Jump to content

Integration of NVIDIA's nForce RAID and AHCI drivers


Fernando 1

Recommended Posts

my dought that that for two senario.

1. f6 content sys file and and catalog file but not set off dll files.

2. pnp set has all of them plus some set of dll files.

which will be more effectively for slipstream.

I don't really understand, what you mean, but

1. the F6 floppy files and the driver files, which are needed for the integration, are exactly the same (no difference at all), and

2. the AHCI driver files of the SATA_IDE folder have to be integrated as TEXTMODE and not as PnP driver.

Regards

Fernando

Edited by Fernando 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Fernando,

Thanks so much for giving such a detailed post (and following up with peoples questions!)

Using an A8N-E mobo with nForce 4 Ultra chipset. Can't seem to finish install on SATA RAID array. All I have is an SP2 Windows XP CD (perhaps this is my problem).

Flashed the bios to the latest available at the Asus site.

Raid array is built and appears healthy during boot.

Used your 'hasty user short form guide =)' Integrated the SATARAID drivers (>32bit nForce LEGACY drivers v6.99 mod by Fernando (download link)<)

Installation progressed, drives detected in windows setup, almost all the way through the install then BSOD and reboot loop.

I read your more detailed instructions and found that I should also integrate IDE PnPdriver. All the links tho on the page seem to be for 420+ chipsets so I tried the one from (>32bit nForce IDE drivers v9.99.09 mod by Fernando (download link)<). created new nlite boot disc and had the same problem at the same point. I've removed all unnessisary hardware and the only drives connected are the 2 SATA's in the RAID 1 array. CD drive is IDE.

Any help would be most appreciated (I don't have much hair left to pull out).

Cheers,

Colin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Colin,

welcome at MSFN Forums!

Since more than 1 million users of my guide cannot be wrong, it should be no problem to get Windows XP SP2 installed onto your nForce4 RAID array, if you follow my advices:

  • The XP source has to be clean (untouched, no WINNT.SIF within the i386 directory).
  • Let nLite do nothing else than the integration of the nForce SATA and RAID drivers and the creation of the bootable Image (ISO file).
  • Integrate the "modded" LEGACY folder v6.99 as TEXTMODE drivers and nothing else (no additional PnP driver).
  • Before you start with the XP installation, make sure, that
    1. the RAID array is shown as "healthy" and bootable,
    2. the BIOS timing settings are the default ones (no overclocking),
    3. there are not more than 3 GB of memory inserted and
    4. all hdd's except the RAIDed ones are unplugged and no USB stick is inserted.

Good luck!

Fernando

Edited by Fernando 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fernando,

Thanks for the quick reply. Regarding your points.

1) XP source is clean (no winnt.sif present)

2) I am using nlte only for driver integration & bootable CD

3) Tried integrating Legacy folder v6.99 as 2 textmode drivers.

a) RAID array shows as healthy and bootable

B) Bios settings are stock (no overclocking)

c) Only have 2Gig RAM installed (verified to be error free with prime95)

d) All HD except the RAID array have been removed.

After the windows setup finishes the 'installing windows' portion and reboots I get a very quick BSOD and then reboot loop. The first attempt followed your instructions using only the 2 textmod drivers from your modifited v6.99. Second attempt was the same I thought the problem could be a bad cd burn. Third attempt included your v9.99 IDE driver as PnP in addition to the 2 textmode 6.99 drivers. Each time the failure occurs at the same point each time (50min into the windows install) when windows does its power cycle.

==> Is it possible something was broken for my specific case in your last release of legacy drivers?

==> Would it be worth while creating the nlite bootable CD with the chipset drivers from the Asus site? rather than your modified package?

==> Assuming I've followed your instructions correctly can you think of anything else that would cause the BSOD loop after the normal windows reboot 50min into the process? perhaps a bios setting?

==> Thanks again for the instuctions you've provided here. Prior to stumbling upon this page I couldn't even get windows to recognize the RAID array during setup.....

Cheers,

Colin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Colin,

thanks for your response, which makes me very unsure about how to help you, because you obviously have done everything the right way.

After the windows setup finishes the 'installing windows' portion and reboots I get a very quick BSOD and then reboot loop.
It would be interesting to see the complete error message. You can get it, if you hit F8 at the last reboot and choose the "Don't reboot at system failure" option.
==> Is it possible something was broken for my specific case in your last release of legacy drivers?
I don't think so, because I didn't change anything with this driver package for a long time.
==> Would it be worth while creating the nlite bootable CD with the chipset drivers from the Asus site? rather than your modified package?
You may try it.

