I'm having trouble installing internal hard drives.

andrewanimation · 09-21-2007, 07:33 PM

Hello,

I'm having trouble installing internal hard drives.

The computer is a desktop Dual Xeon 3.06 GHz, and the hard drives are two Seagate 7200.16 500GB SATA 16M drives.

I want to set it up in a RAID1 mirror array, so one 500GB mirrors the other.

I started with just one of the two hard drives, removing the jumper block that limits the speed from 3GB/s to 1.5GB/s operation, put the SATA data and power cables in there, (2 connections in all), slid it in a bay, and screwed it in place.

But the Windows XP Pro install CD said there were no hard drives detected.

What should I do?

Thank you

ghost · 09-21-2007, 07:50 PM

Can you see the drives in the BIOS?

You don't set the RAID array in the OS you have to config them before (usually to enter the setup for RAID press the F* button after the BIOS post screen when you boot up). Think it might be F10...

Also look in the BIOS before you set them up for extra options.

andrewanimation · 09-21-2007, 07:53 PM

Does that mean I should connect the second drive right now as well? Maybe the XP setup will recognize the drives after I set up the RAID1 array with both drives. I'll try that now.

ghost · 09-21-2007, 07:56 PM

Yeah get the drives connected, go into the BIOS and check your PC can see them. Then quit out the BIOS and enter the RAID config. Go though the setup for RAID1 (mirroring). Then install the OS as normal.

andrewanimation · 09-21-2007, 08:08 PM

I connected the second drive, and I'm in the BIOS. Where do I go to check if the PC can see the hard drives? I'm new in dealing with the BIOS. I may also need help with how to enter the RAID config after this. Thank you

ghost · 09-21-2007, 08:19 PM

In the BIOS look in the Standard features to see if the drives are connected and running. After you have confirmed this quid out the BIOS and enter the RAID setup. After doing that put in your OS CD and install, job done.

If you still cant see the HDDs when installing the OS you might need to install SATA drivers from a floppy disc (lets hope this dont happen, usually only with older PCs you have to do that).

andrewanimation · 09-21-2007, 08:41 PM

I exited out of BIOS that first time, and can't seem to get back in. Even tapping F3 (it says to hit F3 for BIOS) multiple times doesn't let me in again. Instead, it soon goes to 'Operating system not found.' But when I was in BIOS, I didn't see any indication of the hard drives being detected. Do I have to run some sort of Seagate disk or floppy? None came with the drives, but I'll look at the Seagate site right now.
Thanks

johnb35 · 09-21-2007, 09:06 PM

What motherboard do you have? In bios you have to enable the raid function if your board even supports it. Asus boards are usually Ctrl and the I key but first you have to enable raid in the bios to even allow the utility to even appear on boot. You have to connect both drives at the same time to configure raid. And most likely you will have to press F6 at the beginning of XP install to allow xp to see the drives in raid configuration.

andrewanimation · 09-21-2007, 10:05 PM

Update: I contacted Visionman, the builder of my system, and found everything out. It's a good thing I did, because I needed drivers from sites I've never been to and whatnot. They also informed me that I needed to purchase a new PCI card if I wanted to take advantage of the 3GB/s speed, so I did that. $76 for double the hard drive speed should be a good deal. So I'll just set up my system when the new card arrives. I'll let you know if I run into any problems then, but hopefully the manual that comes with it should be sufficient.
Thank you

09-21-2007, 07:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
andrewanimation Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 117	I'm having trouble installing internal hard drives. Hello, I'm having trouble installing internal hard drives. The computer is a desktop Dual Xeon 3.06 GHz, and the hard drives are two Seagate 7200.16 500GB SATA 16M drives. I want to set it up in a RAID1 mirror array, so one 500GB mirrors the other. I started with just one of the two hard drives, removing the jumper block that limits the speed from 3GB/s to 1.5GB/s operation, put the SATA data and power cables in there, (2 connections in all), slid it in a bay, and screwed it in place. But the Windows XP Pro install CD said there were no hard drives detected. What should I do? Thank you

09-21-2007, 07:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
ghost Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,076	Can you see the drives in the BIOS? You don't set the RAID array in the OS you have to config them before (usually to enter the setup for RAID press the F* button after the BIOS post screen when you boot up). Think it might be F10... Also look in the BIOS before you set them up for extra options. __________________ ASUS A8N SLi Deluxe Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200XL Pro TwinX (4x512MB) AMD Athlon 64 X2 939 4600+ @ 2.6 Ghz ATi Radeon HD 3850 @ 680/844 80GB SATA HDD/200GB PATA HDD 1x DVDRW DL 485W PSU, Alpha watercooling Last edited by ghost; 09-21-2007 at 07:52 PM.

