Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Your welcome. Glad to hear everything is working now.

Post back any time with any questions or comments.

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Glad to here you got it straightened out.



Ummm... Run some benchmarks, though some data on there and sit back and enjoy raid10 Maybe even have one of these Then maybe run some benchmarks one you have some data on there.


Last thing even thought raid10 has 2 back up drives its still a 50/50 chance (not exact figures) of 2 drives failing at once and losing all your data so also have a back up plan in place. Which reminds me I have to get my back up going again.

Awesome! I've got an external HDD as well, that I'll be using as a backup. So my data should be more than covered.

Thank you so much for your help! It's been top-notch all the way!

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Glad to here you got it straightened out.

I'm initializing right now. Once that is complete, what's next?

Ummm... Run some benchmarks, though some data on there and sit back and enjoy raid10 Maybe even have one of these Then maybe run some benchmarks one you have some data on there.


Last thing even thought raid10 has 2 back up drives its still a 50/50 chance (not exact figures) of 2 drives failing at once and losing all your data so also have a back up plan in place. Which reminds me I have to get my back up going again.

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

I would just to be on the safe side.

In the Intel Raid software you should see all 4 drives listed then the array next to them in a box diagram. When you click on the raid array it should say that it is raid10 and somewhere along the left there should be a option to Initialize. This process will take a while possibly over night, my 4tb raid10 took I believe 26hrs. If the system crashes the controller will do a check on the drives which should take just as long but it will do it in the background.

Ok, I deleted the partition and rebooted but nothing changed. When I open Intel Rapid Storage Technology app, the information for the drives remained the same. It still listed it as an Array with all 4 drives in it but it did not specifically state RAID10. However, during bootup, when I enter the RAID BIOS, it did list the volume as RAID0+1 (IIRC). I then created another simple partition like I did before and it used quick format. It didn't take long to do, either. Only a minute or so.

The Initialize process I believe this is what sets up the raid1 part of the raid10 (raid10 is raid0+1 or raid1+0 I think intel uses raid0+1 you will see this on boot up when showing the raid rom). There is no way to tell that the data is being mirrored to the other 2 drives that I am aware of other then physical unplugging one of the drives.

Where is the Initialize process located? I don't believe I saw it anywhere, unless I'm looking in the wrong areas.

EDIT: Ok, I realized what had happened. My IRST drivers weren't up to date. After I updated them, I now see all the information you were talking about and, yes, my drives are listed as RAID10. I'm also seeing correct information (such as drive sizes, NCQ enabled, transfer rates, etc).

I'm initializing right now. Once that is complete, what's next?

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

I would just to be on the safe side.

In the Intel Raid software you should see all 4 drives listed then the array next to them in a box diagram. When you click on the raid array it should say that it is raid10 and somewhere along the left there should be a option to Initialize. This process will take a while possibly over night, my 4tb raid10 took I believe 26hrs. If the system crashes the controller will do a check on the drives which should take just as long but it will do it in the background.

The Initialize process I believe this is what sets up the raid1 part of the raid10 (raid10 is raid0+1 or raid1+0 I think intel uses raid0+1 you will see this on boot up when showing the raid rom). There is no way to tell that the data is being mirrored to the other 2 drives that I am aware of other then physical unplugging one of the drives.

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Ok, I made the registry changes you listed and it worked. I changed the BIOS back to RAID and Windows started up. It detected the RAID controller and installed the software, requiring a restart.

So if its working in RAID now, does that mean I need to delete and re-create the partition on the drives? How can I tell if it is working correctly?

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

All 4 of my drives are 1tb and as you mentioned, I expected to see 4 drives in windows. However, all I saw was the volume I created for the array. The capacity is 2tb.

I don't see the RAID bios popup like when I had it enabled anymore.

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

switching back to ahci should show you 4 separate drives again instead of 1 whole drive. What is the total drive size seen by windows, raid10 should be the sum of 2 of the drives IE 4x2tb in raid10 = 4tb. The speed sounds right but if the controller is not set to raid it should not be in raid. Do you see the intel raid bios during start up after switching back to ahci?

This is how it has worked on all my gigabyte boards ep45-ud3p, EX58-UD5, X58A-UD5, X58A-OC using intel raid on sata2 and also with a LSI 9240-4i card. I do not have any hands on experience with ASrock but "it should still be the same"

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

I'll give that a try when I get off work.

