How can I use the RAID controller in a K7T266 Pro-R as a regular IDE controller?

**hyuga** · 09-06-2002, 04:59 PM

All my "regular" IDE ports are currently in use. Can I use the RAID IDE ports to connect an additional HDD? I have a K7T266 Pro-R motherboard. If so, how do I configure it? (RAID is currently disabled in the BIOS.)

Thanks.

**BlueOval** · 09-06-2002, 05:32 PM

Yes, RAID gives you 4 independent IDE channels. Each channel supports 2 devices, so with a RAID controller you can have up to 8 drives in a non-RAID setup. Set your current hard drive as the master by plugging it into the master interface of the primary channel and setting the jumper on the back of the drive to master.

Depending on how many total drives you have, you can set up each drive on their own channel, which would mean optimum performance and no conflicts for all your drives. If you have more than 4 drives, just keep the hdd's on their own channel(s).

Some mobos allow you to configure their RAID setups solely in the BIOS and some have you switch some jumpers on the mobo. You'll have to consult your mobo manual for your specific mobo.

**hyuga** · 09-07-2002, 01:09 AM

What is the order of devices with RAID enabled? Right now there are 2 IDE channels. With RAID I would have 2 more, right? Would they be channels 3 and 4?

**mtpockets** · 09-07-2002, 02:18 PM

you must enable the controllers to use them.
use your cdrom/burner in ide 1 as master.
hard drive in ide 3 as master.
hard drive in ide 4 as master.
any other devices can be used as a slave off ide 2.
once enabled the controllers are just like regular ide controllers,your just skipping the raid creation part of the bios.

**hyuga** · 09-09-2002, 11:51 AM

I enabled RAID on the BIOS and hit "auto-configure" in the RAID controller set-up. It created an array with 1 disc. It seems to be working fine. Would it be better not to configure the HDD in an array and have the RAID controller act as an IDE controller?

**BlueOval** · 09-10-2002, 12:50 AM

That all depends on what you do with your system. Seems you inadvertently created a RAID 0 array - which is the simplest form of RAID and which your OS looks at all of your drives as being 1 large drive.

If you mostly play games, a RAID 0 array can be helpful in that it speeds level loading times. However, if any one of your hard drives fail, you will lose the entire array. It would be much safer, and you would not lose any noticeable performance, by turning your RAID controller into a normal IDE controller. In fact, you might even gain a little performance by allowing each of your drives to be on their own channels (depending on the total number of drives in your system).

If it were me, I'd switch it to 'normal' and follow mtpockets' suggestion posted earlier.

**hyuga** · 09-10-2002, 11:08 AM

There is only 1 drive in the array. I have another drive in the normal IDE controller.
The auto-config created an array with just 1 HDD, the only HDD connected to the RAID controller. It seems to be working fine. My concern is that since that single drive is in an array, that I will not be able to move that HDD to a normal IDE controller, because it is been written as if it were an RAID array, even if it is 1 drive. Asides from that concern, it is working great. There is 1 drive in the array and the total size of the array is equal to the size of the one disk. The other drive is separate from the one in the RAID controller.

**BlueOval** · 09-11-2002, 11:30 PM

Aha. Well, if you end up moving the drive on the RAID controller to the normal one, you'll have to set it up in the BIOS again, therefore there won't be any problem switching the drive over to another controller. It may be working fine, but you don't actually have a RAID array regardless of what your BIOS says, as you need at least 2 hdd's to make one.

**mtpockets** · 09-12-2002, 02:14 AM

if your hard drive is sharing a controller with a cdrom device you are running at speed of the slowest device(ata33).move all hard drives to the #3 and #4 ide slots.
I believe you auto configured the master/slave relationship,you cannot be running raid with 1 drive.

**hyuga** · 09-25-2002, 10:12 PM

Originally posted by BlueOval
Aha. Well, if you end up moving the drive on the RAID controller to the normal one, you'll have to set it up in the BIOS again, therefore there won't be any problem switching the drive over to another controller. It may be working fine, but you don't actually have a RAID array regardless of what your BIOS says, as you need at least 2 hdd's to make one.

I knew that I did not have a RAID array. But I was concerned that the data was being written in a different manner by the RAID controller and that if I wanted to move the IDE HDD configured in that 1 disk "array" I would not be able to.

Here is my config:

IDE1: HDD (Master) / HDD (Slave)
IDE2: CD-ROM (Master) / DVD-ROM (Slave)
[RAID] IDE3: HDD (Master) / <none> (Slave)
[RAID] IDE4: <none> (Master) / <none> (Slave)

The HDD in IDE3 is configured as a 1 disk array in stripe mode. I know that it is not. But, does that imply that the data is dependent on a RAID controller to be read or written?
Under Windows XP the drive appears as "Promise 1+0 Stripe/RAID0 SCSI Disk Device" and not as the Maxtor IDE model as my other drives.

** Can I safely move this HDD to a non-RAID IDE channel, say IDE2 Master (removing the CD-ROM drive, of course)? **

Thanks!

**hyuga** · 09-26-2002, 12:52 AM

I tried moving the HDD assigned to a 1 disk "array" to a non-RAID IDE controller. It worked, so I guess that answers my question.

I added another drive to the RAID IDE controller. It was not detected by Windows, even though the RAID IDE controller found it. I had to create an array of 1 disk using that HDD. That fixed it. It is now being recognized.

**hyuga** · 09-26-2002, 12:56 AM

Will other IDE devices work using the RAID IDE controller?

I tried connecting a CD-ROM drive to one of the RAID IDE channels (as a stand-alone master in the channel). It did not work. The CD-ROM drive was not recognized by either the RAID controller nor Windows.

Is there a way to configure the RAID IDE controller to connect a IDE device other than an IDE HDD (like an IDE CD-ROM)?

Thanks!

**mtpockets** · 09-26-2002, 09:25 PM

the raid channels are for hard drives only.
CDROMS DO NOT GO IN IDE 3 AND 4.
hard drives should not be sharing a controller or cable with cdroms for best performance.
your setup is working but is not optimal.

**hyuga** · 09-26-2002, 10:01 PM

Originally posted by mtpockets
the raid channels are for hard drives only.
CDROMS DO NOT GO IN IDE 3 AND 4.
hard drives should not be sharing a controller or cable with cdroms for best performance.
your setup is working but is not optimal.

What would be optimal (or at least better)?

Thanks.

**mtpockets** · 09-27-2002, 08:48 PM

ide1-cdrw master
ide2-cdrom slave
ide3 hard drive master/slave
ide4 hard drive master/slave

put the hard drive with the boot sector in ide3 as master.
boot options should be floppy,hda0,ata 100.

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