09-21-2007, 07:56 PM	#4 (permalink)
ghost Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,076	Yeah get the drives connected, go into the BIOS and check your PC can see them. Then quit out the BIOS and enter the RAID config. Go though the setup for RAID1 (mirroring). Then install the OS as normal. __________________ ASUS A8N SLi Deluxe Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200XL Pro TwinX (4x512MB) AMD Athlon 64 X2 939 4600+ @ 2.6 Ghz ATi Radeon HD 3850 @ 680/844 80GB SATA HDD/200GB PATA HDD 1x DVDRW DL 485W PSU, Alpha watercooling

09-21-2007, 08:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
ghost Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,076	In the BIOS look in the Standard features to see if the drives are connected and running. After you have confirmed this quid out the BIOS and enter the RAID setup. After doing that put in your OS CD and install, job done. If you still cant see the HDDs when installing the OS you might need to install SATA drivers from a floppy disc (lets hope this dont happen, usually only with older PCs you have to do that). __________________ ASUS A8N SLi Deluxe Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200XL Pro TwinX (4x512MB) AMD Athlon 64 X2 939 4600+ @ 2.6 Ghz ATi Radeon HD 3850 @ 680/844 80GB SATA HDD/200GB PATA HDD 1x DVDRW DL 485W PSU, Alpha watercooling

09-21-2007, 09:06 PM	#8 (permalink)
johnb35 Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: IL, USA Age: 38 Posts: 1,116	What motherboard do you have? In bios you have to enable the raid function if your board even supports it. Asus boards are usually Ctrl and the I key but first you have to enable raid in the bios to even allow the utility to even appear on boot. You have to connect both drives at the same time to configure raid. And most likely you will have to press F6 at the beginning of XP install to allow xp to see the drives in raid configuration. __________________ Motherboard - Asus P5B-E CPU - E6600 Memory - 2GB Corsair XMS2 (2x 1gb) Graphics - x1650 pro 256mb Hard Drives - 250GB WD and 250GB Samsung in Raid 1 DVD Drive - Lite-On DVD Burner - Lite-On Power Supply - Ultra 425 watt - upgrading to at least 550-600 Watt 22" Acer widescreen AL2216WBD

09-21-2007, 07:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
andrewanimation Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 117	Does that mean I should connect the second drive right now as well? Maybe the XP setup will recognize the drives after I set up the RAID1 array with both drives. I'll try that now.

09-21-2007, 08:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
andrewanimation Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 117	I connected the second drive, and I'm in the BIOS. Where do I go to check if the PC can see the hard drives? I'm new in dealing with the BIOS. I may also need help with how to enter the RAID config after this. Thank you

09-21-2007, 08:41 PM	#7 (permalink)
andrewanimation Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 117	I exited out of BIOS that first time, and can't seem to get back in. Even tapping F3 (it says to hit F3 for BIOS) multiple times doesn't let me in again. Instead, it soon goes to 'Operating system not found.' But when I was in BIOS, I didn't see any indication of the hard drives being detected. Do I have to run some sort of Seagate disk or floppy? None came with the drives, but I'll look at the Seagate site right now. Thanks

09-21-2007, 10:05 PM	#9 (permalink)
andrewanimation Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 117	Update: I contacted Visionman, the builder of my system, and found everything out. It's a good thing I did, because I needed drivers from sites I've never been to and whatnot. They also informed me that I needed to purchase a new PCI card if I wanted to take advantage of the 3GB/s speed, so I did that. $76 for double the hard drive speed should be a good deal. So I'll just set up my system when the new card arrives. I'll let you know if I run into any problems then, but hopefully the manual that comes with it should be sufficient. Thank you

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