But back to my question, if I lost the array by switching back to ACHI, shouldn't the drive capacity and speed have decreased? Instead of 120mb/s transfer rates, I'm getting about 250mb/s with twice the capacity.

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Go into the registry using regedit and change each of the "start" values in the registry keys below from 3 to 0 and this will allow you to change between the different modes by just changing the option in your bios each time you reboot.


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\servic es\pciide

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\servic es\msahci

The last to lines you may only see 1. Which ever you see set to 0 or if you see both set both to 0.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\servic es\iaStorV

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\servic es\iaStor

Can you take a screen shot of the Storage configuration screen for me. I was trying to read the manual online but it is a little confusing, but you should be able to set Intel sata3 to raid while keeping marvel sata3 set to ahci. Then set boot sequence to the drive on marvel sata3 port.

Another thing you can have 5 drive connected to the intel port set to raid and the raid array only consist of 4 drives and boot form the stand alone drive. Even thought the controller is set to raid the stand alone drive will act as it is in ahci mode. At least this is how it worked on X58 and it should still carry over. You will have to do the regedit for this to work, dont think you would have to do a clean install.

If your not sure how to take a screen shot from with in the bios/uefi it should be the F12 key.

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

If you set the controller to raid then entered the raid bios to create the array then reboot back into the boards bios and switch back to ahci you should lose the raid array.

If it lost the array, shouldn't the total capacity have been reduced to the size of just 1 drive and its performance limited to that of a single drive? Right now, it has the capacity for 2 drives and is performing twice as fast. FYI, this is a RAID 10 setup.

Why would the system not boot when left to raid? Was it BSOD on startup? If that is the case you need to make changes to the registry to allow switching between ahich/raid/ide.

Yes, it did BSOD. What do I need to change in the registry?

I had to scroll back to your first post as I forgot your OS drive is attached to a IDE add in card? It is possible the add in card does not work when intel controller is set to ahci or it could just need the regedit.

If you could update your sig with more complete info on how your system is setup it would be easier then having to keep going back to the first post.

I have no add-in card; I just have all the drives connected to the SATA controllers on the Z68 motherboard. The RAID drives are connected to the SATAII ports and the OS drive is connected to the SATA3_M1 port.

In the BIOS, when its configured for RAID, my OS drive is also listed as RAID. I don't know if it wants to boot up as part of a RAID array or what is going on. I've tried changing the boot priorities or even to move it to the Marvel controller (built into mobo) to see if it would boot up at ACHI but no such luck.

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

If you set the controller to raid then entered the raid bios to create the array then reboot back into the boards bios and switch back to ahci you should lose the raid array.

Why would the system not boot when left to raid? Was it BSOD on startup? If that is the case you need to make changes to the registry to allow switching between ahich/raid/ide.

I had to scroll back to your first post as I forgot your OS drive is attached to a IDE add in card? It is possible the add in card does not work when intel controller is set to ahci or it could just need the regedit.

If you could update your sig with more complete info on how your system is setup it would be easier then having to keep going back to the first post.

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Ok correct me if I am wrong. You have 5 hdds? 1 for the OS and 4 for the Raid 10? You entered the raid bios and created the raid 10 array on the 4 hdds? All you should have to do is to back to the boards bios and change the hdd boot order to the drive that has windows installed.

Yes, I have 4 hdds (1 for OS and 4 for RAID 10). I did enter RAID and created an array for the drives and then had to switch back to ACHI in order to boot up. Keeping it in RAID wouldn't work for the primary unless it was in AHCI. I then entered disk management and created a new partition for the drive using GPT. According to HD Tune, the performance indicates its working fine.

Was this the correct procedure?

[Acebmxer]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Ok correct me if I am wrong. You have 5 hdds? 1 for the OS and 4 for the Raid 10? You entered the raid bios and created the raid 10 array on the 4 hdds? All you should have to do is to back to the boards bios and change the hdd boot order to the drive that has windows installed.

[Lord Odin]

Re: Z68 Extreme4: can I add RAID 10 to existing IDE system?

Ok, I got the HDD's and hooked up everything correctly. So how do I go about putting these 4 drives in RAID?

I tried changing my SATA mode from ACHI to RAID but it wants to load Windows on my primary HDD in RAID and not AHCI. I'm a bit confused.