Raid1 on GA-EP35C-DS3R

[chrisathome]

Hi

I have 2 xp pro sp3 boxes using GA-EP35C-DS3R Rev 2.1 boards with 4Gb ram and Intel E6550 processors. Bios is F2 on both.

Both boxes have the Gigabyte raid drivers installed but not the Intel raid drivers or software.

Box A has a 2 x 1Tb Raid1 sata array configured and working on the Gigabyte controller (purple sockets).  System drive on both is non raid 300 GB Sata on one of the yellow (Intel?) sockets.

Box B has no raid configured or installed.

I want to replace the 2 x 1Tb raid1 on box A with a 2 x 2Tb raid1. 

I have the 2 x 2Tb sata drives installed in box A, currently on the yellow sockets, and formatted to be visible in windows.

I ran up against the seemingly impossible task of installing the Intel raid drivers and software into an existing xp installation, and all I managed to do was configure the 2 x 2Tb drives as a raid 1 array in the Intel raid setup (Control I) on boot.  So it is named but non functioning.  I cannot enable the Intel raid in the bios as windows blue screens with a 7B error, due to the lack of drivers, unless the Integrated peripherals Sata Raid/AHCI mode is set to Disabled.

Questions:

1) Can I simply remove the existing functioning array from the purple gigabyte raid sockets and put them in box B on the same sockets (making sure they are connected as in box A) and making sure the bios on box B is set the same?

If I do this will box B recognise the array and read the data or do I have to uninstall the array in the gigabyte raid setup on box A before I remove it? (And will this delete the data)?

2) If in the Intel raid setup I delete the raid details for the 2Tb drives, can I then connect them to the purple sockets and build a new array on the gigabyte controller?

3) Is it possible anyway to run a non raid system sata drive plus a raid1 sata pair on the Intel controller at the same time?

I have already backed off the 1TB array onto an external USB drive so the data is secure. I would prefer it if I can build the 2Tb array by a network copy from box B as it will likely be quicker, though still overnight plus.

I am aware that I cannot just remove a 1Tb drive to break the array and replace a 2Tb drive and rebuild due to the fact that only 1 Tb would be usable

If anyone has a step by step how to install the Intel raid drivers into an existing xp OS I'd be very interested.

Thanks

Christopher

[Peteruk]

1) Can I simply remove the existing functioning array from the purple gigabyte raid sockets and put them in box B on the same sockets (making sure they are connected as in box A) and making sure the bios on box B is set the same?

If I do this will box B recognise the array and read the data or do I have to uninstall the array in the gigabyte raid setup on box A before I remove it? (And will this delete the data)?

Yes all you have to do is before moving the RAID over is enable RAID for the purple gigabyte ports (really Jmicron) install the drivers then put the drives in and the OS will see the array.

2) If in the Intel raid setup I delete the raid details for the 2Tb drives, can I then connect them to the purple sockets and build a new array on the gigabyte controller?

Yes.

3) Is it possible anyway to run a non raid system sata drive plus a raid1 sata pair on the Intel controller at the same time?

Yes but RAID needs to be enabled first before you install the OS on say a single drive.

If anyone has a step by step how to install the Intel raid drivers into an existing xp OS I'd be very interested.

Their is but I don't recommend it.   

[chrisathome]

Hi PeterUK

Thanks for the advice, got the 2Tb raid installed and the old one transferred to the other box. Just takes forever to copy the data...

In dialogue with Gigabyte I was told that I couldn't have a single non-raid sata system drive together with a Raid1 array on the yellow (Intel) sockets - is this the case? My understanding was that you could have 2 seperate raid arrays on that controller, so it seems logical that a non raid drive could co-exist.

Also, though you don't recommend a post install of the Intel raid drivers, could you give me a link to the info for future reference.  I really don't want to do a repair install of xp unless I have no option, and I might need to try the driver & s/w  install.

Christopher

[Peteruk]

In dialogue with Gigabyte I was told that I couldn't have a single non-raid sata system drive together with a Raid1 array on the yellow (Intel) sockets - is this the case? My understanding was that you could have 2 seperate raid arrays on that controller, so it seems logical that a non raid drive could co-exist.

You can have a non raid drive for OS or storage as will as a raid OS or storage drives all on the yellows ports at the same time with the Intel RAID enabled in the BIOS even if its for just one drive and depending on the OS your using like XP you need to do the F6 install drivers from disk when installing XP to install the OS on a single disk or raid array.        

Also, though you don't recommend a post install of the Intel raid drivers, could you give me a link to the info for future reference.  I really don't want to do a repair install of xp unless I have no option, and I might need to try the driver & s/w  install.

Heres a post about it.  
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardware/112584-how-enable-ahci-raid-mode-without-reinstalling-windows-p35-ich9-ich9r.html