[Troy]

When setting the priority in the BIOS, that is what will always be the default boot order.

When pressing F12 during POST, this allows you to select the boot device for that single boot only (i.e. temporary).

Are you trying to boot off a floppy drive? Is the floppy drive a bootable disk?

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When pressing F12 during POST, this allows you to select the boot device for that single boot only (i.e. temporary).

I didn't know that it was temporary so this is ok then.

Are you trying to boot off a floppy drive? Is the floppy drive a bootable disk?

I'm not trying to boot off the fdd, except for the rare occasion that I'll be updating the BIOS.

When setting the priority in the BIOS, that is what will always be the default boot order.

The boot order is fdd, cd/dvd drive, hdd. When the pc boots up, it says that it's booting up from the cd/dvd drive. I thought that was unusual since there aren't any cd's in the drive. The pc is working with no problems though.


I've started to install my SATA drives last night. I installed the drivers for the SATA expansion card but when I connect a drive to it, the drive isn't recognized. I'm going to try to install the drivers again. Right now, the pc's formatting a hdd. It's almost 7:30 am and my bedtime so I'll let you know how it goes later this evening when I get up.

[Denisejm]

When pressing F12 during POST, this allows you to select the boot device for that single boot only (i.e. temporary).

I didn't know that it was temporary so this is ok then.

Are you trying to boot off a floppy drive? Is the floppy drive a bootable disk?

I'm not trying to boot off the fdd, except for the rare occasion that I'll be updating the BIOS.

When setting the priority in the BIOS, that is what will always be the default boot order.

The boot order is fdd, cd/dvd drive, hdd. When the pc boots up, it says that it's booting up from the cd/dvd drive. I thought that was unusual since there aren't any cd's in the drive. The pc is working with no problems though.


I've started to install my SATA drives last night. I installed the drivers for the SATA expansion card but when I connect a drive to it, the drive isn't recognized. I'm going to try to install the drivers again. Right now, the pc's formatting a hdd. It's almost 7:30 am and my bedtime so I'll let you know how it goes later this evening when I get up.

[Denisejm]

I tried to install the drivers for the SATA 8-port adapter card again. I put the driver for Windows (the only non-RAID driver) on a floppy disk (required) and went into Boot Menu and set first boot as floppy. I rebooted and received the message "NTLDR is missing. Press any key to restart." So it wouldn't install the driver off the floppy disk and it won't install the driver from the CD that came with the card. Without the driver(s), the card doesn't work. The drives that I connect to it don't show up in My Computer or Disk Management. Could someone tell me what I could do?

[Denisejm]

My computer recognizes the RocketRaid adapter card and I can get into RocketRaid's BIOS. The two drives that I have connected to the adapter card are recongized in my pc's BIOS. When my pc boots up, it doesn't go any further than a black screen right after Windows black screen with the scrolling bar. It doesn't boot to my desktop. My C drive is on a WD drive. In BIOS, one of the Seagate's that I connected to the adapter card is shown as a Master IDE drive. When I had only one drive connected to the adapter card, it booted to my desktop but the drive wasn't recognized by My Computer or Disk Management. I connected the second drive tonight, thinking that maybe the first drive wasn't working properly. That's when the pc began to not boot to Windows desktop. Does anyone have an idea about what's going on here?

Edited by Denisejm, 04 March 2009 - 06:51 PM.

[Denisejm]

I just installed all the drives that will fit into the case. Some are connected to the yellow mobo ports. They show up in My Computer.

Some of the other drives were connected to the purple ports on the mobo, but they don't show up in My Computer or Disk Management.

The rest of the drives were connected to the 8-port SATA adapter card, and they don't show up in My Computer or Disk Management either.


I read the RocketRaid manual for the 8-port SATA adapter card. It said to wait to install the driver until all the drives had been installed. Since they're all installed, I put the driver on a floppy disk, set Boot Menu to Floppy, put the floppy in the fdd, but I received a message that said "Non-system disk. Please remove and press enter to continue."

How else can I get the 8-port SATA adapter card driver installed?

I also don't understand why the drives connected to the purple ports on the mobo don't work. I hope someone can help me with these problems.

[Troy]

It sounds like you're having driver issues.

If you already have Windows installed, you'll want to install the drivers from within Windows. The drivers on the floppy disk would only be for assisting the Windows installation disc to help it find the right hard drive for initial installation (so this doesn't apply to you).

