Vista & nVRaid - installation guide and troubleshooting

[Fernando 1]

i have vista 5600 64bit RC1 and have tried the 6.86 *64 bit drivers from nvidia site (and they dont work for me) even if i run the vista installer from a running winxp pro 64bit OS
i copied the contents of
"C:\NVIDIA\nForceWinXP64\6.86\IDE\WinXP\sata_ide"
and
"C:\NVIDIA\nForceWinXP64\6.86\IDE\WinXP\sataraid"
to the root dir of a blank cd
note: 1 file does overwrite another one in proc (cant rem name) but were exact same size so i said yes

This was well done, it's the IDECOI.DLL, which is in both subfolders and totally identical.

the only way i have got vista 5600 64bit RC1 to install is from the DVD and using the beta 2 drivers for 64bit
please recheck (Fernando 1) your procedure for the 5600 64bit RC1 install using the nvidias 6.86 drivers
maybe you used the 32 bit version?

No, I got Vista RC1 x64 installed by using the 64-bit drivers off the 6.86 package. The Vista Beta2 drivers did not work for me, because there is only a SATARAID and no SATA_IDE subfolder. What I need for my nForce4 AMD Ultra chipset is an INF file for the nForce S-ATA driver and you won't find such an INF file within the SATARAID subfolder.
Nevertheless I have added your findings as an alternative driver choice into my guide (first post). Thank you for your report. This may help other users with similar nForce chipset.

1 more thing
cant we get the darn RC1 64bit beta drivers to work?
id really like to use those

These drivers are obviously only working for nForce5xx chipsets. Find a way to use them with an nForce4 SataRaid system and many Vista users would be thankfull.

[Unbreakable]

These drivers are obviously only working for nForce5xx chipsets. Find a way to use them with an nForce4 SataRaid system and many Vista users would be thankfull.

The nvrd64.inf from the RC1 set contains all SATA controllers from nForce4 and up. Can't you add and mod the nvata64.inf from the 6.86 x64 set? Like this:

[Fernando 1]

These drivers are obviously only working for nForce5xx chipsets. Find a way to use them with an nForce4 SataRaid system and many Vista users would be thankfull.

The nvrd64.inf from the RC1 set contains all SATA controllers from nForce4 and up. Can't you add and mod the nvatax64.inf from the 6.86 x64 set?

That is a good idea, but I don't believe, that this will work with my nForce4 AMD chipset.
Reason: If you mod the S-ATA INF file, the absolutely needed nForce S-ATA driver will loose the WHQL certfication and the WHQL sign is a must-have with Vista x64.
Furthermore the mentioned NVATAx64.INF (or alternatively the NVATA64.INF) is not the only missing file.
Users with an nForce4 SataRaid system will need the following files which you won't find within the SATARAID subfolder of the Vista x64 RC1 package:
1. the 64-bit nForce S-ATA driver (NVATAx64.SYS or NVATA64.SYS),
2. the co-installer file NVCOI.DLL and
3. the INF file for the nForce S-ATA driver (NVATAx64.INF or NVATA64.INF).

What I would like to test is a mixture of
a) the Vista x64 RC1 package (all files of the SATARAID subfolder except the IDECOI.DLL) and
b) the XP x64 package 6.86 (all files of the SATA_IDE subfolder).
The disadvantage is, that you have different IDE driver versions (904 and 666).

[Unbreakable]

Furthermore the mentioned NVATAx64.INF (or alternatively the NVATA64.INF) is not the only missing file.

nvcoi.dll build for this specific set is missing but it all doesn't make much sense because of WHQL missing like you said...

What I would like to test is a mixture of
a) the Vista x64 RC1 package (all files of the SATARAID subfolder except the IDECOI.DLL) and
b) the XP x64 package 6.86 (all files of the SATA_IDE subfolder).
The disadvantage is, that you have different IDE driver versions (904 and 666).

Using the idecoi.dll from the 6.86 set would destroy the RC1 RAID driver WHQL-certification.

[nunyerb]

what would be the correct driver combo to use in an NF4 (a8n 32 sli deluxe in my situation)

from vista 64 bit beta 2 (C:\nforce_vistax64beta2_english\IDE\driver\sataraid contents)

then use the rest of the RC1 for everything else?
i was having a problem with (at least) the audio driver and digital signature or whatever it is (i forget correct name)

thnx

1 more thing (with all the vistas and drivers i checked) there is always 3 acpi (pnp) entries in device manager (exclamation warnings) for drivers needed

which ones get the "SMU" and which ones get the "SMBus"
i forget

[Fernando 1]

Using the idecoi.dll from the 6.86 set would destroy the RC1 RAID driver WHQL-certification.

You are right - regardless of which package I would take the IDECOI.DLL, I will loose WHQL for an essential nForce IDE driver (S-ATA or RAID).
Nevertheless it was worth being discused - thanks again for your contributions.

[Fernando 1]

what would be the correct driver combo to use in an NF4 (a8n 32 sli deluxe in my situation
from vista 64 bit beta 2 (C:\nforce_vistax64beta2_english\IDE\driver\sataraid contents)
then use the rest of the RC1 for everything else?
i was having a problem with (at least) the audio driver and digital signature or whatever it is (i forget correct name)

1 more thing (with all the vistas and drivers i checked) there is always 3 acpi (pnp) entries in device manager (exclamation warnings) for drivers needed
which ones get the "SMU" and which ones get the "SMBus"
i forget

The main problem is to get Vista x64 installed onto an nForce SataRaid system.
When you see the Vista desktop at the end of the installation, you can be happy.
The installation of the other nForce drivers will be no big problem.
My first choice would be the Vista x64 RC1 package. Vista will tell you, if it accepts them or not. I could not install the new RC1 nV audio driver, then I decided to take the new Vista audio driver from Realtek.

[nunyerb]

i just did a fresh install of 5600 (64bit) using the beta2s (no mix of RC1)
if someone figures out how to do it on an NF4 (a8n32 sli deluxe) (using a raid0) config
please let us all know.

note:
after install (mentioned above) in the "\speaker icon\Audio mixer" i only see 2 sliders labled
device
applications

is this normal with my install and hardware?
thnx

something funny just happened to me when i was plying fear combat online
i got kicked off PunkBuster becuase of "idaquete OS privlages"
created the acct just like you all did when you installed

[Fernando 1]

i just did a fresh install of 5600 (64bit) using the beta2s (no mix of RC1)

The nForce SataRaid drivers should always be from the same chipset package. If you mix them, they will loose the WHQL certification (see the last fewposts) and you certainly will get troubles at the end of the Vista x64 installation.
By the way: Normally there is no need to look for other nForce drivers than the SataRaid and maybe the Audio ones, because Vista has the newest nForce Ethernet and SMBus drivers in-the-box. They will automaticly be installed by Vista.

if someone figures out how to do it on an NF4 (a8n32 sli deluxe) (using a raid0) config please let us all know.

Yes, NVIDIA should publish a Vista x64 chipset driver package, which can be used with nForce4 (and nForce3) systems too.

after install (mentioned above) in the "\speaker icon\Audio mixer" i only see 2 sliders labled
device
applications
is this normal with my install and hardware?

That is normal, I have the same entries.

[Karl-Johan]

How do I change to Nvidia's RC1 RAID driver? I have installed Vista x86 using default MS driver. Or does Windows XP driver work in Vista?
I have tryed just updating to another driver from within Windows devicemanager. After that computer wont boot and I had to reinstall everything.