I'm glad to see this discussion still going! =)

I did read all the posts, however, i may have dozed-off somewhere...

Because i do not want SP1 or SP2 installed I trying to solve things a little differently, I install WinXP and nVidia drivers etc. to a single HDD (SATA or PATA), then when done i reboot to set-up my Bootable Raid on the RAID controller(F10 after Boot), then i boot up and Initialize the new Raid in MediaShield, then I go Start>Admin>CompMang>DiskMang and choose the Partition Size & Format Block Size, and in that way i can choose something other than WinXP+SP2's default Block Size of 4KB!*

I don't think anyone booting a slipstreamed WinXP+SP2 can set the Boot NTFS Block Size to other than Default 4KB and survive install w/o BSOD. (See Previous post#??? in this thread) This May be why some installs are failing perhaps because the Raid stripe or chunk or block size is not 4KB? Or perhaps some installs fail because of Raid Partition sizes larger that 132GB? Or, installs may fail also if one pre-partitions a Raid, like i'm doing, but with multiple partitions instead of just one?...

Because of these variables i set up only one clean ~60GB Active partition and Format it (i don't use the quick format, it leaves too much behind!), btw, there is no "low" format - only the factory does that kind, and the prior Raid initialization in MediaShield was pretty destructive.

BTW, MediaShield has in two things that i did not see noted in this Thread... 1) A single drive Raid0 can be 'Migrated' into any of the other Raid Configurations. 2) There are detailed Help pages for combining the nVidia drivers into a 'slipstream' of WinXP+SP2 in the MediaShield appendix.

PS Which MPC chipset?? - nForce media and communications processors (MCPs), I see MCP5x folders and 6x folders, any one know the designations?

Cheers!
=)

Thanks for your post.
Your remarks about the NTFS boot block size and the abilities of the NVIDIA MediaShield software are quite interesting and useful for experts like you.
On the other hand you should consider, that I started this thread in July 2005 for owners of an nForce Sata/Pata-RAID system, who just wanted to get a working 32bit OS like Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Server 2003 with the newest drivers from scratch.
After having read your post there are some questions remaining:
1. Why didn't you integrate any Service Pack into your Windows XP before beginning the OS installation?
2. What is the advantage/disadvantage of changing the default boot block size?
3. Which boot block size would you recommend for the "normal" user?

Cheers!
Fernando

Need help please.

There are 2 types of SATA connectors on my mobo, red ones labeled SATA_RAID and black ones labeled just SATA. Do I need to connect my SATA HDD's to the red ones if I'm using an NVRAID setup?

Yes!
If you are not sure, you should have a look into your mainboard manual.

Thanks for the quick reply. I did check the manual, that's actually where the ambiguity came from.

I used the first integration method described in the first post (slipstream sataraid folder as opposed to legacy folder). The result: nvatabus.sys BSOD before starting the Windows GUI-mode install. I will now try the second method.


What exactly do you mean by "one by one"? It doesn't look like I have a choice when it comes to integrating "both" drivers.

Which mainboard do you have and which nForce chipset is it using?

A8N-SLI Deluxe using nForce4 SLI chipset, and v6.86 chipset drivers.

He obviously meant, that he just integrated the SATARAID driver folder and no other nForce drivers.
Notice: Tommaso has a mainboard with an nForce590 chipset. These chipsets do not need the SATA_IDE drivers to get XP installed.

Sure but, back to my problem. Could it be because the "sataraid" folder doesn't include a "nvatabus.inf" file for "nvatabus.sys" ?

That exactly is the point. Many nForce SataRaid users need to load the NVATABUS.INF or NVATA.INF, which is not within the SATARAID folder.
Did you really just integrate the SATARAID folder and not additionally integrate the SATA_IDE folder content?

Well, your instructions didn't mention that part, so I just went ahead and added the sataraid folder alone.

I did integrate the sata_ide folder as well. That part was pretty clear.

Care to clear up what exactly I have to do with the nvatabus.inf file if I'm going to integrate the sataraid folder?

Thanks.

