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Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with Intel processors => Topic started by: stinch on November 02, 2011, 02:55:03 am

Title: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 02, 2011, 02:55:03 am
I've put together my RAID 5 , 4Tb system , loaded Windows7 Professional 64 bit and noticed that my system doesn't recognize anything above 2Tb . I think I just figured that since my motherboard had 3TB+ HDD support , that it would recognize the array above 2Tb. And then I found this forum. Wish I had done my homework first.
I have found several posts about this problem and I'm about ready to fix it, but I have a few questions.
There is an option to choose EFI in the BIOS, so I have that all set but,

Since I have Windows 7 installed, how would I go about reformatting to GPT. Is that done from the BIOS?

And I would also like to partition the boot drive to 1.5Tb out of this 4Tb array and have the remainder be set to another drive letter.
Should that be done before Windows is installed?   What would be the proper way to do this at this point.  ???
Thanks
 :)
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 02, 2011, 09:59:19 am
  stinch ....Welcome

  To truly streamline the procedure......start again 99!

  You found the EFI option so that's done.......next will be to format and reload Windows.....when prompted at the "which drive to use"part of the install choose  format GPT, and partition as you see fit.....then load windows.....this will/should give you the least problems.

  trying to recover a prior install under NTFS to GPT....from say a 1TB to a 1.5+2.5TB multi-partitioned drive array :o

  you can always backup critical data and copy it over when done!

  P.S....Raid 5 luvs odd numbers.....3 drives.....5 drives.....

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 03, 2011, 12:26:55 am
Hello Aussie Allan, Thanks for the reply.  I have 3 - 2Tb drives in this array. Fortunatly I have really only have Windows installed and a few Gigabyte programs so reformatting and losing programs wont be an issue.  I will give this a try tomorrow night.
Thanks for the info
Stinch
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 03, 2011, 01:17:45 am
Got a dumb question. How do I reformat  now that windows is installed?  Sorry for the noobish question, it's been a while since I built from scratch and first time dealing with raid.
 :-[
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 03, 2011, 08:08:13 am

   Sorry for the long .....been busy,busy......just boot off the Windows install disc and follow the prompts.......it'll all come back when you see it up on the screen.

  any problems , just shout.

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 04, 2011, 12:39:52 am
I thought that was it, but when I tried it last night it didnt look right to me so I thought I'd ask before proceeding.
Ok, now that it has booted up with Win7 in the drive I am at the window that shows my options for the disks and partitions that are available .  Here's how it looks.

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO INSTALL WINDOWS?

name                                                                      total size                       free space                          type               

DISK 0 PARTITION: 1  System Reserved                   100. MB                           70. MB                               system   

DISK 0 PARTITION: 2                                             2047.9GB                          1995.2GB                          primary

DISK 0 UNALLOCATED SPACE:                                1678.GB                            1678.GB                             

       
It shows I can format the first two partitions where I would assume I would choose GBT  And the Last disk it shows my options for that disk =  NEW.  How should I go about formating from here.  Do I choose the system partition   or primary partition to start the formatting?
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 04, 2011, 01:18:07 am

  Just start deleting/formatting....( just Delete the new [disc0] first)............the others should fall into line as you proceed to format.....could be a few reboots involved......being honest Ive never been this path as yet with my system....some experimenting will probably get you there.

  I'll send a message to DM in the morning, I think he went down this path not to far back .... where I'm stuck is not sure whether the system reserved can be NTFS or needs to be GPT

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 04, 2011, 01:41:35 am
Ok, Thanks AA. I will hold off until then.      That last   DISK 0 UNALLOCATED SPACE   doesn't give me an option to delete. (it's greyed out)  The only choices are Refresh , Load Driver and *New.   I imagine if I chose "NEW"  for that unallocated space , there should be some options after that?
Stinch
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 04, 2011, 08:22:57 am
Hi stinch

