GA-990FXA-UD5 RAID Setup Problems

[sdunnin]

Have been having a problem trying to get a RAID 0 array up on the GA-990FXA-UD5 using both the AMD or Marvell controller with OCZ Vertex SSD drives. I had no problems running those same drives RAID 0 on a GA-790XTA-UD4 with a Marvell controller.

So here are the symptoms that I am encountering.

    

• Configure drive ports for RAID in BIOS
• Go into RAID setup utility and build new RAID volume containing both Vertex drives
• Boot into Windows and install RAID drivers. Drivers load successfully and state that device is operating normally within device manager.
• Windows fails to see the RAID volume.
• Reboot and noticed that when RAID firmware is reporting the array offline.
• Proceed to go into RAID utility and notice that one or both of the drives have disappeared (no longer being reported). Regular BIOS config screen also does not show drive(s).
• Switch ports back to IDE mode from RAID mode and reboot for drives to show up again. (I also had to completely power down and unplug drives from Marvell controller a couple of times for them to reappear)

       
My first thought was that there might be a problem with the mobo or controller but after having nearly similar problem with both controllers I'm less convinced that it is a board issue.

What I have not tried yet.

• Mounting both ssd drives as regular ide and try to format both individually in Windows and then read/write from.
  
• Trying to setup a different pair of drives (non ssd even) in a RAID setup.

I am also actively seeking assistance in the OCZ support forum for the drives as I also flashed the firmware of the drives prior to this endeavor.

One additional question. Are there any benefits in using one or the other controllers (AMD vs Marvell) for running a RAID setup on this board?

[absic]

Hi there,

not sure why you are having problems as I am running to ADATA SSD's in a RAID0 Array without a problem. (unless of course there is an issue with the OCZ drives)

You might like ot look through this thread: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,5704.msg45816.html#msg45816 where I go through setting up the RAID on the AMD controller.

I would strongly recommend that you DO NOT use the Marvell controller for your RAID Array as, if you continue ploughing through the review, you will see that it under performs.

What BIOS version are you running? I'm using F6 but also used F5 without an issue.
What are your full system spec's?

[sdunnin]

I updated BIOS to F6.

System Specs:
GA-990FXA-UD5
AMD FX-8150
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Cooler
G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
2 x OCZ Vertex SSD with 1.7 firmware
1 WD Caviar Green 640 GB HDD
1 Seagate 250 GB HDD
EVGA GeForce GTS 250 1GB

[absic]

Well there is nothing obvious in your system spec's as a possible cause of any issues.

Before you tried setting up the RAID Array did you Secure Erase the SSD's so they were clean?

[sdunnin]

Didn't at first but then did for subsequent attempts.

Before you tried setting up the RAID Array did you Secure Erase the SSD's so they were clean?

[sdunnin]

Re-flashed both drives to 1.7 via destructive flash. Secure erased both via mobo RAID utility and then rebuilt array. Was then able to restore my original windows boot image on the the array and all is well.

I did encounter some weirdness with this board after finally getting the array working. After unplugging the HDD that I had my temporary installation of Windows on, which was plugged into the top Marvell SATA port (along with a second HDD in the bottom port) the board would spin up the fans but no post beep, no video or nothing. After resetting BIOS via jumper and powering off / restarting a few times I finally got to setup screen, but guess what... the Marvell ports were not being detected despite being enabled and set to IDE in BIOS. Several more reboots did nothing to help. Then after moving the SATA cable of my additional drive from the bottom to the top port it magically appeared again?.?.?  Guess this board is flaky when moving around drive connections in the SATA ports.

Have been running for over a day now fine and everything appears solid.

[absic]

Hi there,

pleased you seem to have sorted the problem.

I'm not sure why you had a problem with the Marvell Controller but I have to say that this particular item is something I try to avoid using except in IDE mode for my DVD/CD Burner. I do feel that this Marvell SATA controller is a negative aspect of this motherboard and I know from reading of other user's experiences across the platforms that it is not highly rated.

[sdunnin]

I guess I could move the 2 DVD drives from ports 4/5 on the AMD controller to the Marvell ports and the HDD on the Marvell over to one of the open 4/5 ports but at this point I don't think I want to touch it for a while... 

[absic]

I understand where you're coming from but, if you have any important information stored on your HDD's it would be better to swap them over now rather than later on when it might be too late.

[sdunnin]

I was playing around with my DRAM timings and the Marvell ports decided to go missing again    So I went ahead and swapped the 2 DVD drives over to the Marvell and the HDD on #5 on the AMD ports. Only after numerous restarts, shutdowns, and complete power-off restarts, including the dreaded no post blank screen everything came up just before I was getting ready to reset CMOS.