You misunderstood me.
If you did what I have written within my guide (integration of either the LEGACY folder or alternatively the SATARAID+SATA_IDE folder), you have nothing missed. There is no need to copy any file from elsewhere into the SATARAID folder before integrating it, because the needed INF file (in this case the NVATA.INF) will be loaded by the additional integration of the SATA_IDE folder.
When you have additionally integrated the SATA_IDE folder content, you have nothing to do with the NVATABUS.INF, because you got the NVATA.INF (with the same content).

for the love of god 54 pages, someone make a new Topic, download the latest drivers for "said" nvidia chipset, make a self-extractor out of it (to the OS build folder where it should be placed) and be done with it FFS and then task someone with making sure that the most updated driver versions are used..... geez

What about you? You are welcome!
It's an easy job, because all nForce chipsets are working the same way. The only thing to do is to integrate NVIDIA's fantastic unified nForce chipset driver package usefull for all chipsets, operating systems and other hardware configurations. Everything will work great - no requested help anymore!

To be serious again:
1. Someone who reads 54 pages with more than 1.000 posts, is beyond help. The only important and still actual post is the first one of this big thread. It is not my fault, that it got such a volume, but the amount of posts and the number of views shows, that many users needed and got help here.
2. I would be glad if someone else would continue my work, because I did it long enough (since July 2005). Furthermore I don't have any nForce chipset mainboard anymore.
3. I am happy, that I got only a few comments like yours, because otherwise I wouldn't have spent so much time within this forum.

Hello Fernando, after a great deal of installing and rebooting,
f6-ing, rebooting etc and finally searching on google I found your thread with all the good info.

I read about 18-25 pages and then finally skipped to the last page so I could post my question...

Can you help me setup the slipstream disc without using Nlite?

I tried to send you a message with my system information and what I have prepaired but I don't know if it went through.
It doesn't show up in my sent box.

The motherboard is an Nforce4 chipset nfk8mc with NVRAID or mediashield? bios 5.5

I have prepaired my raid array "RAID 0"

Used my SATA drive MFG's setup disc to pre-format and partition the RAID ARRAY into several partitions.
I Have set my bios all accordingly, so that the RAID array is set to boot etc..

I have copied all my xp pro sp2 cd contents into xpcd folder on the Root of my C drive
and have created the $oem$\$1\drivers sub tree within the xpcd folder

I have downloaded and unpacked the vista beta2 nforce pack for "legacy" drivers
and have also downloaded several versions of nvidia chipset packs, in hopes of using new whql signed drivers.

I am willing to try both, but I am unable to run the Nlite program on my current windows 9x OS

I have a guide for a boot disc using nero, have nero, cdburner etc..

I need help doing it all manually, if it is possible.

PM me if you have AIM to help me create the necesarry adjustments, folder/file structures etc..

EDIT!~ I went back to google to find more info on making a slipstream disc and found;
this guide http://www.maximumpc.com/article/How-To--S...XP-installation

I am following the instructions there to make the subfolders that will contain the RAID drivers indicated in post1.

First I want to make a slipstream disc using the "LEGACY" drivers, I think I can do that using the info in post1 and
the maximumpc guide.

I also want to make an additional slipstream disc using the signed drivers.

So, I may need help seting up either disc, but most likely I will need help setting up the disc with signed drivers.

Thanks in advance.

Working on the LEGACY vista beta 2 nvpack slipstream disc

I have the following subfolder structure;

c:\xpcd\$OEM$\$1\drivers\legacy\
disk1
idecoi.dll
nvatabus.inf
nvatabus.sys
nvcoi.dll
nvide.nvu
nvraid.inf
nvraid.sys
nvraidco.dll
nvuide.exe
txtsetup.oem


The guide says to copy the .sys file into the c:\xpcd\i386 folder.
Do I copy both nvatabus.sys and nvraid.sys?

Yes.

Here are the TXTSETUP.SIF modifications you have to do:

Thanks, I also have the txtsetup.oem info from the vista beta nvpack that is slightly different from your txtsetup.sif info; is it of any use?

