ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

[Phaze13]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

Glad to see you are still working on this! Sorry to not reply sooner, been doing... stuff. [IMG]file:///C:/Users/With/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]

No problem, you have been very informative.

So what do you think of this?
Before I did the registry edit I wanted to check if the the few hundred gigs of data I wrote to the drive was on both disk. So I checked and it was.

So I followed the registry edits. msachi was already 0, iaStorV was 3 (changed to 0), and didn't have the 3rd iastor. Rebooted changedSATA Mode to RAID. Had the option to get into RAID Configure, did that and the Volume I set up before was still there. Restarted into windows, got the message to restart again before these changes take place. All Drive showed up in Windows with all files still there.

However when I reboot the RAID status shows Rebuild. If I go into the RAID Configure it says "Volumes with the status Rebuild will be rebuilt within the Operating System".

Disk Manager Properties for the RAID Volume now show the name of the Volume.
However when I tried to run the Intel Rapid Storage Technology it seemed like it didn't launch. Tried to run it again and I got an error something like 2 instances of this cannot run at the same time. I closed it and tried to run it again and now I get the message "An unknown error occurred while running this application. If the problem persist, please retort your computer or try reinstalling the application".
After a restart the same thing happens with the Intel Rapid Storage Technology when I try to run it.

Everything seems to be OK, I reinstalled the Intel Rapid Storage Technology from the MB disk and all is well. Says my system is functioning normally and I can see the RAID SATA_Array_0000 when I run Intel Rapid Storage Technology now.

Only concern is the Rebuild status. How long should I give the OS to rebuild?
Think I'm good to go or should I start over and install the OS in RAID config?

Thanks again for all the help!!

[Phaze13]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

Small update:
Well all seemed well however I'm going to break the RAID 1 Array, format the disks and recreate it. Was hoping to avoid this.

The array rebuilt itself last night and the status is now normal however after setting up iTunes library last night it list 2 tracks for every file. I'm being it has to do with the fact I copied the files over when it was in AHCI mode but still writing to both disks. Do who knows what is really going on with the files system the way it is and how other software will deal with it.

[parsec]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

Small update:
Well all seemed well however I'm going to break the RAID 1 Array, format the disks and recreate it. Was hoping to avoid this.

The array rebuilt itself last night and the status is now normal however after setting up iTunes library last night it list 2 tracks for every file. I'm being it has to do with the fact I copied the files over when it was in AHCI mode but still writing to both disks. Do who knows what is really going on with the files system the way it is and how other software will deal with it.

If you've created the RAID 1 array after copying files to the drives in AHCI mode, nothing will remain on the drives, all those files are gone. The RAID 1 array was blank after it was created.

The point of RAID 1 is data redundancy. With two disks, one is the master, the other the recovery drive. Whatever file is put on the master, is also written to the recovery drive. So you have two copies of each file, song, whatever. If the master drive fails, all your data is on the recovery drive. That is how RAID 1 works.

When you say two tracks for every file, I assume you mean two entries for each single song? If so, iTunes is probably reading both drives, and listing exactly what it finds, the same song on both drives. Is iTunes RAID 1 aware, or needs to be configured to not look at the recovery drive? I don't use it, I don't know. It sure sounds like that is what is happening.

[Phaze13]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

No, the raid array was created, then without deleting it I changed to AHCI mode then copied the files, which oddly enough still wrote the files to both drives even though the SATA controller was no longer in RAID.

Any way all is good. Just unistalled iTunes and deleted the library files from the iTunes program folder on the C: drive and reinstalled iTunes and reloaded the library.

Probably could have just deleted the files from iTunes program folder and reloaded the library without uninstalling iTunes.

[Youraagh]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

I found a bug in this bios, you have to set boot CSM Launch storage opROM policy to uefi only, this enables Intel rapid storage in advanced, so you can set up the raid. To boot you need to set boot CSM back to legacy only. Hope this helps!

[parsec]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

I found a bug in this bios, you have to set boot CSM Launch storage opROM policy to uefi only, this enables Intel rapid storage in advanced, so you can set up the raid. To boot you need to set boot CSM back to legacy only. Hope this helps!

Not a bug at all. The Intel IRST configuration option in Advanced is only available for use with Windows installations configured for UEFI booting. You can get the IRST configuration option to be displayed by doing what you said, but unless your Windows installation was configured for UEFI booting, it will fail to boot when you use the UEFI OROM with a Legacy OROM Windows installation.

