# Asus P4P800-P4C800 Series: "RAID-Ready" Setup on Intel ICH5R



## clintfan (Sep 4, 2003)

Hello everyone!

Recently there was a question about the step-by-step procedure to create a "RAID-Ready" system using a motherboard (mobo) having an Intel ICH5R chip, such as the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe. *Having a "RAID-Ready" system means the system has only one SATA drive now, but everything else has been put in place up-front for adding a second drive later* and creating a RAID array _without_ losing existing data. "RAID-Ready" applies only to SATA on the Intel ICH5R Southbridge chip. It cannot be used with a straight ICH5 chip or any other Intel Southbridge chip.

Having been confused about this before, I decided to try to nail down a sequence of steps. After I wrote the initial version of this article, I actually spent 3 days trying various methods, testing the procedures, and documenting the results here.


*LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: MODERATE*

I apologize in advance for the length of this rewritten article; :ufo:
unfortunately, as it turns out, this IS "rocket science", 
and I don't want you to miss anything. 
Start with the "Common Steps" and then proceed to whichever 
of the 3 sequences best fits your intended setup.

Enabling "RAID-Ready" for an OS drive, it turns out, is best done at OS-install time-- and depending on the mobo's capabilities, this may be the _only_ way. Setting up data-only drives, or when the OS is _not_ already running on an Intel SATA port, the procedure is again relatively straightforward.

But in contrast, retrofitting "RAID-Ready" onto an existing Intel SATA OS disk is complicated. A major "chicken-and-egg" condition all but prevents the activation of Intel RAID on an OS disk after the initial install. The only known method requires an additional spare SATA drive, plus a secondary ATA controller, such as on P4C800-E Deluxe and P4P800-E Deluxe, MSI Neo 875P FISR2, and the like. Several intuitive shortcuts simply do not work; see the "Chicken and Egg" and "Pitfalls" sections at the end of this article.

Mostly the procedure it is not motherboard-specific, and except for BIOS-fieldname differences it should apply to any mobo using the ICH5R chip. For additional info, see the "Background" section at the end.

The remainder of this article describes the "RAID-Ready" setup process. 
Hope this works, and helps...

-clintfan



*IMPORTANT CTRL+I WARNINGS:

NEVER attempt to use the CTRL+I interface to the offline Intel RAID Configuration Utility when working with a "RAID-Ready" system, especially if you later attach a 2nd SATA drive! A "RAID-Ready" disk is still a "non-RAID" disk! Initial array-creation will be done "online" using the IAAR software; attempted use of "offline" utilities prior to using the IAAR Migration within Windows, will result in loss of your data!!*




*ADVANCED CHEAT-SHEETS*

The following lists summarize, in brief, the steps required for various setup situations. These are intended for advanced users. Refer to the detailed discussion in the body of the article below.

INSTALL Setup. 
RAID OS is desired, OS is not yet installed.

Prestudy.
Get IAAR.
Make IAAR floppy (requires WinZip).
Power down.
Attach SATA drive to ICH5R, disconnect all other drives.
Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
Boot XP Setup CD.
Press F6 (or F5 then F6).
Load IAAR files from floppy.
Finish install and boot to Windows.
Install Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility.
Install full IAAR.
Install remaining drivers, antivirus, firewall.

---------------

SATAOS Setup. 
RAID OS is desired, and
OS is already on SATA drive not prepped for Intel RAID.

ADDITIONAL HARDWARE REQUIRED: a secondary SATA controller and 1 spare SATA drive.

Prestudy.
Get IAAR.
Make IAAR floppy (requires WinZip).
Install ATA driver for secondary SATA controller if not already done.
Remove cross-drive dependencies if used.
Power down.
Move SATA OS drive cable to secondary SATA controller (e.g. Promise), set for IDE mode.
Attach temporary extra SATA drive to ICH5R.
Enter BIOS Setup and enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
Adjust Boot Device Priority to boot from secondary controller.
Boot to Windows.

