More Hard Drives using Raid connectors? 1

[Cindysdad]

My system uses an ASUS P4B533-E mobo which has 2 EIDE connectors presently support 2 hdd's and 2 cd's. I want to add more hdd's (as normal - not Raid drives) and am thinking of using one of the two yet unused IDE Raid connectors. I tried connecting one WD 31600 drive to the primary raid connector (using every combination of jumper settings I thought reasonable). I have been testing this by looking in the bios listing at bootup and also by using PartitionMagic 8.0 (this finds hidden drives) running under Win2000. No matter what, I can't see that hdd. I've emailed and phoned ASUS but after 3 days, no reply. Any and all ideas sure would help.
Thanks. -- Keith

 

[micker377]

Some onboard RAID chips can be used as normal IDE, and some can't. Most can't. You have to read the mobo manual to find out. Easiest way is to put an IDE board in.

 

[micker377]

Found this:

"2 channel UltraDMA/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE (supports up to 4 ATAPI-devices);
- Additional IDE Raid controller (IC Promise PDC20276, 2 channel IDE, supports ATA33/66/100/133 & RAID 0, 1 with a support of up to 4 ATAPI-devices);
- Support of LS-120/ZIP/ATAPI CD-ROM"

Looks like it should, but my SOYO board looked good too, until I read the fine print on the IDE port page!

Look in the manual, under "Raid Setup".

 

[Cindysdad]

micker --
Thanks for the replies. I studied the manual in excruciating detail. It 'implies' that what I want to do should work. However, it only explicity says how to install two drives as either RAID 0 or 1. It says that at least one of the two drives must be a 'new' drive. I am only trying one 'old' drive (formated with data).

I am afraid that you are correct when suggesting that I just buy an IDEA board like you did. I'll try the squeaky wheel routine a couple more times with ASUS though before going to the store (after the new year). I'll also try to let you know how I made out once I do, by updating this thread.

Again, thanks for the help.
-- Keith

 

[Freestone]

The manual, section 4.4.3 PCI Configuration, shows a setting titled Onboard IDE RAID Controller. Was this setting set to Enabled when you tried your WD 31600 drive? Do you have a newer drive to try? The 31600 is rather old and I wonder if its IDE interface would be up to spec of the newer ATA interface of the RAID.

 

[Cindysdad]

Freestone --
Now there are two very good ideas that I must persue.

First my manual doesn't mention raid in section 4.4.3. I just downloaded the latest version from the Asus site (and that wasn't easy -- bad links etc.). There it is in the new manual. Also my bios doesn't show it on the Advanced/PCI screen so I may have to update my bios.

Second, good idea regarding newer drive. I'll see if I can get my hands on one.

Thanks for the clues.
-- Keith

 

[paparazi]

Cindysdad
Some motherboards simply have a soft menue choice in the bios to switch from Raid to IDE or visa versa.
Are there any controller drivers that need loading for Windows? obviously not your problem if the drive is unseen in the bios.
Martin

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