Raid 0 Disaster...help

eire_dd

On taking advice from a reply to a previous thread i have tried the create a raid 0 array

After doing the whole f6 thingy and using a floppy to install the raid drivers, I get the following message

setup cannot copy the file: idecoi.dll

I have retried several times and if i skip the file i get the blue error screen..(oxoooooo7b (0xf7c8463c,0xc0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)

I really would appreciate some help please....

Asus Crosshair MoBo

Tnks eire_dd

8T8

If you are attempting to create a RAID 0 array it must be done in stages;

Enable RAID support in bios
Go into RAID bios and create RAID 0 array from selected HD's.
Create driver disk with drivers for RAID controller or slipstream drivers into XP CD.

Download the latest drivers from this link & extract to a folder (WinRAR will do it). There is even a PDF on that site outlining what to copy onto the floppy disk.

Copy across the contents of IDE\WinXP\SATARAID onto the root of the floppy don't copy the folder just the files within the folder.

If you are still having problems then try changing the floppy disk to another one in case it is damaged.

(another possible reason though unlikely is bad RAM if you have done all of the above)

This tool nLite will allow you to integrate the RAID drivers into an XP CD so it will not require them from a floppy disk.

eire_dd

ok gonna try the first method from the link....

tyvm:D

eire_dd

Windows is now installing.......tnks a mill....:D


Eire_dd

BostonB

Make sure you have a regular backup in place.

SwampThing

Second what BostonB says.

Be prepared to lose EVERYTHING on the raidset if one HDD fails.

L31mr0d

it really bugs me all the warnings people spew out about "for the love of god man, you'll lose all your data with a RAID 0, run for the hills" Most people who build RAID0's nowadays, use drives that have at least a 3 year warrenty on them, are exactly the same make and model and are known to be reliable. A RAID 0 failing depends heavily on one or both of the drives failing. I personally have only ever had 1 drive in my 15 years of computer use fail, and that was a dusty 6 year old 5GB PATA drive.

People should be backing up their data REGARDLESS of if they are using a RAID 0 or not. People assume that because you have 2 drives, the likelyhood of something going wrong is doubled. Well if the likelyhood of my drive failing in the next 5 years is 1/100,000 then i'll take my chances with 2/100,000

SwampThing

What has warranty got to do with it? Just because a company offers a warranty on a drive doesn't mean it absolutely won't fail in that time frame. And what do you do? Demand the company 'fix' your raidset because they offered a warranty and their drives are usually reliable? Get real!

It's perfectly sound to mention the risk of RAID 0. You say RAID 0 'heavily depends' one one or both drives failing. I'm sure you're aware that RAID 0 can be made up of any amount of 2 or more drives and it ABSOLUTELY depends on ALL drives functioning. Losing one means losing the entire raidset.

Personally, I've experienced several HDD failures - in work and at home - from laptops to SAN's - all makes and models of drives are vulnerable. You're obviously just very lucky.

The point is, using RAID 0 without backup is riding that luck for all it's worth.

I fully agree, people should be backing up their data regardless. You don't have to have RAID 0 to lose data. But for beginners or the inexperienced using RAID features that now come as standard on mainboards (something relatively new to th home PC market) it's got to be worth a mention, no?

mukki

yeah raid is great for os, apps and games, just save your pictures and cv elsewhere

L31mr0d

SwampThing wrote:

The point is, using RAID 0 without backup is riding that luck for all it's worth.

I fully agree, people should be backing up their data regardless. You don't have to have RAID 0 to lose data. But for beginners or the inexperienced using RAID features that now come as standard on mainboards (something relatively new to th home PC market) it's got to be worth a mention, no?

Yeah but when people are setting up a normal PC build, I never hear anybody remind the person to factor in backing up their data, its like its assumed of people running a normal set up, yet people who want to set up a RAID 0 "must be careless" therefore need reminding. There is NO situation EVER where you shouldn't be backing up important data on a computer, regardless of set up. It's just becoming clíched that whenever somebody announces they are putting together a RAID0 somebody has to scramble in and warn them to be prepared to lose everything, and to back up until the cows come home.

Fact of the matter is you are warning someone on the basis of probability, a probability which you have not calculated but made assumptions on. Say he is setting up a RAID 0 with 2 drives that have been tested to have a failure rate in 5 years of 1/2million. So the probability of setting up 2 drives in a RAID 0 of them failing in 5 years is 1/1million. Would you feel the need to warn a person against something with those odds? My point, there are odds that when I get on a plane, probably higher than that of a HDD failing, it will crash. But when I post a thread about going on a flight nobody feels the need to warn me to take out life insurence due to the assumed probabilities of such an event.

Also warrenties are not the defacto lifespan of a drive, but for a company to offer such a thing they have to be pretty sure of themselves that their drives won't fail within that timeframe, otherwise it would be company suicide. WD even offer 5 year warrenties on some of their drives.

SwampThing

I hear what you're saying and you've make some good points but I still think, for users who can now easily setup a radiset and maybe don't understand exactly what they're doing, it's worth a mention.

If it bugs you that much, well maybe you should avoid threads dealing with RAID. It obviously upsets you a great deal and that can't be healthy.

Gillie

Disk space is for nothing these days!
IMO you need a pretty damn good reason NOT to use RAID (At least mirroring).

That thing about the warrenty means feck all as previously stated!
Warrenty's don't mean shít!