I've got this board K8T Neo2-F V2.0 and it says raid 0 supported but how? it
has no bios for it and no way to set it up or anything. no drivers for it
either.
AMD wrote:
> I've got this board K8T Neo2-F V2.0 and it says raid 0 supported but
> how? it has no bios for it and no way to set it up or anything. no
> drivers for it either.
>
There is a floppy image for F6 RAID driver install here, as well as a manual.
The manual is not much to look at.
An Asus A8V motherboard is the nearest equivalent to your board. In the
manual for the A8V, it says:
"Press <tab> during POST, to enter the RAID BIOS"
Give that a try and see if it responds. The RAID BIOS has to be enabled in the
BIOS setup screen first, before the attempt to POST and press the <tab> key.
If the RAID BIOS is not enabled, then pressing <tab> won't do anything.
The RAID driver on the floppy, would be if you were installing
an OS on the array. A separate package may be available, with a
RAID management window for use while Windows is running.
VIA has a section on their site, about the storage interfaces
on their chipsets.
The following two documents are a bit better. The first is a
document specific to VIA RAID for chips like 8237R. The reference
to 6410 and 6420, is the logic block that does the RAID. VIA also
made chips with just those logic blocks in them. The second doc
is the A8V, a board similar to yours. PDF page 109 and section
"5.6 RAID Configurations" has some info.
If installing the OS on the RAID, use the MSI "floppy package"
mentioned above. That will give you a floppy to use during the F6
phase of the Windows install. The Viaarena download page will have
a V-RAID driver, if you only wanted to add a couple of disks as
data disks (i.e. if the OS was already on an IDE< and you wanted
to add a RAID 0 made of two SATA disks). The V-RAID may also have
a management window, for examining the status of the disks while
running in Windows.
Is RAID worth it ? Not really. It may seem fun at first, if you run
a few benchmarks. But the day you turn on the computer, and the
RAID BIOS pops up and says "Array Failed", that is when you'll
regret the choice. If there is any data of value on a RAID like
that, back it up.
"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message news:f9vr6p$ia1$1@aioe.org...
> AMD wrote:
>> I've got this board K8T Neo2-F V2.0 and it says raid 0 supported but how?
>> it has no bios for it and no way to set it up or anything. no drivers for
>> it either.
>>
>
> There is a floppy image for F6 RAID driver install here, as well as a
> manual.
> The manual is not much to look at.
>
> http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...=1&prod_no=208
>
> An Asus A8V motherboard is the nearest equivalent to your board. In the
> manual for the A8V, it says:
>
> "Press <tab> during POST, to enter the RAID BIOS"
>
> Give that a try and see if it responds. The RAID BIOS has to be enabled in
> the
> BIOS setup screen first, before the attempt to POST and press the <tab>
> key.
> If the RAID BIOS is not enabled, then pressing <tab> won't do anything.
>
> The RAID driver on the floppy, would be if you were installing
> an OS on the array. A separate package may be available, with a
> RAID management window for use while Windows is running.
>
> VIA has a section on their site, about the storage interfaces
> on their chipsets.
>
> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...=58&ACatID=128
>
> "VIA V-RAID"
> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...icleID=467&P=2
>
> The following two documents are a bit better. The first is a
> document specific to VIA RAID for chips like 8237R. The reference
> to 6410 and 6420, is the logic block that does the RAID. VIA also
> made chips with just those logic blocks in them. The second doc
> is the A8V, a board similar to yours. PDF page 109 and section
> "5.6 RAID Configurations" has some info.
>
> http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/VT6420.pdf
> http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/.../e1994_a8v.pdf
>
> If installing the OS on the RAID, use the MSI "floppy package"
> mentioned above. That will give you a floppy to use during the F6
> phase of the Windows install. The Viaarena download page will have
> a V-RAID driver, if you only wanted to add a couple of disks as
> data disks (i.e. if the OS was already on an IDE< and you wanted
> to add a RAID 0 made of two SATA disks). The V-RAID may also have
> a management window, for examining the status of the disks while
> running in Windows.
>
> Is RAID worth it ? Not really. It may seem fun at first, if you run
> a few benchmarks. But the day you turn on the computer, and the
> RAID BIOS pops up and says "Array Failed", that is when you'll
> regret the choice. If there is any data of value on a RAID like
> that, back it up.
