Ducati Monster Forum

Kitchen Sink => No Moto Content => Topic started by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 07:54:38 AM

Title: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 07:54:38 AM
New Dell Inspiron 620

RocketRaid 2300 PCI-e card

Dell bios sees the rocketraid as a boot device.

But when booting, the RocketRaid bios doesn't come up.

There is no bios disable on the RR card.

Thoughts?

Bad card?
Title: Re: PC help
Post by: ZLTFUL on June 13, 2012, 08:32:56 AM
I am assuming that you don't want to boot from the PCI-E card correct?

Does the card/attached drives show up in Windows? Disk management?

If it does, then you can set the RAID card to a lower boot priority with your boot drive a higher priority in the PC's BIOS.

Of course, this has all already occurred to you and I am treating you like a simpleton because it has been one of those days already... [laugh]
Title: Re: PC help
Post by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 09:04:54 AM
new install.  need to set up raid 1 as boot device
Title: Re: PC help
Post by: derby on June 13, 2012, 10:16:06 AM
have you tried disabling onboard devices or installing the card in different slots?
Title: Re: PC help
Post by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 10:28:55 AM
There's not much to disable.

When I put the rocket raid in, the bios sees it as a boot device.  System comes up but then nothing.  Instructions say Ctrl-H to enter the bios config but nothing on repeated attempts.

I just bought a Syba raide (PEX-40008) which is also a bootable raid controller but it doesn't even show up in the bios.

System works fine otherwise.  I can connect the drive cable back to the m/b and it boots fine into W7.

Boot order is hard disk first, and then the selected hard disks show the RocketRaid when it's in the system, but nothing when the Syba is in the system.

neither have any jumpers to change.

M/b has some jumpers but I don't have a pinout
Title: Re: PC help
Post by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 10:53:55 AM
So I connected the main hard drive back to the mb and booted into Win7 with both cards installed.  Windows immediately recognized both of them and installed drivers.

The system is seeing them but for some reason won't let them boot.   [bang] [bang]
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 12:46:33 PM
So both cards "work" but the system will not boot to either one, despite both being the INT13 type boot bios.

I have the inline mgmt software running for the RocketRaid, and updated the card's bios to the latest version -- no love.  It sees all the drives I've attached to it.

[bang]
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: ducatiz on June 13, 2012, 06:24:39 PM
I put the RocketRaid card into (an equally new) Inspiron 560 and it booted right up.  For some reason, the Bios in the Inspiron 620 doens't like having a bootable SATA card in there...   [roll]
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: d3vi@nt on June 15, 2012, 09:09:53 AM
I imagine you've already checked, but is the Inspiron BIOS the latest revision? Can you get into the RR BIOS/menu with no drives attached to it (though if you can access everything once in Windows, you've already ruled out the drives and cables)?
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: ducatiz on June 15, 2012, 09:37:11 AM
Quote from: D3vi@nt on June 15, 2012, 09:09:53 AM
I imagine you've already checked, but is the Inspiron BIOS the latest revision? Can you get into the RR BIOS/menu with no drives attached to it (though if you can access everything once in Windows, you've already ruled out the drives and cables)?

Yup, the 620 was shipped with the latest bios (system was built 3/10/2012). 

I couldn't get into the RR's bios in any way, nor the Sybex raid.

I put the RR into the Dell Inspiron 560 and it booted right into the bios, no problem.  I've already set up a RAID1 and installed Window Server on it.

The 620 just doesn't like a RAID.  The 560 has an AMIBIOS which is more generic, and I think that's what permits it.
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: derby on June 15, 2012, 10:21:48 AM
this is regarding silicon image cards, but...

http://forums.anandtech.com/archive/index.php/t-2145271.html (http://forums.anandtech.com/archive/index.php/t-2145271.html)

However, I've learned something. I've received confirmation from Dell that (contrary to what two other Dell support agents told me) the Inspiron 620 *does* have a UEFI BIOS (AMI's "Aptio").

Apparently the American Megatrends "Aptio" UEFI BIOS is incompatible with these adapters. Maybe all UEFI BIOSs are?
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: ducatiz on June 15, 2012, 10:31:59 AM
well there you go.
Title: Re: Dell PC help with RAID
Post by: ZLTFUL on June 15, 2012, 01:17:24 PM
Derby got me on that one. I found the same info and was headed here to post it up. Stupid know-it-all Derby!  [cheeky]