P5LD2 Deluxe HDD Configuration Problem

[Jackpine]

My motherboard manual is not clear on this issue, and I need help.

Can I configure the following on the Asus P5LD2 Deluxe:

One WD 250GB SATA ll HDD as non-RAID for boot drive.

Two WD 250GB SATA ll HDDs as RAID 0 for data drive?

If so, do I need to install any drivers? What sequence would this installation require?

Thanks.

[Cricket]

Why do you want to set up your data drives in RAID0? You risk losing all your data if something goes wrong with any one of the drives.

Cricket

[Jackpine]

I will store important data on the boot drive.

I will be doing video and audio editing on the raid 0 drive. If I lose information there, it is not a problem for me.

However, I am still trying to find the answer to my first post, which I hope is available somewhere to be found.

[pam123]

This is the basic "How to.." on setting up a RAID array : http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...eid=830&page=5

If that board has the new Intel chipset that makes setting up RAID simpler then the instructions in the manual take precedence.
Would you please tell us what it is you're not clear on?

[Jackpine]

Well, I can set up the raid 0 array by following the manual: Connect the two drives to SATA connectors. Set IDE Configuration to "RAID". During POST, press CTRl+l, and set up the array. I am not sure how to set up the other drive so that it is non-raid, to be used as a boot drive.

Where do I connect it to? This mobo has an array of four SATA ports, two EIDE ports, and a separate SATA that can be used with an external drive to create a raid array.

[pam123]

You will not be using the ITE controller (EIDE drives only) or the Silicon Image Controller ( one internal drive and one external drive).
In fact, depending on what the bios permits, you should disable both of those controllers.
You're using the Intel ICH7R South Bridge alone.
So put the cd-rom first in the boot order and make sure it's the primary IDE drive on that blue connector they put at such an odd angle.
Second will be the SATA drive your using as the boot drive.
Install XP.
Now install the RAID 0 drives and check the bios.
If they're recognized properly then enable RAID 0.
Since they're storage drives once they're set up in the bios you can format them from within XP but you have the manual so if that Intel Matrix Storage Tech. has other requirements it shoud say so.

[Jackpine]

For anyone who may be considering doing what I was asking about: it can be done.

1. Install boot drive to SATA1 connector.
2. In BIOS, set IDE Configuration to RAID.
3. Save changes and exit BIOS.
4. Boot from Windows CD.
5. Press F6 and follow on-screen instructions to install Intel ICH7 32bit RAID driver (made previously on a floppy using the mobo CD).
6. Complete Windows installation.
7. Install the other two drives to be configured in RAID 0 to SATA2 and SATA3 connectors.
8. Reboot and press Ctrl I (for those who don’t know, and I was one of them not too long ago, Ctrl I is Ctrl “eye”) to enter the Intel Matrix Storage Manager Option ROM Utility.
9. Follow on-screen instructions to set up RAID 0.
10. Go to Windows, Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Disk Mangement, and follow instructions to initialize, format, and assign a drive letter.

The steps above were not clear (to me, at least) from reading the mobo manual. I arrived at this sequence through a combination of discussions with people on various forums, friends, Asus technical rep, the person at the store where I bought most of my components, the manual, and thinking about it.

The bottom line is that my setup now includes one non-RAID boot drive, and a RAID 0 data drive. And it works!

Note 1: The P5LD2 Deluxe has four SATA ports: According to the Asus technical rep, SATA1 and SATA2 are Master, and SATA 3 and SATA4 are Slave. I connected my boot drive to SATA 1, and my two drives to be configured in RAID 0 to SATA 2 and SATA3.

Note 2: The Asus technical rep told me that I could create my setup only by installing the boot drive to the single SATA_RAID2 red connector on the motherboard located near the I/O connectors. I would first have to install the Silicon Image 32bit SATA Driver Disk. After talking about this to the store person, who also installed a setup like mine, I ended up doing it the way described above. It is interesting that the Asus technical rep did not propose the setup as it was actually done.

Hope this helps anyone who wants to do the same thing.