>
> HTH,
> Paul
Paul, thanks a million for the msi raid driver to use on a floppy.. The BIOS
does not give any option to enter a raid tool to set it up etc. MSI told me
to flash it with the newest. If it did not then after the flash they think
it's a bad board. I personally don't think it does this at all and there is
nothing wrong with it. So how do I know for sure? The box and manual do not
say anything about raid other then it supports software raid 0 and 1. The
tech that installed the board for me said probably you install windows on
one drive and install raid software on it then it will set up the raid 0 or
1 for you and copy the data to make the raid work correctly.
I enable the raid in the bios and flashed the bios. Still no option to
config the raid in the bios. So I'm hesitant to rma it because i don't think
anything is wrong other then you'd think all raid would have a raid tool in
the bios. Maybe this don't. I don't know.
This ABS Ultimate M5-64 computer came with the Asus A8V deluxe. I can't find
that to buy it anywhere from a store or I would have. It's a WAY better and
more fully featured board.
AMD wrote:
> "Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message news:f9vr6p$ia1$1@aioe.org...
>> AMD wrote:
>>> I've got this board K8T Neo2-F V2.0 and it says raid 0 supported but
>>> how? it has no bios for it and no way to set it up or anything. no
>>> drivers for it either.
>>>
>>
>> There is a floppy image for F6 RAID driver install here, as well as a
>> manual.
>> The manual is not much to look at.
>>
>> http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...=1&prod_no=208
>>
>>
>> An Asus A8V motherboard is the nearest equivalent to your board. In the
>> manual for the A8V, it says:
>>
>> "Press <tab> during POST, to enter the RAID BIOS"
>>
>> Give that a try and see if it responds. The RAID BIOS has to be
>> enabled in the
>> BIOS setup screen first, before the attempt to POST and press the
>> <tab> key.
>> If the RAID BIOS is not enabled, then pressing <tab> won't do anything.
>>
>> The RAID driver on the floppy, would be if you were installing
>> an OS on the array. A separate package may be available, with a
>> RAID management window for use while Windows is running.
>>
>> VIA has a section on their site, about the storage interfaces
>> on their chipsets.
>>
>> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...=58&ACatID=128
>>
>> "VIA V-RAID"
>> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...icleID=467&P=2
>>
>> The following two documents are a bit better. The first is a
>> document specific to VIA RAID for chips like 8237R. The reference
>> to 6410 and 6420, is the logic block that does the RAID. VIA also
>> made chips with just those logic blocks in them. The second doc
>> is the A8V, a board similar to yours. PDF page 109 and section
>> "5.6 RAID Configurations" has some info.
>>
>> http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/VT6420.pdf
>> http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/.../e1994_a8v.pdf
>>
>> If installing the OS on the RAID, use the MSI "floppy package"
>> mentioned above. That will give you a floppy to use during the F6
>> phase of the Windows install. The Viaarena download page will have
>> a V-RAID driver, if you only wanted to add a couple of disks as
>> data disks (i.e. if the OS was already on an IDE< and you wanted
>> to add a RAID 0 made of two SATA disks). The V-RAID may also have
>> a management window, for examining the status of the disks while
>> running in Windows.
>>
>> Is RAID worth it ? Not really. It may seem fun at first, if you run
>> a few benchmarks. But the day you turn on the computer, and the
>> RAID BIOS pops up and says "Array Failed", that is when you'll
>> regret the choice. If there is any data of value on a RAID like
>> that, back it up.
>>
>> HTH,
>> Paul
>
>
> Paul, thanks a million for the msi raid driver to use on a floppy.. The
> BIOS does not give any option to enter a raid tool to set it up etc. MSI
> told me to flash it with the newest. If it did not then after the flash
> they think it's a bad board. I personally don't think it does this at
> all and there is nothing wrong with it. So how do I know for sure? The
> box and manual do not say anything about raid other then it supports
> software raid 0 and 1. The tech that installed the board for me said
> probably you install windows on one drive and install raid software on
> it then it will set up the raid 0 or 1 for you and copy the data to make
> the raid work correctly.
>
> I enable the raid in the bios and flashed the bios. Still no option to
> config the raid in the bios. So I'm hesitant to rma it because i don't
> think anything is wrong other then you'd think all raid would have a
> raid tool in the bios. Maybe this don't. I don't know.
>
> This ABS Ultimate M5-64 computer came with the Asus A8V deluxe. I can't
> find that to buy it anywhere from a store or I would have. It's a WAY
> better and more fully featured board.
>
> Anyhow I think I'm hosed,
>
******* Your MSI board *******
7094v36.zip (Award BIOS - splitawd extracts this module)
6420r450.ROM 65536 bytes
Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
VIA Technologies, Inc
VIA VT6420 RAID Controller
VIA VT6420 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility V4.50
VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility V4.50
******* Asus A8V board *******
A8V-0229.zip (AMI BIOS - mmtool extracts this module - no file names with mmtool)
2 59392 bytes
Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
VIA Technologies, Inc
VIA VT6420 RAID Controller
VIA VT6420 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility V2.01
VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility V2.01
Structurally, both the Asus A8V and the MSI K8T Neo2-F V2.0 are
set up the same way. The BIOS is based on a different platform
(Award versus AMI), but the add-in module for RAID seems to be
similar in composition. Only the version seems to be different.
The text strings copied above, is at the beginning of each of
the extracted add-in rom files. That means the BIOS seems
intended to support software RAID.
If you have two drives connected, try using the VIA RAID
Management software while in Windows. Don't do anything
while in there, but just see if the VIA RAID Management
software will run or not, and whether it lists the
two connected disks or not.
"5) Plug in your the Serial drive/s and use the V-RAID Tool
to set up RAID in the configuration of your choice"
The V-RAID Tool is what you are looking for. The V-RAID Tool
would only run if the RAID driver is installed in Windows.
Note that, for some setups, if your boot drive was connected
and Windows installed while the RAID was disabled, that can
spell trouble booting later, if you enable RAID.
I don't think you're *******. If I was doing this experiment
myself, I'd want to be booting from an IDE drive, and
making the RAID array a data-only array for my first try.
Once everything seemed to be working, that might make it
easier to reinstall Windows on the array as a second try.
In that case, if installing Windows on the RAID, you'd
need to F6 install the RAID driver floppy.
Look in the V-RAID Tool and see if there is any notion
of migration or morphing. Those might be technical terms
used to describe going from one boot disk. to a RAID0
boot array, but not all software RAID packages support
that. Nvidia Mediashield and Intel Matrix RAID are
examples of packages that do have the capability.
I'm just surprised pressing the <tab> key, while the
BIOS is starting, is not doing anything. I wonder if
the MSI BIOS uses the <tab> key for something else ?
I don't know how to figure out what key to use. If
I look in both the add-in ROM images, I can see:
"Press < Tab > Key into User Window!"
So at least VIA thinks the Tab key is the one to use
at the beginning of the BIOS POST sequence.
On Aug 25, 1:03 am, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
> AMD wrote:
> > "Paul" <nos...@needed.com> wrote in messagenews:f9vr6p$ia1$1@aioe.org...
> >> AMD wrote:
> >>> I've got this board K8T Neo2-F V2.0 and it saysraid0 supported but
> >>> how? it has no bios for it and no way to set it up or anything. no
> >>> drivers for it either.
>
> >> There is a floppy image for F6RAIDdriver install here, as well as a
> >> manual.
> >> The manual is not much to look at.
>
> >>http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...type=manual&ma...
>
> >> An Asus A8V motherboard is the nearest equivalent to your board. In the
> >> manual for the A8V, it says:
>
> >> "Press <tab> during POST, to enter theRAIDBIOS"
>
> >> Give that a try and see if it responds. TheRAIDBIOS has to be
> >> enabled in the
> >> BIOS setup screen first, before the attempt to POST and press the
> >> <tab> key.
> >> If theRAIDBIOS is not enabled, then pressing <tab> won't do anything.
>
> >> TheRAIDdriver on the floppy, would be if you were installing
> >> an OS on the array. A separate package may be available, with a
> >>RAIDmanagement window for use while Windows is running.
>
> >> VIA has a section on their site, about the storage interfaces
> >> on their chipsets.
>
> >>http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...=58&ACatID=128
>
> >> "VIA V-RAID"
> >>http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...icleID=467&P=2
>
> >> The following two documents are a bit better. The first is a
> >> document specific to VIARAIDfor chips like 8237R. The reference
> >> to 6410 and 6420, is the logic block that does theRAID. VIA also
> >> made chips with just those logic blocks in them. The second doc
> >> is the A8V, a board similar to yours. PDF page 109 and section
> >> "5.6RAIDConfigurations" has some info.
>
> >>http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/VT6420.pdf
> >>http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/.../e1994_a8v.pdf
>
> >> If installing the OS on theRAID, use the MSI "floppy package"
> >> mentioned above. That will give you a floppy to use during the F6
> >> phase of the Windows install. The Viaarena download page will have
> >> a V-RAIDdriver, if you only wanted to add a couple of disks as
> >> data disks (i.e. if the OS was already on an IDE< and you wanted
> >> to add aRAID0 made of twoSATAdisks). The V-RAIDmay also have
> >> a management window, for examining the status of the disks while
> >> running in Windows.
>
> >> IsRAIDworth it ? Not really. It may seem fun at first, if you run
> >> a few benchmarks. But the day you turn on the computer, and the
> >>RAIDBIOS pops up and says "Array Failed", that is when you'll
> >> regret the choice. If there is any data of value on aRAIDlike
> >> that, back it up.
>
> >> HTH,
> >> Paul
>
> > Paul, thanks a million for the msiraiddriver to use on a floppy.. The
> > BIOS does not give any option to enter araidtool to set it up etc. MSI
> > told me to flash it with the newest. If it did not then after the flash
> > they think it's a bad board. I personally don't think it does this at
> > all and there is nothing wrong with it. So how do I know for sure? The
> > box and manual do not say anything aboutraidother then it supports
> > softwareraid0 and 1. The tech that installed the board for me said
> > probably you install windows on one drive and installraidsoftware on
> > it then it will set up theraid0 or 1 for you and copy the data to make
> > theraidwork correctly.
>
> > I enable theraidin the bios and flashed the bios. Still no option to
> > config theraidin the bios. So I'm hesitant to rma it because i don't
> > think anything is wrong other then you'd think allraidwould have a
> >raidtool in the bios. Maybe this don't. I don't know.
>
> > This ABS Ultimate M5-64 computer came with the Asus A8V deluxe. I can't
> > find that to buy it anywhere from a store or I would have. It's a WAY
> > better and more fully featured board.
>
> > Anyhow I think I'm hosed,
>
> ******* Your MSI board *******
> 7094v36.zip (Award BIOS - splitawd extracts this module)
>
> 6420r450.ROM 65536 bytes
>
> Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
> VIA Technologies, Inc
> VIA VT6420RAIDController
> VIA VT6420 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V4.50
> VIA VT8237 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V4.50
>
> ******* Asus A8V board *******
> A8V-0229.zip (AMI BIOS - mmtool extracts this module - no file names with mmtool)
>
> 2 59392 bytes
>
> Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
> VIA Technologies, Inc
> VIA VT6420RAIDController
> VIA VT6420 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V2.01
> VIA VT8237 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V2.01
>
> Structurally, both the Asus A8V and the MSI K8T Neo2-F V2.0 are
> set up the same way. The BIOS is based on a different platform
> (Award versus AMI), but the add-in module forRAIDseems to be
> similar in composition. Only the version seems to be different.
> The text strings copied above, is at the beginning of each of
> the extracted add-in rom files. That means the BIOS seems
> intended to support softwareRAID.
>
> If you have two drives connected, try using the VIARAID
> Management software while in Windows. Don't do anything
> while in there, but just see if the VIARAIDManagement
> software will run or not, and whether it lists the
> two connected disks or not.
>
> For example, on this page, they mention:
>
> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...5&ArticleID=93
>
> "5) Plug in your the Serial drive/s and use the V-RAIDTool
> to set upRAIDin the configuration of your choice"
>
> The V-RAIDTool is what you are looking for. The V-RAIDTool
> would only run if theRAIDdriver is installed in Windows.
> Note that, for some setups, if your boot drive was connected
> and Windows installed while theRAIDwas disabled, that can
> spell trouble booting later, if you enableRAID.
>
> I don't think you're *******. If I was doing this experiment
> myself, I'd want to be booting from an IDE drive, and
> making theRAIDarray a data-only array for my first try.
> Once everything seemed to be working, that might make it
> easier to reinstall Windows on the array as a second try.
> In that case, if installing Windows on theRAID, you'd
> need to F6 install theRAIDdriver floppy.
>
> Look in the V-RAIDTool and see if there is any notion
> of migration or morphing. Those might be technical terms
> used to describe going from one boot disk. to a RAID0
> boot array, but not all softwareRAIDpackages support
> that. Nvidia Mediashield and Intel MatrixRAIDare
> examples of packages that do have the capability.
>
> I'm just surprised pressing the <tab> key, while the
> BIOS is starting, is not doing anything. I wonder if
> the MSI BIOS uses the <tab> key for something else ?
> I don't know how to figure out what key to use. If
> I look in both the add-in ROM images, I can see:
>
> "Press < Tab > Key into User Window!"
>
> So at least VIA thinks the Tab key is the one to use
> at the beginning of the BIOS POST sequence.
>
> Paul
Hi, I have exactly the same problem. There is an option in the bios,
Sata Mode: IDE/RAID (the 'help' pane mentions IDE is for XP, though I
suspect for installation or something).
What happens is when I put the option to IDE, the drivers get detected
as IDE chan 3 and I can boot from it. If I put the option on RAID I
get .. nothing. No 'press tab' no hdd detection routine, no boot! I do
get a 'warning' however. "WARNING: Have option ROM could not be
invoke: (VENDOR ID:1106h DEVICE ID: 3149h)"
Now i have googled for this error, and all i've gotten 'ignore, not
bad, rom could not be loaded from your NIC etc'
The interesting part however is, that if you look up those id's, it's
VIA and 'VT6420 SATA RAID Controller' ... wich incidently is the exact
thing that doesn't show me it's ROM!
oliver.schinagl@gmail.com wrote:
> On Aug 25, 1:03 am, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
>> AMD wrote:
>>> "Paul" <nos...@needed.com> wrote in messagenews:f9vr6p$ia1$1@aioe.org...
>>>> AMD wrote:
>>>>> I've got this board K8T Neo2-F V2.0 and it saysraid0 supported but
>>>>> how? it has no bios for it and no way to set it up or anything. no
>>>>> drivers for it either.
>>>> There is a floppy image for F6RAIDdriver install here, as well as a
>>>> manual.
>>>> The manual is not much to look at.
>>>> http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...type=manual&ma...
>>>> An Asus A8V motherboard is the nearest equivalent to your board. In the
>>>> manual for the A8V, it says:
>>>> "Press <tab> during POST, to enter theRAIDBIOS"
>>>> Give that a try and see if it responds. TheRAIDBIOS has to be
>>>> enabled in the
>>>> BIOS setup screen first, before the attempt to POST and press the
>>>> <tab> key.
>>>> If theRAIDBIOS is not enabled, then pressing <tab> won't do anything.
>>>> TheRAIDdriver on the floppy, would be if you were installing
>>>> an OS on the array. A separate package may be available, with a
>>>> RAIDmanagement window for use while Windows is running.
>>>> VIA has a section on their site, about the storage interfaces
>>>> on their chipsets.
>>>> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...=58&ACatID=128
>>>> "VIA V-RAID"
>>>> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...icleID=467&P=2
>>>> The following two documents are a bit better. The first is a
>>>> document specific to VIARAIDfor chips like 8237R. The reference
>>>> to 6410 and 6420, is the logic block that does theRAID. VIA also
>>>> made chips with just those logic blocks in them. The second doc
>>>> is the A8V, a board similar to yours. PDF page 109 and section
>>>> "5.6RAIDConfigurations" has some info.
>>>> http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/VT6420.pdf
>>>> http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/.../e1994_a8v.pdf
>>>> If installing the OS on theRAID, use the MSI "floppy package"
>>>> mentioned above. That will give you a floppy to use during the F6
>>>> phase of the Windows install. The Viaarena download page will have
>>>> a V-RAIDdriver, if you only wanted to add a couple of disks as
>>>> data disks (i.e. if the OS was already on an IDE< and you wanted
>>>> to add aRAID0 made of twoSATAdisks). The V-RAIDmay also have
>>>> a management window, for examining the status of the disks while
>>>> running in Windows.
>>>> IsRAIDworth it ? Not really. It may seem fun at first, if you run
>>>> a few benchmarks. But the day you turn on the computer, and the
>>>> RAIDBIOS pops up and says "Array Failed", that is when you'll
>>>> regret the choice. If there is any data of value on aRAIDlike
>>>> that, back it up.
>>>> HTH,
>>>> Paul
>>> Paul, thanks a million for the msiraiddriver to use on a floppy.. The
>>> BIOS does not give any option to enter araidtool to set it up etc. MSI
>>> told me to flash it with the newest. If it did not then after the flash
>>> they think it's a bad board. I personally don't think it does this at
>>> all and there is nothing wrong with it. So how do I know for sure? The
>>> box and manual do not say anything aboutraidother then it supports
>>> softwareraid0 and 1. The tech that installed the board for me said
>>> probably you install windows on one drive and installraidsoftware on
>>> it then it will set up theraid0 or 1 for you and copy the data to make
>>> theraidwork correctly.
>>> I enable theraidin the bios and flashed the bios. Still no option to
>>> config theraidin the bios. So I'm hesitant to rma it because i don't
>>> think anything is wrong other then you'd think allraidwould have a
>>> raidtool in the bios. Maybe this don't. I don't know.
>>> This ABS Ultimate M5-64 computer came with the Asus A8V deluxe. I can't
>>> find that to buy it anywhere from a store or I would have. It's a WAY
>>> better and more fully featured board.
>>> Anyhow I think I'm hosed,
>> ******* Your MSI board *******
>> 7094v36.zip (Award BIOS - splitawd extracts this module)
>>
>> 6420r450.ROM 65536 bytes
>>
>> Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
>> VIA Technologies, Inc
>> VIA VT6420RAIDController
>> VIA VT6420 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V4.50
>> VIA VT8237 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V4.50
>>
>> ******* Asus A8V board *******
>> A8V-0229.zip (AMI BIOS - mmtool extracts this module - no file names with mmtool)
>>
>> 2 59392 bytes
>>
>> Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
>> VIA Technologies, Inc
>> VIA VT6420RAIDController
>> VIA VT6420 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V2.01
>> VIA VT8237 Serial ATARAIDBIOS Setting Utility V2.01
>>
>> Structurally, both the Asus A8V and the MSI K8T Neo2-F V2.0 are
>> set up the same way. The BIOS is based on a different platform
>> (Award versus AMI), but the add-in module forRAIDseems to be
>> similar in composition. Only the version seems to be different.
>> The text strings copied above, is at the beginning of each of
>> the extracted add-in rom files. That means the BIOS seems
>> intended to support softwareRAID.
>>
>> If you have two drives connected, try using the VIARAID
>> Management software while in Windows. Don't do anything
>> while in there, but just see if the VIARAIDManagement
>> software will run or not, and whether it lists the
>> two connected disks or not.
>>
>> For example, on this page, they mention:
>>
>> http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...5&ArticleID=93
>>
>> "5) Plug in your the Serial drive/s and use the V-RAIDTool
>> to set upRAIDin the configuration of your choice"
>>
>> The V-RAIDTool is what you are looking for. The V-RAIDTool
>> would only run if theRAIDdriver is installed in Windows.
>> Note that, for some setups, if your boot drive was connected
>> and Windows installed while theRAIDwas disabled, that can
>> spell trouble booting later, if you enableRAID.
>>
>> I don't think you're *******. If I was doing this experiment
>> myself, I'd want to be booting from an IDE drive, and
>> making theRAIDarray a data-only array for my first try.
>> Once everything seemed to be working, that might make it
>> easier to reinstall Windows on the array as a second try.
>> In that case, if installing Windows on theRAID, you'd
>> need to F6 install theRAIDdriver floppy.
