Can I boot GA-890GPA-UD3H from PCI Express?

[dframeli]

I'm considering the purchase of a OCZ RevoDrive...

Can anyone tell me whether my GA-890GPA-UD3H can boot from one of these devices?

Also, is anyone aware of any problems between the Revo and this particular MB?

Thanks!

[absic]

Hi there,

I can't see why there should be a problem with Booting from this device just so long as you follow the User manual for it and prepare it before attempting to install the OS.

I don't have personal experience of this combination so can't say if there are any problems. A quick search of the internet hasn't thrown anything up but that could just be because not enough people are using the RevoDrive as a BOOT Device on the GA-890GPA-UD3H.

[Dark Mantis]

If I can just add that I don't know about this particular board but the drive will work fine as a boot device on other boards as there have been instances on the forum.

[absic]

If I can just add that I don't know about this particular board but the drive will work fine as a boot device on other boards as there have been instances on the forum.

Thanks for that info DM it's always good to know if these things actually work!

[dframeli]

I have the RevoDrive installed, but I'm having difficulty getting Windows 7 to install.

At first, I created an NTFS formatted partition on the RevoDrive.  I made it Primary and Active.

Next I booted the Win 7 installer.... 7 can't see the Revo, so I load the Revo drivers.  Afterwards, I can see it.

However, when I select the drive Windows 7 says it cannot find a drive suitable to install Windows on...

I already have the latest BIOS (F8) installed.  I confirmed I have the latest Revo drivers.  I have 2 PCI-E x16 slots - I tried both.  I've deleted and recreated the Revo RAID several times.  I also deleted the partition and recreated/reformatted it several times.

Both Vista and 7 give me pretty much the same error.  I can load my drivers and I can see my RevoDrive partition, but neither of my Windows installers will allow me to install Windows on the Revo.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

[dframeli]

Still having trouble getting the RevoDrive to work with my GA-890GPA-UD3H

After I load the RevoDrive drivers, I can see the RevoDrive RAID, but when I select it to install Windows onto, I get an error that says Windows cannot locate a suitable partition to install Windows onto

Someone pointed out Gigabyte was in the process of releasing firmware upgrades that improve SSD compatibility.

(i.e. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3450#bios)

Anyone know whether Gigabyte has any plan to release similiar SSD enhanced firmware for the GA-890GPA-UD3H any time soon?

[autotech]

Go to the support site for revo drive i was looking at it the other day the moderators there have set up a thread of motherboards that work with the revo drive i knpow the 890fxa-ud5 is on the list but as it is pages long i didnt look thru it past that.

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?79264-revo-compatible-motherboard-list

I would also post any problems on the OCZ support forum as they might be able top point u in the right direction please let us know how it works out for you.

[Dark Mantis]

It's always a problem when you are one of the pioneers of a new technology and there will be teething troubles but usually they can be worked around.

[dframeli]

All,

I have 3 cards plugged into my GA-890GPA-UD3H...  The RevoDrive (a new addition) and two TV Tuner cards (which have worked in the slots their in for the better part of a year).

Yesterday, I removed the tuner cards, and with the RevoDrive placed in the 16x PCI-E slot located farthest from the CPU, I couldn't see my other SATA drives, but I was finally able to load Windows onto the RevoDrive...

So there's still a problem...

When I have been able to install Windows on the RevoDrive, the system has been unable to detect my other SATA drives.  The Windows 7 installer can't see them, even after I load the AMD SATA/AHCI/RAID drivers, and even after Windows is installed several reboots later, Windows still cannot see them.  It doesn't seem to matter whether the drives are configured as AHCI, RAID or IDE.   

Also, when I install my tuners back into the system using the two 1x PCI-E slots located closest to and furthest away from the CPU, I can see my SATA drives again (no drivers needed), however now I encounter one of two errors.  Either I see "Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0x80300001".  Or, I encounter a "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition" error -- even though a NTFS formatted, active, primary partition exists.

The other thing I noticed, is on the 2 occasions when Windows did install, when I created a bootable partition on the RevoDrive, a "System Partition" was automatically created.  For all other attempts, when Windows would not install, it created a bootable partition, but it did not create a system partition.

BTW, Even if I set the SATA and GIGABYTE SATA2 setting to "None" in the BIOS, I still encounter these errors...

This GA-890GPA-UD3H ran for a year (without the RevoDrive installed) with no problem, so I'm thinking either this motherboard is not compatible with the RevoDrive, or some other conflict must exist.

In the olden days, there were concerns over which PCI slots were used, which resources were shared and whether there were any conflicts between resources...  I'm not using my 2 PCI slots, but I am using 3 of the 5 PCI-E slots.  Question: do PCI-E slots share resources the way PCI slots did?  Is there any possibility there is a conflict between my tuner cards, the RevoDrive and my MB's SATA controllers, USB, etc...   

I looked in the owners manual, but I don't see a chart showing shared slots/resources...

[absic]

Question: do PCI-E slots share resources the way PCI slots did?

The answer to this is yes. If you can get into windows on your PC check System Information (if you type System Information into the search box on the start menu it should be the top item found) You can check IRQ's and also Conflicts/Sharing. This might show if there is a problem with the PCIE slots sharing IRQ's

[Dark Mantis]

The other thing I noticed, is on the 2 occasions when Windows did install, when I created a bootable partition on the RevoDrive, a "System Partition" was automatically created.  For all other attempts, when Windows would not install, it created a bootable partition, but it did not create a system partition.

A small partition of around 100MB should be installed automatically by Windows Install.

[dframeli]

All,

I pulled the RevoDrive and both TV tuner cards out of the case, then I hard reset my motherboards BIOS.

Afterwards, I reset the AMD SATA controller to RAID, the GIGABYTE SATA2 controller to AHCI.

All other BIOS settings are set to the optimized default values.

With these settings, the system boots fine, and I can get into BIOS to make other changes.

Strange thing is, if I install just the RevoDrive, then press the DEL key to reenter the BIOS, what I find is the AWARD BIOS screen with no menu contents... There should be half a dozen menu entries on either side of the screen, but with the RevoDrive installed there's a title at the top, function key information at the bottom, a left half and a right half of the screen in the middle, but no menus, no contents of any type displayed on the left or right side.

When I pull the RevoDrive and reboot, the AWARD BIOS is viewable again.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[dframeli]

Update:

     Staff at OCZ say my GA-890GPA-UD3H needs a BIOS upgrade (from Gigabyte) before the RevoDrive will work properly.

     I saw Gigabyte already released a BIOS update with "SSD Compatibility" for one of their X58 motherboards.

     Hopefully, they'll release a similiar BIOS soon for the GA-890GPA-UD3H. 

 

[absic]

Hi there,

I'm sorry you can't get the RevoDrive to work properly without a BIOS update and I guess you live and learn and I really didn't think there would be an issue as it is a PCIe drive. I apologise for my error  in thinking that there wouldn't be a problem.

As you say, hopefully Gigabyte will release a BIOS update that addresses the issue and as this is one of the areas that Gigabyte excels you shouldn't have to wait too long.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I have just been discussing this possibility of booting from a RevoDrive with someone else on the Intel side. I think it would be a good idea to make GGTS aware of the problem and at least then hopefully they will get on to it quickly. They may even have a BIOS update they can send you.