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Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 Non-OS RAID 1 Setup - OS BSOD in RAID config

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  • Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 Non-OS RAID 1 Setup - OS BSOD in RAID config

    Hello,

    I'm trying to add a RAID 1 setup using (2) WD Black 1TB HDDs. I'm utilizing a Crucial MX100 SSD as my boot drive, and just want the RAID for a safe mirrored drive. I'm able to setup the drives using the RAID utility [CTRL+F] at the BIOS splash screen, and the RAID volume is recognized and everything. My problem comes when I boot past BIOS into my OS it blue screens at the first Windows splash screen. My BIOS is set to RAID and the boot order is corrected to present the SSD first. I've played with these various BIOS settings without any different result. The drive is recognized, but with the SATA0-3 ports set at RAID it will not boot into the OS. I have the OS drive and my optical drive connected to the SATA4-5 ports, which are under a seperate controller. The result is the same if this is set to IDE or AHCI, or if the boot drive is connected to the one of the SAT0-3 ports. When I change my BIOS settings back to AHCI the OS will boot but then the RAID volume is not recognized.

    The Gigabyte Utility installer disk indicates that I have the AHCI and RAID drivers installed into Windows, but I didn't think that would matter; the boot drive is not part of the RAID. I've also upgraded to the latest BIOS revision(F9). I'm able to recognize the pair of WD 1TB HDDs in Windows as seperate disks, and can setup a software RAID 1 within Windows, but I'd rather utilize the MOBOs hardware version.

    Is there a trick to this that I'm missing? I've come across others with this issue but no resolution. Any help is much appreciated!


    Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 Rev 1.1 (BIOS F9)
    AMD FX-8350
    Crucial MX100 512GB
    2 x WD Black 1TB HDD
    Windows 7 Pro

  • #2
    Re: Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 Non-OS RAID 1 Setup - OS BSOD in RAID config

    Your problem is you cannot change to RAID mode once you install the OS with the SATA mode not set to RAID. Once you install Windows with the SATA mode set to AHCI or IDE, you cannot change to RAID mode, or you get the BSOD.

    That is caused by a limitation in the way Windows loads drivers. It doesn't matter that the OS drive is not part of a RAID array, or that other drives are on another controller. The RAID driver may be installed, but that makes no difference either. This issue is known to RAID users, you are not the first to be frustrated with this problem. The same thing happens on AMD and Intel boards. Unfortunately, this is not documented well (or at all) in mother board manuals.

    The usual fix for this is installing Windows again with the SATA mode set to RAID. On Intel systems, there is a registry edit trick that allows the SATA mode to be changed to RAID from AHCI. Intel does not recommend this, but Microsoft has information on how to do it, and even has a program that does part of the work. There is more to it than just the registry edit, a few steps that must be done correctly. It also is different depending on the version of Windows being used.

    For AMD systems, I am not familiar with the procedure to do the same thing, or if it is even possible. AMD has changed their SATA chipsets recently, and with that the way their RAID support is configured. Your slightly older SB950 SATA chipset has been in use for a while, and the AMD RAID support with this chipset is the same as many earlier AMD SATA chipsets. That means the chance of finding the information on the registry edit fix is greater. Just don't get mixed up with the newer AMD SATA chipsets, whose RAID support is different.

    Try searching the Internet on "change to RAID mode", you will find all kinds of hits. More precisely, search on "change to RAID mode on AMD boards", or similar to that.

    The RAID drivers used by AMD and Intel are different, and I don't know if the registry entries are similar.

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    • #3
      Re: Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 Non-OS RAID 1 Setup - OS BSOD in RAID config

      Thank you Parsec, for the very lucid answer.

      I halfway suspected it required a new install under the 'RAID' setting, but couldn't find anything that explicitly explained what you just did. It looks like I have options and a whole new rabbit-hole to go check out. Cheers!

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