Jump to content

Integration of NVIDIA's nForce RAID and AHCI drivers


Fernando 1

Recommended Posts

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!

=)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


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.

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Then I integrated *ONLY* (this was very important!!!) textmode SATARAID drivers (one by one and not together).

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.

Edited by Dworkin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.
Which mainboard do you have and which nForce chipset is it using?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then I integrated *ONLY* (this was very important!!!) textmode SATARAID drivers (one by one and not together).
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.
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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

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.

Edited by Dworkin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Care to clear up what exactly I have to do with the nvatabus.inf file if I'm going to integrate the sataraid 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).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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! :thumbup:thumbup

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.

Edited by Fernando 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...