HP DC7800 - install RAID drivers

[gmail2]

Hi All,

I have a HP DC7800 SFF which is a base PC for building an image. I installed the OS with the SATA Emulation as IDE (in the BIOS) but now I've discovered that because of problems with our imaging software, it needs to be set to RAID instead. However, if I change it now, the PC won't boot into windows (presumably because of missing drivers).

I've tried installing the Intel RAID Driver and Software Support from here but it says the PC does not meet the minimum requirements. I read through the read me and saw that it needs to have 2 hard drives installed, so I installed another from another DC7800 (identical) but it still says the same thing.

Does anybody have any ideas how I can get this driver to install so I can change the emulation to RAID? If I can't do this then I'll have to re-install the whole OS and start all over again.

Would really appreciate some help on this



Irish Poetry - Karen O'Connor
Irish Poetry and Short Stories - Doghouse Books
Garten und Landschaftsbau

 

[wahnula]

...I've discovered that because of problems with our imaging software, it needs to be set to RAID instead.

Please explain. If BIOS needs to be set to RAID that would mean the RAID drivers are already installed, so there is some core problem here that needs clarification.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[gmail2]

Thanks for the reply ... maybe I've complicated things with too much detail. But the answer to your question is no, the RAID drivers are not installed because I haven't taken an image of, or deployed an image to, this machine yet. It's a "base" machine for creating my new image - so it hasn't gone near our imaging software yet.

In short, the question can probably be re-phrased as:

I've installed Windows XP with the SATA Emulation set to IDE. I now need to change the SATA Emulation to RAID without having to re-install XP. If I change the emulation to RAID, XP won't boot as it can't find the RAID drivers. If I try installing the RAID drivers (before changing the emulation to RAID) it says the PC does not meet the minimum requirements. I read through the read me and saw that it needs to have 2 hard drives installed, so I installed another from another DC7800 (identical) but it still says the same thing.

How can I get the RAID drivers to install so that I can change the emulation?

Thanks in advance


Irish Poetry - Karen O'Connor
Irish Poetry and Short Stories - Doghouse Books
Garten und Landschaftsbau

 

[BadBigBen]

HOWTO: enable AHCI mode after installing Windows

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=444831

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[wahnula]

I think I understand now, but the details are still a little hazy. You do know that any RAID array needs to be built in RAID BIOS before installing Windows, correct?

If Ben's link doesn't do it for you, I'd spend the time re-doing the image and getting it properly prepared.

Just to be clear, this is the time line I'm getting from your post:

1. Installed XP on HP DC7800 SFF, with SATA set as IDE in BIOS, did not F6 RAID drivers during install;
2. Took an image of the HP DC7800 SFF's HDD;
3. Attempted to deploy the image to another PC;
4. Found out (somehow) that BIOS needs to be set to "SATA as RAID".

The "somehow" is where I fall down. If you're planning on deploying this image to multiple PCs that are not exactly like the HP DC7800 SFF (chipset-wise) then it's not going to work. Images require exact hardware matches to work properly.

Tony

Users helping Users...