*WARNING: DO NOT use CTRL+I to manage drives on a "RAID-Ready" system!! See Step 8.*

When hardware wizard finds RAID Controller, 
insert IAAR floppy and direct the dialog to A: drive.
Finish bootup to Windows.
Install full IAAR but do not run it.
Power down.
Move OS drive back to ICH5R and remove extra SATA drive.
Enter BIOS Setup and readjust Boot Device Priority to boot from Intel SATA1 port.
Boot to Windows.
Reapply desired cross-disk dependencies.

---------------

DATA Setup. 
RAID data is desired, OS is on a drive not already prepped for Intel RAID.

Prestudy.
Get IAAR.
Make IAAR floppy (requires WinZip).
Power down.
Attach SATA drive to ICH5R.
Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
Boot to Windows.
When hardware wizard finds RAID Controller, insert IAAR floppy and direct the dialog to A:.
Finish bootup to Windows.
Install full IAAR.


REQUIRED MATERIALS


The main software required is the Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition (aka. "IAAR").

You will also need WinZip in Step 2 to complete this installation.

 You will need 1 blank formatted floppy disk in Step 3.

For the SATAOS Setup, your mobo will require a secondary SATA controller, and you will also need an extra SATA drive and cable!

A major reference document is the Intel IAAR Manual, a 2-MB PDF document viewable with Acrobat Reader.

Another useful reference is the Intel IAAR Readme File, whose content may vary depending on the IAAR version.



============================================


*DETAILED "RAID-READY" SYSTEM SETUP FOR INTEL ICH5R*

A detailed step-by-step Intel setup procedure follows.
The first 3 main steps are common to all setups, then after that the sequence of steps will vary depending on your planned usage.



*COMMON STEPS*


*1. Prestudy.*
Read Intel IAAR Manual sections 17-18 which discuss setting up and migrating a "RAID Ready" system. This will familiarize you with the kinds of things you will be doing, but it is not specific to any one mobo.


*2. Get IAAR.*

2.1. Download the version of the IAAR that matches the Intel ROM code, which is _embedded_ in your mobo's BIOS. There are 3 version numbers you may need to be aware of: IAAR software version, Intel ROM version, and mobo BIOS version. Be aware that newer Intel ROM code _should be_ backward-compatible with older IAAR software, but not the other way around: 
The very latest Intel IAAR 3.5.3 software _requires_ Intel ROM code version 3.5.0.3003.
The next older ROM version 3.5.0.2568 works with IAAR 3.5.2 (which should also work with 3.5.0.3003).
ROM version 3.0 does not support RAID1, and neither does IAAR 3.0.
 Your mobo BIOS version may vary, but as an example on the P4C800-E Deluxe you need BIOS v.1016 in order to use the newest IAAR 3.5.3; with BIOS v.1010 thru v.1014 you will need the older IAAR 3.5.2. If necessary,  update your mobo BIOS first.


2.2. Open the .EXE file using WinZip and extract all files to a folder you will be able to find later for Step 11. This will create a subfolder (eg. "Disk1") containing, among other things, Setup.exe.

(Although the IAAR EXE file is self-extracting, assuming you do not yet have Intel RAID enabled on the mobo, you cannot run it. The downloaded "iaar353_enu.exe" tool will report "Incompatible hardware" and will not run. This is why you need WinZip.)

Continue to Step 3.


*3. Make IAAR floppy.*
Create a floppy containing portions of the IAAR for use later. This is discussed in Section 4.2 of the Intel IAAR README file. The procedure is detailed here: 

3.1. Create a target folder (eg. F:\Pc\IAAR\Files) to hold extracted files.

3.2. Choose Start Menu- Run.

3.3. In the "Open:" window type
F:\Pc\IAAR\Disk1\Setup.exe -A -P F:\Pc\IAAR\Files

where F:\Pc\IAAR\Disk1 is where you extracted the downloaded IAAR content in Step 1. Note there is a blank on both sides of -A and also -P. 
This is discussed in Section 6 of the Intel IAAR Readme File.

