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  • #1

    X38-DS4 Windows &

    New to forum so sorry if thi is a duplicate post.

    Looking for info regarding RAID drivers for X38-DS4 board to install Windows 7.
    Has anyone succesfully installed Windows 7 on this board with RAID? I wsa told Intel has not released a driver for this. Will Vista RAID driver work?

    Thanx,
    Bill
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

    You would use these here, pick the correct one per your OS 32bit/64bit
    http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+Matrix+Storage+Manager


    And yes, windows 7 will install fine on that board. Be sure your put your OS Disk in SATA2_0 and your CD/DVD Drive into SATA2_5. If you need help with the BIOS disk settings let me know

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

      The RAID drivers for this board are the same as any other board using the ICH9R. Simply use ICH9R RAID drivers and you will be fine.

      32bit, 64bit and Win 200 drivers are here:
      Coolermaster CM 690 II advance Case
      Corsair HX750 (CWT, 91%(80+ Gold rated @230V) single 62A 12V rail
      P55A-UD4 v2.0 @ F14
      Core i5 760 @ 20 x 201, 4.02GHz
      TRUE Black with a single Noctua NF-P12 pumping out 55 CFM @ 19db .
      2 x 2GB Mushkin Ridgeback (996902), @ 7-10-8-27, 2010-DDR, 1.66v
      2 x Gigabyte GTX 460 1024MB in SLI (Pre OC'd to 715MHz core and 1800MHz VRAM) @ 850 Core / 4100 Mem.
      Intel X25-M Boot Drive (OS and Programs) 200MB/s Read & 90MB/s Write
      Corsair X32 200MB/s Read & 100MB/s Write
      WD Caviar Blue 640GB C (Steam, Games, Storage, Temp Files & Folders, etc)
      Samsung F3 500GB Backup/Images
      Noctua 1300RPM 19dB case fan (rear extraction)
      3 x 140 MM Coolermaster LED fans (one front intake, one top extraction, one side intake)
      Dell Ultra Sharp 2209WAf E-IPS @ 1680x1050

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: X38-DS4 Windows 7

        Thanx very much for the info and links.

        I'm currently running XP Prof with the OS on SATA2_0 and Four (4) 500GB drives on SATA@_1-4 for data. I do Have a Plextor drive on SATA2_5

        Some time ago, I installed Vista and had nothing but grief. Kept reporting the RAID as failed when there was nothing wrong with it. Finally went back to XP.

        Is there anything in the BIOS that needs attention before the Win 7 install? Also, the Intel site says the F-6 driver install isn't necessary with a Win 7 install. Have any of you done the install without f-6 driver loading?

        And, lastly, are there any considerations when doing an upgrade from XP to Win 7 when kicked off from within the current OS?

        Bill

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

          How is your RAID array setup? Do you have the OS disk as a seperate non array drive and then the 4 500GB as a RAID config with redundancy?

          You should be fine at your current settings to install Windows 7. I believe the RAID drivers are already on the install disk. Windows will use its generic (maybe old) version of the Intel RAID driver for the install process. You will need to install the latest Intel Matrix Storage Manager after to update the drivers to the latest and greatest, which is well worth doing from a performance point of view. Also enable Write Back Cache in Matrix Storage Managers config app after install for a performance boost. Note that with the cache enabled there is a slightly increased chance of data loss if power is interrupted, but as long as your AC is clean and stable you will be fine.

          I think that if you initiate the Windows 7 install from within XP it will either restart and ask you to complete a full install or simply prompt you to boot from the DVD to do it. As you may know, although XP is a qualifying upgrade product, the OS itself, unlike Vista can not be upgraded as such and it will let you do a full install.

          To be safe, as with any OS re-install and other system alteration, please make sure you back up your important data to a completely separate drive, DVD's etc. There's always a small risk when altering a PC config no matter what you do.
          Last edited by Psycho101; 12-02-2009, 12:44 PM.
          Coolermaster CM 690 II advance Case
          Corsair HX750 (CWT, 91%(80+ Gold rated @230V) single 62A 12V rail
          P55A-UD4 v2.0 @ F14
          Core i5 760 @ 20 x 201, 4.02GHz
          TRUE Black with a single Noctua NF-P12 pumping out 55 CFM @ 19db .
          2 x 2GB Mushkin Ridgeback (996902), @ 7-10-8-27, 2010-DDR, 1.66v
          2 x Gigabyte GTX 460 1024MB in SLI (Pre OC'd to 715MHz core and 1800MHz VRAM) @ 850 Core / 4100 Mem.
          Intel X25-M Boot Drive (OS and Programs) 200MB/s Read & 90MB/s Write
          Corsair X32 200MB/s Read & 100MB/s Write
          WD Caviar Blue 640GB C (Steam, Games, Storage, Temp Files & Folders, etc)
          Samsung F3 500GB Backup/Images
          Noctua 1300RPM 19dB case fan (rear extraction)
          3 x 140 MM Coolermaster LED fans (one front intake, one top extraction, one side intake)
          Dell Ultra Sharp 2209WAf E-IPS @ 1680x1050

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

            Psycho,
            Thanx for the quick response.

            Yes, my OS is on a non-array disk. My 4x500GB data drives are RAID 5.
            I'll give the Win 7 install a shot with the embedded drivers. I run Windows Home Server and it does a superb job of backup/easy restore so I'm good there.

