RAID 5 - 790i Please Help!

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I just built my new work/media system:
xfx 790i ultra
Q6600 cpu
Corsair 1333mhz DDR3 ram
EVGA 8800GT
4 - 640gb WD6400AAKS hard drives

I am having problems setting up raid!
- In Bios I enabled all four drives for raid
- press F10 - in raid options All 4 drives show up. Array is set to raid 5
and bootable.
- After I restart and boot to windows disk (XP Media Center)
I get blue screen that says:

Problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage. and tells me remove new hard drives and run chkdsk.

So I tried setting up a 3 drive array and installing windows to the 4th drive. Windows installed fine on the 4th drive.
Went back into bios enabled raid on the other 3 drives and set them up for raid 5, no errors...

In windows I see 3 drives now, main drive which is not in the array and 2 of the 3 drives which should be in the raid array. The 3rd drive in the array is not showing. Windows is not recognizing the array either.

But when Starting up the computer, before windows, it see's my 1.2TB raid array...

How do I test for Faulty hardware?
Am I missing something setting up my raid and installing windows?

Ultimately I would like all 4 drives in the RAID 5 array and be bootable.
If not, I can have windows on the 4th drive and RAID the other 3.

Someone please help this is driving me nuts.

Also, now I'm getting a hault on startup that says:
Floppy(s) FAIL 40 - what is this, how to get rid of it?
I have no floppy installed...

[glc]

1. Break the array and set up all 4 drives as non-raid, independent. Download and run WD Diagnostics on all of them to make sure you don't have a bad drive.

2. I highly discourage only 3 drives in RAID 5. You will take a big performance hit and there is no margin for error. You need 4 or more drives to do it right.

3. Disable your floppy controller in the bios to clear that error. HOWEVER - you WILL need a floppy to be able to install XP on a RAID array. You will need to press F6 at the beginning of setup to install the RAID driver, or XP will not see the array.

4. I like RAID 5 a lot, but I do NOT trust integrated motherboard RAID controllers. They are not true hardware RAID. I also don't trust Nvidia chipsets for Intel processors. I only use Intel chipsets, and I use only Adaptec RAID controllers.

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Thanks GLC,

I'll download the WD diagnostics as soon as I get home.
Do you know a good hardware RAID 5 controller that is not expensive?

[glc]

The light bulb just came on - here is your problem:

XP Media Center (and any other 32 bit OS except Server 2003) has a hard 2tb limit on array size. 640gb x 4 is more than 2tb. You need XP 64 or Vista 64, and you have to set it up GPT instead of MBR. You will also need a separate boot drive.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device...PT-on-x64.mspx

That said, here's my RAID controller of choice:

http://www.provantage.com/adaptec-22...r~7ADSS006.htm

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The drives actually only have 590 on them and the array is only about 1.7TB which is why I bought the 640's instead of 1tb drives...

I saw that controller, was also looking at an areca controller that is a little cheaper and has good reviews on it.
I was hoping to find a HARDWARE raid 5 controller for under $200 for 4 sata drives but that seams like its not happenning...

[glc]

Come to think of it, that's right - your "container" is less than 2tb.

I don't want to appear like I'm spending your money foolishly, but if I were in your shoes and were putting together a high end system like that for that use, I'd bite the bullet and get the Adaptec controller - and also get 2 smaller drives and put them in RAID 1 on the motherboard controller for the OS and apps.

Before doing anything, it would be prudent to run diags on your 4 current drives. The fastest way would be this - download the Ultimate Boot CD and make it. Break the array and use WD Data Lifeguard 11.2 to "prep" each drive for XP SP2. This will partition and quick format each one - takes about 30 seconds. Then run WD DLG Diagnostic 5.04c on each.

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I'm using a HTPC case, not that much room in there as it is...
Can't fit more than 4 drives... I'm not ready to switch to vista or 64 bit, since I can't afford my programs not running in them...
All the Adobe programs, Lightwave, and a few other 3D programs.

I'm downloading the Ultimate Boot CD and WD tools now.
Never used this before, what is this used for if WD tools "prep" the drives?

[glc]

DLG is the drive installation software. Diags tests the drives. It's best if the drives are formatted before testing and DLG is the easiest and fastest way to do it. They are both on the UBCD, it's easier than downloading them standalone from WD.

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Oh ok, that makes sense. Thanks I appreciate the help.
Hopefully my drives are good, will be a pain to ship them back...