3.4. Click OK. Setup runs. Note that you are only extracting files at this point, not actually _installing_ the IAAR as a driver.

3.5. Click Yes to accept the Intel licensing agreement.

3.6. A bar graph briefly appears, goes up to 100%, then disappears. The operation is complete.

3.7. Check the target folder (eg. F:\Pc\IAAR\Files) to be sure new subfolders now exist there. 

3.8. Insert a formatted floppy into your floppy drive.

3.9. Open the "F:\Pc\IAAR\Files\Driver" subfolder and copy the following 4 files into the root folder of the floppy:

*iastor.cat, iastor,inf, iastor.sys, txtsetup.oem*

3.10. Eject and label the floppy "IAAR boot files" for later use.


*IMPORTANT CTRL+I WARNINGS:*

On boot, even though Intel RAID will now be enabled in the ICH5R, since only _one_ SATA drive is present it will _not_ let you or tell you to press CTRL+I to enter the Intel offline RAID Configuration Utility. But don't worry.

*NEVER attempt to use the CTRL+I interface to the offline Intel RAID Configuration Utility when working with a "RAID-Ready" system, especially if you later attach a 2nd SATA drive!* A "RAID-Ready" disk is still a "non-RAID" disk! Initial array-creation will be done "online" using the IAAR software; attempted use of "offline" utilities prior to using the IAAR Migration within Windows, will result in *loss of your data!!*


Continue to the *INSTALL*, *SATAOS*, or *DATA* sequence below,
depending on your situation.




==============================================

*INSTALL Setup*

Use this sequence if you are in the INSTALL case, meaning a RAID OS is desired, but the OS is not yet installed.


First do the 3 COMMON STEPS:

*1. Prestudy.*
*2. Get IAAR.*
*3. Make IAAR floppy.*


*4. Power down.*
Shutdown the machine, pull the power cord, and wait 15 sec. to make sure all power is off, including standby power.


*5. Attach the SATA drive.*

5.1. Attach the OS target SATA hard drive to Intel port SATA1.

5.2. Disconnect all other hard drives.
_(Note that although I strongly recommend you disconnect all other HDDs prior to an OS install, this is only to avoid confusion and is not a technical requirement.)_


*6. Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.*
The following example is for Asus mobos using AMIBIOS (eg. P4C800-E Deluxe). If your mobo is different, take whatever action is necessary to enable Intel RAID.

6.1. Reattach power, power up the mobo, wait 2 seconds, press DELETE, and enter the BIOS setup.

6.2. Arrow-down to the Main- IDE Configuration screen and hit Enter.

6.3. On the IDE screen which appears, use arrow and +/- keys to set the fields like this:

*Onboard IDE Operate Mode= Enhanced
Enhanced Mode Support On= S-ATA
Configure S-ATA as RAID= Yes
Serial ATA BOOTROM= Enabled
IDE Detect Time Out= 35*

6.4. Note that when you set "Configure S-ATA RAID= Yes", a new "BOOTROM" field will appear below it; don't forget to set this to "Enabled".

6.5 ESC back to Main, then arrow-right to the Boot screen.

6.6 If you disconnected all other hard disks as recommended in Step 5.2, no “Hard Disk Drives” item will appear here; Skip this step. 

Otherwise, arrow-down to this item and hit Enter. On the screen which opens, use +/-, arrow, and Enter keys to adjust the screen so the drive on your Intel SATA1 port appears as “1st Drive”. Hit ESC to return.

6.7. Now arrow up or down to the “Boot Device Priority” item and hit Enter. On the screen which opens, use +/-, arrow, and Enter keys to adjust the devices so “1st Drive” is CD, “2nd Drive” is Floppy, and “3rd Drive” is the drive on your Intel SATA1 port.

