Installing Windows x64 on a RAID 0 setup?

Pixel Eater

Pixel Eater

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 25, 2006
Messages
241
I've been trying to triple boot Windows XP 64, Vista 32, and Vista 64. The problem is with x64 installations. Please see my hardware at the end of this post. I'm aiming for dual 150GB raptors in RAID 0. Originally I was on an Intel Matrix setup, and now that I bought a RocketRaid 2300, I'm having the very same problem. Both initially allow me to F6 or load my drivers, but after partitioning and everything, they inform me that windows setup cannot copy iastor.sys etc. This is extremely frustrating. At this point I'd trade out any hardware, whatever it took, as long as I can get performance. I've attempted numerous slipstreams and every release of the drivers and so on.

This is with an
e6600
Dual Raptors, RAID 0
ASUS p5w DH with Intel Matrix ICH7R chipset
Now this RocketRaid 3200.

Is there any reason I shouldn't be able to get this installed? :eek:
 
I have seen similar problems with 64bit installs, they are very touchy sometimes. What is your memory config.?
 
Split the Raptors out of RAID0. You also could have gotten three physical drives for the same price or less money, and had one physical drive per OS. RAID0 isn't going to give you any real performance that can be measured without some specific benchmark, so by splitting them, you lose nothing, but gain a more stable hardware platform to use. If you ditch the RocketRAID card and use the Intel SATA ports, you won't need drivers either.
 
One of my goals is to always open programs faster, and these Raptors have been. I have 2 gigabytes of Super Talent RAM currently at stock settings and 4-4-3-8 timing, dual channel, but plan on moving to 8 in the near future. I can't imagine nobody's got x64 running on RAID 0.
 
You have the Raptors already, you're programs will open fast enough. RAID0 is basically worthless, over-hyped technology for a standard desktop PC. You aren't giving up anything by abandoning RAID0. Also, by triple-booting, you are adding quite a bit more variables to the equation. I would honestly say, give up one or the other...either RAID0, or the triple boot idea. I'd easily say give up RAID0, and then maybe only dual boot, using one Raptor for each OS.
 
Ok, from what I am hearing this is how it sounds. First thing, try installing with only one stick of RAM at a time. As I said I have seen similar problems in 64bit installs and it turned out to be the memory config. for whatever reason.

If your memory is ok, I would as mentioned, get rid of the RAID card. Get a good boot manager like Partition-Magic or G-Parted, and span that on one drive and use the other as a D: drive for storage.

Edit: If you don't have a lot of experience with partition managers then Install Vista as the primary, and use it's built in partition manager.
 
That's a good way of doing it. Cut the first Raptor into three partitions, and let each OS format it's own system volume partition. Then attach the second Raptor, and use that as common storage for all OSes.
 
Pixel Eater said:
Originally I was on an Intel Matrix setup, and now that I bought a RocketRaid 2300, I'm having the very same problem. Both initially allow me to F6 or load my drivers, but after partitioning and everything, they inform me that windows setup cannot copy iastor.sys etc.
Click to expand...
Isn't the iastor.sys file only required if you used the intel `matrix' storage manager? Have you considered to use an installation media with slipstreamed drivers? Does the same problem happen with winXP x64 and Vista x64? What driver revision are you using? Do you see the RAID array as a single drive at the point where you partition/ format it? Have you tried running memtest?
 
The drives show up as one ~300GB drive and permit partitioning and everything. Then the driver will not copy.

"I've attempted numerous slipstreams" and "The problem is with x64 installations."

In other words this configuration works fine for 32 bit systems, I don't see why it shouldn't for 64 bit. I wouldn't really care to split these apart over lame hardware D:

I haven't tried memtest. I will try that and using 1GB at a time. Are the drivers stored in the RAM and we're worried they're not sticking?
 
Pixel Eater said:
I wouldn't really care to split these apart over lame hardware D:
Click to expand...
If there's no negative reasons for splitting them up, and it would easily solve your problem, all while giving you a better partitioning scheme for a multi-boot system, why is this such a no-no? I guess I may be missing something here, but it seems pretty cut and dry. I'm hoping you aren't still one of the few remaining "I bought the hype of RAID0 and all I got was this T-shirt" crowd.
 
Well, I'd like to follow up saying I found a round about way of making my install work. I do like RAID and so with some toil was able to turn off the matrix controller (simulate IDE only), install XP and Vista x64 operating systems or whatever I wanted, install the JMicron drivers and boot off that controller after the installations. When I re-enabled Matrix back on Windows detected an unknown scsi controller that I could install drivers on. I could then boot with matrix. So I opened up another windows install on the side and used Intel's RAID migration to happily unite the raptors in a 128k stripe. That worked nicely.

Too bad I was later dicking around in Linux / GRUB on another disk and somehow deleted the Vista bootloader.

Because of my unique situation, the bootloader could not be repaired. Fail ;_;

I'll just migrate this drive on my next mobo, because I guess I've run into an uncommon issue with the Asus P5W DH Deluxe.
 
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