Can format my RAID drives

[InFeRnO]

Anyone out there who can direct me to a WIN XP Pro boot disk that has a version of FDISK on it that supports hard drives bigger than 64 GB? I'm running a Promise onboard RAID controller (Asus P4C 800-E Deluxe mobo) and I use my SCSI drive to boot XP. I simply need a way to format these drives that total 500 Gigs. Please help...I'm getting way to frustrated for this.
:evil: :x :evil:

 

[Mercutio]

You're booting off SCSI and have a Promise controller. This can be a recipe for trouble.

Can you see the disks individually? If you just attach them and start Windows does do you have a bunch of drives or just your SCSI stuff without making an array in the Promise BIOS?

FYI, I've done 1TB with Windows software RAID on Win2000. Software RAID is just easier on principle.

 

[Handruin]

I'm assuming you have two WD SATA drives with a size of 250GB each and you're trying to run in RAID 0?

The fixed version of FDISK only supports drives up to 137GB.

(NOTE: This hotfix is not designed for 48-bit logical block addressing (LBA) hard disks, and it is not supported on hard disks larger than 137 GB)

Wouldn't the striping be done on the RAID card and then you should be able to format the drive as NTFS in windows?

 

[Mercutio]

Are you using XP SP1 or SP1A? 'Cause if you're not, support for large disks with onboard controllers doesn't work very well.

 

[InFeRnO]

I'm actually running 2 WD PATA drives. I'm running SP1 (partially SP1 because I can't get full SP1 if you know why and what I mean). When I boot, the promise RAID controller recognizes the 2+O stripe and posts that everything is functioning. Because the drives aren't formatted, when I get into Windows, it doesn't recognize the drives (or essentially the one drive in RAID 0).
Any of that updated info help?

 

[flagreen]

Are you pressing F6 when you boot for the Windows install? You must do so and load the promise drivers when it intsructs you to. You must also be sure that your onboard IDE primary has either no drive on it or is disabled. After you've installed Windows you can then reconnect or enable the IDE primary.

 

[Buck]

Yes, as flagreen mentioned. The volume will be recognized by Windows XP in disk management if the driver for the controller is properly installed. Also, why would you want to usd FDISK on a partition this large? You would be limited with FAT32 which is poor at handling large file sizes.

 

[InFeRnO]

In device manager, it says that my WinXP Promise FastTrak RAID controller is functioning. I already have WinXP installed on my boot drive which is SCSI. Should I disconnect my SCSI drive and then CD-boot the comp and see if that works? I will try disconnecting my IDE channel two primary HD. Right now I am running my burner/DVD drive on IDE channel 1, two IBM Deskstar 60 GB drives on channel two, and then I'm running the two 250 GB WD PATA drives on the raid controller. I will try to disconnect the two IBM drives and then reboot and see if that works. Thanks for the help guys, if you have any further suggestions, they are much appreciated.

 

[flagreen]

No! My adivce was regarding the initial instalation on a Raid array.

Have you installed the Promise drivers in Windows?

 

[flagreen]

Err.. initial OS installation to boot from a Raid array.

 

[Mercutio]

Also, find a better place to steal your copy of XP or go back to 2000. Not being able to install SP1a is a deal-breaker.

 

[InFeRnO]

Yes, I have the drivers installed, and they work fine. The RAID controller has set up the array just fine on the boot. The problem is that when I boot off of the Win XP CD, it doesn't recognize the drives to format them in NTFS.

 

[Mercutio]

At one point during the early moments of the XP install process, it says "Press F6 to install drivers." It's only there for a moment. In NT4 and 2000, the installation actually stops to remind you.

They're serious. If you don't do that, it's not going to see all your drives.

 

[Handruin]

I'll concur that what Mercutio is saying is the case with some of our servers at work. When we install the OS< we have to provide the drivers for their SCSI controller in order for the OS to see the drives. I know yours isn't SCSI, but the same applies.

 

[Buck]

Yes, I have the drivers installed, and they work fine. The RAID controller has set up the array just fine on the boot. The problem is that when I boot off of the Win XP CD, it doesn't recognize the drives to format them in NTFS.

You have the drivers installed and they work fine? Drivers are only designed as a bridge between the operating system and the hardware. They are not required at the BIOS level. Thus, if you have the drivers installed, then are we to figure that you have the operating system installed? In other words, you separately installed the driver within the operating system, yet the card or drives are not detected within the operating system?

Why are you booting off of the XP CD? Is this to actually install the operating system? If so, then the F6 routine as outlined by Merc and Handy is indeed important if you wish to recognize the drives during installation. If you can wait (since you are installing the os onto a SCSI drive) you can always install the controller card driver later on, once the operating system is installed. After the driver is installed within the operating system, you can then access the array as one volume within Disk Management and partition/format as your please.

The process is very simple, but the order is indeed critical.

 

[InFeRnO]

You have the drivers installed and they work fine? Drivers are only designed as a bridge between the operating system and the hardware. They are not required at the BIOS level. Thus, if you have the drivers installed, then are we to figure that you have the operating system installed? In other words, you separately installed the driver within the operating system, yet the card or drives are not detected within the operating system?

Why are you booting off of the XP CD? Is this to actually install the operating system? If so, then the F6 routine as outlined by Merc and Handy is indeed important if you wish to recognize the drives during installation. If you can wait (since you are installing the os onto a SCSI drive) you can always install the controller card driver later on, once the operating system is installed. After the driver is installed within the operating system, you can then access the array as one volume within Disk Management and partition/format as your please.

The process is very simple, but the order is indeed critical.[/quote]

Yeah, I have the os installed on the SCSI drive, and everything, including the RAID controller, is recognized at the level of the OS. The problem is that when I boot into windows, it doesn't recognize the drives. Thus, the drivers are installed, the OS is installed, but yet the only thing that recognizes the drives is the RAID bios on boot. I will try to reinstall the drivers and see if that works.

 

[SteveC]

Yeah, I have the os installed on the SCSI drive, and everything, including the RAID controller, is recognized at the level of the OS. The problem is that when I boot into windows, it doesn't recognize the drives. Thus, the drivers are installed, the OS is installed, but yet the only thing that recognizes the drives is the RAID bios on boot. I will try to reinstall the drivers and see if that works.

Do they show up under the Disk Management?

 

[InFeRnO]

Got it all sorted out guys. Thank you so much for the help. It turned out that although the drivers for the controller were working properly, Asus said that I should try a different version (I had the XP ones, but I had a newer version designed for SP1). Got them up and running and finally recognized them in disk management.
Thanks again!

 

[Buck]

Glad things worked out Inferno. So, the drivers designed for SP1 are just not compatible or they require the installation of SP1 first?

 

[InFeRnO]

Glad things worked out Inferno. So, the drivers designed for SP1 are just not compatible or they require the installation of SP1 first?

I'm assuming that they are designed to run after SP1 is installed. I think that it is the equivalent of the XP home vs. professional incompatability, but the important thing is that I now have my .7 Tb's worth of storage capacity! Thanks again guys!