6.8. Stop and go read Steps 7.1-7.2: you need to be ready to press F6 (or F5 and F6) when prompted, because there is a timeout.

6.9. Then insert the Windows XP Install CD now; it will be booted automatically after you save BIOS settings (next).

6.10. Hit F10 to save the BIOS settings, confirm OK and exit.

6.11. The PC will reboot.


*7. Install OS: details.

7.1. The CD will begin booting. The screen will say "Windows is inspecting your hardware configuration."

7.2. Next there will be a screen which says "Windows Setup" at the top.
At the bottom it will say "Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver..." Though usually just a reminder, this is IMPORTANT in your situation. NOTE: there is a short timeout on this.

If you just want RAID and don't need to change your Computer Type, press F6 now. The message will change to something about F2 but the F6 effect will not occur until later.
If you want to change your Computer Type, press F5 followed by F6. Because of F5, after a delay a screen will appear, "Windows Setup: Windows could not determine the type of computer you have, or you have chosen to manually specify the computer type." Use the up-arrow key to scroll to and highlight the desired computer type (e.g. "Standard PC"), then select by pressing Enter.
7.3. The message at the bottom of the screen changes to "Setup is loading files (type of file)..." for about 30 seconds.

7.4. Because you pressed F6, the screen finally changes to "Windows Setup: Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an adapter. Currently, Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices(s): <None>"

Press S to "Specify Additional Device".

7.5. The screen changes to "Windows Setup: Please insert the disk labeled Manufacturer-supplied hardware support disk into drive A:, Press ENTER when ready."

Insert the floppy disk you made in Step 3.
Press Enter.

7.6. The screen changes to "Windows Setup: You have chosen to configure a SCSI Adapter for use with Windows, using a device support disk provided by the adapter manufacturer. Select the SCSI Adapter you want from the following list, or press ESC to return to the previous screen." There will be one choice on the screen, "Intel(R) 82801ER SATA RAID Controller" and it should already be highlighted. This is the IAAR boot driver.

Hit Enter to select the RAID Controller choice.

(Note: if you did not enable Intel RAID in Step 7, Setup will still load the floppy files here, however they will not actually get built into Windows, and later the IAAR will not install. (I tried this.) IAAR must be in RAID mode for success.)


7.7. The bottom of the screen changes to "Setup is loading files (iaStor.sys)..." Files from the floppy are brought in by Setup.

NOTE: DO NOT EJECT the floppy; 
it will be used again (but somehow it will not confuse the boot process).

7.8. We return to the same screen as (9.3.4), but now the RAID Controller should be listed in place of <None>. 

Press Enter to Continue.



7.9. The screen changes back to "Setup is loading files (type of file)..." for a few more seconds.

The screen "Windows XP Professional Setup: Welcome to Setup." finally appears. Press Enter to "Continue". 

7.10. From this point on, you are doing normal XP Setup. Proceed through the licensing agreement, partition dialog, NTFS formatting, and the rest of Setup. This takes about 30-40 minutes. Remember to LEAVE the floppy installed; it will be accessed again during Setup.

7.11. When XP install is fully complete and you are logged into the Windows desktop, install the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility.


8. Install full IAAR software.
Next install the full IAAR under Windows. This will be a typical "Install Shield" style of installation. 

8.1. Eject the floppy disk and save it for future installs.

8.2. Locate the .EXE file you downloaded in Step 2. 

8.3. Double-click the file to install it. 

Because your ICH5R is already in RAID mode, this should work without a problem.

Note: if you get the error...

"Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset." 

...it means something went wrong The IAAR software is not seeing your ICH5R chip as an ICH5R: you missed a BIOS step, a floppy step, the SATA drive on the ICH5R is not working, or your mobo does not have an Intel ICH5R chip. You can try reinstalling the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility but that is unlikely to help.


