A8V Deluxe not finding HD

[pingu]

Hi everyone, I just put together a PC using the above mobo, an Athlon 3500 and a Maxtor 160GB SATA HD. The problem is that when I load the RAID BIOS utility to give the HD a RAID Array (it hasn't got one atm) the menu options are barred and the only thing it will let me do is press 'Esc' and quit. Its really fustrating cos the option to set up an Array is there, but it won't let me do it.

I'm using the Asus A8V Delux, its just one HD. Now I've got an array set up (1+stripe I think, I used FastBuild) and the mobo manual is now telling me to use the FDISK utility to format the drive. The Windows XP set up still isn't detecting the drive atm and I don't know where this FDISK utility is. In my BIOS, I can Enable or Disable the OnBoard Promise Controller, and either run it in RAID or Onboard IDE mode.

Any help would be very much appreciated, I've got a new copy of Doom 3 here and its going to waste

 

[ewilson248]

I am pretty sure that HW RAID REQUIRES a minimum of 2 drives.. thats the whole point - half of the data on each drive / twice the speed... all other RAID is software..
BTW RAID = Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
so anyway.. you need a matched set of 2 identical drives I think.

 

[The Terminator]

Ya, you need 2 drives man, exactly what ewilson248 said.

 

[blahblahblah]

Thought somebody would have told you need SATA drivers. Windows XP doesn't natively support them.

Here are the instructions to do it right.

You have to install SATA drivers before you install windows. Your SATA drivers are probably on your motherboard CD. Put those SATA drivers onto a floppy.

Once Win2K/Xp is setting up, at the first blue screen hit "F6" to load a thrid party mass storage driver. If you miss this, you will be warned that there are no harddrives attached. Restart the machine and Tap the "F6" Key a few times as the CD is spinning up. Windows will go through its install routine, then prompt you for an OEM disk for your MASS STORAGE CONTROLLER. Insert the floppy you created in the steps above, and load the first driver on the list. <Purposely skipped part about RAID> LEAVE THIS FLOPPY IN THE DRIVE!

Let 2K/XP do the partiiton and isntall. Choose isntall to the empty disk & choose NTFS FULL format, not quick. If you don't have any other hard disks on your regular IDE channels, there can be a LONG pause after the format, be patient.

IF YOU HAD THE LONG PAUSE DURING INSTALL, you will have the same booting into 2K/XP. Once the install is all done, go into the BIOS, and change "AUTO" to "NONE" for all channels wherer there are no devices connected. NOTE: This is for your regular IDE channels, not your RAID array.

Let windows do its thing. Follow these instructions even if you don't have a RAID array