NVRAID install failure

NForce4 (MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum) 3 WD SATA hard drives, 2 are RAIDed in a
striping array. So first (to get the story out of the way) I tried booting
Vista x64 RC1 setup via DVD and using the nVidia nForce4 drivers for Vista
RC1 on CD-RW to load the RAID drivers during boot/setup but the drivers
would not load. Kept trying this for a couple days, gave up.

Then I found another hard drive lying around, formatted it, installed
Windows XP Pro x64 Ed., and then installed the appropriate XP x64 drivers
from nVidia, and then ran the Vista x64 RC1 DVD. The RAID drive could now be
seen (as it was visible now in XP), but it still said it could not be
installed without the appropriate drivers. I then tried the nVidia nForce4
drivers for Vista RC1 and now it was INSTALLING!!

The setup files copied completely over and the computer rebooted. Then it
said, "Could not find the selected partition for the installation target."
It proceeded to rollback and cancel setup without so much as a "Retry" or
"Reload driver".

Now what?

I am pondering the idea of restarting with installing XP x64 on the RAID
array itself rather than a spare HD w/ the RAID drivers. But I don't have a
working floppy drive, and XP requires the floppy. Considering a USB floppy,
but don't know if my mb supports it. Aarrgh...

- Jon

This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I think,
rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which comes with my
nVidia nForce4 chipset.

Jon

Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not nForce4
drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.

I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
non-raid hard drive.

You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD. After
completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista queries which
partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver" and using Browse locate
the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or WinXP
folder in the IDE folder). You should then see all the partitions available.
You should select a suitable, unused partition and then follow the
instructions to complete the install.

Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a workaround
is as follows:

Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers should
also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard drive. In Win XP
x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.

you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition to
that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which partition to
load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse locate the nForce4
drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or WinXP folder in the
IDE folder). . You should then see all the partitions available. You should
select a suitable, unused partition and then follow the instructions to
complete the install.

Hope this helps
Brian



"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which
> comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>
> Jon
>
>

Jon I can tell you that this hasn't worked for me even using the X86 raid
drivers and x86 Vista version and I have the same exact motherboard. I have
a total of 4 western digital SATA drives and two drives form a sata raid 0
and the other two a sata raid 0 also which I use for backup purposes. No
matter what I tried I could not get the Nforce drivers from the NVIDIA site
nor any older XP sataraid drivers to be recognized by the Vista setup
routine. The load drivers option failed miserably. This is an option that
Microsoft needs to make sure is fixed.


"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:e6jmL9Y1GHA.4392@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> NForce4 (MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum) 3 WD SATA hard drives, 2 are RAIDed in a
> striping array. So first (to get the story out of the way) I tried booting
> Vista x64 RC1 setup via DVD and using the nVidia nForce4 drivers for Vista
> RC1 on CD-RW to load the RAID drivers during boot/setup but the drivers
> would not load. Kept trying this for a couple days, gave up.
>
> Then I found another hard drive lying around, formatted it, installed
> Windows XP Pro x64 Ed., and then installed the appropriate XP x64 drivers
> from nVidia, and then ran the Vista x64 RC1 DVD. The RAID drive could now
> be
> seen (as it was visible now in XP), but it still said it could not be
> installed without the appropriate drivers. I then tried the nVidia nForce4
> drivers for Vista RC1 and now it was INSTALLING!!
>
> The setup files copied completely over and the computer rebooted. Then it
> said, "Could not find the selected partition for the installation target."
> It proceeded to rollback and cancel setup without so much as a "Retry" or
> "Reload driver".
>
> Now what?
>
> I am pondering the idea of restarting with installing XP x64 on the RAID
> array itself rather than a spare HD w/ the RAID drivers. But I don't have
> a working floppy drive, and XP requires the floppy. Considering a USB
> floppy, but don't know if my mb supports it. Aarrgh...
>
> - Jon
>
>

Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as trying
again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the exact same
results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup sees the partition
fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the first reboot Setup says
"Cannot find the partition selected for installation," and rolls back.

I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated this
because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see" the RAID
array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that the RC1 drivers
worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive, but only failed to load
upon first reboot.

This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine (sorta,
although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading the drivers in
the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.

Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader or
kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine when going
through XP already running during initial Setup. But neither the DVD nor the
first reboot bootloader can see the RAID array using the same drivers. I
think something is going very weird on this side of Vista that seems to work
in Microsoft's and nVidia's test labs and for some other people but not for
me and some others.

My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three SATA
drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are RAIDed, one
SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for preloading Vista
setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA drives are connected
to. I only learned recently that this might matter, but I'm fearful of
changing it lest I accidentally erase my data already on the RAID array.

Jon


"Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>
> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
> drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
> non-raid hard drive.
>
> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD. After
> completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista queries which
> partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver" and using Browse
> locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or
> WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You should then see all the partitions
> available. You should select a suitable, unused partition and then follow
> the instructions to complete the install.
>
> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a workaround
> is as follows:
>
> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard drive.
> In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>
> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition to
> that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which partition
> to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse locate the nForce4
> drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or WinXP folder in the
> IDE folder). . You should then see all the partitions available. You
> should select a suitable, unused partition and then follow the
> instructions to complete the install.
>
> Hope this helps
> Brian
>
>
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
>> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which
>> comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>
>

Jon

I have re-read your original posting - I should read more carefully. The
difference between your situation and mine is that WinXP x64 is installed on
the Raid 0. The initial setup of Vista may use the nForce4 Raid drivers
from XP and so be in position to enable the partition selection to complete
correctly.