9. Complete the OS setup.

9.1 Install the rest of your drivers, the sound driver last.
Install your firewall and antivirus.


10. Party on!** :dances:




====================================================


SATAOS Setup

Use this sequence if you are in the SATAOS case, meaning a RAID OS is desired, and the OS is already on your SATA drive but it was not prepped for Intel RAID, plus you ALSO have a secondary SATA controller and 1 spare SATA drive available.


First do the 3 COMMON STEPS:

1. Prestudy.
2. Get IAAR.
3. Make IAAR floppy.


4. Existing-OS Prep.

4.1. If you did not already install an ATA driver for your non-Intel controller, stop; reboot, enter BIOS and enable ATA or IDE mode for that controller, boot to the OS and install the necessary ATA driver. 

4.2. If your OS drive has existing cross-dependencies on another drive --such as for swap file, My Documents folder, etc.-- you should remove those dependencies prior to moving drives around in Step 6.


5. Power down.
Shutdown the machine, pull the power cord, and wait 15 sec. to make sure all power is off, including standby power.


6. Attach two (2) SATA drives.

6.1. If you did not complete the ATA driver and dependencies Step 4, stop and complete it now.

6.2. Disconnect the SATA OS drive from its Intel port and move it to a port on your secondary SATA controller (eg. Promise port SATA_RAID1). 

6.3. Temporarily attach another SATA drive to Intel port SATA1:
unless the Intel sees at least one attached SATA drive, it will not reveal RAID mode. Existing data on this drive should not be affected, but back it up first if you are worried.[/list]


7. Enable Intel RAID, secondary ATA, and boot order in BIOS.
The following example is for Asus mobos using AMIBIOS (eg. P4C800-E Deluxe). If your mobo is different, take whatever action is necessary to enable Intel RAID.

7.1. Reattach power, power up the mobo, wait 2 seconds, press DELETE, and enter the BIOS setup.

7.2. Arrow-down to the Main- IDE Configuration screen and hit Enter.

7.3. On the IDE screen which appears, use arrow and +/- keys to set the fields like this:

Onboard IDE Operate Mode= Enhanced
Enhanced Mode Support On= S-ATA
Configure S-ATA as RAID= Yes
Serial ATA BOOTROM= Enabled
IDE Detect Time Out= 35

7.4. Note that when you set "Configure S-ATA RAID= Yes", a new "BOOTROM" field will appear below it; don't forget to set this to "Enabled".

7.5. Make sure the secondary SATA controller is enabled, and set to IDE or ATA mode (see Step 4).

7.6. Adjust the Boot- Hard Disk Drives and Boot- Boot Device Priority (boot order) screens so that boot will occur from your secondary controller. This must be done any time you add or remove hard drives.

7.7. Hit F10 to save the BIOS settings, confirm OK and exit.

7.8. The PC will reboot.




8. Hardware Wizard RAID discovery.

8.1. Boot the system to Windows. 

8.2. As it boots, a "Hardware Wizard" window will appear. This means that the Intel RAID controller has been discovered.

8.3. On the first screen, 

Choose "Install from a specific location".
Click Next.

8.4. On the next screen, 

Choose only "Include this location".
In the window, type only "A:"
Insert the floppy disk you made in Step 3.
Click Next.

8.5. The floppy disk files are read.

8.6. Click Finish.

8.7. Continue with the system bootup.


9. Install full IAAR software.
Next install the full IAAR under Windows. This will be a typical "Install Shield" style of installation. 

9.1. Eject the floppy disk and save it for future installs.

9.2. Locate the .EXE file you downloaded in Step 2. 

9.3. Double-click the file to install it. 

Because your ICH5R is already in RAID mode, this should work without a problem.

Note: if you get the error...

"Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset." 

...it means something went wrong The IAAR software is not seeing your ICH5R chip as an ICH5R: you missed a BIOS step, a floppy step, the SATA drive on the ICH5R is not working, or your mobo does not have an Intel ICH5R chip. You can try reinstalling the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility but that is unlikely to help.


10. Complete the setup.

10.1. Shutdown the machine, pull the power cord, and wait 15 sec. to make sure all power is off, including standby power.

