pci raid card

[rsix]

i have one of these in my system, how do i actually use it, can i not just plug another hard drive in and just use it as another eide slot for an extra HHD? or do i need to identical hhd? and use it another way?

[Sylvander]

I bought and fitted a PCI to IDE Raid controller card.
Just left my HDD jumpered as Master, unplugged it from the on-board IDE controller, then plugged it into the Primary connector on the RAID card.
At startup, the HDD was no longer detected by the on-board IDE controller [set to auto-detect all drives].
If I remember right...
After the POST completes with its single short beep, the RAID card BIOS displays info on screen about the drive and it capacity, and then it boots from the HDD.

Aparently, when there is a HDD [or more] on the RAID card and also one [or more] on an onboard IDE controller, different BIOS's handle the situation differently.
You may need to set the BIOS to "boot from SCSI" drive [if that facility is offered by your BIOS] to tell it not to boot from a HDD on the onboard controllers [if that's what you want]. [Controller cards are treated as SCSI.]
You do not need to use the RAID capability; if only a single HDD is connected to the card it automatically works like an ordinary IDE controller card.

[rsix]

i set it to master in primary, and it just boots up and still nowt? i cant find it on my system, is there a bios i need to change?

[Sylvander]

You not giving me much information to go on.

Is it connected to the on-board Primary IDE controller or the RAID Primary Controller? Be explicit. Don't expect me to infer.
What do you see of the HDD within the onboard BIOS Setup? Nothing?
Is there no display by the RAID card BIOS showing the HDD details?
Since your RAID card is connected to a PCI slot, perhaps you need to "Force Update the ESCD" to take account of the new PCI hardware item.
To do this, go into the BIOS Setup | go somewhere like "PnP/PCI Configuration" | set "Reset Configuration Data = Enabled" | "Save and Exit setup". After that's done the BIOS will automatically reset "Reset Configuration Data = Disabled" to lock the new settings [like they are locked at this moment].
This aught to be done whenever you alter the connected PCI hardware.
What this does is to make the BIOS detect all the connected hardware, make non-conflicting resource allocations, and save the settings in the "Extended System Configuration Data" table. These resouce allocation settings are then used at every startup until updated once again.

Take a look in your on-board BIOS's Setup for an option to "boot from SCSI".
Tell me whether or not you have such a setting.
My BIOS has no such setting, but the RAID BIOS displays info on the HDD connected to it.

How old is the motherboard and its BIOS?
Do you have a motherboard manual that explains the BIOS's configuration settings?

[rsix]

the mobo is a new msi k8t neo. the pci card is a Internal 32-bit PCI RAID Card. Provides 2 ATA-133 Ports. Supports up to 4 IDE/ATAPI Devices. i formatted a 10gb hdd put the ide cable in to the primary slot on the board then the other in to the drive, set it to master,, the only bios i see for raid just refers to stuff not connected to what im looking for, im not even sure the shop loaded drivers for the card, as they didnt give me a driver disk, and it aint got a proper bios, i tried to live update it but it says bios not installed???? :confused:

[Sylvander]

"put the ide cable in to the primary slot on the board then the other in to the drive"
80-wire IDE cable as supplied?
Blue connector of the cable to the card socket?

"set it to master"
The jumper on the HDD is set to Master?

"the only bios i see for raid just refers to stuff not connected to what im looking for"
I get a minimalist display by the card BIOS after the onboard BIOS finishes its display on screen, and just before the beep.

"im not even sure the shop loaded drivers for the card"
So a shop fitted the card?
I fitted my card and installed the drivers for it whilst the HDD was still connected to the on-board IDE controller and booting into Windows ok.
In Device Manager, the card showed as being properly installed and working.
Only then did I shut down, power off, and switch the HDD over to the RAID card.

"they didnt give me a driver disk"
They should have. You are going to need drivers for the card unless the OS includes drivers, and that's unlikely I think.
Go to the card manufacturers site and download them.