Installs from the DVD worked ok at Beta2 - but I cannot now install any
beta2 Vista by booting from DVD - something, I believe, has been changed on
the RAID setup during my attempts to install RC1 Vista. (I'm not going to
setup my Raid again to prove it)

It may be that you have to bite the bullet and get a floppy drive (I had no
success with a USB floppy drive on my board). But it obviously does not
make sense to have to install the appropriate WinXP before you install
Vista.

(I have to suffer with only half a video card being used - Vista is yet to
support SLI)

Brian

Using a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI with GV-3D1 video card (dual GeForce 6600 GT).



"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:%23bEMuoe1GHA.2196@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as trying
> again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the exact same
> results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup sees the
> partition fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the first reboot
> Setup says "Cannot find the partition selected for installation," and
> rolls back.
>
> I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated this
> because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see" the RAID
> array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that the RC1 drivers
> worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive, but only failed to
> load upon first reboot.
>
> This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine
> (sorta, although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading the
> drivers in the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.
>
> Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader or
> kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine when
> going through XP already running during initial Setup. But neither the DVD
> nor the first reboot bootloader can see the RAID array using the same
> drivers. I think something is going very weird on this side of Vista that
> seems to work in Microsoft's and nVidia's test labs and for some other
> people but not for me and some others.
>
> My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three SATA
> drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are RAIDed,
> one SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for preloading
> Vista setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA drives are
> connected to. I only learned recently that this might matter, but I'm
> fearful of changing it lest I accidentally erase my data already on the
> RAID array.
>
> Jon
>
>
> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
>> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>>
>> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
>> drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
>> non-raid hard drive.
>>
>> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD. After
>> completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista queries
>> which partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver" and using
>> Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in
>> driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You should then see all the
>> partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused partition and
>> then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>
>> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
>> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a
>> workaround is as follows:
>>
>> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
>> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard drive.
>> In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>>
>> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition to
>> that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which partition
>> to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse locate the nForce4
>> drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or WinXP folder in
>> the IDE folder). . You should then see all the partitions available. You
>> should select a suitable, unused partition and then follow the
>> instructions to complete the install.
>>
>> Hope this helps
>> Brian
>>
>>
>>
>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
>>> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which
>>> comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>>
>>> Jon
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Unplugged the non-RAID drives. Went out and bought a floppy drive for
installing XP to the RAID drive. The RAID drive has two partitions, the
primary partition is the target partition for Vista, the extended partition
is for my data and is the temporary target partition for XP. I installed XP,
using the floppy drive as needed for the RAID drivers. Once XP finished
setup I installed the full nForce driver suite and a few other drivers. Then
I ran Vista setup. Setup could see the Primary partition so I went ahead and
installed to it.

Now on reboot I get BSOD with error code 0x0000007b. Basically the same
thing (bad driver for hard drive volume).

Tried the Vista install using both XP and Vista drivers using this method,
same result.

Jon


"Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:OQ8HeYf1GHA.476@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Jon
>
> I have re-read your original posting - I should read more carefully. The
> difference between your situation and mine is that WinXP x64 is installed
> on the Raid 0. The initial setup of Vista may use the nForce4 Raid
> drivers from XP and so be in position to enable the partition selection to
> complete correctly.
>
> Installs from the DVD worked ok at Beta2 - but I cannot now install any
> beta2 Vista by booting from DVD - something, I believe, has been changed
> on the RAID setup during my attempts to install RC1 Vista. (I'm not going
> to setup my Raid again to prove it)
>
> It may be that you have to bite the bullet and get a floppy drive (I had
> no success with a USB floppy drive on my board). But it obviously does
> not make sense to have to install the appropriate WinXP before you install
> Vista.
>
> (I have to suffer with only half a video card being used - Vista is yet to
> support SLI)
>
> Brian
>
> Using a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI with GV-3D1 video card (dual GeForce 6600
> GT).
>
>
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:%23bEMuoe1GHA.2196@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as
>> trying again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the exact
>> same results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup sees the
>> partition fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the first reboot
>> Setup says "Cannot find the partition selected for installation," and
>> rolls back.
>>
>> I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated this
>> because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see" the RAID
>> array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that the RC1
>> drivers worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive, but only
>> failed to load upon first reboot.
>>
>> This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine
>> (sorta, although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading the
>> drivers in the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.
>>
>> Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader or
>> kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine when
>> going through XP already running during initial Setup. But neither the
>> DVD nor the first reboot bootloader can see the RAID array using the same
>> drivers. I think something is going very weird on this side of Vista that
>> seems to work in Microsoft's and nVidia's test labs and for some other
>> people but not for me and some others.
>>
>> My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three SATA
>> drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are RAIDed,
>> one SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for preloading
>> Vista setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA drives are
>> connected to. I only learned recently that this might matter, but I'm
>> fearful of changing it lest I accidentally erase my data already on the
>> RAID array.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
>>> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>>>
>>> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
>>> drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
>>> non-raid hard drive.
>>>
>>> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD. After
>>> completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista queries
>>> which partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver" and using
>>> Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in
>>> driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You should then see all the
>>> partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused partition and
>>> then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>
>>> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
>>> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a
>>> workaround is as follows:
>>>
>>> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
>>> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard drive.
>>> In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>>>
>>> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition to
>>> that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which partition
>>> to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse locate the
>>> nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or WinXP
>>> folder in the IDE folder). . You should then see all the partitions
>>> available. You should select a suitable, unused partition and then
>>> follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps
>>> Brian
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
>>>> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which
>>>> comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

You're not having a good time.

