Raid problem Asus A7V333 + Promise PDC20276

According to the MB handbook I can use up to 8 HDDs or other IDE devices on my Asus A7V333 - but it doesn't say how unless a Raid is used..

I already have 2 x HDDs + DVD/CDROM + CD Burner attached to the on board IDE's and would like to add a DVD writer.

I have enabled the Promise Controller via the jumper and loaded the Win XP Promise Fastrack133 Lite controller from the Asus CD.

If I connect the DVD/CDROM and CD burners to the Promise IDE connectors they are not recognised. Handbook does suggest that only hard disks can be connected, but worth a try!

If I connect the HDD's cable to the Promise connectors the software wants to set up a RAID system on boot up - I don't want this and there seems to be no way of avoiding this option, even though the handbook says somewhere 'whether an array is set up or not.....

I have no problem with connecting the HDD's to the Promise controller leaving the onboard IDE connectors free for the writers and CDROM drive, but how do I simply liven up the Promise IDE connectors without setting up a Raid ??

I must be missing something somewhere - and hope to sort this out before buying the DVD writer.

Any ideas, links or whatever ?

TIA

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your rapid response!

I've connected just the boot drive to the Promise IDE 1 - run the Raid installation and now have :

Raid Mode - Stripe
Drives 1

I guess this is OK as the PC booted up fine - seemed a faster boot actually. Everything looks OK, except I can't see the other HDD at present since it is not connected!

I'll have to go rummaging for another drive cable to put the second HDD onto Promise IDE 2

It's getting late over here in UK so I may not post again until tomorrow! If it all goes pear shaped I have a couple more PC's with Internet access to continue this thread!

 

Hi Mike

I pinched a cable out of the other PC - hooked up the second HDD to the Promise IDE 2 connector - ran through the Raid software again - it automatically sets up an array.

So I now have 2 arrays 1+ 0 stripe each containing 1 drive.

Guess this is OK ? At least I can see all the partitions on the 2 drives and can access them. The two CD drives are shown as well.

It's a bit un-nerving on the initial boot up screen to see NO master and NO slave!!

So in theory I can add a couple of IDE/ATAPI devices to the onboard primary or secondary IDE connectors - just a DVD writer will do for now! I'll try adding the CD-RW from the other PC in this one tomorrow. Hopefully mission accomplished - many thanks!

Incidentally the Promise controller is an onboard chip - I couldn't find anything on the www at Asus or Promise - who have been sold to Tekram?