Alternatively you can integrate the WHQL certified nForce SATARAID and SATA_IDE drivers v6.99 (SATARAID as TEXTMODE, SATA_IDE as PnP drver). You will get them from >here<.

==> Assuming I've followed your instructions correctly can you think of anything else that would cause the BSOD loop after the normal windows reboot 50min into the process? perhaps a bios setting?
Until now I have no idea.

Question: Did you ever install any OS successfully onto the RAID? If yes, which OS and how did you manage it?

Regards

Fernando

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fernando,

Thanks so much for the help. At work at the moment but can't wait to get back home to try your suggestions.

I will try the F8 (no reboot on system failure). I will create two new nlite discs (one with the asus chipset drivers, one with the WHQL certified nForce SATARAID and SATA_IDE drivers v6.99)

I'll report back with the error details as well as the results with the certified drivers. I haven't sucessfully installed any OS on the RAID array (this windows XP install was my first go). Prior to this I just had XP installed on a single SATA drive.

Cheers,

Colin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wasn't able to get the error message (pressed F8 repeatadly during boot but couldn't find "no reboot on system failure". ) At what point should F8 be pressed - it would be good to know for the future.... I did two things (different driver package, tried sata positions 3&4 instead of 1&2) so I can't say for certain which worked. Should have done one at a time but its painful running 45min experiments, Sorry Fernando =)

1) Turned off RAID in bios, moved two drives from SATA positions 1&2 to 3&4. Enabled RAID in bios, rebuilt heathly array, selected correct boot device priorities.

2) Downloaded the chipset drivers from the Asus site Downloads>A8N-E>XP> Others. (nVidia Chipset(CK804) driver version V6.65 for Windows XP(WHQL).) Pointed nlite to the IDE\sataraid folder and added the two drivers as textmode. XP install worked fine with the new CD and stock Asus drivers.

Comp is now up and running! Thanks for your help and a great tutorial.

Cheers,

Colin

Edited by slader99
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Colin,

although you have spent a lot of time to get Windows XP installed onto your RAID array, you succeeded at least - congratulations!

Wasn't able to get the error message (pressed F8 repeatadly during boot but couldn't find "no reboot on system failure". ) At what point should F8 be pressed - it would be good to know for the future....
The exact option is named "Disable automatic restart on system failure".

Here is a description I found:

When Windows XP encounters a fatal error, the default setting for handling such an error is to automatically reboot the system. If the error occurs while Windows XP is booting, the operating system will become stuck in a reboot cycle—rebooting over and over instead of starting up normally. In that case, you'll need to disable the option for automatically restarting on system failure.

When Windows XP begins to boot up and you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options Menu. Then, select the Disable The Automatic Restart On System Failure item and press [Enter]. Now, Windows XP will hang up when it encounters the error and with any luck, it will display a stop message you can use to diagnose the problem.

I did two things (different driver package, tried sata positions 3&4 instead of 1&2) so I can't say for certain which worked. Should have done one at a time but its painful running 45min experiments,

1) Turned off RAID in bios, moved two drives from SATA positions 1&2 to 3&4. Enabled RAID in bios, rebuilt heathly array, selected correct boot device priorities.

2) Downloaded the chipset drivers from the Asus site Downloads>A8N-E>XP> Others. (nVidia Chipset(CK804) driver version V6.65 for Windows XP(WHQL).) Pointed nlite to the IDE\sataraid folder and added the two drivers as textmode. XP install worked fine with the new CD and stock Asus drivers.

Comp is now up and running!

Fine, that you got XP running at least, but I would rather like to know the exact reason for your previous problems.

I don't think, that they were caused by the "wrong" driver versions or by a corrupted SATA port.

A very interesting detail of your report is, that you obviously succeeded by having just integrated the drivers of the IDE\SATARAID folder (as TEXTMODE drivers) without additionally integrating the SATA_IDE folder (as PnP driver). This leads me to the conclusion, that your special Asus A8N-E mainboard has lost the capability to support S-ATA RAID and P-ATA RAID arrays simultaneously, which is the standard of nearly all nForce4 RAID systems (so called LEGACY mode RAID system). This might have been the reason why the integration of the LEGACY folder and the integration of the SATARAID + SATA_IDE folder failed with your special nForce4 RAID system.

I am pretty sure, that you would have been able to get XP installed by integrating the nForce SATA and RAID drivers v6.99 and v9.99.09, if you would have integrated just the SATARAID driver folder without adding the SATA_IDE one. If you ever do a driver update, you will only need the SATARAID folder too.