[edit] ok I have added the info from above into the txtsetup.sif file in the i386 folder, and have copied both .sys files into the i386 folder.

I will let you know how the vista beta nvraid slipstream disc goes etc.

I have also downloaded the tool you mentioned in your message and will try that with the signed drivers.

I am at a stop with the maximum pc guide regarding the winnt.sif file
do I need to create this for the pnp oem install or is that not needed for the "legacy" type installation?
here's their isntructions for the winnt.sif file

I don't know, but you should keep in mind, that the Vista nForce chipset driver packages are designed for Vista and not for Windows XP.
With the TXTSETUP.SIF entries I quoted above I managed it to slipstream the nForce SataRaid drivers into a bootable XP CD.

This is the way I did it:
1. Create a folder within your XP source directory like $OEM$\$1\Drivers\nVRAID (notice: you can name it "legacy" if you want)
2. Create a WINNT.SIF file by using the DEPLOY.CAB tool (within the Suppot\Tools folder of the XP CD) and add the driver path:
OemPnPDriversPath = "Drivers\nVRAID" (in your case you should name it "drivers\legacy")
3. Open the TXTSETUP.SIF file (it's within the i386 folder of your source directory) and add the entries I quoted above.
4. Copy all SYS files of the nForce SataRaid driver folder (in your case the LEGACY one) into the i386 folder of the XP source.
5. Make the ISO file with a tool like Isobuster or UltraIso and burn your bootable CD
That's all.

Yes, if you don't find a WINNT.SIF file within your i386 directory, you have to create it. Otherwise XP Setup will not find the nForce SataRaid drivers path.

Thanks, I will use the current legacy path I have now for the winnt.sif file
I'm not sure what tool to use in the support folder, I don't have deply.cab
here's whats in there;
cvtarea.exe
deploy.chm
factory.exe
oformat.com
readme.txt
ref.chm
setupcl.exe
setupmgr.exe
sysprep.exe
wfinf_guide.doc

I tried ISO builder 3 but it fails on my current 9x os because it needs windows xp/2000

Are you sure to have looked into the SUPPORT\TOOLS folder of the original Windows XP CD?
There must be a file named DEPLOY.CAB.

yes, I ment to type I don't know what tool to use in the deploy.cab, I open it up and those are the contents, I don't have any idea which one to use. sorry, I was in a hurry while editing and left out a bunch of my qeustioin. [edit] also, I have tried some of the .exe's in the support folder and they fail to run or install because I'm not running xp, can I create a winnt.sif file using notepad? save the file as winnt.txt then rename it to .sif?

Ah, you had already opened the DEPLOY.CAB file.
Run the SETUPMGR.EXE file.
Look here for further details: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314472/en-us

I tried, but it doesn't run in windows 9x says it needs windows nt with sp4 and some version if IE

I've been reading a bunch of other guides that talk about the sif file's and it looks like using notepad to mess with the txtsetup.sif and winnt.sif answer file is likely to cause problems that won't show themselfs till after running the install disc and since I don't have VMware or any other auditing tools I don't want to wind up with a stack of coasters. I'll try making the discs using the legacy install I've been working on but I'm going to use the Nlite tool on my brothers computer as soon as I can to make discs according to the guide in post 1. I appreciate your time and effort in helping me with the legacy disc preperation, I will check back here later for help if I run into anymore problems; Thanks for everything.

I didn't know that.
If you really want to create a WINNT.SIF file, you can do it manually by using notepad.
Just edit the following:

Then rename the file to WINNT.SIF and copy it into the i386 folder of your XP source directory.

That is why I suggested to use a driver slipstreaming tool like nLite (needs an installed Microsoft .NET Framework) or XP Isobuilder (doesn't need .NET Framework). It is really a hard work for a newbee to manually create a bootable CD with integrated nForce SataRaid drivers. Even a small error while editing the SIF files will destroy your work at least.
You are welcome.