The usual (legacy) way to access the IRST configuration option is to enter Ctrl i (press the Ctrl and i keys at the same time) during POST, which will then display a similar RAID configuration screen, assuming the SATA mode is set to RAID. That method has existed for years, the IRST configuration option in the UEFI/BIOS is a new feature, that is useable only as I described above.

[Youraagh]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

There's at least two bugs, the OS is irrelevant.
To enable the creation of the RAID array in BIOS you need to select UEFI.
To 'see' the RAID array as a boot device in BIOS you need to select Legacy.

Why can't you configure the RAID in legacy mode?
Why isn't the Intel configuration (Ctrl-I) utility available?

[parsec]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

There's at least two bugs, the OS is irrelevant.

You're not reading or understanding what I wrote, "... Windows installations configured for UEFI booting."

To enable the creation of the RAID array in BIOS you need to select UEFI.

The Intel RAID configuration option in the UEFI is a new feature that did not exist in any BIOS or UEFI until Intel provided it for use when UEFI booting, and when using Windows 8 with Ultra Fast boot.

To 'see' the RAID array as a boot device in BIOS you need to select Legacy.

Of course, it was not formatted as a UEFI booting device. You can use a UEFI RAID configuration option to create the array, but if it is not formatted for UEFI booting (GPT, EFI system partition) it can only be recognized as Legacy.

Why can't you configure the RAID in legacy mode?
Why isn't the Intel configuration (Ctrl-I) utility available?

It should be, that would be a bug if true.

[Youraagh]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

What part of there is no OS yet aren't you understanding?

[parsec]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

What part of there is no OS yet aren't you understanding?

So we've gone from the OS is irrelevant to no OS... I'm not understanding the part where you just said no OS.

If you have CSM Launch storage opROM policy set to uefi only, then Ctrl I won't work.

The three statements in my previous post after the Windows installations configured for UEFI booting statement still stand, and have no mention of an OS.

With the UEFI Option ROM enabled, with the Option ROM policy option you used, you won't see any drives or RAID volumes in the boot order list that do not have a UEFI bootable partition configuration. That is simply how the UEFI Option ROM works. Any RAID volumes created with either utility are unformatted, and have no partitions on them.

One UEFI booting PC I have has five drives connected to the Intel SATA controller, and only one with an UEFI booting OS installation on it. How many drives are listed in the Boot Order? Only one, the OS drive. Switch to Legacy booting, and I'll see all five drives. The UEFI Option ROM method may seem strange, but what is the point of listing unbootable drives when booting a PC? This is also why I was thinking about an OS on a drive.

You don't need to select the target OS drive in the boot order when installing an OS, you select it during the installation. The device used to install the OS is all that needs to be selected in the boot order.

[Youraagh]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

I'm the only guy here who has a working hardware RAID booting on this motherboard, one guy even went so far as to make a software RAID.
All because the BIOS is terribly designed and you have to switch between modes and reboot the PC three times to get it working.
Just thought I'd share the answer...

[parsec]

Re: ASRock H87M-ITX SATA Mode: AHCI vs. RAID

All I'm saying is, using the RAID configuration option in the UEFI by enabling the UEFI only Option ROM, while aiming for a Legacy Windows installation, will cause confusing results like you described.

If the usual Ctrl I RAID configuration utility does not appear when using the Legacy Option ROM, and the SATA mode set to RAID, then something is wrong, and that would be a bug. I'm not rejecting this possibility, but a few things need to be checked first.

Just checking, you can't use any of the Fast Boot options if you need to use the Ctrl I RAID utility, Fast Boot must be set to Disabled.

If the Ctrl I RAID utility won't work, try clearing the CMOS/BIOS first, then go into UEFI and set the SATA mode to RAID, save and exit, and try Ctrl I again.

Since you have no OS yet, the keyboard should be a simple one that does not require any drivers, like fancy gaming keyboards. Use the USB 2.0 ports on the I/O panel to connect the keyboard, whether wired or wireless. That sounds weird, I know, but I've had to do that myself with a new system and no OS installed. It's even worse on older boards, a BIOS clear would cause my wireless keyboard to be non-functional until a full boot.