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3907
January 17th, 2018 17:00
Aurora R4, RAID 3TB Hard Drive Issue
Interesting problem that got uncovered trying to install simple software for my mouse on my Aurora R4 computer. I think there is a controller involved with this RAID configuration, but I don't think there are 2 hard drives that make up my 3TB configuration; it's just one. There is 100 MB of unallocated space at the beginning of my configuration. All disk space is allocated except for that 100 MB which I can't seem to delete, make active, or anything else. The software is trying to use that space for installation, and it's not big enough. All areas of the Disk Management software for Windows 7, 64-bit are grayed-out, so I can't do anything with it or merge it into the allocated C drive. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? My computer is out-of-warranty, and I know there has to be someone who knows what to do with this little bit of space that is causing the software not to install. Of course, the rep thinks I can create a new partition, put the software in there, and it will install. Problem is, there is no unallocated space to create an additional partition, and their silly software must be looking at 0,0 and not realizing it's unallocated space without a drive letter. I'd put a picture of this in here, but don't know how to attach it to this post. I don't think the source is correct for the image, but I'll try this first.
Also, is there anyway to change my username in this Community? ReneeFoxx has been long gone, but there doesn't seem to be an option to change it.
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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May 15th, 2018 01:00
Dell still hasn't fixed the problem of asking to login before Post becomes available! OMG, I lost everything I said and had to start all over after logging in. UGH
I finally got the Kensington engineers to solve this problem, but it's cumbersome at best. These instructions are for my operating system, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.
Yes this is clumsy, but it works. This forces the installation package to install from the active partition, and not the 100mb inactive partition set aside for the EFI System Partition. Why? I do not know, but after a couple of years of this nonsense, I finally got to engineering. 1st-level tech supports (around the world) rarely know what to do with complex issues like this. Backup up all these items and you can then delete the folder, executable, and original installation file you downloaded from Kensington.
Enjoy!
Tesla1856
10 Wizard
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February 20th, 2018 19:00
I don't remember ever seeing this post, or know if you still need help.
Sometimes, you have to use "diskpart clean" to completely remove all diag or oem partitions.
Do yourself a favor. Forget about RAID.
Install a 256gb SATA-3/600 SSD as bootable C:, and install Windows-10/64bit to it. Also all Apps and even a couple of your favorite large games.
Install and store everything else to that 2gb spinning HDD.
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 22nd, 2018 10:00
Oh, for crying out loud. I put a rather lengthy response in here without logging in. So, it's gone, and I have to go to the doctor. I'll come back and recreate it later.
Tesla1856
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February 22nd, 2018 11:00
Yeah, it's happened to us Rockstars before and has been reported to the Forum Admins. Supposedly, they are looking into a solution.
As a possible work-around for now (other than always Signing-In first) ... I've had success clicking my browser's Back button a few times, finding my old session, and then clicking Post (again).
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 22nd, 2018 23:00
I tried that before I even posted; then refresh. I got one of the first PC's ever made back in the DOS days, so I'm very familiar with computers. Just not these new-fangled ones, including RAID drives. You know something? I almost didn't purchase this one with RAID technology; I trust them for servers, not PC's, but saw all the terabytes for less money than to put 2 Sata drives in this thing and went for it. LOL
Another thing that is bothering the **bleep** out of me, is my name isn't Renee' anymore; hasn't been that way since 2015, but Dell isn't letting me change the F-ing username. My name is Ray!
I still don't have time to remember what I said that was lost. I'll try to get to this later today or tomorrow. Peace
Tesla1856
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February 23rd, 2018 12:00
RE: RAID-0
Right, good for Servers and NAS ... but that's usually RAID-1, RAID-5 (or similar).
Do I have to type-up all the Cons to convince you it's a bad idea?
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R7-Adding-additional-SSD-SATA-storage/m-p/5907131
RE: UserName
I'll see what I can do or maybe I can get someone to help you.
RE: Fixing your computer
Sure, whenever you are ready. But if I understand correctly so far, your best bet it to erase and reconfig the existing disks and clean-install Windows. It might as well be to a SSD as C: so you can see a lasting benefit to all this work.
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 23rd, 2018 14:00
Oh no. Okay, here's what I can recreate that I lost the first time. I cannot change this configuration. Bad idea or not, I purchased it this way several years ago. I don't have any money to buy new drives, and I doubt they will fit in this customized case that has those RAID drives in a particular spot inside my box. It's like a car engine, where things fit how they fit, and I would have a heck of a time finding ones that will fit exactly where my drives are inside my case.
I saw how much space I could get with the RAID, versus 2 Sata drives, and went for it. There's only 1 software manufacturer that is trying to access the UEFI system partition, and I've had no other problems with the RAID drives. I'm trying to get that manufacturer to fix their goofy way of installing their software. Buying new drives is overkill for a stubborn company who won't get their developers to just fix the software ... Kensington. Otherwise, I am happy with my RAID configuration. This has been a pain for me, since I have tons of software that never tries to access an inactive partition to install software on my drive(s). I'm a very busy man, who doesn't have time to read through a bunch of things that won't address this issue, but are telling me it was a bad idea to purchase this Alienware long ago. Too late!
All I need to know is what may happen if I change the bios to boot from UEFI to Legacy. If it won't wipe out my drive, I can go for it. Otherwise, I'm stuck with this. I do NOT want to reinstall my O.S. and start from scratch, just for one silly company who can't get their engineers to fix their software. Ciao!.