>>
>> Look in the V-RAIDTool and see if there is any notion
>> of migration or morphing. Those might be technical terms
>> used to describe going from one boot disk. to a RAID0
>> boot array, but not all softwareRAIDpackages support
>> that. Nvidia Mediashield and Intel MatrixRAIDare
>> examples of packages that do have the capability.
>>
>> I'm just surprised pressing the <tab> key, while the
>> BIOS is starting, is not doing anything. I wonder if
>> the MSI BIOS uses the <tab> key for something else ?
>> I don't know how to figure out what key to use. If
>> I look in both the add-in ROM images, I can see:
>>
>> "Press < Tab > Key into User Window!"
>>
>> So at least VIA thinks the Tab key is the one to use
>> at the beginning of the BIOS POST sequence.
>>
>> Paul
>
> Hi, I have exactly the same problem. There is an option in the bios,
> Sata Mode: IDE/RAID (the 'help' pane mentions IDE is for XP, though I
> suspect for installation or something).
>
> What happens is when I put the option to IDE, the drivers get detected
> as IDE chan 3 and I can boot from it. If I put the option on RAID I
> get .. nothing. No 'press tab' no hdd detection routine, no boot! I do
> get a 'warning' however. "WARNING: Have option ROM could not be
> invoke: (VENDOR ID:1106h DEVICE ID: 3149h)"
> Now i have googled for this error, and all i've gotten 'ignore, not
> bad, rom could not be loaded from your NIC etc'
> The interesting part however is, that if you look up those id's, it's
> VIA and 'VT6420 SATA RAID Controller' ... wich incidently is the exact
> thing that doesn't show me it's ROM!
>
> Any thoughts on this?
>
Well, first off I don't have an answer for you. Your description is a bit
puzzling though.
As near as I can tell, when the option ROM is included, it basically supports
RAID and non-RAID at the same time. In pci.ids (the list of PCI identities),
the entry is "3149 VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller", and the Asus manual
for using VT6420 type devices claims you can use them with RAID, but if you
have a standalone drive, you don't have to do anything in RAID setup to use
it. I would expect, though, in that case, that the RAID driver is still
required, to access the vanilla disk.
So, the first puzzle is, why does your BIOS have a "IDE/RAID" option ?
On the Asus A8V, there is an option to enable/disable a "SATA BootROM",
plus the IDE drives section only mentions the four drives you can put
on the IDE connectors, and makes no mention of SATA. Which says the SATA
are always handled by the option ROM, and if you disable the option ROM,
then the SATA drives could only be used as data drives in Windows.
So why does the MSI BIOS offer IDE/SATA ? I didn't think VIA supported
IDE emulation on the SATA ports, such that you could install Windows
without a driver, on a SATA port.
If it was my board, my next step would be to investigate what the device
enumeration reads as when booted. The idea would be, to use an IDE disk
to boot the system, then have a look with Everest or the like, to get
the device details. Also, Device Manager might have some info you could
use.
Interesting pci.ids entries are 3149 (which should be the SATA ports) and
4149, which appears to be the IDE ports (but perhaps that enumeration
would only occur in a standalone 6420 chip, and not an 8237 ? not really
sure...).
3149 VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller
4149 VIA VT6420 (ATA133) Controller
If I was debugging this, I'd want to see what the storage devices
enumerate as, in the two test cases. And that would require
changing what you use as a boot device, so you can get booted.
Another way to do it, would be to boot a Linux LiveCD like Knoppix
or Ubuntu (distros that don't need to install, in order to boot,
you just boot the CD right into the desktop). Then, in a command
window, you'd use the "lspci" command, to look at enumeration info.
If your CD was connected to a ribbon cable, that improves the odds
you'd be able to boot for both SATA test cases (BIOS setting set to
IDE and BIOS setting set to SATA).
Everest is here, if you want to look at Devices:PCI for inspiration.
Everest was formerly known as AIDA32. Continued support is available
from lavalys.com, and any newer versions than the one in this URL,
cost money. This is the last free one.
BTW - Your board is something of an achievement :-) This is the
first time I've run into a motherboard+BIOS, where there was a
misalignment between add-in ROM and motherboard design. At least,
to the extent that it wouldn't load.
K8T Neo2-F V2.0 raid info needed 
Linear Mode
