Comments on: Intel RAID problem under Windows Vista

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:29:38 +0000

Your post was helpful in resolving my issue. Here’s the summary… Hope it helps someone out.

My buddy has a Dell XPS410/Dimension 9200 with Vista 32-bit which was giving a variety of problems, including startup errors and general instability, as Vista has a tendency to do. I tried several fixes, including an in-place upgrade of Vista and a clean install on the existing Vista partition (you know, the one where the existing Windows folder & profile are moved to Windows.old). In both scenarios, the installation stalled out after the reboot around the 67% mark, during Completing Installation. The system hung, the pointer wouldn’t move, fans shut down and the HDD stopped spinning.

System config:
Dell XPS410/Dimension 9200
Mobo: Dell E210882
Chipset: Intel P965/G965
Intel 82801 HH I/O controller
CPU: Intel Core 2 E6300 1.86GHz

A quick scan of the internet revealed that this is a known issue with this particular motherboard/chipset/onboard RAID controller. I tried a variety of install strategies, all including the Load Drivers option early in the install process. I also tried installing Windows 7 and that hung at the same place, so the problem was not a Vista issue.

The problem seemed to be with the drivers for the RAID controller.

After endless web searches and multiple failed install attempts, it finally worked. Here are the steps:

1. Flashed BIOS to 2.5.3
2. Start off with clean hard drive if possible (used WD Data Lifeguard to zero out an existing hard drive)
3. Connected the HDD to SATA port 3 on the controller hub and the DVD to port 4 (suggested on Intel’s site: http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-025783.htm) .
4. BIOS: set Autodetect ATA/SATA
5. Start Windows 7 (or Vista) installation
6. Load Intel Matrix Storage Manager drivers (version 7.5 or later) for 82801HH AND ICH8R from USB thumb drive (leave it in the USB port throughout the install process)
7. Allow OS install to continue through reboot
8. CRITICAL: On reboot just before Completing Installation, change BIOS: SATA
9. Also, change boot sequence to actual HDD (in my case, Maxtor) – you may have to save/exit BIOS setup, let the reboot start and enter BIOS a second time to make the actual hard drive show up in the boot sequence.

If you’re having this same problem, I hope this saves you some pain & frustration.

By: pcunite

pcunite — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:45:18 +0000

On any motherboard using the onboard Marvell Yukon 88E8056 will have stability problems unless it is updated to REV 14 (Marvell PXE 6.60.2.3).

Firmware:
http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/FAQ/2372/faq_marvell_eeprom.zip

Flashing the 88E8056.
Download the faq_marvell_eeprom.zip file.
Boot into dos.
Run the eep.bat file.

Reading on the subject:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&id=20080813182205171

By: Dominic

Dominic — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:40:17 +0000

Hi,

I am running an amd phenom 9600 on an a770m-a elite group board. My sata raid is not working period. It’s not even reading my dvd rom drive. I read your article with interest but it appears that my Windows Vista basic would be the problem. I have spent hours trying to find a solution on the web with no joy. Can you help me?

By: Perplexed with this one :x - FreddysHouse

Perplexed with this one :x - FreddysHouse — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:37:30 +0000

[...] Seems the problem is my OS… The Flying Nerd Intel RAID problem under Windows Vista [...]

By: quack

quack — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:18:06 +0000

Had this issue with my P5B deluxe for 2 years (since I switched from xp to vista actually) : computer working fine but random lockups (vista completely frozen, I had to power off/on the computer).

Last week I updated the intel matrix storage manager with the latest version from the intel web site and now everything is working fine, the freezes are gone !! Shame on you Asus, the beta version you are offering on your web site is crappy.

By: Roland

Roland — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:11:16 +0000

You know what, the problem emerged on my PC after half a year of usage after I accidentally install the Intel Matrix Storage Console, which comes with it new drivers.

Originally when I got iastor timeout Event errors, I reinstalled Vista, using F6 method and deleting parameter registry before Vista finishes the setup by pressing shift+F10? near the end stages of the install. My PC had no problem ever since.

Now I don’t get Windows event errors at all, yet HDD LED light stays on for half a min up to a min in some cases, extremely slow disk access during so, and unpredictable occurrence rate. I have deleted registry, reinstalled Intel Storage Matrix driver, Jmicron driver, etc. Marvell ROM code is rev 14 updated. I am using Asus P5K-E, couple of RAID0 and normal drives and a full usage of the SATA ports.

By: Are Muggerud

Are Muggerud — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:09:18 +0000

This is my silver bullett: http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/FAQ_Model.aspx?FAQID=2372. On my P5K PRO, the Marvell Yukon Pci express gigabit ethernet controller was the problem. I figured it out by starting a stress test (Bart’s stuff) on the ich9 raid 0 and then disabling the ethernet controller in device manager in vista. The system crashed every single time. Then i did the update from gigabyte’s site, it did some changes to the controller and voila.

By: warner recabaren

warner recabaren — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:43:21 +0000

In under 4 days two seperate clients each having dell vostro 400 computers with intel chipsets/ vista/ raid 1 mirror both failed to boot. Dell offers to replace the hard drive- all the drives pass all tests- they fail to see thats there is an issue comming down with the latest upgrades. To get the system to boot- break the mirror setting the second to not an array disk. Boot- raid software will ask to rebuild- NO- continue and system will boot. Dont know how to get drives bootable as a non-raid (PERMANANTLY) short of reinstall at this time- any ideas?

By: Roboghost

Roboghost — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:01:15 +0000

I’ve been dealing with this Intel “raid volume error” too and one thing is the SATA cables can be an issue. I just jiggled them and it went away! One problem is that my SATA cables are seriously squeezed up against the long VGA card and I’m going to re-engineer the cables to fit better (left angle SATA’s etc.) Quality counts on some of your cables for sure. My WD VelociRaptor 2.5-inch are cute, but probably are going to be a technical headache I see and forsee…

By: MrMonk-E

MrMonk-E — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:38:59 +0000

Also, i think it is safe to conclude that since the HW setup is identical it is not a HW issue but a software issue.

^^^^^^^^^^^ My hardware IS identical!!
i just put – around it and now it’s strike trough.. FAIL