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HamsterJam
Just got here...
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 3
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:31 am Post subject: nForce Driver 15.17 on NF4 SATARAID setup |
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Hi,
I am wondering if anyone could lend me a helping hand with my situation.
As stated in my signature below, I have in my system 2 Seagate 160GB SATA2 drives in RAID0 on my nForce 4 Ultra motherboard. Back in December of last year, I re-installed Windows Vista Ultimate x86 on my RAID setup with the help of Fernando's package (thanks!  ). When I was installing Windows, I wasn't quite sure if I actually needed Fernando's drivers at all since the installer recognized my RAID array with no problems. But I chose to use Fernando's drivers anyway, and everything proceeded without a hitch.
Now, I am planning to reformat my RAID0 setup and start fresh. However, with NVIDIA's new 15.17 package released, I am receiving conflicting information in regards to its compatibility with nForce 4 motherboards. According to Fernando's guide, 15.17 is incompatible with NF4 SATARAID setups and that a previous version of the drivers would have to be used.
Now here is my question. Since I do not actually need Fernando's packages in order to install Windows on my machines (since the installer recognizes my RAID array without problems), is it possible for me to install Windows Vista, and then install 15.17? Would I still get the new RAID drivers?
Thanks. |
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Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:01 am Post subject: |
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I would avoid this driver. Here are my specs and story:
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium (nForce 4 Ultra AMD)
OS: Windows XP SP2 32-bit, Windows XP SP3 32-bit
Original MediaShield BIOS: 4.84
Upgraded MediaShield BIOS: 5.60
2 drives in RAID 1
Original driver version: 6.86
Upgraded driver version: 15.17
I have an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium nForce 4 Ultra AMD-based motherboard running with 2 drives in RAID 1. After the installation of this driver (upgrading from 6.86), the system would no longer boot as the RAID 1 logical volume is not recognized by the driver. I slipstreamed SP3 and the 15.17 drivers into an XP installation disc. The install saw my RAID 1 drives as 2 separate drives rather than 1 logical drive. I then tried an XP SP2 install disc with the 15.17 drivers on a floppy - same thing. I then flashed the RAID BIOS from version 4.84 up to version 5.60 and tried again without success.
Fortunately, I maintain an image of my XP installation using Acronis True Image and was able to easily restore my system to its original state.
The 15.17 drivers are to be avoided, at least where XP 32-bit and nForce 4 Ultra AMD-based motherboards are concerned. I've seen complaints on the eVGA forums, the nvnews.net forums, here, and even on NVIDIA's own forums regarding issues with this driver by many people with many different configs.
Last edited by skimike on Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:04 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Fernando 1
=|| Easy RAIDer ||=
Guru
Joined: 05 Sep 2004
Posts: 1893
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:44 am Post subject: Re: nForce Driver 15.17 on NF4 SATARAID setup |
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| HamsterJam wrote: |
| Since I do not actually need Fernando's packages in order to install Windows on my machines (since the installer recognizes my RAID array without problems), is it possible for me to install Windows Vista, and then install 15.17? Would I still get the new RAID drivers? |
No, as skimike already has written.
You would just get the nForce S-ATA driver of the 15.17 package installed, but not the RAID driver. That would be a very bad mixture.
For further informations look into my recently updated Vista installation guide. Here is the link. |
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HamsterJam
Just got here...
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 3
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:40 am Post subject: Re: nForce Driver 15.17 on NF4 SATARAID setup |
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| Fernando 1 wrote: |
| HamsterJam wrote: |
| Since I do not actually need Fernando's packages in order to install Windows on my machines (since the installer recognizes my RAID array without problems), is it possible for me to install Windows Vista, and then install 15.17? Would I still get the new RAID drivers? |
No, as skimike already has written.
You would just get the nForce S-ATA driver of the 15.17 package installed, but not the RAID driver. That would be a very bad mixture.