I get a 7b error if I attempt to use the RC1 nForce4 drivers. I did
reformat the target partition before attempting to re-install Vista.

Sorry, can't see anything else that may help

Brian.


"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:ujelFcl1GHA.3908@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Unplugged the non-RAID drives. Went out and bought a floppy drive for
> installing XP to the RAID drive. The RAID drive has two partitions, the
> primary partition is the target partition for Vista, the extended
> partition is for my data and is the temporary target partition for XP. I
> installed XP, using the floppy drive as needed for the RAID drivers. Once
> XP finished setup I installed the full nForce driver suite and a few other
> drivers. Then I ran Vista setup. Setup could see the Primary partition so
> I went ahead and installed to it.
>
> Now on reboot I get BSOD with error code 0x0000007b. Basically the same
> thing (bad driver for hard drive volume).
>
> Tried the Vista install using both XP and Vista drivers using this method,
> same result.
>
> Jon
>
>
> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:OQ8HeYf1GHA.476@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Jon
>>
>> I have re-read your original posting - I should read more carefully. The
>> difference between your situation and mine is that WinXP x64 is installed
>> on the Raid 0. The initial setup of Vista may use the nForce4 Raid
>> drivers from XP and so be in position to enable the partition selection
>> to complete correctly.
>>
>> Installs from the DVD worked ok at Beta2 - but I cannot now install any
>> beta2 Vista by booting from DVD - something, I believe, has been changed
>> on the RAID setup during my attempts to install RC1 Vista. (I'm not going
>> to setup my Raid again to prove it)
>>
>> It may be that you have to bite the bullet and get a floppy drive (I had
>> no success with a USB floppy drive on my board). But it obviously does
>> not make sense to have to install the appropriate WinXP before you
>> install Vista.
>>
>> (I have to suffer with only half a video card being used - Vista is yet
>> to support SLI)
>>
>> Brian
>>
>> Using a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI with GV-3D1 video card (dual GeForce 6600
>> GT).
>>
>>
>>
>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>> news:%23bEMuoe1GHA.2196@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as
>>> trying again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the exact
>>> same results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup sees the
>>> partition fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the first reboot
>>> Setup says "Cannot find the partition selected for installation," and
>>> rolls back.
>>>
>>> I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated
>>> this because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see" the
>>> RAID array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that the RC1
>>> drivers worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive, but only
>>> failed to load upon first reboot.
>>>
>>> This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine
>>> (sorta, although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading the
>>> drivers in the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.
>>>
>>> Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader or
>>> kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine when
>>> going through XP already running during initial Setup. But neither the
>>> DVD nor the first reboot bootloader can see the RAID array using the
>>> same drivers. I think something is going very weird on this side of
>>> Vista that seems to work in Microsoft's and nVidia's test labs and for
>>> some other people but not for me and some others.
>>>
>>> My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three SATA
>>> drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are RAIDed,
>>> one SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for preloading
>>> Vista setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA drives are
>>> connected to. I only learned recently that this might matter, but I'm
>>> fearful of changing it lest I accidentally erase my data already on the
>>> RAID array.
>>>
>>> Jon
>>>
>>>
>>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>>> news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
>>>> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>>>>
>>>> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
>>>> drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
>>>> non-raid hard drive.
>>>>
>>>> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD. After
>>>> completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista queries
>>>> which partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver" and using
>>>> Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in
>>>> driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You should then see all the
>>>> partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused partition
>>>> and then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>>
>>>> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
>>>> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a
>>>> workaround is as follows:
>>>>
>>>> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
>>>> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard drive.
>>>> In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>>>>
>>>> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition
>>>> to that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which
>>>> partition to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse locate
>>>> the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver or
>>>> WinXP folder in the IDE folder). . You should then see all the
>>>> partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused partition
>>>> and then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>>
>>>> Hope this helps
>>>> Brian
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
>>>>> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which
>>>>> comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jon
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Was XP as your temporary preinstall put on your primary RAID partition or
your extended RAID partition? I thought perhaps my putting XP on the
extended RAID partition might affect things, even though the bootloader for
XP is on the primary partition. But what do I know anymore?