If you should ever try an update of the nForce SATA and RAID drivers, please let me know, if I am right or wrong.

Happy Christmas!

Fernando

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hi Fernando, thanks for the quick reply.

1. Which nForce IDE driver folder did you integrate?

2. What makes you so sure, that your system needs an AHCI supporting nForce SATA driver?

3. Have you tried to boot off the original XP SP3 image without having integrated any nForce SATA driver? If yes, what happened?

4. Did you use a clean (=untouched) XP image as source? Is there a file named WINNT.SIF within the i386 directory?

5. Do you have a BIOS option "HARD DISK BOOT PRIORITY"? If yes, did you verify, that the SATA hdd has been on top, while you started the XP installation? Maybe the BIOS sees your USB drive as a hdd and has tried to install the OS onto it.

1. I slipstreamed the 32bit nForce SATA_IDE driver v10.3.0.46 WHQL for XP

2. This is the driver for the nVidia chipset as listed on the HP site (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=228&lc=en&cc=uk&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=4099494#N321)

3. I tried booting off the original XP SP3 image originally but it couldn't find a drive to install too.

4. It is a clean XP image yes, with WINNT.SIF in the i386 directory.

5. The boot priority of the BIOS is set to SATA hdd first, however I always have to bypass this to boot from USB (am using WinToFlash to transfer image to USB)

Additionally, I am sure about it installing to the SATA drive rather than USB as I can get into the recovery console and navigate the C: drive as well as the W: drive (USB).

Cheers,

James

I was watching this string with some interest as I have the same 311c mini. I want to re-install the pre-loaded OS on this netbook, chiefly to get rid of all the HP garbage that came with it - on this stock 160Gb HDD, the OS and HP stuff takes 25% of HDD space. Just nonsense.

Anyway, this post doesn't seem to have moved on - I hope dodyjammer can up date us because I would love to know how it went.

One thing I note from the above string is the driver package he is installing. I'm not sure if this is the correct driver at the correct time in the re-install. I had previously asked HP to provide me with the correct nividia 10/100 ethernet driver as it wasn't listed on their site (same page as link used by James above). They came back to me as gave me this link:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_15.23.html

Whilst not the same date or exact size file as James' link, I'm left wondering if the chipset from James' link is either the correct driver at the correct time in the install process or if I've got a "red herring" from HP in that the link they've given me is indeed pretty much the same thing that is listed as their "chipset" driver (at James' link).

But I do note from James' text that the slipstreamed SATA driver he has installed ending in "46" isn't the same as the driver in the link I was given by HP (ending in "42") - don't know if 46 means a straight update or a different version for a different bit of kit.

I've been trying to re-install the installed OS from the C:\i386 folder on the HDD, because I don't have an external optical (and will not buy one - for now), and I also refuse to pay more money to HP for recovery discs. The i386 folder on my HDD doesn't have the winnt.sif file in it.

Things during the initial stages of install go great - i.e. initial prep to re-boot. When it does re-boot, system comes a to grinding halt and I get a BSOD:

stop: 0x0000007b (0xf78d2524, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

It doesn't say anymore than this - no text explaining what the potential problem is, just the usual "to prevent damage to your system" blurb - and the BSOD will stay there until I turn the machine off.

I'm not sure, but I think the system is wanting me to install some sort of SATA driver before it continues - and of course, I'm wondering if James' link is the answer or mine - but I'm just too reluctant to try either at the moment, hence I'm awaiting further reading - unless anyone can give a solution on here.

Thanks

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Graham,

welcome at MSFN Forums!

I am only able to help dodgyjammer and you, if I get the information regarding

a ) the exact nForce chipset of your Compaq 311c Mini and

b ) the SATA mode (IDE, AHCI or RAID) of the hdd, which has been automaticly set by the manufacturer within the BIOS..

Unfortunately HP resp. Compaq doesn't give any of these informations at their homepages, not even within the manual of your notebook/netbook.

I want to re-install the pre-loaded OS on this netbook, chiefly to get rid of all the HP garbage that came with it - on this stock 160Gb HDD, the OS and HP stuff takes 25% of HDD space. Just nonsense
Before you are going to format the hdd, you should run the Device Manager and look into the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" and - if applicable - the "SCSI & RAID Controllers" section.

Questions:

1. Which Controller names do you see?

2. Which are the HardwareID's of these Controllers (right click onto it > "Properties" > "Details" > "Property" > "HardwareID's)?.

