized, I have to go into the device manager, click "disk drives" find "NVIDIA JBOD" and reinstall the driver. I have to choose Compaq > SCSI Drive Array as the driver to get the dual SATA raid D: drive to show up in windows explorer. At this point, the C: drive DISAPPEARS until I restart.

Now... the first few times I ran nLite, the D: partition worked... but I didn't have any support for USB flash drives OR external hard drives. This is very important to me, and so I have tried this over and over and over again. I can not seem to get my RAID array (D:) recognized at the same time as removable drives (USB Flash, external, etc). For some reason, no matter what order I add the drivers, or what drivers I use in general... I can't get support for EITHER any more. I only had luck the first 2 or 3 times I tried it... I'm sure I've done this 30 times or more by now. I'm ready to buy a dedicated SATA RAID card, cuz I think it's all NVIDIA's fault. (nforce4 on mobo)

I can fix the D: partition in device manager (although it really bothers me that it doesn't work, and i have to use COMPAQ drivers), but I can't fix the removable drive support.

SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!

Edited November 29, 2006 by DrPhantum

[Fernando 1]

I can NOT get this to work. I have followed these directions to the best of my ability, too!

I currently have this setup:

ABIT AN8 Ultra mobo

1x 74GB SATA Raptor as C: Drive

2x 250GB WD SATA drives in 500GB RAID0 array as D: Drive

When I add SINGLE drivers w/ the latest version of nLite, and go through nLite setup... I can see the C: drive after windows is installed, but the D: drive is nowhere to be found.

This is quite normal when you are booting from a non-RAID hdd.

It would be better for you, if you would change the place of the MBR (put it onto the RAID instead of the non-RAID Raptor). If your RAID has been set as bootable, it will get drive letter C:, whereas your single Raptor drive will get drive letter D:. If you install any OS by booting with an nLited CD or DVD with integrated nForce SataRaid drivers (note: unplug your Raptor during the installation!), you will see at once all drives and partitions after having reconnected your non-RAID hdd.

Now... the first few times I ran nLite, the D: partition worked... but I didn't have any support for USB flash drives OR external hard drives. This is very important to me, and so I have tried this over and over and over again. I can not seem to get my RAID array (D:) recognized at the same time as removable drives (USB Flash, external, etc).

It is not your RAID, but your S-ATA drive which is detected as "removable drive". This is totally normal. All S-ATA drives with hot-swapping ability are detected as "removable drive" and get an icon within the systray. That is nothing to warry about.

[DrPhantum]

Thank you so much for your immediate reply... I still have some problems though.

(note: unplug your Raptor during the installation!)

I must have windows on the raptor, so I cannot unplug it during installation. The RAID array has all of my backup stuff, such as the My Documents folder, and every picture I've ever taken. The Raptor is what I use for windows, because it's small and fast. I simply cannot format the RAID array and use it for windows, because in doing so, I'd erase everything that I want to keep when reformatting and reinstalling windows.

It is not your RAID, but your S-ATA drive which is detected as "removable drive". This is totally normal. All S-ATA drives with hot-swapping ability are detected as "removable drive" and get an icon within the systray. That is nothing to warry about.

I must have been unclear when I described this problem... When I plug in my external hard drive (not the SATA RAID array) or a USB Flash Drive (a sandisk cruzer w/ U3), it goes into the "Found New Hardware Wizard", and it cannot find any drivers for it. Meaning: Otherwise Plug-N-Play drives require drivers... drivers that I do not have... drivers that are supposed to be part of windows when you install it. Anybody that has a USB Flash drive relies on the fact that all they have to do is plug it in for it to be recognized... These drives are SUPPOSED to be UPnP in Windows XP, but my computer "Cannot Install this Hardware" according to the Found New Hardware Wizard. I cannot get any Flash Drives or USB External Hard Drives to be recognized with a drive letter in my computer... This issue is completely separate from my SATA drives being recognized. A reboot does not help, and interestingly, the "where do you want to install" portion of the windows installation recognizes all three drives (raptor, raid array, and usb)... I would think that if windows recognizes them to install to, they would be recognized after installation.

What I was referring to when I said "the first few times I installed nLite, the D: partition was recognized," was the fact that, after the first 2 or 3 nLite installs of windows, both the Raptor and the SATA array were recognized w/o a problem... and I thought everything was perfect until I plugged in my flash drive, and Windows couldn't install it. After the 3rd install or so, and up until this most recent one (I'd estimate to be #30), my D: drive is no longer recognized immediately, and I have to pull the "Compaq SCSI disk array" trick in the Device Manager to get it in Windows Explorer.

One other thing that I just remembered... The only time that I can remember that I got all my drives (raptor, sata array, and usb) recognized perfectly, I had turned "Data Execution Protection" on the Unattended tab to "Always On." It was nice being able to recognize all my drives without pulling any tricks... but DEP wouldn't let me do ANYTHING, since even opening Internet Explorer was going to "cause damage to my computer." When I put DEP back to default using the preset config from the disk I had just burned, and ONLY changed the DEP setting... it went right back to not recognizing my sata array or external usb drives.

What does Data Execution Protection have to do with recognition of my raid array or usb drives?

Thanks again for your immediate response. You seem to be very knowledgable, so I look forward to your next reply.