Jon

"Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:OU$R2bp1GHA.3476@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> You're not having a good time.
>
> I get a 7b error if I attempt to use the RC1 nForce4 drivers. I did
> reformat the target partition before attempting to re-install Vista.
>
> Sorry, can't see anything else that may help
>
> Brian.
>
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:ujelFcl1GHA.3908@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Unplugged the non-RAID drives. Went out and bought a floppy drive for
>> installing XP to the RAID drive. The RAID drive has two partitions, the
>> primary partition is the target partition for Vista, the extended
>> partition is for my data and is the temporary target partition for XP. I
>> installed XP, using the floppy drive as needed for the RAID drivers. Once
>> XP finished setup I installed the full nForce driver suite and a few
>> other drivers. Then I ran Vista setup. Setup could see the Primary
>> partition so I went ahead and installed to it.
>>
>> Now on reboot I get BSOD with error code 0x0000007b. Basically the same
>> thing (bad driver for hard drive volume).
>>
>> Tried the Vista install using both XP and Vista drivers using this
>> method, same result.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:OQ8HeYf1GHA.476@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> Jon
>>>
>>> I have re-read your original posting - I should read more carefully.
>>> The difference between your situation and mine is that WinXP x64 is
>>> installed on the Raid 0. The initial setup of Vista may use the nForce4
>>> Raid drivers from XP and so be in position to enable the partition
>>> selection to complete correctly.
>>>
>>> Installs from the DVD worked ok at Beta2 - but I cannot now install any
>>> beta2 Vista by booting from DVD - something, I believe, has been
>>> changed on the RAID setup during my attempts to install RC1 Vista. (I'm
>>> not going to setup my Raid again to prove it)
>>>
>>> It may be that you have to bite the bullet and get a floppy drive (I had
>>> no success with a USB floppy drive on my board). But it obviously does
>>> not make sense to have to install the appropriate WinXP before you
>>> install Vista.
>>>
>>> (I have to suffer with only half a video card being used - Vista is yet
>>> to support SLI)
>>>
>>> Brian
>>>
>>> Using a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI with GV-3D1 video card (dual GeForce 6600
>>> GT).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>> news:%23bEMuoe1GHA.2196@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>> Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as
>>>> trying again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the
>>>> exact same results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup
>>>> sees the partition fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the first
>>>> reboot Setup says "Cannot find the partition selected for
>>>> installation," and rolls back.
>>>>
>>>> I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated
>>>> this because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see" the
>>>> RAID array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that the RC1
>>>> drivers worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive, but only
>>>> failed to load upon first reboot.
>>>>
>>>> This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine
>>>> (sorta, although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading the
>>>> drivers in the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.
>>>>
>>>> Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader
>>>> or kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine
>>>> when going through XP already running during initial Setup. But neither
>>>> the DVD nor the first reboot bootloader can see the RAID array using
>>>> the same drivers. I think something is going very weird on this side of
>>>> Vista that seems to work in Microsoft's and nVidia's test labs and for
>>>> some other people but not for me and some others.
>>>>
>>>> My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three SATA
>>>> drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are
>>>> RAIDed, one SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for
>>>> preloading Vista setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA
>>>> drives are connected to. I only learned recently that this might
>>>> matter, but I'm fearful of changing it lest I accidentally erase my
>>>> data already on the RAID array.
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>> news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
>>>>> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
>>>>> drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
>>>>> non-raid hard drive.
>>>>>
>>>>> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD.
>>>>> After completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista
>>>>> queries which partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver" and
>>>>> using Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid
>>>>> folder in driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You should then
>>>>> see all the partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused
>>>>> partition and then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
>>>>> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a
>>>>> workaround is as follows:
>>>>>
>>>>> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
>>>>> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard
>>>>> drive. In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>>>>>
>>>>> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition
>>>>> to that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which
>>>>> partition to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse
>>>>> locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in driver
>>>>> or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). . You should then see all the
>>>>> partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused partition
>>>>> and then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>>>
>>>>> Hope this helps
>>>>> Brian
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
>>>>>> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID, which
>>>>>> comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jon
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Probably more than you would admit !? Vista RC1 in terms of nVidia has gone
well off track, it is problematic to a large number of users, which
certainly includes me.

I don't consider my WinXP (D: drive) as a temporary preinstall - I use it,
rightly or wrongly in terms of beta testing, as my primary PC - I use it
regularly/daily/ hourly - whatever. It is basically an user account which
is part of a domain. The overall setup I have is a SBS based domain with 2
workstations + 2 laptops and is used partly for my use (+ the "Beloved"
wife's) and more generally as a test site for our small business (SBS server
+ workstations + laptops)

My PC is set up with a Raid 0 with 2 150 GB Maxtor drives - a total size of
305 GB. It also has a 150 GB drive on the Silicon Image Controller which I
use for the pagefile, work files, backup etc

The raid has a small primary partition C: (5 MB) and an extended partition
with 4 logical drives each of 75 MB (drives D: to G:)

C: is the system drive, holds bootloader etc (no OS is installed here) , D:
Win XP Pro, E: Vista x86, F: Vista x64, G: Win XP Pro x64 (G: is truly
temporary as I had to be set it up in order to install Vista x64)

