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GA-K8NF-9 hard disk boot order



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 29th 05, 12:07 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
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Default GA-K8NF-9 hard disk boot order

I've got a GA-K8NF-9 motherboard and it's running perfectly in the following
config:

o Boot HDD connected to IDE 0:0
o DVD writer connected to IDE 1:0
o DVD reader connected to IDE 1:1
o 2 x 200GB IDE hard disks connected to a PCI IDE RAID controller (IT8212
chipset)

The SATA interfaces are unused.

The problem is with the PCI IDE RAID controller. Each time system boots up,
the RAID array is detected fine by the BIOS but when Windows XP scans the
devices, many, many errors are generated in the system event log. The
problem appears to be caused by Windows XP trying some extended ATA commands
which the IT8212 BIOS doesn't support. These come back as errors so Windows
XP tries again. Whilst it's in this "try and fail" mode, the RAID array is
inaccessible and has on a couple of occasions caused disk minor corruption -
like not being able to write to the MFT :-) A firmware upgrade would fix
this BUT the card I've got isn't programmable :-(

So to cut a long story short, I'm considering trying to use the NVIDIA IDE
RAID feature on the motherboard and buy a SATA hard disk to act as the boot
disk:

o Boot HDD connected to SATA-0
o 2 x 200GB IDE hard disks connected to IDE 0:0 and IDE 0:1 in RAID mode
o DVD writer connected to IDE 1:0 (none RAID)
o DVD reader connected to IDE 1:1 (none RAID)

Is this possible, i.e. make the SATA-0 HDD the first boot device ahead of
the normal IDE channels? Also, what about device drivers for Windows XP?
I've had fun in the past trying to get Windows XP to install straight onto a
SATA HDD without the F6/floppy driver malarkey.

Cheers, Rob.

PS. A cheaper alternative might be to buy another PCI IDE RAID controller
like this http://tinyurl.com/aot7t




  #2  
Old December 29th 05, 12:33 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
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Default GA-K8NF-9 hard disk boot order

PS. A cheaper alternative might be to buy another PCI IDE RAID controller
like this http://tinyurl.com/aot7t


Hmm, another alternative is a device like this:

http://tinyurl.com/9kygl

that allows an IDE drive to be connected to a SATA interface on the
motherboard.

Haven't a clue how well this works!!

Cheers, Rob.


  #3  
Old December 29th 05, 12:43 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
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Default GA-K8NF-9 hard disk boot order

Haven't a clue how well this works!!

Talking to myself but NOT AT ALL is the answer as this works the other way,
i.e. it plugs into the IDE socket on the motherboard allowing a SATA hard
disk to be used on a motherboard that doesn't have SATA interface.

Rob.


  #4  
Old December 30th 05, 12:52 AM posted to alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
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Default GA-K8NF-9 hard disk boot order

you can do as you have suggested and replace your existing array with SATA
drives to run off the mobo. You can set the bios to boot off SATA before
IDE.
You are right, you will have to install xp using the f6 routine and have
previously downloaded the latest SATA raid drivers from the website. This
isnt as bad as it seems providing you have a floppy drive of course.
I cant comment on SATA to IDE - no experience. I run four PCs all, all have
SATA mirrored raid. Only had problems whilst using a mob which had NVidia
and Silicon Image Raid controllers on board and opted for the Nvidia.
Corruption and array rebuilds were regular, like once a week. Never lost
any data but worrying. Switched to the SI raid (both SATA on the one mobo)
and its been fine ever since.
Good luck
Paul


 




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