OK, so I tried the Vista beta nvraid pack this morning and got the following from the xp txt setup mode, "setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer." I got this once the first time I tried to install xp, when I didn't use any NVraid floppy. I still don't have access to my brothers computer to do the Nlite setup disc, but apparently my install disc is working correctly, other than it didn't apear to load the vista pack drivers, or they are incompatible with my FAT 32 partitions?

Can you help with the txtsetup.sif and winnt.sif files for the whql certified drivers?

The last time I have manually edited these SIF files was in July 2005 and I didn't backup them. The actual TXTSETUP.SIF and WINNT.SIF files of my nLited XP CD wouldn't help you at all, because
a ) they contain a lot of other informations which are not useful for you and
b ) the WHQL driver integration method needs some other modifications done by nLite.

Here is an easier way for you to succeed without using nLite:
1. Download the nForce chipset driver package v.6.53 from here and unzip it with a tool like WinRar.
2. Copy the content of the IDE\WinXP folder except the RAIDTOOL subfolder onto an empty floppy disk.
3. Boot from your original XP CD and press F6 when you are prompted to load SCSI drivers.
4. Load the drivers from your prepared floppy disk. You have to load both Controller drivers declared as "required".
After having loaded both drivers, the XP setup should detect your RAID partitions.
You won't get an endless reboot at the end of the installation.
Once you have completed the XP installation, you can install all needed nForce chipset drivers by running the SETUP.EXE of the actual nForce chipset driver package suitable for your nForce chipset (probably the version 6.86). After a reboot the already installed old nForce SataRaid drivers v.5.18 will be updated to the actual version 6.66.

Alternatively you can try a tool named RAID Slipstreamer. I didn't test it myself, but according to this post it should work with nForce SataRaid drivers.

Thanks again, I'm trying both of the methods with the 6.53 raid driver floppy "minus raid tool" and the raidtreamer needs dot net as well, so I can't use it, that is untill I can get all these drivers and my cdburner in my brothers computer

The nvraid 6.53? floppy was a no go, windows xp setup didn't see a hard drive after loading the drivers off the floppy... oh well. Now to take all these files/drivers/applications over to my brothers computer

One of the versions of the nvidia chipset pack download gives me a list of drives for the txtsetup portion of xp install, I'll try that one with Nlite after I figure out which version it was. Now I gotta go read the whql signed driver preperation guide

I nearly cannot believe it, because the SataRaid drivers of the 6.53 package should run on every nForce4 RAID system.
Are you sure, that your BIOS settings are OK, your nForce RAID shown as "healthy" and set as bootable?
Which type (P-ATA, S-ATA1 or S-ATA2) and how many hard disk drives do you have in your system?

Currently I have a healthy and bootable RAID 0 array configured accros two identical wd250gb sata drives setup to use sata 1, they are sata2 drives that are jumpered to sata1. The array is working. I can use the hard disk utillities boot cd to partition and format the array, I have tried both fat 32 and ntfs with both the vista beta nvraid driver and the 6.53 nvraid driver. I have had some success getting the xp txt setup portion of the install to recognize the array and drive letters after formatting with the hard disk CD, then using either the driver that came on the motherboard disc, or the latest nvidia nforce driver pack on a floppy, I don't remember which one gave the bsod stop error but one of them allowed xp to install and start to load, it just went berzerk afterwards giving endless reboots. I am just not having any luck with the vista beta 2 drivers, or the 6.53 nvraid driver moved onto a floppy.

I have access to a windows xp machine with .net, so when I find the driver pack that recognises the raid array but gives reboots, rather than the stop error, I will try those drivers to make the unnatend slipstream disc with Nlite. I wish it was easier

(edit) So, with RAID enabled on all the drives in the bios, and using version 6.86 nvraid floppy f6 method, xp setup detected the RAID 0 array, and each partition, so I used those with Nlite and BINGO BANGO...

Some of the other drivers would only detect a C drive and some unused space. Decided to use the latest version that would find all of the partitions.

Thanks again for your time, even though I wasn't able to do this the first day with Nlite, eventually I got it done with Nlite.