Hope this helps

Brian



"Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
news:OpvQ7Hq1GHA.1336@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Was XP as your temporary preinstall put on your primary RAID partition or
> your extended RAID partition? I thought perhaps my putting XP on the
> extended RAID partition might affect things, even though the bootloader
> for XP is on the primary partition. But what do I know anymore?
>
> Jon
>
> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:OU$R2bp1GHA.3476@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> You're not having a good time.
>>
>> I get a 7b error if I attempt to use the RC1 nForce4 drivers. I did
>> reformat the target partition before attempting to re-install Vista.
>>
>> Sorry, can't see anything else that may help
>>
>> Brian.
>>
>>
>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>> news:ujelFcl1GHA.3908@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> Unplugged the non-RAID drives. Went out and bought a floppy drive for
>>> installing XP to the RAID drive. The RAID drive has two partitions, the
>>> primary partition is the target partition for Vista, the extended
>>> partition is for my data and is the temporary target partition for XP. I
>>> installed XP, using the floppy drive as needed for the RAID drivers.
>>> Once XP finished setup I installed the full nForce driver suite and a
>>> few other drivers. Then I ran Vista setup. Setup could see the Primary
>>> partition so I went ahead and installed to it.
>>>
>>> Now on reboot I get BSOD with error code 0x0000007b. Basically the same
>>> thing (bad driver for hard drive volume).
>>>
>>> Tried the Vista install using both XP and Vista drivers using this
>>> method, same result.
>>>
>>> Jon
>>>
>>>
>>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>>> news:OQ8HeYf1GHA.476@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>> I have re-read your original posting - I should read more carefully.
>>>> The difference between your situation and mine is that WinXP x64 is
>>>> installed on the Raid 0. The initial setup of Vista may use the
>>>> nForce4 Raid drivers from XP and so be in position to enable the
>>>> partition selection to complete correctly.
>>>>
>>>> Installs from the DVD worked ok at Beta2 - but I cannot now install any
>>>> beta2 Vista by booting from DVD - something, I believe, has been
>>>> changed on the RAID setup during my attempts to install RC1 Vista. (I'm
>>>> not going to setup my Raid again to prove it)
>>>>
>>>> It may be that you have to bite the bullet and get a floppy drive (I
>>>> had no success with a USB floppy drive on my board). But it obviously
>>>> does not make sense to have to install the appropriate WinXP before you
>>>> install Vista.
>>>>
>>>> (I have to suffer with only half a video card being used - Vista is yet
>>>> to support SLI)
>>>>
>>>> Brian
>>>>
>>>> Using a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI with GV-3D1 video card (dual GeForce 6600
>>>> GT).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23bEMuoe1GHA.2196@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as
>>>>> trying again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the
>>>>> exact same results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup
>>>>> sees the partition fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the
>>>>> first reboot Setup says "Cannot find the partition selected for
>>>>> installation," and rolls back.
>>>>>
>>>>> I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated
>>>>> this because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see"
>>>>> the RAID array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that
>>>>> the RC1 drivers worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive,
>>>>> but only failed to load upon first reboot.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine
>>>>> (sorta, although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading
>>>>> the drivers in the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.
>>>>>
>>>>> Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader
>>>>> or kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine
>>>>> when going through XP already running during initial Setup. But
>>>>> neither the DVD nor the first reboot bootloader can see the RAID array
>>>>> using the same drivers. I think something is going very weird on this
>>>>> side of Vista that seems to work in Microsoft's and nVidia's test labs
>>>>> and for some other people but not for me and some others.
>>>>>
>>>>> My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three
>>>>> SATA drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are
>>>>> RAIDed, one SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for
>>>>> preloading Vista setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA
>>>>> drives are connected to. I only learned recently that this might
>>>>> matter, but I'm fearful of changing it lest I accidentally erase my
>>>>> data already on the RAID array.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jon
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>>> news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
>>>>>> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent) x64
>>>>>> drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or a
>>>>>> non-raid hard drive.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD.
>>>>>> After completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista
>>>>>> queries which partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver"
>>>>>> and using Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the
>>>>>> sataraid folder in driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You
>>>>>> should then see all the partitions available. You should select a
>>>>>> suitable, unused partition and then follow the instructions to
>>>>>> complete the install.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
>>>>>> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a
>>>>>> workaround is as follows:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
>>>>>> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard
>>>>>> drive. In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different partition
>>>>>> to that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista queries which
>>>>>> partition to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and using Browse
>>>>>> locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid folder in
>>>>>> driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). . You should then see all
>>>>>> the partitions available. You should select a suitable, unused
>>>>>> partition and then follow the instructions to complete the install.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hope this helps
>>>>>> Brian
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution, I
>>>>>>> think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID,
>>>>>>> which comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jon
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

> The raid has a small primary partition C: (5 MB) and an extended partition
> with 4 logical drives each of 75 MB (drives D: to G:)

I assume by "MB" you mean "GB".

Given that you put Vista x64 on your F: partition, I'm at a loss as to what
my next step should be. I should point out that I threw out a lot of
recorded television shows, not to mention hours backing things up, just to
offload my RAID array so that I could switch it back from being a Dynamic
Disk to being a Basic Disk, all so that I could install an OS (Vista) on the
RAID array. Not to repeat going out to Comp USA to buy a floppy drive for XP
to do a temp preinstall.

Could it be a mobo conflict?

