Install Vista SP1 with SATA RAID and no floppy

[Riev]

My first post, which is actually a solution rather than a question, since unfortunately I couldn't find the answer I needed on this forum (or anywhere else). I did work it out after a frustrating 24hrs so I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else runs into it also!

Setting up a new build with a clean install of Vista Home Premium SP1 64 bit on a GA-EP45-DS3P with a SATA RAID 1 mirror.

According to the Gigabyte manual (!) you should load the latest SATA RAID driver during the initial steps of the Vista install process where you select the HDD partition to install the OS to.

So this I did, with the latest ICH10R drivers from Intel on a USB drive. However, I do not have a floppy drive and for some reason the USB drive presents itself as C:\. The drivers are recognised correctly and loaded from the USB and then Vista does the first reboot of the installation.

At which point the machine boots back up and hangs on the green cylon eye bar loading screen. FOREVER!

At this stage there is no indication what is wrong, whether it is a driver issue, a BIOS setting issue or incompatible hardware.

However, it seems that when Vista comes back up after the initial reboot it needs to reload the SATA drivers from the previously supplied location - despite having loaded them once already. Unfortunately, my USB stick with the drivers on is no longer the C: drive and for some reason, while the machine is hung at this stage, all USB is completely disabled anyway.

So, should you find yourself in the same situation as me, twiddling every BIOS setting you can find, unplugging components left right and centre and generally bashing your head against a wall contemplating life without the RAID feature that you paid extra for - the solution is simple...

Don't load any additional SATA RAID drivers during the initial Vista installation process. With SP1 at least the ICR09R drivers supplied on the install DVD work fine.

Once you've done the main install, then simply install the latest Matrix Storage Manager software from Intel's website.

Maybe I should have tried this sooner, but I look on the bright side - at least I got to know every BIOS setting inside and out while trying to solve this.

Hope this helps someone out someday...

[VorLonUK]

Intel® Matrix Storage Manager - Do I need to use the F6 installation method?

[Idle]

No — since the previous version is installed by Vista during setup and it works with the later chipset, all you need do is update it in Windows.