10.2. Remove the extra SATA drive you added in Step 6.3.3.

10.3. Move your OS drive back from the secondary SATA controller to the Intel SATA1 port.

10.4. Reboot and verify your Boot Device Priority (boot order) in BIOS. This must be done any time you add or remove hard drives.

You should be booting from your Intel SATA1 port. Note that since your drive is not really in RAID mode yet, your OS drive will not be listed as a RAID controller, but rather as a normal disk drive.

10.5. Boot to Windows.


11. Party on! :dances:


=================================================


DATA Setup

Use this sequence if you are in the DATA case, meaning RAID data (not OS) is desired, and your OS is on another drive not already prepped for Intel RAID.


First do the 3 COMMON STEPS:

1. Prestudy.
2. Get IAAR.
3. Make IAAR floppy.


4. Power down.
Shutdown the machine, pull the power cord, and wait 15 sec. to make sure all power is off, including standby power.


5. Attach the SATA drive.

5.1. Attach the data target SATA hard drive to Intel port SATA1.

It is assumed an OS is already installed on a different drive not connected to Intel ports SATA1 or SATA2.


6. Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
The following example is for Asus mobos using AMIBIOS (eg. P4C800-E Deluxe). If your mobo is different, take whatever action is necessary to enable Intel RAID.

6.1. Reattach power, power up the mobo, wait 2 seconds, press DELETE, and enter the BIOS setup.

6.2. Arrow-down to the Main- IDE Configuration screen and hit Enter.

6.3. On the IDE screen which appears, use arrow and +/- keys to set the fields like this:

Onboard IDE Operate Mode= Enhanced
Enhanced Mode Support On= S-ATA
Configure S-ATA as RAID= Yes
Serial ATA BOOTROM= Enabled
IDE Detect Time Out= 35

6.4. Note that when you set "Configure S-ATA RAID= Yes", a new "BOOTROM" field will appear below it; don't forget to set this to "Enabled".

6.5. Hit F10 to save the BIOS settings, confirm OK and exit.

6.6. The PC will reboot.




7. Hardware Wizard RAID discovery.

7.1. Boot the system to Windows. 

7.2. As it boots, a "Hardware Wizard" window will appear. This means that the Intel RAID controller has been discovered.

7.3. On the first screen, 

Choose "Install from a specific location".
Click Next.

7.4. On the next screen, 

Choose only "Include this location".
In the window, type only "A:"
Insert the floppy disk you made in Step 3.
Click Next.

7.5. The floppy disk files are read.

7.6. Click Finish.

7.7. Continue with the system bootup.


8. Install full IAAR software.
Next install the full IAAR under Windows. This will be a typical "Install Shield" style of installation. 

8.1. Eject the floppy disk and save it for future installs.

8.2. Locate the .EXE file you downloaded in Step 2. 

8.3. Double-click the file to install it. 

Because your ICH5R is already in RAID mode, this should work without a problem.

Note: if you get the error...

"Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset." 

...it means something went wrong The IAAR software is not seeing your ICH5R chip as an ICH5R: you missed a BIOS step, a floppy step, the SATA drive on the ICH5R is not working, or your mobo does not have an Intel ICH5R chip. You can try reinstalling the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility but that is unlikely to help.


9. Party on! :dances:





====================================================


CONVERTING TO RAID1 OR RAID0

When you get ready to add an (identical) second drive and go for RAID1 or RAID0, the IAAR manual sections 17.4 and 18 discuss the steps to do this. 

IMPORTANT: DON'T PRESS CTRL+I and build an array at boot time! ...with 2 drives now, it will let you do this, but it will destroy all your data. Instead boot to Windows, run the IAAR you already loaded in Step 9 from the Start Menu, and follow the Migration steps in section 18 to "Create from existing disk". This IAAR software Migration feature will create your array "online".


