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Integration of NVIDIA's nForce RAID and AHCI drivers


Fernando 1

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Could someone please clarify what errors they're actually getting when they try to slipstream SATA NVRAID array drivers into an WinXP SP2 (32-bit) cd. Without making any text-mode modifications, simply using nlite to integrate the drivers, windows appears to have installed fine, and I can run apps, games etc. all day long. However, upon leaving it, sometimes immediately after booting, sometimes 3 hours after...it randomly reboots. Is this the constant rebooting that people are having problems with, or is it straight after booting XP that most people find their PCs flaking out?

Cheers

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Could someone please clarify what errors they're actually getting when they try to slipstream SATA NVRAID array drivers into an WinXP SP2 (32-bit) cd.  Without making any text-mode modifications, simply using nlite to integrate the drivers, windows appears to have installed fine, and I can run apps, games etc. all day long.  However, upon leaving it, sometimes immediately after booting, sometimes 3 hours after...it randomly reboots.  Is this the constant rebooting that people are having problems with, or is it straight after booting XP that most people find their PCs flaking out?

I don't know, if somebody could successfully integrate the nVRaid drivers into Windows XP by using nLite Beta6 without any "handmade" changes. All my tests failed at the end of the installation procedure by endless reboots of my computer, even when I rebooted in safe mode.

So the answer is: The issue appears straight during the installation of the OS, there is no chance to use it.

The reason for this issue is, that the Windows XP setup routine installs the wrong driver (Standard PCI IDE Controller) during the GUIMODE part of the installation.

The [OemInfFiles]-method, which is able to prevent this strange behaviour, has not been completely implemented into nLite Beta6.

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Could someone please clarify what errors they're actually getting when they try to slipstream SATA NVRAID array drivers into an WinXP SP2 (32-bit) cd.  Without making any text-mode modifications, simply using nlite to integrate the drivers, windows appears to have installed fine, and I can run apps, games etc. all day long.  However, upon leaving it, sometimes immediately after booting, sometimes 3 hours after...it randomly reboots.  Is this the constant rebooting that people are having problems with, or is it straight after booting XP that most people find their PCs flaking out?

I don't know, if somebody could successfully integrate the nVRaid drivers into Windows XP by using nLite Beta6 without any "handmade" changes. All my tests failed at the end of the installation procedure by endless reboots of my computer, even when I rebooted in safe mode.

So the answer is: The issue appears straight during the installation of the OS, there is no chance to use it.

The reason for this issue is, that the Windows XP setup routine installs the wrong driver (Standard PCI IDE Controller) during the GUIMODE part of the installation.

The [OemInfFiles]-method, which is able to prevent this strange behaviour, has not been completely implemented into nLite Beta6.

Hi there Fernando~

First of all, let me say THANK YOU SO MUCH for your contributions to helping all of us figure this out. I believe it is very irresponsible of nVIDIA to release such an obviously *broken* NVRAID driver, but thanks to you and other users there is a chance that many of us will actually get to use the wonderful RAID features on our nForce3/4 motherboards.

Unfortunately, I must report the [OemInfFiles]-method does not work for me yet.

I have tried re-doing the entire process 6 or 7 times (I've lost count now!): I re-transferred 2 different XP SP2 source CDs, re-did the nLite process multiple times, re-typed the [OemInfFiles]-method into the WINNT.SIF file many, many times just as you said to do, etc...

Unfortunately, I keep getting multiple errors during the install process. The main problems occur during the initial file install phase right after the drive formats (before it gets to the WinXP GUI). The primary problems are "missing .dll" errors in which I am instructed to hit [enter] if I want to keep going or [esc] to abort the install. Of course, I always hit [enter]. In some cases the install will get "stuck" on a particular missing .dll and I am forced to abort the install. In other cases, the file install will successfully finish at 100% but then at the very end the machine will BSOD with mention of some problem with a particular file.

I just tried Dale's method (no OemInfFiles) and was able to get the system to boot into windows. At first I thought the install was totally successful, but unlike Dale's personal experience my install did *not* successfully find or install the NVRAID files once WinXP loaded up. In other words, device manager shows the typical question marks for missing drivers and when I try to force the system to look for system changes it just brings up the same dialogue box that tells me the system had a problem finding the correct drivers for the nFORCE4 RAID device, blah blah.

In short, the [OemInfFiles]-method does not work for me (yet). If you (or anyone else here) can give me some insight as to what might be causing the repeated "missing .dll" and BSOD errors during install I'd greatly appreciate it.

Dale's method of simply integrating the files will at least let me get into windows, but for now it appears I'll have to manually install all drivers once I get there. This isn't too bad of a solution if it truly activates NVRAID (am still not there yet).

I'll keep tweaking and working to see if I can get things to work. Any further help with the [OemInfFiles]-method will be greatly appreciated!

