RAID configuration problem?

Forums › Desktop computing › RAID configuration problem?

TomServo

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#75573 20-Jan-2011 04:04

I have a Dell XPS 400 with a WD SATA drive OS Windows XP. I want to add my external Maxtor (fried power supply and have no reason to carry it around). Every configuration i have attempted inevitably arrives at the same result with a blinking amber power button as soon as i plug the power into the desktop and push the power button.

In Sys Setup, under Drive Configuration, i have ensured that both available PATA slots are active. Attempts include, but not limited to:

1. Combined (which i later determined i do not want)
2. RAID only - tries to boot, but unsuccessful (cannot boot Windows) (Maxtor not even plugged in at this point).
3. RAID / ATA where dvdROM and Maxtor are configured as Slave
4. RAID / ATA where dvdROM is set to Slave and Maxtor is set to Master
5. RAID / ATA where dvdROM is set to Slave and Maxtor is set to CS.

Any suggestions/help is greatly appreciated!

b0untypure1

1427 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 18

#429344 20-Jan-2011 21:21

i understand RAID and from what i know, you need to use the same drives for a successful raid.
im not sure if this post is of any use,
but if i was you, i would boot into windows on your old drive, and add the Maxtor drive as a backup drive, or removable device in disk management.
right click my computer, then click manage,then disk management on the left

Ragnor

8279 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 585

Trusted

#429354 20-Jan-2011 21:50

Windows XP would have been installed without the raid enabled so won't have drivers etc for it.

Creating a new raid array out of the two disk will probably result in all data on the drives being lost. Consult the manual for the Dell XPS 400 for whether identical size drives are required it varies (different makes doesn't matter that much).

So something like (no promises this will work):

1: Take a backup disk image of the OS drive, or create a p2v vm image

2: Go into bios and enable raid (always), save and exit bios and the right time in the bootup enter the motherboard raid management (ctrl i on the dell usually, after bios post and hardware detection)

3: Create a new raid away in the raid management cli/gui (this will probably result in both disks being wiped when the array is built, hence the backup disk image earlier).

4: Try and restore the disk image onto the array and try to boot windows. This will probably fail because the OS still doesn't have the raid drivers, so try a repair install or recovery console to install the drivers will be required most likely.

Alternatively just do a clean install of WinXP on the raid array, setup will prompt you for drivers during the install process.

b0untypure1

1427 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 18

#429365 20-Jan-2011 22:03

1: Take a backup disk image of the OS drive, or create a p2v vm image

instead i recommed he backup the individual files. on creating my raid 0 with WD ears 1tb x 2 i did an image backup, and for some reason, windows just refused to do anything. it kept saying (this is not compatable with your system) . note- this was through the windows 7 image backup and restore.