For further informations look into my recently updated Vista installation guide. Here is the link. |
I have just finished reading your very informative guide for the second time. From what I can tell, I should use the SATARAID and SATA_IDE drivers v9.98 from the 9.46 package during the Windows installation for stable and proven performance. Can I use the SATARAID and SATA_IDE drivers v9.99.09 from the 9.64 package instead? Are they compatible with my nForce 4 motherboard? I realize that 9.64 is made specifically for the nForce 7 Intel platform (and I have an AMD platform), so I am a bit wary.
Also, once I have Windows Vista installed and running on my RAID0, what nForce package should I install? If I remember correctly, the nForce driver installer allows users to opt out from installing the IDE drivers (or something similar... it's definitely been a while for me). So would 15.17 be a good choice if I choose to opt out of its SATA and IDE drivers?
Thanks a bundle! |
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Fernando 1
=|| Easy RAIDer ||=
Guru
Joined: 05 Sep 2004
Posts: 1893
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:03 am Post subject: Re: nForce Driver 15.17 on NF4 SATARAID setup |
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| HamsterJam wrote: |
| From what I can tell, I should use the SATARAID and SATA_IDE drivers v9.98 from the 9.46 package during the Windows installation for stable and proven performance. Can I use the SATARAID and SATA_IDE drivers v9.99.09 from the 9.64 package instead? |
No, your RAID wouldn't be detected this way.
| Quote: |
| Are they compatible with my nForce 4 motherboard? I realize that 9.64 is made specifically for the nForce 7 Intel platform (and I have an AMD platform), so I am a bit wary. |
You won't get the original nForce IDE drivers v9.99.09 of NVIDIA's 9.64 pack installed onto your nForce4 chipset system, because the HardwareID's of the nForce4 S-ATA and RAID Controllers are missing within the associated INF files. Nevertheless you are able to get these drivers installed, if you take the modded version of these drivers you find within my actual "Performance Packs".
| Quote: |
| Also, once I have Windows Vista installed and running on my RAID0, what nForce package should I install? If I remember correctly, the nForce driver installer allows users to opt out from installing the IDE drivers (or something similar... it's definitely been a while for me). So would 15.17 be a good choice if I choose to opt out of its SATA and IDE drivers? |
Yes, you can do it that way or alternatively you can use my actual "Performance Pack", which contains exactly the same Ethernet, SMBus and SMU drivers as NVIDIA's official 15.17/15.18 packs, but additionall nForce IDE drivers, which can be used even with nForce4 RAID systems. |
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authenticamd
nFHQ Member
Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:25 am Post subject: |
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I have an NF4/AMD board and wish to use RAID0 when running WinXP/SP3.
It seems that the official 15.17, with nForce IDE drivers 10.3.0.21, can't be used with any raid configuration on NF4 from the posts in the forum.
My question is, if I use the "Performance Packs" by Fernando 1, which contains "nForce IDE drivers v9.99.09", can WinXP/SP3 recognize the RAID0 set or do I have to install other IDE drivers?
TIA. |
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Fernando 1
=|| Easy RAIDer ||=
Guru
Joined: 05 Sep 2004
Posts: 1893
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:20 am Post subject: |
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| authenticamd wrote: |
I have an NF4/AMD board and wish to use RAID0 when running WinXP/SP3.
It seems that the official 15.17, with nForce IDE drivers 10.3.0.21, can't be used with any raid configuration on NF4 from the posts in the forum.
My question is, if I use the "Performance Packs" by Fernando 1, which contains "nForce IDE drivers v9.99.09", can WinXP/SP3 recognize the RAID0 set or do I have to install other IDE drivers? |
You may try my "Performance Pack" for Windows XP with the included 9.99.09 IDE drivers, but I am not sure, if any other IDE driver than the 6.xx series will be fully compatible with nForce4 RAID systems.
So if the AHCI capable nForce IDE drivers v9.99.09 should not detect your RAID array, I recommend to take the non-AHCI drivers v6.99, which you can get here.
Last edited by Fernando 1 on Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:19 am; edited 1 time in total |
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