Megaraid 1600 not booting XP

[Lovan]

Hello everybody

I have a AMI/LSI Megaraid 1600 Elite card that I want to use in my computer but windows won't load with the card connected. The card works perfectly if I boot dos. Windows installer hangs too. XP64 likewize.
I have been in contact with LSI and have updated the firmware to the latest version.
I tried to manually change IRQ in bios but with no effect. Tried changing to the other PCI-slot but no difference.
The card works flawless with an older P4 computer. Boots windows XP just fine.
I'm out of ideas. Suggestions? Just try to buy another SCSI RAID card and hope that it works better?

My computer:

Pentium D 940
Abit AW8-MAX(i955-ICH7) Latest Bios
2*1GB RAM
2*250gb SATA WD
7900GTX
X-FI
2*18GB Cheetah 15k.3

[Lovan]

Has noone tried a megaraid 1600 on a i9x5 mobo?
I tried with my older i945 card(asus something) same there.

[AreEss]

Need the following information;

Exact board model. (EDIT) Er, yeah, I should read more carefully. :D
Exact Elite1600 model.
Elite1600 BIOS version.
How RAID was configured (Ctrl+M or Ctrl+H.)

[Lovan]

Hello

I'm unsure of how to tell which version. All it says on the card is "Series 493 rev-C1".Oh, and copyright 2000 :P
It is a AMI version with the LSI firmware(111U)
No raid configured(no discs connected either) at the moment. Makes no difference if i have a raid configuration with harddrives connected.
No difference wether I use ctrl+m or ctrl+h.

Thx!

[AreEss]

Hello

I'm unsure of how to tell which version. All it says on the card is "Series 493 rev-C1".Oh, and copyright 2000 :P
It is a AMI version with the LSI firmware(111U)
No raid configured(no discs connected either) at the moment. Makes no difference if i have a raid configuration with harddrives connected.
No difference wether I use ctrl+m or ctrl+h.

Thx!

1600 (AKA 493) C1's and the 111U have known, ahem, issues. There's a high probability that if you attempt to use Ctrl+M configuration, it'll hardlock. There is no fix for this, only workaround is to use Ctrl+H.

Why Windows XP is hanging here though, I'm not entirely sure. This is likely due to a driver issue. Get the latest drivers from LSI (6.36.32_signed) and try using those with F6.
http://www.lsilogic.com/cm/License.do?url=/files/support/rsa/signed_driver_6.36.32_XP.zip&prodName=MegaRAID%20Elite%201600&subType=Driver

[Lovan]

Well webbios doesn't detect my mouse with the new firmware. It's not a big loss for me.

I tried with the latest drivers with a windows install but no difference. Just hangs. I disabled the internal SATA controller too. I guess it doesn't like my computer :)

Have you any experience with a LSI 21320-IS? I've seen an ad around here(Sweden) with a price for about 50 USD. The price is right for me.

Thank you for your help :)

/Niclas

[AreEss]

Never, ever use Dell rebranded LSI. It is inevitably broken, which is why it sells so cheap. The performance sucks and you get no support. And that's if you're lucky.

It's odd that the 1600 isn't working though, but without having the system here and putting it through a bus analyzer, I'm out of ideas. The board has no 80H diagnostic available, which is what is desperately needed right now.

If you're going to have to step up from the 1600, I'd recommend the 21320-RB or 22320-RB (single channel and dual channel respectively.) These are based on the 53C1030C and have integrated RAID0/1 support. They're excellent controllers, and will work in PCI32/33 slots, though it will impact performance obviously.

[Lovan]

I have tried some more but no go. I will try using win2k just to see if that will help otherwize I will try to sell the card and find another. But since second-hand scsi-cards are quite rare in this country...
I will stay away from Dell cards. How about these gigantic fullsize IBM raidcards? I found one cheap(50 usd or so), a Serveraid 4L.

I just want to thank you for your time. It's very much appreciated :)

[AreEss]

I have tried some more but no go. I will try using win2k just to see if that will help otherwize I will try to sell the card and find another. But since second-hand scsi-cards are quite rare in this country...

If Win2K doesn't work, then it's definitely a hardware compatibility thing. It just boggles the mind. It may be that the Elite1600 can't handle the PCI2.2 notification on 32/33 and is trying to stay at 32/66. :(

I will stay away from Dell cards. How about these gigantic fullsize IBM raidcards? I found one cheap(50 usd or so), a Serveraid 4L.

The 4L's a damn fine card. Catch is, it may or may not work in the board. It likely won't; the ServeRAIDs do not back down to PCI32/33, by and large. The 4L might, but I've not tested and don't have a spare one to test with.

I just want to thank you for your time. It's very much appreciated :)

No problem. :)