Asus RIVE X79 RAID Issue

[DeChe]

Hey Guys n Gals,

The setup i'm trying to build currently is:

Rampage IV Extreme
WD 300GB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s VELOCIRAPTOR Hard Drive - 10,000RPM x2
WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard Drive
Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD

Now all these drives are SATA 3 (6GB) compatible and the MB internal controllers are as such:
Intel® X79 chipset :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red
4 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), black
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
ASMedia® PCIe SATA controller :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), red

The Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD is plugged into SATA6G_1.
The WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard Drive is plugged into SATA6G_2
The 2 Velociraptor drives are plugged into SATA3G_3 & 4
SATAG_1 & 2 are occupied by optical drives.
Nothing is in the ASMedia Controller.

My goal is to load Window 7 Home Premium onto the SSD, RAID0 the 2 Raptor drives and have the 2TB as storage.

I have tried installing Windows while in AHCI Mode on the BIOS (BIOS Version 1305, latest). This loaded Windows and booted all ok, however when then trying to switch to RAID Mode after the Windows bootup logo appears the PC BSOD. After reading some forums I found the general consensus is that you cant load Windows in AHCI and then change to RAID.

So last night I installed Windows in RAID Mode, having to install the RAID Controller Drivers via USB. Windows installs, it then says it needs to restart to complete installation however I get this error:

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:
1 Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2 Choose your langauge settings, and then click "Next".
3 Click "Repair your computer"

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

File: \Windows\system32\drivers\iaStorA.sys

Status: 0xc0000359

Info: Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing, or corrupt."

Now I have a iaStorA.sys on the USB but no idea how or where to put it into. Any and all help will be appreciated.


Many thanks in advance for responses,

DeChe.

 

[CrazyRob]

Hrm, one of the systems I maintain is an x79 rampage 4 extreme. It's configuration is with a corsair force gt 120 for the os with two raptor 600's in raid 0 for data, all on the Intel sata ports. I've always installed Windows on it with the controller configured for raid, and have never ran into that issue. Doing the whole process in RAID mode is definitely the right thing to do, but I'm not sure why it's hanging up on the drivers for you. Maybe try downloading the drivers directly from intel? http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20507

 

[Rody]

Unplug your raid drives. Leave bios in raid mode and Instal windows on your os drive. After installation plug your raid drives back in. Afterwords if it won't boot make sure in your bios that the correct drive is selected for boot.

 

[kitz789]

Make sure you have the latest bios on your motherboard. Some people are saying you need a matching intel ROM with driver version, not sure if this is true or not but can't hurt to get them as close as possible. I have the intel rom 3.0.1.1370 and using the 3.0.0.3020 drivers without issue. Download the latest into RSTe drivers from intel. Extract the RSTe_f6_iaStorA_64 folder for x64 OS or 32 for x86. Put them on a flash drive. Install OS. At the prompt navigate to the drivers. Should be golden. GL.