Edited November 29, 2006 by DrPhantum

[DrPhantum]

By the way...

If all of my problems are because I have my SATA drives connected to an NVIDIA nForce chipset... Would buying a new SATA controller card help? If, for instance, it had a silicon image chip on the new card, wouldn't I no longer have all these problems with NVRAID installation?

Also, I have a suspicion that plugging my SATAII (3gbps) drives into a PCI card will not end up in SATAII speed. Would a PCI-Express SATA card be able to handle this? Or is having the chip ON THE MOTHERBOARD the only way I'm going to get SATAII speed?

[Fernando 1]

If all of my problems are because I have my SATA drives connected to an NVIDIA nForce chipset... Would buying a new SATA controller card help? If, for instance, it had a silicon image chip on the new card, wouldn't I no longer have all these problems with NVRAID installation?

Also, I have a suspicion that plugging my SATAII (3gbps) drives into a PCI card will not end up in SATAII speed. Would a PCI-Express SATA card be able to handle this? Or is having the chip ON THE MOTHERBOARD the only way I'm going to get SATAII speed?

Stay with your on-board NVIDIA nForce4 RAID controller. All other options are worse.

I suppose, that your problem has another cause and suggest the following:

1. Flash the newest mainboard BIOS.

2. Don't install the NVIDIA firewall (Network Access Manager=NAM).

3. Disable the "Enable command Queuing" option of your S-ATA Controller (device manager -> IDE ATA/ATAPI-Controller -> NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller -> Properties).

If all these actions don't help, try to run your S-ATA drives with S-ATA1 level (150 MB/s).

[DrPhantum]

I suppose, that your problem has another cause and suggest the following:

1. Flash the newest mainboard BIOS.

2. Don't install the NVIDIA firewall (Network Access Manager=NAM).

3. Disable the "Enable command Queuing" option of your S-ATA Controller (device manager -> IDE ATA/ATAPI-Controller -> NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller -> Properties).

If all these actions don't help, try to run your S-ATA drives with S-ATA1 level (150 MB/s).

1. ABIT hasn't released a BIOS update since February... I've already got the latest BIOS

2. The problem I'm having happens some time before windows even runs for the first time, therefore before I have the opportunity to install ANY software, let alone the NVIDIA firewall software specifically. Also, I am not trying to integrate the NVIDIA package installer into my windows installation, just the drivers from it, so I am not unknowingly trying to install the NVIDIA Firewall software.

3. Again, the problems I'm having happen before I have a chance to enter the device manager... However, I checked it out in a "bad" install that didn't work perfectly...

In the device manager, I have TWO NVIDIA nForce4 controllers each with two channels... one for the raptor & a sata dvd burner, and the other for each of my two RAID hard drives... "Enable command queuing" is grayed-out and disabled on both... So I don't think this is the problem

As far as "run your sata drives at sataI level... Why would I buy SATAII drives, and why would I make sure I had a SATAII controller on my motherboard if I was just going to slow it down? I would buy a ferrari just to glue a wooden block under the gas pedal so I couldn't floor it... and I won't buy a SATAII hard drive just to neuter it back to SATAI. (Don't mean to sound harsh... just making a point. )

And why, finally... did my raid array get recognized normally the first few times I tried nLite, and not the 30x after that?

[Fernando 1]

2. The problem I'm having happens some time before windows even runs for the first time, therefore before I have the opportunity to install ANY software, let alone the NVIDIA firewall software specifically. Also, I am not trying to integrate the NVIDIA package installer into my windows installation, just the drivers from it, so I am not unknowingly trying to install the NVIDIA Firewall software.

3. Again, the problems I'm having happen before I have a chance to enter the device manager...

You are right, both suggestions will not solve your problem.

As far as "run your sata drives at sataI level... Why would I buy SATAII drives, and why would I make sure I had a SATAII controller on my motherboard if I was just going to slow it down? I would buy a ferrari just to glue a wooden block under the gas pedal so I couldn't floor it... and I won't buy a SATAII hard drive just to neuter it back to SATAI. (Don't mean to sound harsh... just making a point. )

My advice was just a method to find out, which hardware might be responsable for your trouble.

And why, finally... did my raid array get recognized normally the first few times I tried nLite, and not the 30x after that?

I have only 2 options: Either you have done something wrong the last 30 times or one of your hardware components has gone defective.

[DrPhantum]

Stay with your on-board NVIDIA nForce4 RAID controller. All other options are worse.

Define WORSE... Is there any support at all for them?

I don't see anyone complaining about Silicon Image chips... but that could be because I keep searching in the NVIDIA-based threads.

EDIT:

I'd still like to know why neither my USB flash drive nor my USB external hard drive are recognized by nLite'd windows installs... (once or twice they were recognized, but at the expense of some other critical problem, like DEP not allowing me to run any programs whatsoever without "causing damage to my system")

Where are these drivers usually stored? Why can't I download them and integrate them specifically? I know on other working machines, the driver details say that windows is using some generically named .sys file ("disk.sys" or something). Am I removing this from nLite when I take out some of the drivers? The author of the software explicitly says if I'm installing drivers later or integrating them, I may check the box. I've gone without removing any of the drivers, and yet I still get the same problem. What gives?

I don't mean to bug anyone here... but I haven't solved my problems yet.

Edited December 1, 2006 by DrPhantum