I am happy, that you succeeded at least, although you tried the really hard way.....

Hello

I've been trying to use this guide to integrate the sata divers on a Windows XP Pro MCE but with no success...
I followed the "legacy" method for a nforce2 board.

The cd boots, setup starts, asks to press F6 (i do nothing) then F2, and then the weird part.. It shows this message:

Please insert the disk labeled
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 CD
into drive A:
*Press enter when ready.

any ideas..?

---------------------------
Update

Nevermind.. the problem seems to be with the copy of the XP MCE itself, not the integration process. I tryed to install using the floppy and hitting F6 and windows was unable to copy the drivers from the floppy during the installation process.. dunno why..

This thread seems to be the answer to my prayers. This is what happened last night when I built up my new system:

I got one of these boards last night:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...rodid=MB-124-AB

as part of a new system. I have a problem trying to get RAID setup.

Built everything up, everything seems to work fine, POSTS no problem and detects all my peripherals.

So I decided to try and setup RAID on my two 250GB Barracudas and something went wrong...

I enabled RAID on SATA 1 and 2 in the BIOS, then rebooted, went into the RAID config BIOS and selected to use striping and created an array. Everything seemed fine, raid health is sound. Booted of an XP Pro CD and began setup, had a floppy disc in with the nvRAID drivers from the Abit homepage ready for when Windows asked for it.

So Windows setup starts, it said that I was required to install the RAID drivers (there were two options nvRAID and something else like mass storage drivers, it said they were both required). Formatted the disk as it appeared correctly as one logical drive, then windows began copying files and installing. After what looked like a succesful installation my machine reboot, showed the Loading Windows XP screen, then quickly flashed with a blue screen and reboot again. And again, and again, and again.

I cant see what the screen says because it flashes on and off so fast, the only thing i could make out was something like "problem with hard drive" even though both drives are there and correctly setup for raid.

Now I have no idea whats wrong. I also got a strange 'nee naw nee naw' siren sound sometimes when restarting. I do need to update to latest BIOS which I will do tonight but does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? Everything seems to be correctly installed.

Oh and also, should I delete the RAID array before flashing the BIOS?

Full system specs:

Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLi nForce 650 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2

2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz

Pioneer DVR-112DBK 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

GeForce 8800GTS OC2 640MB PCIE

Thermaltake VC3000BWS Armour Jr SuperMidi Tower

I'm going to try and create an nLite installation tonight and see if that helps. Nice guide

Your are right. It seems, that a required file is missing on your nLited CD.
Look here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&...st&p=156691

I found the driver here:

http://www.dfi.com.tw/Upload/Driver/nForceRaid_5p34.zip

I unzipped it and copied to to BartPE SCSI driver folder for Install

Look into the first post of this thread and then you will recognise the reason for your problem. You have to integrate the nForce SataRaid drivers into the XP CD.

That is exactly what I have recommended within the first post of this thread!

sounds very stupid but where do i find my nvraid bios?? -- someone said the second screen is it the MediaShield bios versison?

I have an Asus P5N32-E SLI board.

Thanks!

Yes, the MediaShield (=nVRaid BIOS) version is normally shown at the second bootscreen. You have to look quickly, because the screen is only shown for a short moment.

Just a quick question:

I couldn't see the info for my particular setup. I just have a single ATA133 200 GB drive. I have an nforce4 ultra chipset. Do I need to carry out the special intergration process for the nvidia drivers, and which ones do I use if I dont want SATA or RAID?

I have disabled RAID and SATA in the bios.

Separately, I intergrated SP2 with a release version of an OEM CD. But XP setup doesn't recognise the 200 GB (It still quotes a 131072 MB size). I can't find a way to make it recognise it. I'd prefer to use a single partition if possible. Though that should be in a different thread. Will post it later. Thanks in advance!

If you don't need any nForce IDE (S-ATA/Raid) drivers, you can integrate the nForce Ethernet and Audio drivers as PnP drivers.

This thread was started to help users with an nForce SataRaid system. That is the reason why you didn¨t find the requested informations.