One thing I note from the above string is the driver package he is installing. I'm not sure if this is the correct driver at the correct time in the re-install. I had previously asked HP to provide me with the correct nividia 10/100 ethernet driver as it wasn't listed on their site (same page as link used by James above). They came back to me as gave me this link:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_15.23.html

Whilst not the same date or exact size file as James' link, I'm left wondering if the chipset from James' link is either the correct driver at the correct time in the install process or if I've got a "red herring" from HP in that the link they've given me is indeed pretty much the same thing that is listed as their "chipset" driver (at James' link).

But I do note from James' text that the slipstreamed SATA driver he has installed ending in "46" isn't the same as the driver in the link I was given by HP (ending in "42") - don't know if 46 means a straight update or a different version for a different bit of kit.

There are 2 different nForce chipset driver sets offered by NVIDIA: the set 15.23 and the set 15.25. Both sets do support the same nForce chipsets and contain the same nForce Ethernet Driver (v67.89), but different nForce SATA/RAID Drivers (v10.3.0.42 and v10.3.0.46). Since the set 15.25 is the newer one, I would prefer this set, if the nForce chipset of your system should be supported by these special sets (i am not sure about that).

Regards

Fernando

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Graham,

welcome at MSFN Forums!

I am only able to help dodgyjammer and you, if I get the information regarding

a ) the exact nForce chipset of your Compaq 311c Mini and

b ) the SATA mode (IDE, AHCI or RAID) of the hdd, which has been automaticly set by the manufacturer within the BIOS..

Unfortunately HP resp. Compaq doesn't give any of these informations at their homepages, not even within the manual of your notebook/netbook.

I want to re-install the pre-loaded OS on this netbook, chiefly to get rid of all the HP garbage that came with it - on this stock 160Gb HDD, the OS and HP stuff takes 25% of HDD space. Just nonsense
Before you are going to format the hdd, you should run the Device Manager and look into the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" and - if applicable - the "SCSI & RAID Controllers" section.

Questions:

1. Which Controller names do you see?

2. Which are the HardwareID's of these Controllers (right click onto it > "Properties" > "Details" > "Property" > "HardwareID's)?.

One thing I note from the above string is the driver package he is installing. I'm not sure if this is the correct driver at the correct time in the re-install. I had previously asked HP to provide me with the correct nividia 10/100 ethernet driver as it wasn't listed on their site (same page as link used by James above). They came back to me as gave me this link:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_15.23.html

Whilst not the same date or exact size file as James' link, I'm left wondering if the chipset from James' link is either the correct driver at the correct time in the install process or if I've got a "red herring" from HP in that the link they've given me is indeed pretty much the same thing that is listed as their "chipset" driver (at James' link).

But I do note from James' text that the slipstreamed SATA driver he has installed ending in "46" isn't the same as the driver in the link I was given by HP (ending in "42") - don't know if 46 means a straight update or a different version for a different bit of kit.

There are 2 different nForce chipset driver sets offered by NVIDIA: the set 15.23 and the set 15.25. Both sets do support the same nForce chipsets and contain the same nForce Ethernet Driver (v67.89), but different nForce SATA/RAID Drivers (v10.3.0.42 and v10.3.0.46). Since the set 15.25 is the newer one, I would prefer this set, if the nForce chipset of your system should be supported by these special sets (i am not sure about that).

Regards

Fernando

Fernando

Thanks for the welcome.

In answer to your questions:

a. nvidia chipset – Don’t know how to accurately report this, so did a Google search and used PC Wizard. It reports my chipset as: nVidia nForce 730i

b. SATA mode – don’t know. As alluded to by James, the HP BIOS provided by HP is pants. No where in the BIOS does it even mention SATA. If you can tell me how to find this out another way, I will try.

1. Controller details: nividia nForce Serial ATA Controller

2. Controller Hardware Id:

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0AB9&SUBSYS_3651103C&REV_81

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0AB9&SUBSYS_3651103C

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0AB9&CC_010601

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0AB9&CC_0106

Thanks

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Graham,

thanks for your detailed answers.

Here are my conclusions of your dates:

  1. Your Compac 311C mini has an MCP79 chipset and the SATA hdd is running in AHCI mode.
  2. Neither NVIDIA's 15.23 nor the 15.25 set do support your system, because the needed HardwareID's of the MCP79 NVIDIA nForce SATA Controller is missing.