Jon


"Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:eT2xZqs1GHA.4312@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Probably more than you would admit !? Vista RC1 in terms of nVidia has
> gone well off track, it is problematic to a large number of users, which
> certainly includes me.
>
> I don't consider my WinXP (D: drive) as a temporary preinstall - I use
> it, rightly or wrongly in terms of beta testing, as my primary PC - I use
> it regularly/daily/ hourly - whatever. It is basically an user account
> which is part of a domain. The overall setup I have is a SBS based domain
> with 2 workstations + 2 laptops and is used partly for my use (+ the
> "Beloved" wife's) and more generally as a test site for our small business
> (SBS server + workstations + laptops)
>
> My PC is set up with a Raid 0 with 2 150 GB Maxtor drives - a total size
> of 305 GB. It also has a 150 GB drive on the Silicon Image Controller
> which I use for the pagefile, work files, backup etc
>
> The raid has a small primary partition C: (5 MB) and an extended partition
> with 4 logical drives each of 75 MB (drives D: to G:)
>
> C: is the system drive, holds bootloader etc (no OS is installed here) ,
> D: Win XP Pro, E: Vista x86, F: Vista x64, G: Win XP Pro x64 (G: is truly
> temporary as I had to be set it up in order to install Vista x64)
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Brian
>
>
>
> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
> news:OpvQ7Hq1GHA.1336@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Was XP as your temporary preinstall put on your primary RAID partition or
>> your extended RAID partition? I thought perhaps my putting XP on the
>> extended RAID partition might affect things, even though the bootloader
>> for XP is on the primary partition. But what do I know anymore?
>>
>> Jon
>>
>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:OU$R2bp1GHA.3476@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> You're not having a good time.
>>>
>>> I get a 7b error if I attempt to use the RC1 nForce4 drivers. I did
>>> reformat the target partition before attempting to re-install Vista.
>>>
>>> Sorry, can't see anything else that may help
>>>
>>> Brian.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>> news:ujelFcl1GHA.3908@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> Unplugged the non-RAID drives. Went out and bought a floppy drive for
>>>> installing XP to the RAID drive. The RAID drive has two partitions, the
>>>> primary partition is the target partition for Vista, the extended
>>>> partition is for my data and is the temporary target partition for XP.
>>>> I installed XP, using the floppy drive as needed for the RAID drivers.
>>>> Once XP finished setup I installed the full nForce driver suite and a
>>>> few other drivers. Then I ran Vista setup. Setup could see the Primary
>>>> partition so I went ahead and installed to it.
>>>>
>>>> Now on reboot I get BSOD with error code 0x0000007b. Basically the same
>>>> thing (bad driver for hard drive volume).
>>>>
>>>> Tried the Vista install using both XP and Vista drivers using this
>>>> method, same result.
>>>>
>>>> Jon
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>> news:OQ8HeYf1GHA.476@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Jon
>>>>>
>>>>> I have re-read your original posting - I should read more carefully.
>>>>> The difference between your situation and mine is that WinXP x64 is
>>>>> installed on the Raid 0. The initial setup of Vista may use the
>>>>> nForce4 Raid drivers from XP and so be in position to enable the
>>>>> partition selection to complete correctly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Installs from the DVD worked ok at Beta2 - but I cannot now install
>>>>> any beta2 Vista by booting from DVD - something, I believe, has been
>>>>> changed on the RAID setup during my attempts to install RC1 Vista.
>>>>> (I'm not going to setup my Raid again to prove it)
>>>>>
>>>>> It may be that you have to bite the bullet and get a floppy drive (I
>>>>> had no success with a USB floppy drive on my board). But it obviously
>>>>> does not make sense to have to install the appropriate WinXP before
>>>>> you install Vista.
>>>>>
>>>>> (I have to suffer with only half a video card being used - Vista is
>>>>> yet to support SLI)
>>>>>
>>>>> Brian
>>>>>
>>>>> Using a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI with GV-3D1 video card (dual GeForce
>>>>> 6600 GT).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:%23bEMuoe1GHA.2196@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Thank you. But after doing this exactly as you describe, as well as
>>>>>> trying again with the setup DVD but with the XP drivers, I get the
>>>>>> exact same results as the original post using the RC1 drivers. Setup
>>>>>> sees the partition fine when Setup is running in XP, but upon the
>>>>>> first reboot Setup says "Cannot find the partition selected for
>>>>>> installation," and rolls back.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I just realized that you couldn't have read that I already indicated
>>>>>> this because you said that setup's configuration screen would "see"
>>>>>> the RAID array when loading the XP drivers, but I already said that
>>>>>> the RC1 drivers worked fine for getting Setup to see the RAID drive,
>>>>>> but only failed to load upon first reboot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This is definitely broken on Microsoft's side. The drivers work fine
>>>>>> (sorta, although not at all when booting from the DVD), but loading
>>>>>> the drivers in the setup bootloader is NOT working fine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Actually this may be a conflict of the drivers and Vista's bootloader
>>>>>> or kernel. XP sees the RAID fine, and Vista setup sees the RAID fine
>>>>>> when going through XP already running during initial Setup. But
>>>>>> neither the DVD nor the first reboot bootloader can see the RAID
>>>>>> array using the same drivers. I think something is going very weird
>>>>>> on this side of Vista that seems to work in Microsoft's and nVidia's
>>>>>> test labs and for some other people but not for me and some others.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My config: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (not SLI), Athlon 64 3000+. Three
>>>>>> SATA drives (Western Digital), one IDE drive. The two SATA drives are
>>>>>> RAIDed, one SATA drive has XP x86, the IDE drive has XP x64 (only for
>>>>>> preloading Vista setup). I do not know which SATA ports my three SATA
>>>>>> drives are connected to. I only learned recently that this might
>>>>>> matter, but I'm fearful of changing it lest I accidentally erase my
>>>>>> data already on the RAID array.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jon
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Brian P Fielding" <freyrsden@deleteme.yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:ejOhSic1GHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>> Firstly: I believe the nForce RC1 drivers on the nVidia site are not
>>>>>>> nForce4 drivers - they are for 570/590 controllers.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I would install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 (or more recent)
>>>>>>> x64 drivers. These drivers should also be copied to a USB stick, CD
>>>>>>> or a non-raid hard drive.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You should be able to install Vista x64 by booting from the DVD.
>>>>>>> After completing the preliminaries you get to the stage when Vista
>>>>>>> queries which partition to load Vista - now click on "Load Driver"
>>>>>>> and using Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the
>>>>>>> sataraid folder in driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). You
>>>>>>> should then see all the partitions available. You should select a
>>>>>>> suitable, unused partition and then follow the instructions to
>>>>>>> complete the install.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Now, I and a number of others have not been successful with this; no
>>>>>>> partititions are made visible after loading the drivers. But a
>>>>>>> workaround is as follows:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Install Windows XP x64 using nForce 6.86 x64 drivers. These drivers
>>>>>>> should also be copied to a USB stick, CD or on the non-raid hard
>>>>>>> drive. In Win XP x64, load the Vista X64 DVD and click install.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> you should then be able to install Vista x64 on a different
>>>>>>> partition to that used by WinXP x64. At the stage when Vista
>>>>>>> queries which partition to load Vista click on "Load Driver" and
>>>>>>> using Browse locate the nForce4 drivers (these are in the sataraid
>>>>>>> folder in driver or WinXP folder in the IDE folder). . You should
>>>>>>> then see all the partitions available. You should select a suitable,
>>>>>>> unused partition and then follow the instructions to complete the
>>>>>>> install.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hope this helps
>>>>>>> Brian
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Jon Davis" <jon@REMOVE.ME.PLEASE.jondavis.net> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:uCUGcDZ1GHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>>> This thread was mistitled... NVRAID is the software RAID solution,
>>>>>>>> I think, rather than the hardware RAID. I am using hardware RAID,
>>>>>>>> which comes with my nVidia nForce4 chipset.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jon
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

