I have a Gigabyte P35C-DS3R mainboard currently configured with 3 Western Digital 320GB HDD in a RAID 5 array under Vista64.
Initially the system was installed on a single drive, and then migrated using the Intel Matrix Storage Manager to a RAID 5 array. On commanding a shutdown the system would exit windows but fail to power down, and on resetting one HDD would be reported as failed and the array as degraded. This would occur on each shutdown attempt. For the record, the system is stock standard with no overclocking.
After much tweaking it seems that the system is stable ONLY if the Intel Matrix Manager is the same version number as the raid firmware (currently 7.5.0.1017) and the array has the write-back cache disabled. However this configuration still results in extended shutdown times and decreased raid array speed (as measured using HD-Tach and SANDRA). While I understand the potential problems of data loss on unexpected power failure if using write-back cache I would still like this as an option that doesn't result in multi-hour rebuilds after every shutdown. No problems were apparent with a quick scan of the 3 HDD using the WD lifeguard utilities.
Firstly, is this expected behaviour for this mainboard and the ICH9 controller in general? Secondly, will any future BIOS update also update the ICH9 raid controller firmware?
Thanks,
Damian
Initially the system was installed on a single drive, and then migrated using the Intel Matrix Storage Manager to a RAID 5 array. On commanding a shutdown the system would exit windows but fail to power down, and on resetting one HDD would be reported as failed and the array as degraded. This would occur on each shutdown attempt. For the record, the system is stock standard with no overclocking.
After much tweaking it seems that the system is stable ONLY if the Intel Matrix Manager is the same version number as the raid firmware (currently 7.5.0.1017) and the array has the write-back cache disabled. However this configuration still results in extended shutdown times and decreased raid array speed (as measured using HD-Tach and SANDRA). While I understand the potential problems of data loss on unexpected power failure if using write-back cache I would still like this as an option that doesn't result in multi-hour rebuilds after every shutdown. No problems were apparent with a quick scan of the 3 HDD using the WD lifeguard utilities.
Firstly, is this expected behaviour for this mainboard and the ICH9 controller in general? Secondly, will any future BIOS update also update the ICH9 raid controller firmware?
Thanks,
Damian
Comment