You can download the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website, or (as all this stuff is new) you should have the installation discs to use. The purple ports use a different driver from the yellow ones, and obviously the discrete card needs its own too.

I do wonder about that manual, though. It makes sense to install the drivers first and get the card working, then add the hard drives after.

Troy

[Denisejm]

Hi Troy . . .

That's my problem. I can't get the drivers installed, either from a floppy that I made of them or from the CD. I changed the Boot Menu to Floppy and Floppy is first in the boot order sequence in BIOS. I still received the message that I needed to remove the disk to proceed. I've flashed the BIOS several times in my present pc using floppy disks with no problems. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that when my pc boots up, it always asks if I want to boot from CD/DVD drive. I don't do anything and it then proceeds to boot to the Windows desktop.

I went to the RocketRaid site and the drivers there also have to be put on a floppy disk.

The purple ports use a different driver from the yellow ones, and obviously the discrete card needs its own too.

I installed all the drivers on the mobo disk. It doesn't have separate drivers for the purple ports. I also installed the drivers for the graphics card.

Even though RocketRaid shows up at startup, it's not listed in Device Manager.


I have no more space for attachments. This is the driver README:

Readme file for RocketRAID 232x SATA Controller
Windows Device Drivers

Copyright © HighPoint Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Last updated on Sep 12, 2006

Please review this file for important information about compatibility issues and differences in operation that were discovered after our product manuals were
created. In case of conflict among various parts of the documentation set, this file contains the most current information.

Note: The latest firmware and product documentation will be available for download at http://www.highpoint-tech.com

This file is divided into the following major sections:

1. Software Version
2. Files Listing
3. Revision History
4. Device Mapping Order
5. Known Problems

1. Software Version
====================

Driver version: v1.04

Operating Systems:
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows 2003
Windows Vista
Windows x64 Edition

GUI Compatibility:
This driver can work with HighPoint Storage Management Software v3.11 or later. (RAID50 support requires v3.12 or later).

2. Files Listing
=================
|- Readme.txt This file
|_ win_2000 <DIR> Windows 2000 driver
|_ win_xp <DIR> Windows XP driver
|_ win_2003 <DIR> Windows 2003/Vista driver
|_ x64 <DIR> Windows x64 driver
|_ disk1 Driver disk label
\_ txtsetup.oem Windows text mode setup file


4. Device mapping order
========================

The device mapping order in system is same as BIOS setting utility. The disk marked as "BOOT" will always be mapped as first SCSI disk. Please keep it in
mind when installing Windows NT/2K/XP, otherwise OS may be installed to wrong location.

6. Known Problems
==================

* Install OS to devices attached to RocketRAID 232x controller

Before installing OS to devices attached to RocketRAID 232x controller, you must remove the drives connected to other controllers from your system
temporarily. After OS installation complete, you can put them back. (I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO THIS)

* Moving disks to other controllers

When you want to use disks previously attached to RocketRAID 232x controller on other controllers, please first delete any array information on the
disks. Otherwise your data may be lost when you want to put it back later.

Edited by Denisejm, 07 March 2009 - 02:19 PM.

[Denisejm]

Sorry . . . double posted

Edited by Denisejm, 07 March 2009 - 05:00 PM.

[Denisejm]

This is from the README for the RocketRaid controller card BIOS:

1. Software Version
====================

BIOS version: v1.04

2. Files Listing
=================
Readme.txt This file
load.exe Flash utility for DOS
hptflash.exe Flash utility for Windows
rr2320.104 BIOS image file

3. Updating BIOS
====================

The flash utility (load.exe) is used to update controller BIOS. load.exe must run under pure DOS environment. It cannot run in a DOS box on Windows system.

You should boot from a DOS floppy without any device drivers. <---- I CREATED AN MS-DOS START-UP DISK AND PUT THE LOAD.EXE FILE ON IT
The following command line is used to launch the flash utility:

load.exe [options] [filename] <---IT BOOTED TO A: IN DOS BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT FILE NAME TO GIVE IT. I TRIED LOAD.EXE /Q BIOS 1.04, BIOS V1.04, AND LOAD.EXE BUT NONE OF THEM WORKED. ANY IDEAS?
Command line options:

/Q Silent mode. The program will not prompt for you to confirm the flashing process. <----- I CHOSE THIS METOD

/V Verbose mode. The program will show more detailed information about the flashing process.

