[asdfghjklzaq]

Hi, i am having trouble in starting up my computer. i tried looking around the site for help but i can't find any.

first when i turn on my computer it goes to screen saying:
Controller bus#00. device#IF, function#02, 03 ports 03 devices

Port-00 hard disk, ST3160812AS
(this drive is controlled by the RAid Bios)
Port-01 hard disk, ST3160812AS
(this drive is controlled by the RAID Bios)
Port-02 CD ROM, HL-DT-STDVD+-RW GSA- H31N

AHCI Bios installed

Raid Volumes:
ID /Name /Level / Strip / Size /STatus /Bootable
0 /ARRAY / RAID 0 (stripe) /128 kb / 298.0 GB /Failed /No

Physical Disks

Port / Drive Model /Serial# / Size / Type or status (vol ID)
0 / ST3160812AS / 5LSFT2NJ / 149.0 GB /Non-RAID Disk
1 / ST3160812AS / 5LSFS5G3 / 149.0 GB /MEmber Disk (0)

Floppy diskette seek failure
missing operating system

THis is what it said on my computer and i cannot go any further and i can't fix it. i tried to install the operating system disk that dell gave me but i can not install it properaly becasue 'Windows is unable to find a system volume that meets its criteria for installation' i chose the only option and i cant find any other one and can not create one. the thing that i trying to install it in Disk 1 unallocated space of 298GB.

I tried other disk that Dell gave me but they do not seem to work.

Please help me on this problem. i am getting fustrated.

i am using Dell Dimenstion 9200, vista home premiuin.i look in the boot sequence and it said that 2 out of the four things are 'not presence' and i think it is the first two. also my computer does not have a thing to put floppy disks.

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that system only came with one hard drive...
did you add a second hard drive...if not...you can't use RAID with one drive...requires a minimum of 2 hard drives...
go back into the bios and delete the raid setup...

[happyrock]

that system only came with one hard drive...
did you add a second hard drive...if not...you can't use RAID with one drive...requires a minimum of 2 hard drives...
go back into the bios and delete the raid setup...

[The Admiral]

Also, it looks like this computer does have two hard drives, running in RAID 0 for performance.

Port-00 hard disk, ST3160812AS
(this drive is controlled by the RAID BIOS)
Port-01 hard disk, ST3160812AS
(this drive is controlled by the RAID BIOS)

The floppy diskette failure and operating system message just say that your computer is trying to load Windows from a floppy. Your computer doesn't have a floppy drive, and it wouldn't have Windows on the floppy anyways. You need to disable the floppy drive (called the diskette drive) in the BIOS. Do this by turning on your computer and tapping the <F2> key to get into the System Setup. Arrow down to "Drives" and press Enter, then arrow down to "Diskette Drive" and press Enter. Left arrow to "Off" and press Enter, turning the floppy drive off. Press <Esc> to exit setup, arrow to "Save/Exit", and press Enter. Your computer will reboot and should let you boot again.
Don't play with the settings in any of the other Drives options.

Edited by The Admiral, 26 July 2008 - 11:01 AM.

[asdfghjklzaq]

thank you for your help. but it is still not working. it is the same as before but the thing saying about the floppy disk is not there anymore though. the missing operating system is still there and i try to install windows again and the same error message appears.

that system only came with one hard drive...did you add a second hard drive...if not...you can't use RAID with one drive...requires a minimum of 2 hard drives...
go back into the bios and delete the raid setup...

and how do you delete the raid thing i do not know how

Edited by asdfghjklzaq, 27 July 2008 - 06:52 AM.

[The Admiral]

Do not delete the RAID setup. Currently, your data is shared between two drives, and that setup is called RAID 0. If you delete that RAID setup, your data will be unrecoverable for less than a thousand dollars.

First, I need to know if your computer's hard drive is the exact same way as it was when you first bought it from Dell. If it is, your hard drive will have four partitions, and the system partition is the third.

Boot to your CD like you are going to install Windows, but instead of pressing the "Install Now" button, select "Repair your computer", then Next, and you'll see a list of five recovery tools. Select "Command Prompt" and enter each line of bold code into this command prompt, pressing Enter after each line.

diskpart

select disk 0

list partition
Now you'll see a list of partitions on your hard drive. Look for the one that looks like the right size, should be around 260 GB. Be sure to look under Size and not Offset.
When you have found the partition that is about 260 GB, note the partition number at the beginning of the line, we'll use it in the next step.

select partition 3
Partition 3, in this case, is my partition with Vista on it. Simply put in the number that we got in the previous step. If nothing changed from when you got the computer, it should be 3, but use the number from the list partition.

active

exit

exit
This will get you back to the screen with the recovery tools. Press the Restart button, and your computer should restart and let you back into Windows.

Edited by The Admiral, 27 July 2008 - 08:48 PM.

[asdfghjklzaq]

no good. i try doing that multiple times now but still no luck. things were going well until i wrote list partition and it shows up with only one and the size is only 149GB. and when i try to write select partition 1 it goes to say 'there is no partition selected. i tried it with 3 but still doesn't work. my friend tried to fix it for me and i think that he might have deleted the RAID set up but i am not quite sure.

[The Admiral]

Looking at your original post, it looks like there is a RAID volume set up, but it has failed.

Do you have any critical data on your system you would like to save?
When all is said and done, would you like a RAID setup?

[asdfghjklzaq]

there is nothing special in my computer that i need. i could easily install the stuff inside of it and all of my work is on my pendrive. as long as it is fixed i will be fine. so what do i need to do to the RAID setup.

[The Admiral]

RAID 0 is called striping - where data is shared between two drives. This can improve speed, but if one hard drive goes bad or the volume is corrupted, you will lose all of your data (which is what happened in this case.)
RAID 1 is called mirroring - where data is mirrored across two hard drives, and if one drive fails you still have your data. This comes with a loss of performance though, because each piece of data must be written twice.

Which RAID setup would you like?

[asdfghjklzaq]

RAID 0 - i prefer the speed over the safety of my file

[The Admiral]

First, let's make sure the RAID Volume is gone. Performing the following steps will erase all data currently residing on the hard drives.

Press <Ctrl><I> when you are prompted to enter the Intel RAID Option ROM utility.
Use the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Delete RAID Volume and press <Enter>.
Use the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight the RAID volume you want to delete and press <Delete>.
Press <Y> to confirm the deletion of the RAID volume.

This will delete the previous RAID Volume. Now let's create a new one, RAID 0.

Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Create RAID Volume and press <Enter>.
Enter a RAID volume name or accept the default and press <Enter>.
Press the up- and down-arrow keys to select RAID0(Stripe) and press <Enter>.
Press <Enter> to create the volume.
Press <Y> to confirm that you want to create the RAID volume.
Confirm that the correct volume configuration is displayed on the main Intel RAID Option ROM utility screen.
Press the up- and down-arrow keys to select Exit and press <Enter>.

This will create the RAID volume. From there, you should be able to reinstall the OS.

[joelg88]

I believe that there is a driver that needs to be installed so that Windows can Recognize a RAID Configuration.

[The Admiral]

Because this is a hardware-based RAID configuration, Windows does not need any special drivers to recognize the setup. However, if you would like to view information about your configuration, like status, size, and health, simply download the RAID driver from support.dell.com.

[stettybet0]

You might want to stay away from setting back up that RAID, as the Dimension 9200 has known issues with RAID and Vista.

http://www.theregist...ell_vista_raid/
http://www.dellcommu...hread.id=124682
http://www.vistax64....me-premium.html

[The Admiral]

Old news. Resolved with BIOS, driver, and application update.