I received Allan's PM and so I have dropped in to have a look. I am afraid though that like the rest of you I too am on new ground when it comes to this. Allan seems to have steered you down the right path so far. I would go along with your idea there and pick "New" for the unallocated space and see what options are offered afterwards. There are not going to be many members who have experience of this and so I expect it is going to be a lot of trial and error. :-\
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 04, 2011, 08:36:12 am

    I think like us, the best way forward is to punch madly at keys like a monkey... ;)


    The advice DM and I gave you should get you there......it's just a matter of getting the install disc to play and get to the stage where  all disc space is under  GPT ...I feel even the 100MB sys area would probably need to be GPT but you'll have to play the guinea pig for us ;)...........please keep us informed.....we'll all be there in the next 12 months

  Aussie Allan

  PS.....Thanks DM .... gave you a star ;)
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 04, 2011, 08:57:58 am
No problem Allan but I am afraid in this instance I wasn't able to help much at all. All new stuff this and can't say I have had a reason to get involved with it so far.  Not rich enough to play with these huge new drives!! ;)
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 04, 2011, 09:16:16 am


  Agreed!.....but we are viewed as the "Tip of the Spear" re Technology goes!.....in 5 yrs 2 TB magnetic drives will considered obsolete....and NTFS something old farts play around with..... :D

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 04, 2011, 09:21:51 am
I'm totally in agreement with you as we haven't had a lot of hardware made available for testing or forum use which would make it so much easier to make sure that  our advice was correct.
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 04, 2011, 10:42:27 am

  It does make it Difficult DM... I'm amazed as to the manufactures/ sponsors that are willing to put product forward for my new pet project.

  But the critical kit ... ... ..( SSDs,GPU,CPU,System boards)  it just makes it a long,slow and costly process .... I might start hitting the developers forums and work out how they get there funding/R&D kit .... it really should not be this hard to get the knowledge we need to be more effective for the Gigabyte community! :-\

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 05, 2011, 12:02:57 am
So I'm at that same screen as last night where I posted what partitions and disks were available.   And when I choose either the smaller system reserved Disk 0 partition or the Disk 0 partition 2 and I click on "Format", it says all data will be erased, bla, bla, bla.  I click "ok" and then I see the little blue circle that spins around like it's doing something, then it stops. No error message, nothing happens. No changes.
Tried it several times and nothing happens.  The last unallocated partition says I can choose "new" and all that does is gives me an option for the partition size (currently displays 1718300 MB) can go higher or lower.  So I didnt bother with that.
What I have noticed is a yellow triangle with a ! in the center of it saying: Windows cannot be installed to this disk....  So I click on that and it continues to say The slected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed on GPT disks.
.
So maybe I need to delete all partitions on Disk 0 , reboot and see if it gives me an option to format as GPT?
It seems that it's telling me that I cannot install (or format for that matter) to this disk because it already has a MBR partition table on it already?
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 05, 2011, 12:07:43 am


  Correct! you have to get rid of the Master boot record!

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 05, 2011, 12:44:20 am
Ok. I deleted the MBR. The partitions are 1,2,3 , I click on format and it does that blue circle, doing something thingy and stops. But there is no apparent change.  That notification is still at the bottom saying I cant install windows on that disk. So when I click on it it gives me similar details as before.  I'm attaching photos of the screen I'm on, since I cant take a screenshot. Maybe you can see where I'm at and what I'm doing wrong.
Two of the photos show what the details are about not being able to install windows to that disk.  Hopefully this would help.

Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 05, 2011, 05:02:17 am
I worked on it a little more tonight. I think it might be formatted GPT now.  I'll follow up with screenshots of the disk manager tomorrow night.
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 05, 2011, 06:56:27 am
Quote from: Aussie Allan on November 04, 2011, 10:42:27 am

  It does make it Difficult DM... I'm amazed as to the manufactures/ sponsors that are willing to put product forward for my new pet project.

