AHCI or RAID for SATA drives?

[jillsy]

I posted this on the drives and storage forum as well. It kind of relates to both.

OK, I just built a new comp. It has the following:

Intel D955XBK mobo
Intel P4 EE w/HTT 3.73 GHz CPU
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 SATA II 250 GB Hard Drive
Samsung IDE DVD-ROM (primary master)
Plextor 716 SA/SW SATA DVD Burner
eVGA e-GeForce 6800 GT 512 MB DDR3 PCI-E Graphics Card
2x1GB Patriot PC2 5300 667MHz DDR2 Memory
Ultra Floppy Drive/Card Reader
Enermax Noisetaker 600-W PSU

I had a ton of problems installing Windows XP Pro SP2 (thanks to all who helped me with this, especially jayb1234). I finally succeeded after updating the BIOS and having only the Samsung IDE DVD-ROM, floppy, hard drive, memory, and graphics card connected.

However, I cannot connect my Plextor SATA DVD burner. I could only get the install to go by configuring SATA as RAID in BIOS. Then I installed the Intel 82801GR/GH SATA RAID Controller (ICH7R) during Windows setup (hit F6). That is the driver that controls the 4 black SATA connectors (0 to 3) on the board. There is also a set of blue connectors (4 to 7) that are controlled by a Silicon Image SATALink Controller (SiI 3114). When I tried to install the drivers for this, the Silicon Image drivers disk could not be read by Wondows Setup.

I did install the Silicon Image software from the Intel CD when I booted into Windows. However, it installs a Java 2 Runtime application, but not much else. I keep getting a message when I start up in Windows that no SiI controller can be found. I tried connecting my SATA DVD burner to the blue connectors, but it isn't recognized at all except by the Silicon Image RAID Utility accessible during bootup (before OS is loaded). When I connect it to the black (Intel) connectors (where the hard drive is connected), Windows boots up and starts installing drivers for new hardware. Then I get the BSOD with a stop error and it reboots, only to do the same thing. When I disconnect the burner or connect it to the blue connectors, Windows boots fine with no BSOD.

I'm confused as to how to configure SATA in BIOS. My choices are IDE, AHCI, and RAID. I chose RAID because that what Intel recommends and that did allow Windows to finally install. However, I want my SATA DVD burner! I also may want to add a second HD in the future, but I don't want RAID. Since I configured for RAID I would think it will force me to create a RAID set.

So I guess my questions are as follows:

Should I configure SATA as AHCI and then install the Intel 82801GR/GH SATA AHCI Controller driver during Windows setup?

What exactly is AHCI (Intel is pretty vague on this)?

Will I have trouble reformatting my hard drive and installing Windows XP again since it's an OEM CD (I haven't activated it yet)?

Thanks,
Jill

[jayb1234]

Here is an article from intel about troubleshooting SATA/RAID issues. http://support.intel.com/support/mot...020811.htm#dvd

• It has links to a few other articles that might help you get everything sorted out.

• Here is the data sheet on the SI controller. http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/SiI3114_PB_090103.pdf

• and here is the page for it on the SI site http://www.siliconimage.com/products...x?id=28&ptid=1

• They may have more current drivers there.

• Check to see if the SI controller is enabled in bios.

• If you browse through the intel cd there might be a readme or help file that has something useful on it. It might tell you how to manually install the SI from the disc by clicking the appropriate file.

• Another possibility is that the SI drivers can be or even need to be installed from a floppy.

• Check Device Manager and see if the SI controller is showing up there.

• If none of the above solves the problem, then you might try the AHCI setup.

• Reformat and reinstall shouldnt be a problem.

• As far as the second hard drive, shouldn't be a problem adding it, just don't create a raid array when you do.

• Also there might be something simple that we are both overlooking, Maybe someone else will have a suggestion that will help get it running right.

• Sorry about the bullletpoint list, align left isn't working for me

[jillsy]

Thanks for being so thorough jayb1234. I actually like the bulleted list; it was very easy to follow.

I went to the SI site last night, but wasn't sure which drivers to use or if it was too late to install them now that Windows is up and running. I'll check it out again. BTW, I was glad I went there because their diagram clearly shows their SATA controller is capable of 1.5 GB/s. Intel states that the D955XBK supports 3.0 GB/s SATA, but apparently that is only on the Intel black connectors. They conveniently left out the fact that all eight connectors are not the same.

The BIOS shows that the secondary SATA is enabled and I assume this is referring to the SI set. In Device Manager, only the Intel controller and the primary IDE channel how up under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Under Other Devices, there is a RAID controller with a question mark next to it. Its properties show it's on PCI slot 6 (PCI bus 5) and that its driver isn't installed. I clicked on Reinstall Driver, but Windows stated it can't find the driver on the SI RAID driver floppy or the Intel driver install CD. I'll see what I can find at the SI site.