            Yes, as an upgrade from XP, it makes you do a clean install, but it forces the install from within the old OS. Won't do it from a boot. It does not copy any apps or settings. Your entire XP install is copied to "windows.old" All your files are there if you need them. So I guess you can delete that folder when you're comfortable you have anything you might want from it.

            I'll play around with the Matrix Manager tweaks after I get the OS My power is pretty stable. I have an APC 1500va for my PC, first monitor and cable modem, 'cause my phones are cable. I've never run that dry.

            Bill

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

              Excellent. Your UPS will give plenty of stability in allowing any cached writes to be committed to disk before you need to power down in a controlled manner compared to an abrupt power cut.

              Indeed, if and when you no longer require data from your XP install you can go ahead and delete the windows.old folder. I would give the drive the once over to see if there's anything important on there forst though just in cas the upgrade goes wrong and corrupts the drive. Rare but, as you understand from using RAID with redundancy, you can never be too careful when it comes to keeping data safe.

              Please let us know how you get on, and good luck!
              Coolermaster CM 690 II advance Case
              Corsair HX750 (CWT, 91%(80+ Gold rated @230V) single 62A 12V rail
              P55A-UD4 v2.0 @ F14
              Core i5 760 @ 20 x 201, 4.02GHz
              TRUE Black with a single Noctua NF-P12 pumping out 55 CFM @ 19db .
              2 x 2GB Mushkin Ridgeback (996902), @ 7-10-8-27, 2010-DDR, 1.66v
              2 x Gigabyte GTX 460 1024MB in SLI (Pre OC'd to 715MHz core and 1800MHz VRAM) @ 850 Core / 4100 Mem.
              Intel X25-M Boot Drive (OS and Programs) 200MB/s Read & 90MB/s Write
              Corsair X32 200MB/s Read & 100MB/s Write
              WD Caviar Blue 640GB C (Steam, Games, Storage, Temp Files & Folders, etc)
              Samsung F3 500GB Backup/Images
              Noctua 1300RPM 19dB case fan (rear extraction)
              3 x 140 MM Coolermaster LED fans (one front intake, one top extraction, one side intake)
              Dell Ultra Sharp 2209WAf E-IPS @ 1680x1050

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                About to suggest a clean install, as upgrades are terrible. Nice to see that is already in progress here!

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                  LSDmeASAP,

                  I agree re a clean install whenever possible. Worth the extra effort.

                  Thanx,
                  Bill

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                    Luckily with XP upgrades you have no real choice but to do a clean install. The only thing the clean install won't do is format the drive as it will archive the old Windows directory just in case. Apart from that, everything will be created from scratch a la fresh OS.
                    Coolermaster CM 690 II advance Case
                    Corsair HX750 (CWT, 91%(80+ Gold rated @230V) single 62A 12V rail
                    P55A-UD4 v2.0 @ F14
                    Core i5 760 @ 20 x 201, 4.02GHz
                    TRUE Black with a single Noctua NF-P12 pumping out 55 CFM @ 19db .
                    2 x 2GB Mushkin Ridgeback (996902), @ 7-10-8-27, 2010-DDR, 1.66v
                    2 x Gigabyte GTX 460 1024MB in SLI (Pre OC'd to 715MHz core and 1800MHz VRAM) @ 850 Core / 4100 Mem.
                    Intel X25-M Boot Drive (OS and Programs) 200MB/s Read & 90MB/s Write
                    Corsair X32 200MB/s Read & 100MB/s Write
                    WD Caviar Blue 640GB C (Steam, Games, Storage, Temp Files & Folders, etc)
                    Samsung F3 500GB Backup/Images
                    Noctua 1300RPM 19dB case fan (rear extraction)
                    3 x 140 MM Coolermaster LED fans (one front intake, one top extraction, one side intake)
                    Dell Ultra Sharp 2209WAf E-IPS @ 1680x1050

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                      Post back if you have any issues

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                        Count on me posting any issues

                        Thanks to all for your help.

                        Bill

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                          Anytime!

                          Post back if you need more help

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                            Hello all,
                            Status Report:

                            I did a full, clean install of Win 7. Just as predicted, the RAID array was recognized and the install went very well. Matrix Manager is also installed.

                            All's good in the world...almost.

                            One question:
                            After the install, I threw in an additional 2GB OCZ Reaper RAM, for a total of 4GB. The system properties recognizes all 4, but it reports only 3 being usable. I thought 32 bit Windows 7 was good for 4GBs. Am I wrong or is there a setting somewhere?

                            Thanks again for all the help,
                            Bill

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: X38-DS4 Windows &

                              AFAIK 32 bit os can recognise max of 4GB ram, but deducts video ram, so somewhere between 3 and 3.5 will show.

                              Only 64 bit properly recognises 4GB+





                              CPU                               =                                                             i7 950 - DO stepping - Batch #3014A844
                              Cooling = EK HF Full Nickel                               - XSPC RX360 - Laing DDC 18W - XSPC Bay Reservoir
                              Motherboard = GA-X58A-UD3R Revision 2                              , BIOS Version = Award FC
                              Ram = 3x2gig Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D G
                              Video = 2 X Palit GTX460 Sonic Platinum 1GB OC sli
                              Monitor = 22" LG Flatron W2242T 1680 x 1050 Case = Coolermaster CM690
                              PSU = Corsair HX850
                              OS = Windows 7 Professional x64

                              Comment

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