# Asus P4P800-P4C800 Series: Installing RAID on Intel ICH5R



## clintfan (Sep 4, 2003)

Hello again everyone!

For several months I have been saying how I really needed to write a new thread that just covers Intel RAID installation, instead of repeatedly just giving notes that modify the "RAID-Ready" thread. 

Well, here it is-- my version of a step-by-step procedure to create a RAID system using a motherboard (mobo) having an Intel ICH5R chip, such as the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe. This 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.

The procedure is identical for either RAID0 (striped) or RAID1 (mirrored); the only differences are in the use of the offline array-creation utility. The ICH5R does not support RAID0+1.

Intel ICH5R RAID is more generally preferable for an OS install, than RAID on add-on controllers such as Promise 2037x, SiliconImage 3112, or SiS180. This is because the RAID ports on the ICH5R do not reside on the PCI bus, but the other controllers do. The PCI bus on these mobos has a throughput limit of no more than about 120MB/s, while the limit of ICH5R’s CPU pipeline appears to be twice that. More importantly, by placing OS traffic onto PCI, you limit the available bandwidth for other PCI devices, such as Firewire, LAN, or add-on expansion cards. This can result in dropped frames and other performance problems.

However, the PCI controllers on these mobos are a great place to keep your long-term data storage, so consider that if you are planning a multi-drive system.


*LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM*


For setting up data-only drives, or when the OS is being freshly installed onto a SATA array, the procedure is relatively straightforward. Much more so than the “RAID-Ready” setup described in a separate article. But it is still fairly complicated, and I don't want you to miss anything, hence the need for this long thread. 
Start with the "Common Steps" and then proceed to whichever 
of the 2 sequences best fits your intended setup.

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.


Warning: although the procedure here is based on other tested procedures, the specific sequences given here have not been personally tested by me. I simply don’t have the resources to set up a RAID system without major disruption to my equipment. Any corrections to this procedure will be gladly considered; just post a reply or send a PM.


_I would prefer to use this thread only for process description, not for problem-solving. If you are having RAID trouble, please post your own separate thread. Thank you._

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

-clintfan





*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.

Get IAAR.
Make IAAR floppy (requires WinZip).
Power down.
Attach SATA drives to ICH5R, disconnect all other drives.
Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
Create RAID array using CTRL+I.
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.

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

DATA Setup. 
RAID _data_ is desired, OS is on a different drive.

Get IAAR.
Make IAAR floppy (requires WinZip).
Power down.
Attach SATA drives to ICH5R.
Enable Intel RAID in BIOS.
Create RAID array using CTRL+I.
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 1 to complete this installation.

 You will need 1 blank formatted floppy disk in Step 2.

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 2 main steps are common to all setups, then after that the sequence of steps will vary depending on your planned usage.



*COMMON STEPS*


*1. Get IAAR.*

1.1. 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.


1.2. Open the .EXE file using WinZip and extract all files to a folder you will be able to find later for Step 8. 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 2.


*2. 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: 

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

2.2. Choose Start Menu- Run.

2.3. 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 1.2. 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.

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

2.5. Click Yes to accept the Intel licensing agreement.

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

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

2.8. Insert a formatted floppy into your floppy drive.

2.9. 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*

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


Continue to the *INSTALL* 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 2 COMMON STEPS:

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


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


*4. Attach two (2) SATA drives.*

4.1. Attach the OS target SATA hard drives to Intel ports named SATA1 and SATA2. You must attach 2 SATA drives or else the Intel ICH5R chip will not identify as a RAID controller, preventing installation of the IAAR software.

4.2. 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.)_


*5. 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.

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

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

5.3. 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*

5.4. 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".

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

5.6 If you disconnected all other hard disks as recommended in Step 4.2, no “Hard Disk Drives” item should 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 Intel RAID appears as “1st Drive”. Hit ESC to return.

5.7. 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 Intel RAID.

5.8. 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.

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

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

5.11. The PC will reboot.


*6. Create the array.*

6.1. During the reboot, watch for the POST message which reads “Press Ctrl-I to enter RAID Configuration Utility”. 

6.2. Hit CTRL+I as soon as you see the message that you can do that. You have to be quick-- if you miss it, do CTRL+ALT+DELETE to reboot, and keep trying until you get into the “Intel Integrated RAID for Serial ATA RAID Configuration Utility”.

6.3. Use the Intel utility to create a RAID array. It takes a few minutes. Select option 1 to Create RAID Volume,and hit Enter. On the next screen choose a volume name and stripe size or accept the defaults. Choose RAID0 (Striping) or RAID1 (Mirroring). Then highlight “Create Volume” at the bottom and hit Enter. Type “Y” to confirm. 

6.4. Once the array is built, on the main screen select option 4 to Exit the RAID utility. Type “Y” to confirm.


*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 2.
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 5, 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 (7.4), 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 1. 

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!*




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


*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 2 COMMON STEPS:

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


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


*4. Attach two (2) SATA drives.*

4.1. Attach the target SATA hard drives to Intel ports named SATA1 and SATA2. You must attach 2 SATA drives or else the Intel ICH5R chip will not identify as a RAID controller, preventing installation of the IAAR software.

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


*5. 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.

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

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

5.3. 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*

5.4. 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".

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

5.6. The PC will reboot.


*6. Create the array.*

6.1. During the reboot, watch for the POST message which reads “Press Ctrl-I to enter RAID Configuration Utility”. 

6.2. Hit CTRL+I as soon as you see the message that you can do that. You have to be quick-- if you miss it, do CTRL+ALT+DELETE to reboot, and keep trying until you get into the “Intel Integrated RAID for Serial ATA RAID Configuration Utility”.

6.3. Use the Intel utility to create a RAID array. It takes a few minutes. Select option 1 to Create RAID Volume,and hit Enter. On the next screen choose a volume name and stripe size or accept the defaults. Choose RAID0 (Striping) or RAID1 (Mirroring). Then highlight “Create Volume” at the bottom and hit Enter. Type “Y” to confirm. 

6.4. Once the array is built, on the main screen select option 4 to Exit the RAID utility. Type “Y” to confirm.


*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 2.
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 1. 

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!*





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

*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. 

The topic of “RAID-Ready” is discussed in a separate thread,  Asus P4P800-P4C800 Series: "RAID-Ready" Setup on Intel ICH5R.

_05Aug2004 - Initial rev. RAID thread, from 07Jul2004 RAID-Ready & others.
_


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