I'm thinking it's best to attach the DVD burner to the 1.5 GB/s SI connectors anyway if I can get them working. I know SATA DVD/CD drives aren't any faster than IDE ones so there's no point in wasting a 3 GB/s connector on a DVD drive. Hopefully I can get them working.

I have the whole day today to work on this so hopefully I can get things going. I also plan to install my ThermalTake Bigwater SE today. It just arrived yesterday. The 3 fans (heatsink and front/rear case fans) are pretty noisy and I've read many user reviews stating the Bigwater works great. Does anyone have any experience installing these? I did ask on the case mod/cooling forum about connecting the power connector for the water block, but no one has responded yet.

I'll get back to work. Thanks for all the help.

Jill

[jillsy]

I downloaded the latest IDE and SATARAID drivers, BIOS, and SATARAID tools from the SI site. The filenames are pretty much the same as on the original driver disk I received with the mobo which wouldn't work. I tried to install them under device manager and Windows stated it cannot find the driver.

I also downloaded the latest BIOS for SATALink 3114, but I have no idea how to install it. There are 2 bin files on the disk - one for the SATARAID BIOS and one for the IDE BIOS. What am I supposed to do with those? The SI site gives no help on this, of course.

I've emailed SI support to see what I can do to get their driver disks to work. One thing I noticed is that there is a file on the SATALink controller driver disk called TxtSetup.oem, which is also on the driver disk that came with the mobo. When I placed the mobo disk in during Windows setup (after hitting F6), it told me it couldn't find txtsetup.oem. The Intel SATA controller driver disk contains txtsetup.oem and works fine. I tried copying the SI disk contents to another floppy and changed the filename to txtsetup.oem, but then Windows setup just said it didn't recognize the disk format.

Does anyone know what could be going wrong with these disks? I have little confidence SI will get back to me anytime soon and these companies seem to always find a way to blame the user or the user's equipment instead of considering there could be a problem with their product. I have more hope that someone here can help me.

Thanks,
Jill

[jayb1234]

Under Other Devices, there is a RAID controller with a question mark next to it. Its properties show it's on PCI slot 6 (PCI bus 5) and that its driver isn't installed. I clicked on Reinstall Driver, but Windows stated it can't find the driver on the SI RAID driver floppy or the Intel driver install CD.

Are you getting an option to specify where to install from at that point, if so try browsing to the driver and see if that works.

I'll look around and see what i can come up with about the install for the downloaded drivers and waterblock power lead.

Found a couple articles about the bigwater install. http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/waterc...er/index.shtml http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/waterc...er/index.shtml Seems like the pump goes to the cpu fan header.

[jayb1234]

Found this page at Intel. http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...4&submit=Go%21 The bottom two are SI drivers. The first should be a floppy install package. The last appears to be an installer package that will run without the floppy.

Downloaded them to see how they are packaged. The floppy one is a winzip file and the other is an Installshield setup launcher.

[jillsy]

Thanks, jayb1234. You've done so much I feel guilty.

I tried the drivers for Silicon Image from the Intel site and the SI site. They all do the same thing. During Windows setup (F6), Windows won't accept the disk for one reason or another. After Windows install, Windows doesn't recognize any drivers on the disk.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the SI chip or the connectors because I can get into the SI RAID utility (F4 at startup) and see the Plextor DVD listed.

I'm thinking I'll try the AHCI setting in BIOS and reinstall everything, this time installing the Intel SATA AHCI controller after the F6 prompt. I hate to take the chance after I finally got Windows to install, but I know exactly how everything was set so I can put it all back to that if the Windows install fails again.

I'm hoping AHCI will allow me to put the DVD burner and hard drive on the same set of connectors. AHCI will also allow me to take advantage of my SATA II hard drive and its NCQ. I think the RAID setting will as well as it enables AHCI, but I'm thinking that it's the RAID thing that's getting Windows all messed up. It sees RAID mode and thinks there should be multiple hard drives so throwing a DVD drive on there gets it all confused.

I was thinking I could leave RAID in BIOS and install the AHCI driver, but that would probably leave me with the same problem. I'm a little miffed about the SI connectors and I hate to waste a 3.0 GB/s connector on the DVD drive (If it works at all), but I probably won't have more than 4 SATA drives on this rig anyway. I may add another hard drive in the future and a SATA DVD-ROM if they come out with one at some point, but that's about it.

If you have any thoughts on this, feel free to share. I haven't heard back from SI yet (I'll be surprised if they respond at all), but I may search the web to see if I find any info on issues with SI SATALink 3114.

Thanks again. I can never repay you for all the help. Hopefully I'll learn enough from all this that I'll be able to help out others in the future. As frustrating as all this has been, I'm still glad I'm doing it. It was nice to pick all the components myself instead of settling for what HP and others like to throw at you.

