> Hagop wrote:
>
> >I bought a Syba SATA II NCQ Host Controller Card with RAID support and four
> >Western Digital 1 TB (actually 931 GB - liars!) hard drives. I created a
> >RAID array according to the controller's instructions. I am unable to get
> >Windows XP Pro x64 to initialize the RAID array.
> >
> >My hardware:
> >Tyan Thunder K8WE 2895 system board
> >Two AMD Opteron 248 2.2 GHz processors
> >ATI Radeon x600 graphics card
> >Syba SATA II NCQ Host Controller Card
> >Dual IDE controller card (slated for retirement)
> >Multiple hard drives, two optical drives
> >
> >The system recognized the Syba card when inserted in any of the four PCI
> >slots (three PCI-X and one PCI 32 bit.) However, the card's POST utility
> >found the attached hard drives only when the card was installed in slot 2
> >(the PCI 32 bit slot) and didn't find the drives when the card was inserted
> >in any of the three PCI-X slots. I didn't try to troubleshoot this further
> >when the card appeared to work as desired in slot 2. The card's
> >installation
> >instructions do not specify what type of PCI slot is required for
> >compatibility.
> >
> >I followed the controller's instructions to create the RAID array using its
> >POST utility. The POST utility recognizes the four drives and creates a
> >2,794 GB RAID array. Windows boots and sees the array. Because Windows
> >can't
> >initialize an MFS volume greater than 2 TB, my only option to initialize
> >this drive is to use the GUID partition table (GPT) partition style. The
> >FAQs I found at
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/GPT_FAQ.mspx> >and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302873/en-us don't give installation or
> >troubleshooting instructions. As far as I can tell, I'm doing what I
> >should,
> >but Windows isn't cooperating.
> >
> >In Windows' Disk Management console, I see the drive array. It reads:
> >
> >Disk 5
> >Unknown
> >2794.53 GB
> >Not initialized
> >
> >When I right-click it and select "Initialize Disk," I randomly get one of
> >the following two outcomes:
> >
> >1) Sometimes the partition is split into two, the first being 2048.00 GB
> >(Unallocated) and the second 746.53 GB (Unallocated.) I can then create a
> >new volume in the first (2048.00 GB) partition, but it never finishes
> >initializing (the hourglass never ends.) I quit and restart the Disk
> >Management console. I go to format the partition and get an error message
> >that reads, "The operation was canceled due to an internal error."
> >
> >2) Sometimes I get an error that reads, "The operation did not complete.
> >Check the System Event Log for more information on the error." When I look
> >in the System Event Log, I see that no error has been logged.
> >
> >Regardless, I am unable to initialize my GPT volume. I am not using this
> >volume as my system disk. I have a dedicated single drive for that
> >function.
> >I am successfully booting to that disk. This is a data drive. I have tried
> >Google. Searching for "GPT RAID Windows XP Pro x64" didn't provide me the
> >answers I sought.
> >
> >Questions:
> >1) Does Windows XP Pro x64 support GPT volumes with Opteron processors?
>
>
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/GPT-on-x64.mspx>
>
> >2) Are there instructions for how to get my RAID array to work in Windows
> >XP
> >Pro x64?
>
> Well, if it's showing up in Disk Management, then that's "working".
>
> >3) Could the PCI slot I'm using have something to do with the problem I'm
> >experiencing?
> >4) Do I have to change something in my system's BIOS?
> >5) Am I missing something else that's relevant?
>
> Are you using the latest SIL BIOS/Firmware and Drivers?
>
>
http://www.siliconimage.com/support/downloadresults.aspx?pid=28&bios=0&drivers=1&sataraid=0>
> AFAICT, you want driver v1.5.15.0 and the associated BIOS and Utilities
> (links given against that driver).
>
> --
> Steve Foster [SBS MVP]
> ---------------------------------------
> MVPs do not work for Microsoft. Please reply only to the newsgroups.
>