Hello everyone. I have a M2N32-SLI (nForce 590 SLI) motherboard, and I've followed the installation directions given at the first page of this thread, and using the latest drivers for it (6.67 WHQL). I've added the drivers on text mode, the installation works well and everything, but after install, and while loading I'm getting a fast reboot.

Choosing the F8 option to not restart on fail, shows up a BSOD, with the following: *** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xFFFFFADFE480F3C0,0xFFFFFFFFC0000034,0x0000000000000000,0x0000000000000000)

Anyone can help me with this? I've tried reading the other pages in this thread but its sooo huge! (almost 60 pages!).

Any help/comment/tip is appreciated, thanks in advance!

I apologize for posting yet another message on this huge thread, but I seem to be having a different problem related to nVidia chipsets and nLite.

SUMMARY: F6 AND FLOPPY INSTALL OF nVIDIA RAID DRIVERS NO LONGER WORKS ON AN nLITE PROCESSED WINXP PRO X86 VLK CD.

DETAILS:

I need to make a universal install disk for all the machines in my company that I can keep in my possession (or that of my assistant) to install/reinstall Windows XP Pro X86 VLK to all our diverse machines, and any new ones which might be bought by the lunatics in purchasing. I wish to prevent people copying this disk to (hopefully) prevent them from stealing our very expensive Volume License. (I hope they don't know the easy method of finding this!)

So far, on machines with nVidia nForce chipsets and a bootable RAID array I have observed the following problem which seems different from other people's experiences:

I can EASILY install WinXP Pro X86 VLK to nVidia RAID volumes with the original SP0 disk, the F6 thingy, and a floppy with the drivers on it. I can use old or new drivers, and have had no problems.

When I use nLite to ONLY slipstream SP2, the 120 odd post-SP2 updates, and our precious CD key into the installation, the F6/floppy procedure fails as follows:

Windows install can easily recoginze, format, and copy a few folders onto the new nVidia RAID volume, but when it tries to read the files from the floppy the SECOND time (after saying "Making a list of the files to be copied...") it cannot read nvraid.sys (or whatever the first file in the list is) from the floppy.

I have not had time to see if slipstreaming the nVidia drivers onto the disk solves this, nor have I been able to verify if this problem happens when trying to install, say Intel or VIA RAID drivers. We have all of these here!!

Is this a separate or new problem from the one in this thread? Does anyone else know about this? Does anyone have a solution (other than the horrible time wasting solution of not using nLite or slipstreaming?) Is this a problem with Windows or nLite?

I have tried every version of the nVidia drivers out there, with the same result. Thanks!

Interesting prob, but :

...
Agi Hammerklau

This is not an issue of nLite, but an issue of the Windows Setup routine! If the Windows Setup routine finds a file named WINNT.SIF (contains instructions for the unattended install) within the i386 directory, it will not find the textmode drivers you will load via F6/floppy.
As you have created a WINNT.SIF file by putting the CD key into the nLited CD, the F6 method will not work.

You have 2 options to solve the problem:
1. Create a new nLited CD without implementing the CD key.
2. Create a new nLited CD with integrated nForce SataRaid drivers.

Thanks Fernando 1. You may have saved my job, and my sanity too! I lost an entire weekend at home on my own time to this problem.

My problem:

"SUMMARY: F6 AND FLOPPY INSTALL OF nVIDIA RAID DRIVERS NO LONGER WORKS ON AN nLITE PROCESSED WINXP PRO X86 VLK CD."

Your simple solution:

"You have 2 options to solve the problem:
1. Create a new nLited CD without implementing the CD key.
2. Create a new nLited CD with integrated nForce SataRaid drivers."

Physically controlling the CD will just have to do, concerning the security of our Volume License Key! Saving the time of having to install SP2 and all the updates every time I do a re-install of Windows will make me look much better in the eyes of my (id***) boss. Now I will be able to do two or three a day instead of one.

Thanks again!

You are welcome.
It makes me happy to possibly having saved a job of someone by just writing a little post within a forum.

CU
Fernando