"it aint got a proper bios"
What makes you think so?

"i tried to live update it but it says bios not installed"
What's a "live update"?

[rsix]

the maker are newlink, lots of stuff made by em but no website, shop didnt give me any cables or drivers, and even kept stuff off my last pc,what would it come under in device manager?they told me it was a beta bios and needs to be upgraded, msi do a live bios flash, but after doing that it boots but says no bios installed, so it wont read my cpu, its a sempron 2800, but reads it as an unknown 1600.so if driveres aint on i cant do anything,am looking for a driver site at the mo.

[Sylvander]

"what would it come under in device manager?"
When I "View Devices by Type" mine comes under "SCSI Controllers".
When I "View devices by connection" it shows under "PCI Bus".

"they told me it was a beta bios and needs to be upgraded,"
The BIOS MUST work as-is or it's not "Fit for its purpose" and therefore should not be sold. A BIOS upgrate should only ENHANCE its abiities.

"msi do a live bios flash"
Sounds even more risky than normal. Which BIOS did you flash? The card's?

"after doing that it boots but says no bios installed"
How does the PC boot if there is no BIOS?

"it wont read my cpu"
What is "IT" that won't read your CPU? The on-board BIOS?
You need to be more explicit.

"so if driveres aint on i cant do anything"
I imagine that with no Windows [which version?] controller card drivers installed, there would be trouble when Windows attempted to boot, but surely you should see the card BIOS displaying the Manufacturer, model and size of the HDD just before the beep.
Unless the card has no working BIOS?

[rsix]

it does boot but says no bios installed . it wont show any devices hdd,cpu,ect.i looked on system to see the cpu didnt show. i flashed the mobo bios, its easy, it automaticly detects your board and flash version and does it auto.does the raid drive show up on my computer on your system? i have the drive plugged in now but no sign of it, but if pci board isint loaded then it wont, how would i acsess the raid bios and then do what?

[saphalline]

Dude, I think you're getting seriously confused here. One main point I don't think you're understanding is that getting that RAID card to detect the HDD connected to it is independent of Windows. BIOS's by their very nature don't need another OS to work. A BIOS is an OS - a little mini-OS. First you get the BIOS's to play nicely with eachother, then you work on getting drivers for Windows. Don't attack this problem from both ends because they're independent from eachother and you're just confusing yourself. Here's how it works:

The mobo has a BIOS that will detect all drives connected directly to the mobo, whether it's the IDE channels, SATA ports, or the floppy connector. The PCI RAID card also has a BIOS, because it needs to be able to communicate with the mobo to handle booting duties as well. Every boot-capable device needs a BIOS! There are no exceptions to this. If you have a PCI RAID card, it has a BIOS. Like I said, you need to figure out this BIOS situation before you tackle any problems in Windows. You don't need Windows to get the two BIOS's working. A BIOS is independent of Windows.

Once you get the two BIOS's to play nicely, then you can attack Windows. What you'll need are drivers for that PCI RAID card so that Windows will work properly. It's easy to just tell a HDD to boot off a PCI RAID card, but if Windows has no drivers for that PCI RAID card, then Windows will probably not boot itself even if the hard drive is set to have boot rights.

You say you do not have these drivers or anything else for that PCI RAID card? And you say the shop even kept stuff from your old PC? I would then say you should go back to the shop, yell at them a little bit, and get that stuff! You will need drivers for that PCI RAID card. And that "stuff" from your old PC is rightfully yours, unless you made a deal for them to keep any of it. You can't get this thing to work without drivers. That's just the reality of this situation.

[rsix]

ohhh i understand now :D thanks guyz

[Sylvander]

Nice one saphaline. :)

Here's a view of my RAID controller and connected HDD in Device Manager.
And below that my CD drives connected to the on-board IDE controllers.

[Sylvander]

Here are the properties for the RAID controller card.

[Sylvander]

And the driver file details.

[rsix]

ok, i have my work cut out