/S <bus> Only search adapters on specified PCI bus. <bus> specifies the PCI bus number (a value from 0 to 255).

/D <device> Only search adapters for specified PCI device number. <device> specifies the PCI device number (a value from 0 to 31).

/C Configure BIOS parameters before updating.


The Windows flash utility can be used to update controller BIOS under Windows. It requires the controller driver to be installed first.

I then tried to use the image file but it has a .104 extension. I couldn't find a way to convert it to an .iso. I burned it the way it is but it wouldn't install. I didn't think it would but I felt is was worth a shot.

Edited by Denisejm, 07 March 2009 - 05:01 PM.

[anzenketh]

Denisejm,

Hello, Troy asked me to take a look at this for him he got a bit busy. To play a bit of catchup it looks like you are having the issue with not all of your drives being seen.

Do you have anything in device manager with a X a ? or a !? If so what does it say?

[Denisejm]

Hi tuxmaster,

Thanks for jumping in.

I don't have my sound system connected to it yet so it shows these with yellow questions marks:

? Audio Devices
  ? Audio Devices on High Definition Audio bus
  ? Audio Devices on High Definition Audio bus
  ? SCSI Controller

[anzenketh]

It looks like due to your SCSI controler drivers are not installed that would be why your hard drives are not being recodnised. This is not a BIOS update. This should be a exe file that you download from your motherboard or SCSI manufactures website.

I have not read though your entire thread yet. What is the manufacture of the motherboard your choose?

[Denisejm]

It's a Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6, but the Gigabyte driver files aren't .exe. http://www.gigabyte....?ProductID=2831

I couldn't find anything for SCSI on the disk or at the site.

The drives are installed under the IDE format so that each drive will be assigned it's own letter drive. I don't want to set up an array.

Edited by Denisejm, 07 March 2009 - 09:00 PM.

[Troy]

I'm pretty busy, so grateful that Tuxmaster can jump in. Between us all, we should get somewhere. I haven't seen James around in a while, I wonder if he's still following this thread.

The only thing that stands out reading that manual is the quote:

6. Known Problems
==================

* Install OS to devices attached to RocketRAID 232x controller

Before installing OS to devices attached to RocketRAID 232x controller, you must remove the drives connected to other controllers from your system
temporarily. After OS installation complete, you can put them back. (I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO THIS)

Guess what? You don't want to do this. You already have the OS installed by using the integrated ports on the motherboard. You only want this controller to expand the number of SATA drives connected to your computer. If the RocketRAID card is installed and listed correctly from within Windows Device Manager, then we can move on to looking at why the system won't boot when you add the hard drives to it.

My guess is that when you add all the hard drives to it, the BIOS recognises there is a HDD controller and sets to boot from it. Make sure your original drive is listed as number one hard drive (second device - with CD-ROM being first). You should find a menu in the BIOS called HDD Boot Priority or similar, this is where you'll need to make sure the original drive is listed first here.

Have a look-see and report back with any findings / settings you think may be relevant. There might also be a BIOS-style setup menu for the RocketRAID adapter card... It's possible some configuration is needed in there.

Cheers

Troy

[Denisejm]

Hi Troy,

If the RocketRAID card is installed and listed correctly from within Windows Device Manager, then we can move on to looking at why the system won't boot when you add the hard drives to it.

It's not listed in Device Manager. The RocketRaid screen appears during boot-up and I can access its BIOS though. I don't know why it's not listed in Device Manager or why I don't get a "Found New Hardware" message each time I boot up since it's not listed Device Manager.

Make sure your original drive is listed as number one hard drive

Right now, Floppy is first, CD/DVD drive is second and hard drive (drive C) is third. I'll remove all the SATA connections that I made except for Drive C, select it as #1 drive, boot sequence  =  1. CD/DVD,  2. Drive C,  3. Floppy drive. Right now, the #1 drive is the CD/DVD drive.

There might also be a BIOS-style setup menu for the RocketRAID adapter card... It's possible some configuration is needed in there.

There is a BIOS setup menu for the RocketRaid adapter card. I've looked through it but didn't find any setting that would help.

I'll delete some attachments tomorrow and take some pics of both BIOS's and Device Manager so you can see what's there.