  But the critical kit ... ... ..( SSDs,GPU,CPU,System boards)  it just makes it a long,slow and costly process .... I might start hitting the developers forums and work out how they get there funding/R&D kit .... it really should not be this hard to get the knowledge we need to be more effective for the Gigabyte community! :-\

  Aussie Allan

I do feel that the company could help us out more with hardware so that we have more of a hands on approach to testing and advice

Anyway back to the business of trying to help out here. Only guessing as I mentioned, as I don't have the drives etc to test with, but I think I would start from the beginning here and see if you can partition and format as GPT right from the start. The MBR seems to be what is getting in the way but it is not so easy to get rid of.
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 05, 2011, 08:25:19 am

 Fresh and early, .... the mind works a bit better........Ive had problems in the past with MBR getting in the way of installs........I use a dock station on another machine to completely format a drive including the MBR tables.......alternatively you can use another smaller disc to load windows on to temporarily then use it as the master.....logon as administrator to wipe any offending drives.........once the MBR tables are gone .....it should be easier to load windows OS to it.........

  You just have to get rid of the MBR tables.......no matter what method you use.

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 05, 2011, 08:53:09 am
Quote
You just have to get rid of the MBR tables.......no matter what method you use.

Cool! I knew we would get around to the trusty chainsaw in the end!! :o
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 05, 2011, 09:14:48 am


  I was thinking of those nice little magnets hanging off a crane at the local scrap yard :D

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 05, 2011, 09:26:55 am
No, you have to be careful with magnetism and electronics...can do some damage you know! ;D
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 05, 2011, 09:30:43 am


  Mmmmmmmmmmm.....could be right

  Might turn the MBR tables into the TRDKMIHHDB tables
 
  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 05, 2011, 02:33:37 pm
Yes extremely confusing.................
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 06, 2011, 12:16:29 am
Screenshot of Disk Management.  I didnt expect it to look this way, but I guess it's ok.   I did not attempt to make another partition or drive out of it. Figured I was pushing my luck.   Is this correct?

Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 06, 2011, 12:34:19 am


   Hay Stinch

   Well your the expert ! what are you asking me for !.... :D  Just so I know for the next lucky lad......so you formatted it under GPT? is this correct ?

  and then it shows it self still as NTFS.....is this correct also.....can you state if you had anything else to do besides what we talked about earlier!?

  And how did you end up formatting the problem drive....sorry for all the questions but I know this will come up more and more!

  ...............anyway great result, now go and enjoy! 8)

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 06, 2011, 02:46:32 am
Absolutely, I hope someone may find this helpful in the future.
I got to say , I kind of expected more details and confirmation from Windows 7 during the format process. Each time I went to delete a partition or format it, I'm more confident seeing a confirmation saying "partition 0 disk 2 has been formatted as GPT"  or see that it has been deleted, but it's not there. So that's a little lacking. The last time I formatted the partition, it took like 30 seconds which was longer than any other time, so I was thinking, maybe that worked. And I guess it did. I deleted and formatted several times until it looked right. It will always say at the bottom of that screen, Windows cannot be installed to this disk...  Just ignore that.  Right click on the larger partition and install windows there anyway. It will work.
I also expected to see the entire partition as GPT in disk manager. Instead the first 100mb is EFI and always seems to be at 100% free space. While the remainder is formatted as NTFS.  Cool  ;D
Anyway,  here is what I did.

* Go into BIOS . See ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES then when you enter there you will see EFI CD/DVD BOOT OPTIONS Choose EFI.
Also make sure your first boot drive is set to CD ROM and have the Win7 DVD in the drive.  Exit and save, boot up to Windows and follow the prompts and when you get to the part where it asks "do you want to upgrade Windows, or Custom. Choose Custom and follow the prompts.

* When you are at the screen that says where do you want to install windows delete one partition at a time. It shouldnt matter which one to do first. You may be left with the unallocated disk space. But that will go away when you reboot.