This is what I recommend to do:

  • Create a bootable XP CD with the suitable nForce AHCI driver according to chapter B of my guide (= start post of this thread).
  • Use a clean Windows XP SP2 or SP3 version as source.
  • Just integrate the unzipped content of the modified 32bit nForce SATA_IDE driver folder v11.1.0.43 as textmode driver. You can get the driver package from >here<.
  • Let nLite burn the image directly.
  • Once Windows XP is installed, you can run the installer of my 32bit "Actual nForce Driverpack" v8.5. You will find the download link at the buttom of my guide.

Good luck!

Regards

Fernando

Edited by Fernando 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Fernando,

Looks like I've got some reading to do...

I don't have Windows XP SP2 disc, so was planning to use the i386 folder on C:\ and given I don't have an external CD for the HP mini, I was going to do an install from a USB stick.

I'm pretty sure if I look around I can find the answer, but essentially I shall follow your guide and others to set up a bootable USB stick.

One thing that puzzles me - how is it that HP emailed me the link they did (for the serial number of the system I have) which was supposed to have the correct chipset package (inc the "correct" AHCI driver), and how is that on their website they have another chipset package (inc the "correct" AHCI driver) based on my system details - both of which are different AHCI drivers from the one you recommend?

Also, and finally, when it comes to installing all the drivers on my laptop, I'm going to have to install one of the HP recommended chipset packages - will this create any difficulties given I will install the driver you recommend?

regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have Windows XP SP2 disc, so was planning to use the i386 folder on C:\ and given I don't have an external CD for the HP mini, I was going to do an install from a USB stick.
Why don't you just borrow a Windows XP CD with integrated SP3 from a friend just for using it as source for the creation of an actual XP image with the integrated correct AHCI driver? Later, when you do the XP installation (from an USB stick for example), you have to enter your CD Key, so I don't see any licence problem.
One thing that puzzles me - how is it that HP emailed me the link they did (for the serial number of the system I have) which was supposed to have the correct chipset package (inc the "correct" AHCI driver), and how is that on their website they have another chipset package (inc the "correct" AHCI driver) based on my system details - both of which are different AHCI drivers from the one you recommend?
This should be asked the HP Support, not me.

You can easily verify what I have written: Download the nForce driver sets 15.23 or 15.25 HP is recommending to install, then open the IDE\WinXP\SATA_IDE folder and look for the file named NVGTS.INF. Then open this file with the Editor and search for "DEV_0AB9". You will not find it.

Also, and finally, when it comes to installing all the drivers on my laptop, I'm going to have to install one of the HP recommended chipset packages - will this create any difficulties given I will install the driver you recommend?
If you want to get Windows XP properly installed and running, you should not install any of the nForce chipset driver packages HP is recommending, unless the included NVGTS.INF contains the needed DEV_0AB9 DeviceID entry.

Regards

Fernando

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fernando

I am very grateful for your full reply.

To be open with you, in attempting to verify anything, I wouldn't have a clue if what I was looking at was right or wrong! But I appreciate you taking the time to explain stuff. Notwithstanding this, maybe the text below will give you more information which confirms your assessment.

Since I last wrote, I've been digging around in another folder on my C:\ drive - it's called "SwSetup". I reckon HP have dropped all the drivers and bloatware in this folder as part of their system recovery offering. I see in "SwSetup" there is another folder called "HDD". In that folder are a number of files which are signed by nVidia and are version 10.3.0.46 (most of which are dll in different languages) - which I presume links into what you've been saying. I also note that there is a file called "txtsetup.oem" - which is mentioned on your first post.

I also find the nvgts.inf file in this folder, with the following entries (along with many others):

[NVIDIA.ntx86.6.0]

[NVIDIA]

%NVSTOR_DESC%=NVStor_Inst,PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0AB9&CC_0106

[NVIDIA.ntx86]

%NVSTOR_DESC%=NVStor_Inst,PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0AB9&CC_0106

So I would think - if it needed doing at all - that this confirms your view on which is the correct driver for my HDD. You are quite right - I should ask HP to explain, but I sense I would lose the argument quite quickly because I can't explain very well what this is all about!

As to getting another CD from someone else - that's just not going to happen. Most of the folk I know, know even less about PCs than I do - I'm usually their port of call for assistance. Almost without exception, they have systems with pre-installed software without an XP disc, or they use Vista - which I won't touch with a barge pole. So I'm going to use the i386 folder (if I can) which along with the SwSetup folder seems to suggest HP stuck everything I need on my PC to get it going again from "new" - but it's just up to me to find a way to do that, which is kind of what I'm doing.

Your advice re intalling the Chipset is well noted - thanks.

regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...