Once the array has been successfully completed by the IAAR software, your non-RAID disks will be in RAID more. You are then free to use CTRL+I to do offline adjustments or recovery.




====================================================

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION


BACKGROUND:

To run RAID on a PC requires hardware, BIOS, and operating-system driver support.


The required hardware is the Intel 82801ER IHC5R Southbridge chip, in conjunction with SATA disk drives.

The motherboard BIOS contains, besides its mobo-specific modules, a module specific to Intel RAID, aka. its "BootROM". The "BootROM" must be Enabled for RAID to work, or at least for the offline RAID Configuration Utility to work.

The Windows driver for Intel RAID is called the Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition (aka. IAAR).
The ICH5R chip only supports 2-drive RAID0 or RAID1, and only on its SATA ports; the PATA ports are not involved. Very early versions of the BootROM supported only RAID0, but a BIOS update later added RAID1. 

There is also a special value-added migration feature of Intel RAID where a single-disk SATA computer can be initially configured for RAID, but run as non-RAID; Intel calls this "RAID-Ready". Then later a second SATA disk can be added, and IAAR Windows software can be run to convert the pair of drives into a true RAID array. Until the migration is performed, the disks run in non-RAID mode. 

Usually RAID requires a minimum of 2 drives, but if, as in Intel RAID, all the components are smart enough to recognize that a "RAID Ready" system is being set up, then you can get away with having a single drive initially.



CHICKEN-AND-EGG:

Like the Promise 2037x chip, the Intel ICH5R is a dual-mode chip, able to run its 2 SATA ports either as normal ATA storage controllers, or as a single logical drive managed as one RAID controller. 

For the ICH5R to identify as a RAID controller instead of as a normal ATA controller, ALL of the following conditions MUST be met:

(a)the ICH5R must be in RAID mode in the BIOS, and
(b)the Intel BootROM must be enabled in the BIOS, and
(c)at least one SATA drive must be attached to the ICH5R.

Once you enable RAID mode in the BIOS and attach a SATA drive, the ICH5R stops looking like a standard ATA controller and starts looking like a RAID controller. And once that happens, you need RAID drivers to run it. If the RAID drivers have already been loaded at OS install time, you are set. Otherwise you are stuck in what we call a "chicken-and-egg" situation:

Unless the ICH5R identifies as a RAID controller, the Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition driver software will not install. You will get an "Incompatible Hardware" error.

But unless the IAAR is already installed, you cannot boot an existing OS on an ICH5R which is in RAID mode.

(Note to our friends around the world: 
If you have never heard of a "chicken and egg" situation, it relates to a very old saying, "Which came first... the chicken or the egg?" If the egg came first, then how did it get there without there being a chicken? If the chicken came first, then how did it get there without there being an egg?)




PITFALLS:

Mistake 1:
Let's say you installed an OS to a SATA drive running on your Intel ICH5R chip, set to RAID=No. Intuitively you would think all you need to do to enable RAID would be to set it to RAID=Yes and BootROM=Enabled in the BIOS, then boot and install the IAAR. Wrong! 

If you try this, boot will begin as usual, but a few seconds after the black Windows XP screen, an error will occur. If you had "Automatic Restart" enabled in the Control Panel, the system will continuously reboot. Otherwise you will get a BSOD with the following error:

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7C84640, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

This is occurring because your HDD is now on a RAID controller but the system has no driver for that controller. The only way out is to go back into BIOS and disable Intel RAID again.


Mistake 2:
If instead you boot your SATA HDD, on Intel, in ATA mode, into Windows and then attempt to install IAAR, it will not install. Whether you run the self-extraction .EXE, or the Setup.exe, in both cases you will get the following runtime error,

"Incompatible hardware. This software is not supported on this chipset. Please select 'Yes' to view the Readme file for a list of supported products. Refer to section 2 titled 'System Requirements'."

So the IAAR will not install if the ICH5R is not set to RAID mode, yet you cannot set it to RAID mode --and boot-- unless the IAAR is already installed.

