Cannot install 3+ TB on M68MT-S2P?!

[nimrod.sixty9]

I have been trying like crazy to have a RAID 5 setup. It is the reason I bought this board, as it states that it supports booting from 3+TB harddrives.

My configuration is as follows:
4x 1TB HDs
USB DVD to install OS
8GB DDR3
Phenom II unlocked core
Windows 7 x64 and Server 2008 R2

Tried EFI and GPT, both installations complain that it is such. After researching, this should not come up unless I dont EFI motherboard. This board his this option in BIOS (and has been selected), and advertizes it. What gives? Is there another step Im missing? Would have stuck with ASUS had I known Id go right back into the same issues... ANy help would be greatly appreciated!

[autotech]

I did a bit of searching and this is what i have come up with.

Even if you have a supported OS (Windows Vista, Windows 7, and most flavors of Linux) that recognizes GPT, you won't be able to boot to a drive of that size unless you also have a motherboard running UEFI—something that, as of this writing in late 2010, very few do. All current Intel boards support UEFI, but almost no other major manufacturer has yet followed suit. So, under most circumstances, if you don't have a UEFI motherboard (and you probably don't), you'll have to use your extra-large hard drive for storage only. (There are worse things.)

Finally, your system's SATA controller must also be designed to recognize 4KB blocks. This isn't necessarily a big deal: As we discovered when we reviewed Western Digital's new 3TB Caviar Green hard drive, the company is including with all its above-2.19TB drives a PCI Express x1 Host Bus Adapter that lets Windows use a known driver to communicate with the drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3981/western-digital-caviar-green-3tb-and-my-book-essential-3tb-drives-reviewed/2

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463525.aspx


http://www.paragon-software.com/technologies/components/gpt-loader/win7.html



I hope this helps.

[nimrod.sixty9]

First off, thank you for the very detailed reply! Heres the issue though, this board advertises right on the box that it is Hybrid UEFI, even has the option in BIOS to boot CD/DVD with EFI support. Box also advertises it can boot from 3TB+ hard drives. The exact reason why I bought this board. I dont see GB false advert, so what am I missing? Everything I can find on this issue this board, OS, etc all support...

[beejack]

have you looked here:

http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/276/3tb.html

or here

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/Utility.aspx

Not sure if this will help but worth a look.