I saw mixed reviews on the controller you suggested, some people say it gets very hot.
My case is limited on space and noise is also an issue so heat = bad in this build.
only using 2 120mm noctua silent fans larg cpu heatsink and soon fanless zalman vga cooler

have you ever tride areca controllers? the one I am thinking about is this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816131001

[glc]

Never even HEARD of them.......

You can't use that one anyway - PCI-X is not the same as PCI-E. Only server motherboards have PCI-X slots.

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didn't even notice that in the description

[glc]

Hmm - I do question the wisdom of packing a HTPC case that full to begin with. What you might want to look at is an external drive tower connected through eSATA, with the RAID function handled in the tower. I think you may be able to put something like this together from Addonics.

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That is what I originally wanted to do, but I need the external enclosure to automatically turn on and off with the system.
I found that e-sata, usb, and firewire do not have "auto on" ability...

That would be my preffered setup as it will have less heat and better airflow in the case. If there is a way to automatically turn on and off the external enclosure I would do that and have a single system drive in the case itself. just for OS and applications.

Do you know of any way to set it up to to auto turn on/off?

[glc]

Maybe you can call or email Addonics and ask.

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Well, I got home and tried setting up the hard drives using the Ultimate Boot CD
went into bios and removed the raid array and disabled raid in bios.
Used WD lifeguard to setup each hard drive, restarted and used WD diag to test each drive.
All four drives didn't throw any errors and all were formatted.
Went back into bios set up RAID again, put in windows disc same thing...
get the same blue screen.

I did notice when in WD Lifeguard that the drive in sata slot 1
gave me different options than the other 3.
The other 3 drives did not give me the option to make it a boot drive, only storage drive.

So I'm going to try it by only plugging 1 drive in at a time setting it up for xp sp2 for each of the drives. after that try the raid again.

[glc]

I dont think that's gonna help - when you create the array it will wipe the drives anyway. The only reason I had you prep the drives was so you could run meaningful diagnostics.

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I never actually get to the part of windows install that asks me which drive to use or to format...
I get the blue screen right after it says F6 to install controllers

[glc]

What service pack level does your Windows CD have? I believe to be compatible with that controller it has to be at least SP2.

You do have to press F6, and you do have to use a floppy to load the drivers.

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Windows Media Center 2005 SP2B

No floppy came with the motherboard for onboard raid control...

[glc]

You will have to make a driver floppy. Explore the motherboard support CD.

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I'll take a look through the cd when I get home tonight.

So I basically just copy the raid driver files onto the floppy or do I have to make an exe to copy the driver files from the floppy?

[glc]

It depends on how the CD is set up. Asus and some other CD's have a floppy maker, others simply have a folder that you copy files from. There will be a TXTSETUP.OEM file and a few others.

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It would be nice if they include the floppy maker. Either way, this should solve my problem since right now there are no drivers installed and windows is just not recognizing my array...
I just figured since I'm using the onboard raid controller the drivers would automatically be installed.
First time setting up raid, thanks for the help glc!
Good call with the ultimate boot cd also, I did not know about it. Will definitely come in handy.

I'll let you know how it goes. And post some pics of the build.
It's not as cramped as you'd think with all this stuff in an HTPC case... Once raid is working, I'm building some air dams to direct airflow for improved cooling.

[glc]

If you don't want to mess with installing a floppy drive, you can use a USB floppy. The only restriction is it must be seen as the "A" drive.

Not only does my Asus DVD have a floppy maker, it does have the folder that you can access manually to copy the files from.

makedisk\dos\32

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I have no problem plugging in a floppy, there is one in an older pc I have laying around I can borrow. Only need it for setup, I don't want it in my case. Personally i think the $7 for a floppy is a waste of money. if I ever need it i'll just plug it in again...

[glc]

That works too.

I kinda doubt XFX is going to be as good as Asus - the Asus DVD is bootable into a DOS menu, and the floppy maker is on that menu. You don't even have to make the floppy with another machine.

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I used to only use Asus boards until I actually had to RMA one...
HUGE NIGHTMARE!
I forget which board it was but I had to RMA it 2x all 3 boards had a short in them from a bad soldering job. I got sick of dealing with them and ended up picking up a cheap msi board instead and worked like a champ. Now I'll deal with EVGA and XFX since they are in the US and so far have great tech support.

I talked to someone from XFX and he actually sent me a floppy image for raid. Very quick response and very helpful.