Mistake 1 + Mistake 2 illustrate the chicken-and-egg problem.



Mistake 3:
Intuitively you might think that you can always install the IAAR floppy files, even when installing the OS in non-RAID mode, and that this would give you the option to enable Intel RAID later on. Wrong.

Unfortunately this is not true either. True, the OS Setup will allow you to F6 the IAAR files, and it will indeed read them in from a floppy. However as OS Setup continues, when it reaches the point of configuring the hardware, Setup will not see the Intel as a RAID controller, and will not re-read the files and use them; the IAAR floppy files will not become part of the OS.

Arguably in this situation, if you are going to the trouble to install the OS and F6 some files, you might as well enable RAID=Yes and do it properly.


Complaint:
The workaround for the already-installed-OS where RAID was not prepped, requires moving the OS drive off of the Intel, so that the Intel can be set to RAID yet the OS still has something to boot on. This is not that big of a deal. It does necessitate having one of the "Deluxe" model mobos with a Promise or Silicon Image secondary SATA controller, or an add-on. Once the secondary controller's ATA drivers have been loaded onto the existing OS drive, that drive can safely be moved over to the secondary controller and it will then boot as usual. 

But enabling RAID on the Intel still requires that at least 1 SATA drive be attached to it; otherwise it will continue to identify as non-RAID. This is my big complaint. You've already moved your SATA OS drive off of the Intel, and now you need to have another SATA drive!? This rather defeats the purpose of "RAID-Ready", since if you already have 2 SATA drives, why not set up RAID initially? Unless you just wanted to evaluate performance first.

Again, this scheme is just a workaround for your not having installed as "RAID Ready" in the beginning. If your OS is already installed onto SATA, and you either don't have a secondary SATA controller or you don't want to get a second SATA drive, the only other solution is a complete reinstall of your OS, making it properly "SATA-Ready" from the start.

07May2004 - Initial revision.
09May2004 - Test the procedure.
01Jun2004 - Finish huge rewrite.
29Jun2004 - Recreate thread from original workfile.
07Jul2004 - Add a missing word.
*


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## FLeXnEss (Jul 2, 2004)

you are to [email protected] smart


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## George Safford (Sep 1, 2003)

*Not only that but your TOO go**** smart!*

I'm printing out the 16 pages now and wanted to say thanks. My second WD 120 gig SATA is on its way so anything I can do to get my system ready is much appreciated. Thanks to you and this forum for all your on going support.

Hey CLINTFAN I want my 75+ posts back. Can you help me out this really sucks!


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## T-Wax (Oct 10, 2004)

Cheers for the great guide! It was invaluable for adding a second sata drive to a standard one drive pc. 

It is a pretty silly situation when you find you have to go out and buy a pci sata card and then take it back for a refund a few hours later, just to get a hard drive up and running on your current hardware, but at least it went off without a problem. 

As you can see, this is my first post here and I registered mainly to voice my thanks for this guide because loosing your data isn't any fun. 

Keep up the good work

T


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## j.r.moving (Apr 22, 2006)

*Raid-Ready Sata*

Many Thanks CLINTFAN... 
The SATA expansion card solution worked well on my Intel D945GTP (executive series) motherboard - it let the OS drive boot-up normally while RAID was enabled in the BIOS.

Windows (XP Pro) was then able to detect the integrated 82801GR/GH (ICH7 family) SATA RAID Controller and allow the driver to be installed. With the driver finally loaded, the SATA expansion card was taken out and the OS drive returned to the motherboard.

With 'Raid-Ready' Windows, the Intel Matrix Storage Manager (in Windows) was then used (as advertised) to create a volume and mirror the existing drive to another drive (RAID 1). This is my 1st post to ANY internet forum ever and I had to reply in appreciation of your time and effort in finding such a straight-forward solution... again, many, many Thanks!!
:sayyes:


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## twajetmech (Jul 1, 2004)

I say make this a sticky ! :grin:


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