Of course, it'd be nice if nVIDIA would pull their heads out of their collective butts and give us a RAID driver that actually works so we don't have to waste our time doing this kinda crap...I'm not real happy that I've had to waste TWO DAYS messing with RAID which is advertised to work as an "out-of-box" feature... :realmad:

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Unfortunately, I keep getting multiple errors during the install process. The main problems occur during the initial file install phase right after the drive formats (before it gets to the WinXP GUI).  The primary problems are "missing .dll" errors in which I am instructed to hit [enter] if I want to keep going or [esc] to abort the install.  Of course, I always hit [enter].  In some cases the install will get "stuck" on a particular missing .dll and I am forced to abort the install. In other cases, the file install will successfully finish at 100% but then at the very end the machine will BSOD with mention of some problem with a particular file. 

Before I can help you, I need some informations:

Are you really sure, that Windows Setup missed DLL-files? Or is it possible, that the system asked for CAT-files?

Did the setup always ask for the same or for different files?

What is your system (nForce3 or nForce4 chipset, PataRaid or Sataraid)?

Which nForce chipset driver package version did you use?

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Unfortunately, I keep getting multiple errors during the install process. The main problems occur during the initial file install phase right after the drive formats (before it gets to the WinXP GUI).  The primary problems are "missing .dll" errors in which I am instructed to hit [enter] if I want to keep going or [esc] to abort the install.  Of course, I always hit [enter].  In some cases the install will get "stuck" on a particular missing .dll and I am forced to abort the install. In other cases, the file install will successfully finish at 100% but then at the very end the machine will BSOD with mention of some problem with a particular file. 

Before I can help you, I need some informations:

Are you really sure, that Windows Setup missed DLL-files? Or is it possible, that the system asked for CAT-files?

Did the setup always ask for the same or for different files?

What is your system (nForce3 or nForce4 chipset, PataRaid or Sataraid)?

Which nForce chipset driver package version did you use?

1. Yes, the system asks for various "missing" .dll files, *not* cab files.

2. Setup seems to ask for different, random .dll files each time.

3. A couple of times install totally stopped due to a "missing .dll" file and hitting [enter] did nothing. Those 2 times I had to hit [esc] to abort install. However, most of the time hitting [enter] resumes install. This is very strange since most of the time it seems as if the system is saying, "I can't find this file...OH, NEVER MIND, now that you hit the [enter] key I just found it!" :rolleyes:

4. My motherboard: BFG "BFGRNF4U" nForce4 Ultra

5. BIOS: 0719 = nVRAID 4.84

6. nFORCE drivers = 6.66

**********************

Since I last posted I have re-tried Dale's method 2 more times, adding more drivers each time. Initially, I thought this method to be successful since I could boot into WindowsXP right after finishing install. However, after re-booting the system reverts to continual re-boots. :no:

**********************

Further Information Regarding Dale's Method:

My last effort successfully loaded the nForce sound drivers & ATI Catalyst 5.8 drivers in the *first* boot up sequence.

However, when WinXP starts the "Found New Hardware Wizard" pops up. The message reads:

"Cannot Install this hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: NVIDIA nFORCE RAID Class Controller. An error during the installation of the device. The installation source for this product is not available. Verify that the source exists and that you can access it. Click Finish to close the wizard."

There is no option to do anything but click "Finish".

Since Windows seems to have successfully loaded the nForce/Ethernet drivers, Device Manager shows all of the question marks are now gone.

Device Manager/Disk Drives *correctly* shows I have "NVIDIA STRIPE 372.61G"

However, SCSI and RAID Controllers shows "Unknown Device", which correlates to the aforementioned "Found New Hardware Wizard". If I scan for new devices, the same wizard pops up time after time. None of the NVIDIA RAID drivers available seem to work.

In short, this method does not work for me since it does the continual re-boot process. :no:

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1. Yes, the system asks for various "missing" .dll files, *not* cab files.

2. Setup seems to ask for different, random .dll files each time.

3. A couple of times install totally stopped due to a "missing .dll" file and hitting [enter] did nothing.  Those 2 times I had to hit [esc] to abort install.  However, most of the time hitting [enter] resumes install.  This is very strange since most of the time it seems as if the system is saying, "I can't find this file...OH, NEVER MIND, now that you hit the [enter] key I just found it!"   :rolleyes:

4. My motherboard: BFG "BFGRNF4U" nForce4 Ultra

5. BIOS: 0719 = nVRAID 4.84

6. nFORCE drivers = 6.66

I am nearly sure, that your problem has nothing to do with nLite or the method how to integrate the "ugly" nForce SataRaid drivers.

My suggestions:

Change your cd player and create a new unattended install CD.

