Trouble setting up RAID

[mac_cnc]

So I have an MSI board (p4 socket 478) with a Sis raid controller. I set up the raid 1 array and booted the windows install. Hit F6 it finds the driver then formats and starts install. Then it tells me It cant find the sysraid.sys file. The disk is still in the drive at this point. I dont know what to do. This thing is pissing me off. I can skip them but when the system boots it BSODs.....

 

[Rocco123]

Are you using the RAID disk that came with the mobo, or did you create the disk from the CD with the drivers on it?

I've occasionally ran into this with RAID (both PATA and SATA). I ran into the problem the MOST when I used the "create driver disk" feature on the driver CD. Rather than do that, I've went ahead and navigated the CD and copied the entire contents of the corresponding RAID driver folder. Here's an easier way:

Find your mobo CD and put it into a working comp. Then do a search on the CD for the file in question. Wherever it finds the file that you're looking for (in this case sysraid.sys) , take all the folder contents and copy it onto a newly formatted floppy. Generally speaking, all the RAID sys, infs, cabs and what-not are in the same directory.

That's always worked for me.

BTW, I believe the file it's asking you for is SISraid.sys, not sysraid.sys.

 

[mac_cnc]

You are right on the file name btw. I did that with the supplied disk and then even downloaded new ones and even tried the ones off of the CD. Im stumped.

 

[Rocco123]

hmm, well try this then:

Do a search on your mobo CD for the sisraid.sys file. Take that file and copy it to the existing floppy that you were using, in addition to the files that are already on the floppy. See if adding that file helps any, or if it just asks you for a different file name. If it does, rinse, repeat until it doesn't ask you for another file anymore. You could also try another floppy disk ( preferably a new one), a bad floppy is always possible.

If push comes to shove, you could slipstream the SIS raid drivers into the XP install, but if you've never done it before it could be trial and error.

Hope this helps.

 

[mac_cnc]

On the floppy i dont need a folder structure.. ? just the files themselves?
Its funny you should mention slipstream because I had thought of that I just wasnt in the mood to slipstream for one stinkin computer. Im running out of patience for floppies.

 

[Rocco123]

On the floppy i dont need a folder structure.. ? just the files themselves?
Its funny you should mention slipstream because I had thought of that I just wasnt in the mood to slipstream for one stinkin computer. Im running out of patience for floppies.

On the floppy, you DON'T want a folder structure, as far as I know, just all the RAID files in the root. The inf file should tell the Windows setup where to look, but it DOES look on the root of A: for all files by default. If you have folders on your current RAID floppy, that could be the issue. Copy and paste their contents in the root. Otherwise, try copying just the sisraid.sys file to the root and see what happens, but I think it might choke on another file.

I'm totally with you on the floppy think, I fucking hate floppy drives. And you're also right about slipstreaming. It's only worth it to slipstream EVERYTHING including hotfixes, SPs, and drivers. And even that takes a long time.

 

[mac_cnc]

Figured it out. I had to install with a non slipstreamed cd. seems when i made my current disk I told it to look on the xp cd for drivers. Thanks for the help.