I had the same problem, ten or twenty attempts at an x64 RC1 installation on
an A8N32-SLI motherboard on a three drive stripe using both clean and upgrade
paths without success and using these newsgroups. It wasn't until a Yahoo
search revealed
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/vist...asc&highlight=
which solved my problem. I was able to install from a DVD boot using the
linked Vista Beta2 nforce drivers but not from the other methods listed. I
hope this helps as well for you guys.
--
Brad


"Jon Davis" wrote:

> NForce4 (MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum) 3 WD SATA hard drives, 2 are RAIDed in a
> striping array. So first (to get the story out of the way) I tried booting
> Vista x64 RC1 setup via DVD and using the nVidia nForce4 drivers for Vista
> RC1 on CD-RW to load the RAID drivers during boot/setup but the drivers
> would not load. Kept trying this for a couple days, gave up.
>
> Then I found another hard drive lying around, formatted it, installed
> Windows XP Pro x64 Ed., and then installed the appropriate XP x64 drivers
> from nVidia, and then ran the Vista x64 RC1 DVD. The RAID drive could now be
> seen (as it was visible now in XP), but it still said it could not be
> installed without the appropriate drivers. I then tried the nVidia nForce4
> drivers for Vista RC1 and now it was INSTALLING!!
>
> The setup files copied completely over and the computer rebooted. Then it
> said, "Could not find the selected partition for the installation target."
> It proceeded to rollback and cancel setup without so much as a "Retry" or
> "Reload driver".
>
> Now what?
>
> I am pondering the idea of restarting with installing XP x64 on the RAID
> array itself rather than a spare HD w/ the RAID drivers. But I don't have a
> working floppy drive, and XP requires the floppy. Considering a USB floppy,
> but don't know if my mb supports it. Aarrgh...
>
> - Jon
>
>
>

"Brad" <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E722E967-417B-44B4-84A1-73C5197F2EEB@microsoft.com...
>I had the same problem, ten or twenty attempts at an x64 RC1 installation
>on
> an A8N32-SLI motherboard on a three drive stripe using both clean and
> upgrade
> paths without success and using these newsgroups. It wasn't until a Yahoo
> search revealed
> http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/vist...asc&highlight=
> which solved my problem. I was able to install from a DVD boot using the
> linked Vista Beta2 nforce drivers but not from the other methods listed.
> I
> hope this helps as well for you guys.
> --
> Brad

Thanks Brad. I've seen that post in every Google search I've tried. The one
thing that makes me skeptical, which I admit I have not yet tried, is this
whole notion of using Beta 2 drivers. Notice that the article was written
long, long ago (May 25, 2006). Back then, the Beta 2 drivers were the latest
and greatest. Why then would the RC1 drivers, or the latest XP x64 drivers,
not be more likely to work on RC1?

Regardless, he does say to use the XP x64 drivers. "I suggest to install
Vista x64 with the actual WHQL-certified 64-bit XP drivers, which are
working with Vista too. You will find the best suitable SataRaid drivers for
your system, when you look here for the nForce driver package, which is
fully compatible with your nForce chipset and designed for Windows XP x64.
Download and unzip the package. Then copy the whole content (that means all
files) of the SATARAID and the whole content (all files) of the SATA_IDE
subfolder all together onto an empty floppy disk or USB stick. All files
have to be in the root of the disk/stick device."

Those are the same drivers I have been trying to use. I still get a
0x0000007b BSOD on first Vista Setup reboot.

Jon

Yes, I saw the time stamp and my only conclusion was that the post had been
updated (or it was intentionally deceptive which we know happens). This was
the section that I used:

Alternatively you can try to take the SATARAID subfolder of the 64-bit Vista
Beta2 chipset diver package you find here. These drivers didn't work for me
and my chipset, but users with another nForce chipset reported, that they
succeeded only with them.