If this doesn't change anything, there is something wrong either with your RAM (check them) or power supply (strong enough?), with the temperatures within your pc case (maybe the 2 hard disk drives are too close together) or you are an overclocker, which has reached the limits (take Bios defaults settings).

Edited by Fernando 1
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I am really stuck with this guys and need some help. I have tried Fernando_1's way twice and dale5605's way once. All three attempts have ended in repeated bluescreens.

I have,

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 1011 / nVraid v4.81)

A64 3500+ Venice

2x Western Digital 74gb Raptors

I have tried using the 6.66 package of nForce4 drivers, included the pataraid directory contents in the OemDir, integrated the sataraid and sata_ide drivers with nLite (1.0 b6), etc. I can't figure out what I could be doing wrong.

I can't believe how hard it is to get a stripe working with my raptors, I have never had so much trouble with a raid array before.

Tweakin, pay attention you have ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe no DFI !!!

Edited by willdoicu
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I am really stuck with this guys and need some help. I have tried Fernando_1's way twice and dale5605's way once. All three attempts have ended in repeated bluescreens.

I have,

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 1011 / nVraid v4.81)

Tweakin, pay attention you have ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe no DFI !!!

That is right, but he succeeded even with an ASUS board. Haven't you seen this reply by Tweakin?

Updating the BIOS did the trick. I have 4.84 NV RAID now, and it worked on the first try using your method on the first post.

Thanks!

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1. Yes, the system asks for various "missing" .dll files, *not* cab files.

2. Setup seems to ask for different, random .dll files each time.

3. A couple of times install totally stopped due to a "missing .dll" file and hitting [enter] did nothing.  Those 2 times I had to hit [esc] to abort install.  However, most of the time hitting [enter] resumes install.  This is very strange since most of the time it seems as if the system is saying, "I can't find this file...OH, NEVER MIND, now that you hit the [enter] key I just found it!"  :rolleyes:

4. My motherboard: BFG "BFGRNF4U" nForce4 Ultra

5. BIOS: 0719 = nVRAID 4.84

6. nFORCE drivers = 6.66

I am nearly sure, that your problem has nothing to do with nLite or the method how to integrate the "ugly" nForce SataRaid drivers.

My suggestions:

Change your cd player and create a new unattended install CD.

If this doesn't change anything, there is something wrong either with your RAM (check them) or power supply (strong enough?), with the temperatures within your pc case (maybe the 2 hard disk drives are too close together) or you are an overclocker, which has reached the limits (take Bios defaults settings).

I think you are probably correct to some extent. It crossed my mind it could be a problem with my CD-RW media (Sony 4X) or possibly the DVD burner I'm using on the other system (Pioneer), or maybe even the DVD-RW players on my new system (NEC). There are LOTS of possible problems! ;) And since it seems "random" I thought the same thing you do.

However, the only thing that doesn't make sense to me is why would the CD-RW burns of WinXP using Dale's method work just fine and get all the way through the install process without showing the same "missing .dll" errors? I used the same equipment, even the same media (I just wrote over the top of the same 3 CD-RWs for all 9 attempts so far...).

If it really is a problem with my equipment you would think that the problem would occur using both the OemInfFile method -AND- Dale's integrated method, correct?

But the errors only occur when using the OemInfFile method. :wacko:

PS: All of my equipment is running at normal spec, not overclocked.

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mjswoosh, I also get those errors when I tried it the one time I did it that way. However after I installed those drivers I did not experience that reboot problem you are speaking of. Usually that problem only occurs after windows installs and you never make it into windows in the first place. I would recommend only adding in the nvatabus.inf and raidtool folder into your sataraid directory and leaving out the other stuff. You won't get the device manager errors that way, I really only suggested that as a *possible* solution to people having lots of problems. But I would just stick with the aforementioned. :P

Fernando you mentioned that windows is install the wrong ide driver being the cause for the problem.

I know I remove ALL drivers with nlite, this includes all the various ide drivers and the scsi/raid drivers.

Does this have anything to do with it?

I'm just curious as to what is causing these different results to be achieved.

Again, I can get my raid array working fine with nlite 1.0 b6 with no "handmade" changes.

Some things that may or may not be significant.

-Using nvidia 6.66 drivers

-Using nvraid 4.81 drivers loaded on my mobo

-Remove ALL drivers with nLite and integrate all my own

-Do not check "oem preinstall" box

-Use DefaultHide unattended method

-Integrate RVM1.3.1 + WMP10 + Addons

Oh and I didn't realize the 6/23 BIOS has the newer nvraid version because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in the changes. I am considering flashing to that BIOS but everything is working the way it is now and I don't really feel like messing it up. :D

Edited by dale5605
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mjswoosh, I also get those errors when I tried it the one time I did it that way. However after I installed those drivers I did not experience that reboot problem you are speaking of. Usually that problem only occurs after windows installs and you never make it into windows in the first place. I would recommend only adding in the nvatabus.inf and raidtool folder into your sataraid directory and leaving out the other stuff. You won't get the device manager errors that way, I really only suggested that as a *possible* solution to people having lots of problems. But I would just stick with the aforementioned.  :P

Fernando you mentioned that windows is install the wrong ide driver being the cause for the problem.

