So I just got my hard drives and got them installed and formated.

I tried setting them up in RAID 1 so I bust out my Asus manual and go down the list of steps.

1. Enter the BIOS setup during POST - Done
2. Go to the main menu, select IDE configuration, then press <enter> - Done
3. Select the item configure SATA As, then press <enter> to display the configuration options. - Done
4. Select RAID from the configure SATA as item options, then press <enter> - Done
5. Select the item Onboard Serial-ATA BOOTROM, press <enter>, then select Enabled from the options. -Dont see this ANYWHERE.
6. Save your changes, then exit the BIOS setup. -Done

Step 5 is what I'm having trouble with. Cant find it anywhere in the BIOS.

Now when I try to move on without step 5, I set up my HDD in RAID I cant seem to start up windows. I get to the screen where it asks me if I want to go into safe mode blah blah and when I hit start windows normally it just resets... Now I dont know if this is because of step 5 or because of something else. This is the first time I've ever done with so I'm a bit lost.

Can anyone set me in the right direction?

Thanks

Install the Intel Matrix Storage drivers in XP before setting up the RAID.

I think #5 is telling to choose the Intel RAID and a boot priority.

1Haplo

If you're using Intel Matrix Storage Manager for your RAID, then you don't have to do anything special in the BIOS to specifically "enable" the OROM. It will show up as long as 1) you are in RAID mode, and 2) you have at least 2 disks attached to the controller. You will know that the OROM is present because after your BIOS performs POST, but before your OS loads, you will see a screen telling you to hit <ctrl-I> to configure your RAID.

It does post and I do get the screen telling me to hit <ctrl-I> but it wont load windows (vista). I just get that screen that asks me to "start computer in safe mode.... start windows normally" and when I start windows normally (haven't tried other options) I get the loading screen for about a second and just restarts and does it over again.

Should I get the newest BIOS? I think mine was updated a few months ago, so not the newest but definitely not the oldest.

Prior to setting up RAID do I have to install Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager Driver and JMicron JMB36X RAID Controller Driver? If this is the case what happens then when I reformat my main drive... does that mean I'll have the same problem loading up my PC?

Alright... So I set my entire BIOS to default... even when I set up SATA as RAID... windows wont boot up. Should I try reformating my PC? Is this possibly a Vista issue?

Not sure if this has been answered, but when you create the raid array in bios you can't see it to select as a boot drive until you have rebooted, so that it uses the raid bios as a part of boot process.

You'll get familiar with this as every single bios update will set it back to defaults, so get comfortable doing it. The raid arrays will self detect once you've told it to use raid.

Sorry... this is a bit over my head, not sure what your exactly saying.

Once I set up RAID1, everything looks fine and when it restarts windows will not load up.

I let it restart several times, and it just loops, I can never get windows to load once I setup the controller for "RAID." When its setup as "IDE"... Works fine, but I cant RAID.

I dont know if this makes a difference but when I try to install Intel® Matrix Storage Manager, it says my system does not meet requirements. And yes I did download the one thats right for my OS.

So I'm a bit confused and frustrated as to why I cant get any of this to work. It doesnt seem like it would be that difficult and I feel like I'm doing the right stuff but Vista just wont boot.

OK, now I think we're beginning to understand.

In your first post you said:

I believe most of us took this to mean you just built this machine and were getting it up and running for the 1st time.

When in reality, you already have a Windows installation up and running on one of the drives, and now you want to convert to RAID 1.

You can't do it like this. You need to do one of the following:

1. Set up the RAID in the BIOS, then reinstall Windows using the F6 driver option during setup.

2. Follow the procedure in the sticky at the top of the Hard Disks forum called "Switching Storage Controllers without Reinstalling Windows".

Well... I've got 3 drives. A 250GB with my OS on it and 2 500GB for putting movies and music on.

I would like to put the 2 500GB HDD in RAID 1.

Sorry if I wasnt clear... I'm ready to pull my hair out.

I think I'm starting to understand whats going on but I'm still not making any progress. So I can enter into the Intel RAID Configuration... but if I enable this option then I cannot start up Windows.

If I enable the JMicron RAID Configuration I can boot up Windows BUT... For some reason I cannot enter into the JMB363 RAID BIOS utility. In the manual it says says at POST, to press CTRL + J, yet I am not able to enter.

Update: I have just reformated my main drive and updated the BIOS and still having the same issue.

The problem is switching the SATA selection in the BIOS from IDE to RAID. This requires different drivers that what your Windows OS has loaded.

If you want to save the Windows installation on your 250GB, you'll need to follow the "Switching Storage Controllers without Reinstalling Windows" procedure.

After performing the procedure and getting your OS running on the 250GB drive, you then can set up your RAID.

Basically, what is going on is that the Intel SATA controller on the motherboard can be in one of two different modes: IDE or AHCI/RAID. Your Windows installation has IDE drivers loaded. If you change the SATA controller mode to RAID, the OS can't boot because it doesn't have the RAID drivers loaded.

Here's another way you can do it:

1. Make sure the JMicron controller is active, put the SATA controller back to IDE, boot your Windows OS, and make sure drivers for the JMicron controller are installed.
2. Shut down, switch the 250GB to the JMicron controller. Restart.
3. Once it boots up and you verify that it can run like that, shut it back down.
4. Switch the SATA controller to RAID mode. Boot back up.
5. Install RAID mode drivers for the Intel SATA controller in RAID mode.
6. Shut down, switch the 250GB back to the Intel SATA controller, boot back up.
7. If that works, you're good. Shut back down, install the 500GB's, create the RAID, and boot back up.

This procedure assumes the JMicron controller can support using a single drive. If it can't (some models of the JMicron support nothing but a RAID), then it won't work.

WOW thank you... you put it into words I can understand... However I believe my Jmicron only supports RAID. This is alot more complicated than I thought...

So... how do I get the RAID drivers loaded? I'm starting to think this is impossible for me.......

If the JMicron controller only supports RAID, you're out of luck without another disk controller.

You might try to purchase a very inexpensive SATA controller PCI card that supports booting. You could then perform the procedure I listed using the card instead of the JMicron controller.

Beyond that, you're going to have to reinstall Windows from scratch.

Reinstalling windows is not that big of an issue for me. If I were to do this do I go into the IDE configuration and set as "SATA" and then reformat?

Yes, what you'll do is mak