Win 2000 Server on 370 with SATA drive

I believe the SATA setup is in the BIOS (no drivers necessary) but I have a similar situation and would like to know "for sure" as well. Thanks.

INTEL calls this the F6 install floppy Driver Disk.

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Detail_Desc.asp?agr=N&ProductID=951&DwnldID=6401

Here are the directions for Installing Windows XP on the Intel SATA RAID
controller (NOTE: Intel RAID will only function with Windows XP. It will
not work with other operating systems.)

BIOS

As the system boots, press [Delete] to enter the BIOS Setup. In the MAIN
tab, under IDE Configuration, you should find these options: Configure
S-ATA as RAID, and Serial ATA BOOTROM

Configure S-ATA should be set to [Yes] and Serial ATA BOOTROM should be
set to [Enabled]

This will allow the SATA controller to run bootable RAID hard drives.

DRIVERS

Download:

We recommend using the latest available drivers when configuring your RAID
controller. You can find the Intel Application Accelerator on this site:

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/filter_results.asp?strOSs=44&strTypes=DRV%2CUTL&ProductID=961&OSFullName=Windows*+XP+Professional&submit=Go%21

(If copying and pasting this link, make sure you copy all of it--a partial
link will not get you to the proper page)
You will need to download the IAAR2_FLOPPY.EXE file, which should be
listed under Utilities, Tools and Examples. Place a blank, formatted
floppy disk in your floppy drive and then run this program. It will
transfer all necessary files to your floppy disk.

You will also want to download the IAAR352_ENU.EXE file, listed under
Drivers. Save this somewhere else--you will need it later.

Support CD:

If you do not have access to the Internet, then start by browsing the
support CD included with the motherboard. Look for the DRIVERS directory.
Inside that is a directory called CHIPSET. Open the IAA directory that is
inside. Double-click on MAKEDISK.EXE, then follow the prompts. This will
transfer all necessary files to a floppy disk.

INSTALLATION

1. Start with clean, blank hard drives connected to the Intel SATA
Controller. WARNING: THIS PROCEDURE WILL DESTORY ALL DATA ON THE DRIVES!

2. Set up your Array:
Upon booting, you should be prompted to enter the Intel RAID Configuration
Utility. Press [Ctrl+I] when prompted to enter setup, then delete any
existing arrays. Choose Create RAID Volume from the menu, then create
your array.

3. Boot to your WinXP CD & start the installation. As Windows is first
setting up, at the first blue screen hit the [F6] key to load a third
party mass storage driver. If you miss this, you will be warned that
there are no hard drives attached. If this happens, restart the machine
and tap the "F6" Key a few times as the CD spins up. Windows will go
through its install routine, then prompt you for an OEM disk for your MASS
STORAGE CONTROLLER. Insert the floppy disk you created earlier, and load
the first driver on the list. This will allow you to use your RAID.
LEAVE THIS FLOPPY IN THE DRIVE!

4. Let Windows setup the partition and install:
Choose install to the empty disk & choose NTFS FULL format, not quick. If
you don't have any other hard disks on your regular IDE channels, there
may be a LONG pause after the format; be patient.

5. If your system paused during the install, it will do so again when
booting into Windows. Once the install is completely finished, enter the
BIOS Setup, go to the MAIN tab, then change "Auto" to "None" for all
channels where no drives are connected. NOTE: Do not disable the drives
that contain your RAID Array.

6. Let Windows run through all of its setup routines and updates.

7. After Windows completely installs and reboots, you will need to install
the Intel Application Accelerator in Windows. This is the IAAR352_ENU.EXE
file you downloaded and saved earlier. Double-click on this application
and follow the prompts, then reboot your system. You should now be able
to use your SATA RAID setup.

If you are using the support CD instead of downloading the file, place the
CD in your CD-Rom drive and let autorun access the CD interface. Under
Drivers, select Intel Application Accelerator and follow any prompts you
are given, then reboot your system. You should now be able to use your
SATA RAID setup.

I downloaded the drivers, changed the BIOS to the way they said I should (Configure S-ATA should be set to [Yes] and Serial ATA BOOTROM should be
set to [Enabled]). Then as you probably read, the second step said:
Upon booting, you should be prompted to enter the Intel RAID Configuration
Utility. Press [Ctrl+I] when prompted to enter setup, then delete any
existing arrays. Choose Create RAID Volume from the menu, then create
your array.

I just tried your instructions and I could not get it to work. I work for a community college and we like to configure one machine and ghost the image to the others. Also we save our syspreped image to a server for quick recovery if need be. We have a volume license for our version of windows xp so we like to strip off whatever comes with the computer and we install all of our licensed software on our new computers. I am trying to in a sense boot off of the windows xp cd to install a fresh copy to one of the new computers to image to the others. I install the sata raid driver per your instructions and it acts like it is going to work but then i get the blue screen of death every time. I imagine that the process is about the same for win2k but I am using windows xp service pack 1.

I would appreciate any help on this.

thanks
ray

I just got 2 of the PW370 w/80GB SATA's and had the same issue installing XP (we do our own installs). I just finished 10 of the PW670's w/o incident, but these 370's required the same file off the Resource CD (from the 670, my 370's did not come with ANY media). I used the same R82876.exe off the CD and BOOM, install. I know this is normal for alot of 3rd party adapters, but this is the 1st onboard Dell I've had to load using the F6 option. Thanks for the tip on the file name. BTW, I had a boot CD I made on my own that was able to install a ghost image on the same SATA drive w/o anything special loading. Why I needed it for XP??????

Thom

THANKS! I did exactly what you suggested and It worked!!! After I was able to get our copy of xp installed I was able to use norton ghost to image with no problems.