Where I deviated from his procedure was that I didn't install from Windows
XP but onto a clean array directly from the DVD. Once Vista boots, do not
upgrade to Nvidia's latest drivers or it craps out again.
--
Brad


"Jon Davis" wrote:

>
> "Brad" <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:E722E967-417B-44B4-84A1-73C5197F2EEB@microsoft.com...
> >I had the same problem, ten or twenty attempts at an x64 RC1 installation
> >on
> > an A8N32-SLI motherboard on a three drive stripe using both clean and
> > upgrade
> > paths without success and using these newsgroups. It wasn't until a Yahoo
> > search revealed
> > http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/vist...asc&highlight=
> > which solved my problem. I was able to install from a DVD boot using the
> > linked Vista Beta2 nforce drivers but not from the other methods listed.
> > I
> > hope this helps as well for you guys.
> > --
> > Brad
>
> Thanks Brad. I've seen that post in every Google search I've tried. The one
> thing that makes me skeptical, which I admit I have not yet tried, is this
> whole notion of using Beta 2 drivers. Notice that the article was written
> long, long ago (May 25, 2006). Back then, the Beta 2 drivers were the latest
> and greatest. Why then would the RC1 drivers, or the latest XP x64 drivers,
> not be more likely to work on RC1?
>
> Regardless, he does say to use the XP x64 drivers. "I suggest to install
> Vista x64 with the actual WHQL-certified 64-bit XP drivers, which are
> working with Vista too. You will find the best suitable SataRaid drivers for
> your system, when you look here for the nForce driver package, which is
> fully compatible with your nForce chipset and designed for Windows XP x64.
> Download and unzip the package. Then copy the whole content (that means all
> files) of the SATARAID and the whole content (all files) of the SATA_IDE
> subfolder all together onto an empty floppy disk or USB stick. All files
> have to be in the root of the disk/stick device."
>
> Those are the same drivers I have been trying to use. I still get a
> 0x0000007b BSOD on first Vista Setup reboot.
>
> Jon
>
>
>

Well, I tried the Beta 2 drivers. That actually helped, it got me halfway: I
was able to see my lone SATA drive after booting from the DVD and then
loading the Beta 2 SATA RAID controller. None of the other drivers did that
much. But I was still not able to see my SATA RAID array, I could only see
the lone SATA drive. I didn't realize this until after I was already up and
running on the SATA drive which I accidentally selected thinking it was my
RAID array due to similar volume naming convention. In doing so I replaced
my regular Windows environment.

*sigh* .. Don't ask me how I signed up for this QA testing but nVidia and
Microsoft I hope (but doubt) you're watching.

Jon


"Brad" <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C3FC5585-0E94-4F90-B2DC-1278746609D2@microsoft.com...
> Yes, I saw the time stamp and my only conclusion was that the post had
> been
> updated (or it was intentionally deceptive which we know happens). This
> was
> the section that I used:
>
> Alternatively you can try to take the SATARAID subfolder of the 64-bit
> Vista
> Beta2 chipset diver package you find here. These drivers didn't work for
> me
> and my chipset, but users with another nForce chipset reported, that they
> succeeded only with them.
>
> Where I deviated from his procedure was that I didn't install from Windows
> XP but onto a clean array directly from the DVD. Once Vista boots, do not
> upgrade to Nvidia's latest drivers or it craps out again.
> --
> Brad
>
>
> "Jon Davis" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Brad" <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:E722E967-417B-44B4-84A1-73C5197F2EEB@microsoft.com...
>> >I had the same problem, ten or twenty attempts at an x64 RC1
>> >installation
>> >on
>> > an A8N32-SLI motherboard on a three drive stripe using both clean and
>> > upgrade
>> > paths without success and using these newsgroups. It wasn't until a
>> > Yahoo
>> > search revealed
>> > http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/vist...asc&highlight=
>> > which solved my problem. I was able to install from a DVD boot using
>> > the
>> > linked Vista Beta2 nforce drivers but not from the other methods
>> > listed.
>> > I
>> > hope this helps as well for you guys.
>> > --
>> > Brad
>>
>> Thanks Brad. I've seen that post in every Google search I've tried. The
>> one
>> thing that makes me skeptical, which I admit I have not yet tried, is
>> this
>> whole notion of using Beta 2 drivers. Notice that the article was written
>> long, long ago (May 25, 2006). Back then, the Beta 2 drivers were the
>> latest
>> and greatest. Why then would the RC1 drivers, or the latest XP x64
>> drivers,
>> not be more likely to work on RC1?
>>
>> Regardless, he does say to use the XP x64 drivers. "I suggest to install
>> Vista x64 with the actual WHQL-certified 64-bit XP drivers, which are
>> working with Vista too. You will find the best suitable SataRaid drivers
>> for
>> your system, when you look here for the nForce driver package, which is
>> fully compatible with your nForce chipset and designed for Windows XP
>> x64.
>> Download and unzip the package. Then copy the whole content (that means
>> all
>> files) of the SATARAID and the whole content (all files) of the SATA_IDE
>> subfolder all together onto an empty floppy disk or USB stick. All files
>> have to be in the root of the disk/stick device."
>>
>> Those are the same drivers I have been trying to use. I still get a
>> 0x0000007b BSOD on first Vista Setup reboot.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>>
>>