* Do a reboot back to that same screen. You might find ( if you have 3 drives like I do) Disk 1, Disk 2, Disk 3.   I still wasnt sure if this was right, so I deleted whatever I could until I ended up with the 100 mb partiton and the remainder of the drive array size on the other partition. ( i actually did this several times because I was not confident of what I was seeing)
Oh, I almost forgot. I When I ended up with 2 partitons, I made the second ( the drive that windows was installed to) and clicked on "NEW" which allowed me to make that partition size 3815452 MB

* Then click on the larger of the two disk partitions (highlight the drive patition you want to install win7 on) and choose, "next"  This will start the Windows 7 install.
You will notice that it might still say that Windows cannot be installed to that partition at the bottom of that screen before you hit NEXT.  I dont know why but it always said it. I thought , screw this, were installing windows to something and if it dont work, I'll try it again.
* remember after windows is installed to go back and change the first boot device as hard drive in BIOS.
 :o
Thanks AA and DM for your help and patience   8)
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 06, 2011, 07:51:26 am

  Stinch

  You're a living legend for going to that trouble.......it's not often our hard work is returned so well for all the community to enjoy....Many thanks

  If you have any problems in the future , you're more then welcome on Gigabyte Forum.......the only payment I can give you is a Karma.....spend it wisely at the lolly shop  ;D

  P.S .... just to get people interested across the Atlantic....check out this link of what where playing with in 2012.....and pass the word! 8)

                                                   http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,7271.0.html

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 06, 2011, 07:56:34 am
Excellent news that you've got it all working even though Windows tried to put you off! Just as well you're a Floyd fan 8) 8)

It should never be as difficult as that though and I am surprised that you continued on through it all. Well done. +1 from me as well.
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: stinch on November 06, 2011, 12:40:11 pm
Hey thanks for the Karma AA & DM. !   It's been many years since I built a new pc from scratch. And the first time using Gigabye mobo. Theres a lot of nice features. I was about to post another problem I was having (software) but I did a search first and I found someone who had the same issue. EasyTune6 looked like it was loading but then it wouldnt start. But it was actually running and minimized in system tray and you had to click on it there to get it to open up.  Keep up the good work guys . You are doing a fine job.
Oh yeah DM, been a Floyd fan since just before The Wall came out. Been hooked ever since. Dang ,and that's a long time now.( shows age) ;) Gheez!
   I was fortunate enough to get to see them in concert just before they stopped touring. the Pulse tour. Wow seeing them live was so awesome.  An experince I will always remember.
 8)
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Aussie Allan on November 06, 2011, 12:56:58 pm


  Great to hear things are going north now......strange how thing go .....up till after 1.00AM the last two nights helping out people to get two smites in two hour this morning....... such children some people are

  In 12 yrs of forum life , I've never given out one smite .....go figure

  Just for the next potential problems.....if you get them.....delete all the Gigabyte software that you don't use or need....we get lots where it's to blame or part of the problem! ;)

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 4Tb RAID 5 format as GPT
Post by: Dark Mantis on November 06, 2011, 06:37:17 pm
Quote from: Aussie Allan on November 06, 2011, 12:56:58 pm


  Great to hear things are going north now......strange how thing go .....up till after 1.00AM the last two nights helping out people to get two smites in two hour this morning....... such children some people are

  In 12 yrs of forum life , I've never given out one smite .....go figure

  Just for the next potential problems.....if you get them.....delete all the Gigabyte software that you don't use or need....we get lots where it's to blame or part of the problem! ;)

  Aussie Allan

Don't let it get to you mate, there are some small minded people around and if that is their idea of fun then that is their sorry state. The thing is it only shows to people who don't know you how much you do, anyone else already knows that and doesn't need  the numbers anyway.  Carry on the good work and I am sure there are many who would like to thank you for your help.

I have had periods of the same thing and it just goes to show how sad some people are.

I would agree with the last part of your post regarding removing the bundled software as more often than not it will clash with something else and cause problems.