I know I remove ALL drivers with nlite, this includes all the various ide drivers and the scsi/raid drivers.

Does this have anything to do with it?

I'm just curious as to what is causing these different results to be achieved.

Again, I can get my raid array working fine with nlite 1.0 b6 with no "handmade" changes.

Some things that may or may not be significant.

-Using nvidia 6.66 drivers

-Using nvraid 4.81 drivers loaded on my mobo

-Remove ALL drivers with nLite and integrate all my own

-Do not check "oem preinstall" box

-Use DefaultHide unattended method

-Integrate RVM1.3.1 + WMP10 + Addons

Oh and I didn't realize the 6/23 BIOS has the newer nvraid version because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in the changes. I am considering flashing to that BIOS but everything is working the way it is now and I don't really feel like messing it up.  :D

OK, my latest attempt at using Dale's suggested method actually WORKS. Very little was different from the previous attempt, all of the settings in nLite were identical, added drivers was the same, etc.... But it caused the re-boot problem before, and this time it does not.

This is about as predictable as the weather, stock-market, and my girlfriend!

:wacko:

Dale, it's good to hear you experienced the same "missing .dll" install errors and/or the BSOD errors...as they say, misery loves company...hee hee... so at least now I know it's (probably) not a problem compounded by some of my brand-new equipment going tits up... :thumbup

When you say to only include the nvatabus.inf and the raidtool folder, can you clarify? I think what you must mean is to *not* add the additional files such as nvata.inf, nvata.sys, etc.... Can you list the contents of your sataraid folder just so I can compare it to mine? That way I can make sure I'm not leaving anything in there that might be causing the still-present device manager question marks/errors/wizard pop up boxes/blah blah...

I took your advice and had nLite remove the SCSI/RAID drivers in nLite's "Drivers" section and the 4 separate IDE drivers in the "Hardware" section. I'm betting this has something to do with how this method seems to work (at least some of the time...am still not sure why it worked this time and not the last time...)

EDIT: After all of this I just had to laugh my butt off uncontrollably for awhile. Why does it suddenly feel like my $2000+ gaming rig is being held together by gum, string, and duct tape? THANKS NVIDIA!

Edited by mjswooosh
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There are only small differences between that, what Dale did and that, what works for me and a lot of other people. We all used the [OemInfFiles] method, which was integrated the first time into nLite by version Beta6.

The problems Mjswoosh was writing about, occured during the first (TEXTMODE) part of the installation. During this setup part the installation procedure of Dale and me is nearly identical, because we have very similar hardware.

Fernando you mentioned that windows is install the wrong ide driver being the cause for the problem.

I know I remove ALL drivers with nlite, this includes all the various ide drivers and the scsi/raid drivers.

Does this have anything to do with it?

It really can have something to do with it, if you removed the Microsoft STANDARD-IDE-ATA/ATAPI-CONTROLLER, because this wrong driver is installed by Windows Setup instead of the correct NVIDIA nForce IDE Performance driver NVATABUS.SYS.

Is it really possible to delete this driver by nLite? If yes, that would be a good idea anyway.

Edited by Fernando 1
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@mj

My folder looks like this (except it should be WinXP not Win2k ;) )

http://teamicenine.com/images/IceNine/protag/nvraid.bmp

@Fernando

I simply select everything in the "drivers" section of nLite to remove.

Oh and I had a brain fart and thought the ide crap was included in there, sorry about that.

Besides selecting to remove all drivers I also select to remove these under the "hardware support" section.

ALI IDE Bus Driver

CMD IDE Bus Driver

Intel IDE BUS Driver

Toshiba IDE Bus Driver

VIA IDE Bus Driver

Perhaps removing those things is what allows me to successfully install without the reboot loop.

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My folder looks like this (except it should be WinXP not Win2k  ;) )

http://teamicenine.com/images/IceNine/protag/nvraid.bmp

The raidtool folder will not be necessary.

But now to the driver removal by nLite:

The longer I think about what Dale has written the more I believe, that the removal of certain drivers could be a very easy way to solve a couple of nVRaid problems.

Tomorrow I will test these things.

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dale5605, you are onto something, by removing BUS Driver nlite breaks default Windows signature for their IDE drivers and by that it makes it equal to other third party txtmode drivers...thus nvraid gains priority...now if Fernando 1 you can confirm ?

Edited by nuhi
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