Jill

[jillsy]

I was just reading about someone having problems with a Silicon Image controller and someone else suggested they disable a port or two to free up some IRQs. I don't plan on using my parallel port. All of my printers are either network or USB so I don't need parallel. If I were to disable that port, do you think that would help with this Silicon Image SATA controller problem? I haven't seen any IRQ errors, but I thought I'd ask about it anyway.

Thanks,
Jill

[jayb1234]

As far as disabling ports you arent going to use, that shouldn't be a problem. You can always turn them back on later if you end up needing them. You might even try disabling the ones you plan on using untill you get the rest of the installation sorted out.

Did you try the Installshield setup launcher from the Intel page, and did it appear to complete the install or did you get an error there? That one should install the drivers from a normal windows environment by just double clicking it to run it. Perhaps try running it in safe mode?

As far as expecting multiple hard drives, it shouldn't untill you actually set up a raid array.

The specification update for the motherboard on Intels site, doesn't list any issues with the SI, so I think it is probably OK and that it is a configuration issue.

As far as trying the AHCI setup with/without leaving RAID installed, that might solve the issue. And if not you can return to where you are now.

I'll let you know if i find any usefull information.

[jillsy]

Thanks again jayb1234. In searching the web, I did find a couple of posts from people on other forums stating that SI drivers are bad. It does seem odd that Intel would use their components on their MBs if they're not good, especially when there are plenty of SATA controller makers out there. It just seems like the driver disk should at least be recognized by Windows no matter what.

I did try the installer, but it asked if I had any non-RAID devices connected, which I did, so I answered yes. It then said that any such devices would be rendered as invalid or unrecognized (I forget the exact wording), so I chickened out.

Anyway, I'm working on getting the BigWater installed now which is pretty time-consuming. I want to leak test it first and then actually install it. There's tubing to be cut, etc. so I am taking my time to make sure I get it right.

I'm going to get some sleep and continue in the morning. I'll finish the BigWater install and then try the AHCI setup. I'll probably try disabling the parallel port and maybe COM1 as well since I don't plan to install a modem. If that doesn't work, I'll have to go back to my original settings and figure out how to get my SATA DVD burner into the mix later. I have 4 other PCs with DVD and/or CD burners I can use if I need to.

Thanks so much for all the help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Jill

[glc]

I posted this on the drives and storage forum as well.

Please do not crosspost in the future. It makes for difficulty keeping issues and solutions straight. Pick the most appropriate forum for a single thread. Thanks!

- Admin -

[jillsy]

Well, after many problems, I finally have a working PC. I was having trouble getting Windows to install and getting my computer to recognize different drives. In case it helps anyone else, I'm detailing what I did to finally get everything working the way I wanted.

I installed an IDE Samsung DVD-ROM drive that wouldn't show up in BIOS. I updated the BIOS (flashed) with a newer version I downloaded from the Intel website for the D955XBK motherboard and the drive was then recognized.

I also kept getting error messages when installing Windows. Following Intel's directions, I configured SATA as RAID in the BIOS. Then I installed the driver for the Intel RAID controller during Windows setup (F6); this was on a disk that came with the motherboard. This is all for the Intel set of SATA connectors (black) on my motherboard. The motherboard also has a blue set of SATA connectors that are controlled by Silicon Image SATALink 3114. Initially, I used the driver disk that came with my motherboard, but Windows did not recognize the drivers so the disk was useless. As a result, I installed Windows, but could not install my SATA DVD burner. If I installed it on the black connectors with my SATA hard drive, I received a BSOD when Windows loaded. If I installed it on the blue connectors, it wasn't recognized by Windows.

I hated to do it, but I completely erased and reformatted my hard drive and started over. This time, I configured SATA as AHCI in the BIOS. I connected my SATA hard drive to the black (Intel) SATA connectors and my SATA DVD burner to the blue (Silicon Image) SATA connectors. Then during Windows setup I installed the Intel AHCI controller. I also downloaded the Silicon Image SiI 3114 SATALink Driver version 1.2.0.5 for Windows XP (referred to as the IDE driver on the Silicon Image website) and installed that during Windows setup (F6).

Doing all of this worked. Windows installed without a problem and all of my drives are recognized and work properly. Of course, this is all for a non-RAID system. I do not want a RAID array even if I install another hard drive in the future.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and support. I'm really excited to have completed my first build and have it actually working. Now I just have to get my desk cleaned up so I can move the PC to it. I'm not looking forward to that part!

Jill

P.S. If anyone is having similar problems to those I had and wants to ask more questions about my experience, feel free to reply. I am subscribed to this thread so I'll receive an email notification of any new posts.