RAID Config Question

[Dane Bramage]

I am building my new rig and want to have a Mirrored RAID for a system drive. No biggie... cept that I have no floppy (and don't really want one either).

Now, I know that if the RAID was just a data drive (non-system) that I could just create the RAID after the 'puter was set up and OS installed. No biggie there, but my question is can I do that with a system drive?

In other words, can I install my OS on a single drive and get it all working and updated THEN install the other drive and create the array afterward?

Another kicker is that I'm going to dual (or triple) boot with XP/Vista/Ubuntu. My goal would be to have the three OSs installed and then just mirror the drive.

Can it be done?

[crenn]

It would be easier to create a slipstreamed version of XP which has the RAID driver.

[Dane Bramage]

Okay... I don't know what a Slipstream version of XP is.

Please 'splain.

[crenn]

http://www.nliteos.com/

[si-skyline]

that program will help you "tweak" the windows installation. it gives feature like unmanned install so you dont have to type in serial keys and set the region. another benifit is that it allows you to preinstall programs and apps.

in your case just add the raid driver when it asks if you want to add any drivers in. once thats done, pop the cd in and the install will pick the driver up. its also a good idea to upgrade the installation to sp3 so you dont have to download it all the time

[Dane Bramage]

thanks for the reply, si-skyline. but normally, it only looks for a floppy at that point. AFAIK, you cannot install the raid drivers from CD during the install. please correct me if i'm wrong.

[crenn]

That program creates a custom CD (Windows Install Disc) ;)

[si-skyline]

see the reason the windows install asks for a floppy is because it connot find a driver on the windows install cd.

so you kinda botch it with nlite. to make a custom one with the driver in it. burn to a cd and then use the cd you created as you would with a normal xp cd.

if you wanted and it sounds too comlacated. head on over to ebay and buy a usb floppy for like 5 pound.

but i recommend nlite, it is a simple process to do when you are familiour with the program and its only the price of a cd and will come in handy in the future.

there is also a vista version too if you were looking into that. its serprisingly called vlite

[crenn]

You don't need a floppy drive in the Vista install ;) You can use anything from a CD to a USB stick.

[Crazy Buddhist]

Triple booting Vista XP and Ubuntu in raid is going to be one helluvabitch to get running using software raid drivers.

I'm guessing that your best bet by far for doing this is to buy a Raid controller card (promise I think do one with Linux drivers). That way the card will be doing the Raid work and presenting a single drive to your machine and you can install away at your hearts content as many OS's as you want.

Otherwise quick research indicates you may have a lot of trouble just getting XP and Linux to dual boot, it won't be a proper Raid in any place most likely and though your Linux will be able to access your NTFS partitions your XP wont see the Linux partition. And you will need to replace the Grub loader with something else as Grub won't see the XP partition.

Vista only makes things worse it seems. All three on one machine ... in Raid .... ouch. Seriously buy a Raid card you will be a lot happier and save yourself about a week of brain damage.

Crazy

[Dane Bramage]

heh... good points for sure, Crazy. TBH... the only reason I have considered this config was because i don't yet trust Vista for games and other programs and I wanted to give Ubuntu a run to see how it worked. Seems like it's gonna a bigger problem that it may be worth.

thanks for the replies, all. i'll have to think on this.

[crenn]

Depending on the age of the game, Vista works fine if you have the GPU power.

[Crazy Buddhist]

Seriously buy a Raid card you will be a lot happier and save yourself about a week of brain damage.

HAHA didn't even see your handle was Dane Bramage.

Crazy

[Dane Bramage]

now that IS funny.

[Dane Bramage]

okay... so here's another question on this subject.

lets say that i scrap the idea of having a raid drive for the system drive. i normally have a mirrored drive for my data drive (move "My Documents" to that drive) for back-up protection.

Will my XP and Vista installs be able to use the same drive once i have the raid set up under each OS? In other words, can I have the "My Documents" be the same folder for each install?

[crenn]

I don't think that's possible because of how vista is structured.

[Luke122]

I agree with the previous suggestion of using a USB floppy drive, but you do have to make a quick addition to the RAID driver on the diskette, or else it wont recognize the USB floppy halfway through the install. Sucks, I know.. had it happen to me, so here's the fix!

What you need to do is open the txtsetup.oem file (with notepad) on the diskette on another computer, and add a few lines.

Under hardwareID heading for your raid controller:

(this is an example, yours will differ)
[HardwareIds.scsi.iaAHCI_ICH8M]
id= “PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106”,”iaStore”

add these lines:

id = "USB\VID_03F0&PID_2001", "usbstor" #--HP
id = "USB\VID_054C&PID_002C", "usbstor" #--Sony
id = "USB\VID_057B&PID_0001", "usbstor" #--Y-E Data
id = "USB\VID_0409&PID_0040", "usbstor" #--NEC
id = "USB\VID_0424&PID_0FDC", "usbstor" #--SMSC
id = "USB\VID_08BD&PID_1100", "usbstor" #--Iomega
id = "USB\VID_055D&PID_2020", "usbstor" #--Samsung

Save it, exit, and run the install again, selecting F6, then specifying the driver for the HDD controller from the floppy disk, and it'll go.

As for triple booting XP/Vista/Ubuntu, I did that on my laptop, but didnt have a mirror set up. I'm sure it will work just fine, as the raid controller handles the mirroring itself.

So there you have it.. usb floppy = win, triple boot + RAID = entirely possible. :D

[Dane Bramage]

whelp... here's what i did... ended up just saying screw it... and i installed Vista by itself on a mirrored RAID. I have another rig with XP on it, so if i have issues with Vista, i have a working rig to fall back on.

now... if i could just get my SLI working... that's tonight. boy, i haven't been this in the dark since i installed Win 98 the first time. :eek: