Problems with Serial ATA HDD

Chris,

You have not stated, or at least I did not notice, the operating system you are trying to install.  There are a couple of ways that you can successfully install an operating system on a hard drive for use by a RAID Controller.  You will need the installation CD which came with your motherboard or controller card, or access to the Internet.  If you only have one CD-ROM/RW drive, you might wish to also have a floppy diskette on-hand.

You need to locate the correct RAID Controller driver files on the motherboard's installation CD, or from the manufacturer's website.  If you copy these files onto a floppy diskette, you can make the installation process easier.  Place the floppy so that it is fully seated into the floppy drive.

Enter your BIOS according to the motherboard's owner's manual by pressing Delete at startup or P.O.S.T. (Power-On Self-Test).

You can verify that your hard drive is correctly communicating with the BIOS by entering the MAIN Screen, but only if you are using the on-board IDE Controllers.  Since you specify that you have a RAID Controller installed, an add-in Controller card has it's own BIOS, and the drive information will be in the BIOS which follows the motherboard BIOS' display during the boot process.

Enter the ADVANCED MENU, and set the first boot device as SCSI, the second boot device as the CD-ROM, and the third as floppy.  Then in the option "Boot Other Device" set it to "Enabled".

While still in the BIOS, place the installation CD of the Operating System into the CD-ROM drive.

If you are using any on-board peripheral devices such as ethernet or sound, you need to enter the INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS Section, and enable the devices you wish to operate.  You also need to disable any devices you do not wish to use.

*A SPECIAL NOTE - You can speed up the boot process if you disable all AUTO options by manually setting the transfer rates or detection.  If you do not use the on-board IDE controllers, disabling them and setting the IDE drives as NONE will allow the BIOS to not require a time-out before proceeding with the next test.*

Press F10 to save your changes and exit the BIOS, and you will confirm this by clicking yes or pressing Return at the prompt.  The system will now Restart.

As the system restarts it will first seek the SCSI device to detect both a drive, and the operating system.  Since no OS has been installed, it will proceed to the CD-ROM drive.  You might be asked if you wish to boot from the CD-ROM drive, and press the applicable key according to the screen.

As the installation process for the OS begins, you will view messages along the lower part of the screen, I believe.  It should tell you to press an F key, i.e. F6, if you wish to install any third-party devices/drivers.  Press the correct key, and wait for the next prompt screen.

When asked to provide a location for the driver files, use the browse option if available.  Browse to your floppy drive, and highlight the .inf file.  If this should fail to be recognized by the installer, you need to recreate the floppy diskette with no folders included.  Simply copy all files in the subfolder for your future OS into the floppy, but remember to also include the (OEM)Setup.inf in the primary folder along with your driver files.  If it still fails, simply include any files that the installer cannot locate into the floppy until successful.

Do not remove the floppy diskette because the installer will require the driver files twice.  Once to access the drive to begin the installation, and then to configure the system's hardware.  If the floppy drive is the third boot device, you do not have to worry about the floppy diskette immediately.

Once the drive has been detected by the installer, the drive should be available for partition identification/assignment, formatting, and installation of the operating system.  When the installer reboots, it should reboot to the RAID drive since it is the first boot device, and should now complete the installation of the OS.

IF your on-board IDE Controllers can support your hard drive(s), you can install a single drive as a Primary Master, or Secondary Master if configuring a MIRROR Array.  You then need to install the RAID Controller's driver files after the operating system has been installed, and you can boot into the Graphic User Interface (GUI).  Once the RAID Controller has been recognized by the OS, you shut down the system.

Remove all power including self-powered peripheral devices, and uninstall the drive from the on-board IDE Controller.

Install the drive to the RAID Controller, and the second drive as well if not previously installed.

Power up your system, and enter your RAID BIOS by pressing the appropriate keys, in my case it is Ctrl and F together.

Assign the two drives as a single MIRROR RAID Array,and this is sometimes named, "Security".

The drive with the OS installed is your SOURCE drive, and the remaining drive is your TARGET drive.  Copy the Source drive onto the Target drive through the RAID BIOS, and you will be prompted to reboot after completion.

You should now have a functioning MIRROR Array upon restart.

I honestly can never remember whether 0 or 1 is MIRROR or STRIPE, so I apologize if you are attempting a STRIPE Array.  If you do wish to create a functioning STRIPE, you will need to install the drives to the RAID Controller first.  You then need to assign the type of configuration in byte values.  This is usually by the type of performance, i.e. A/V Server.  You then need to reboot the system for the configuration to take effect.

Unlike a MIRROR Array, the STRIPE Array must already be in existence for the operating system to be correctly installed incrementally throughout both drives.  In the case of a STRIPE Array, the system BIOS must be able to boot into an SCSI device since most PCI Controller Cards are recognized as SCSI devices.  The only time the installer will not be able to detect a properly installed RAID drive is if the installer does not have the correct hardware information to allow it to communicate with the drive through the controller.  The System's BIOS simply allows you to prioritize the boot order of the RAID device, according to the A7N8X owner's manual I downloaded from Asus.  If your Deluxe has an on-board RAID Controller, the system's BIOS will usually allow you to set the RAID Controller as either RAID or ATA-133.  In either case, the installer still requires the correct driver files to allow it to detect the hard drive you wish to install the OS upon.

If you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.  Audiodog