Tesla1856
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February 23rd, 2018 23:00
1. Oh, OK. I'm not busy myself. :Indifferent:
2. Who said that ?
3. You are welcome to Google that. It changes how the computer boots and how devices are setup at boot-time ... more in the Windows-OS or instead in the Legacy BIOS (the old way). IIRC, only UEFI allows SecureBoot.
The RAID setup may-or-may-not complicate issues. I don't think it will erase the RAID, but it might become inaccessible or Windows might become mis-configured and fail to boot.
I suggest you make a full-image backup of whole system. If it fails to boot after you make the change (or just doesn't work properly) you should be prepared to take whatever steps necessary to get the machine back into some kind of working order.
If not, I suggest you hire a qualified computer technician to help you. Sounds like you have more money than time anyway.
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 24th, 2018 17:00
Damnit ... it happened again. I put a lengthy response in here and forgot to login. UGH!
Listen, I have neither time OR money! Hahahaha. Let me see if I can remember what I said before I lost the text; going back a page still lost everything. I'll start backwards from what I said at the end, then try to remember other details.
The reason this is all happening is because I use a trackball mouse by Kensington. Been using them for decades. They changed their TrackballWorks software so it's trying to install in the first partition it finds ... even if it's inactive, like the UEFI System Partition is ... 100mb. I have a 4-button mouse; not 2. The Microsoft default software for a mouse won't recognize 4 buttons ... only Kensington software will. Older Kensington software isn't compatible with Windows 7. This has been going on since I bought this computer, and I've been trying to get to their engineers to fix it for years. I wanted to buy a new trackball from them, but told them to fix their blasted software first. They haven't updated it in years. So, they're either stubborn, lazy, or not enough people have this issue with their software for their hardware. Probably not anyone using a RAID configuration booting from a UEFI system partition to justify them updating their software to fix this.
I cannot risk reinstalling my O.S. for this stupid little problem. Getting things back to the way they were before installing my O.S. takes weeks. I have lots of development-type software, and 3rd party software that is ridiculous to reinstall; lots of time. I will Google whether switching from UEFI to Legacy will cause Windows to have to be reinstalled. I won't risk it if that is the case. The drivers for my computer are complicated to reinstall and have to be done in a particular order. I don't remember that order since it's been 1-2 years since I've had to. They replaced my hard-drive once, and caused a problem where I had to start all over, because the technician didn't know what she was doing. Another technician replaced some of my hardware, including my motherboard, then found out the problem was a bad RAM card. SMH
Dell remote technicians had to install the initial drivers after reinstalling Windows 7 Ultimate, because they know the order. Some of them had to be downloaded from 3rd party manufacturers, because Dell's drivers wouldn't work. I have them all in my downloads folder, but don't remember the 3rd party ones I had to find. My computer is out-of-warranty, and I'm not paying a Dell technician to do this for a trackball mouse. No, I am not comfortable with mice from other manufacturers. I use it left-handed, and most trackballs are for the right-hand. I'm not shopping for trackball mice; I just want Kensington to fix their software. There is other functionality that I'm missing, because I can't install their software.
Changing that in the bios I know how to do. I have an external hard-drive that I use to backup my system once a month. Dell should be able to tell me if changing how my computer boots will cause a problem or not, but I can't get to a Dell technician without paying them. Paying them to tell me something they should already know and tell me in 1 second? Ummmmmmm ... NOT! Anyway, Ciao.
Tesla1856
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February 24th, 2018 22:00
The 100mb UEFI Partition should not even have a drive letter assigned to it. since it does not, nothing Windows or driver related can even begin to install to it.
If anything, it installs to C: which should be where Windows is installed. The C: drive should be a good-sized partition, or a RAID drive as you say.
Looks like a recent and working version of TrackballWorks is here. Uninstall the old TrackballWorks, and then install this version.
https://www.kensington.com/us/us/6498/trackballworks-customization-software
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 25th, 2018 02:00
It doesn't have a drive-letter on it ... it's inactive. Tell all that to Kensington, whose software is trying to install in that 100mb inactive partition! That's the problem. My RAID is huge; space isn't the problem at all. It's probably something like the software looking at byte 0, bit 0 ... no matter what it is. Active or inactive, it shouldn't be doing that, and the software engineers at Kensington won't do anything about it.
I've installed all versions of TrackballWorks, and they all do the same thing. Trust me, I have all of them on my hard-drive. They all say the same thing, because that partition isn't active, it's too small, and is trying to install there. Says there's not enough space, no matter what I do. I've asked if they have any run-time parameters I can use to force it to look at C:\ and use the Command Prompt, but engineers/developers won't answer. Technical support around the world is **bleep** these days, and they don't know what they're doing; can't get to developers/engineers, and all I'm getting is the run-around. I told them to call me several times; nobody calls. They keep closing my support tickets, because someone there is telling them to. They mark it as "solved" when they've solved nothing. UGH!
mpo
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399 Posts
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February 25th, 2018 12:00
Have you tried XMouse Button Control?
Tesla1856
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February 25th, 2018 13:00
OK, then like I said ... it's impossible for any legit Windows installer to use that partition.
The problem appears to be bad-old-code with 2gb limit (or similar). Seems your RAID drive has too much space and causing a general disk-error.
Maybe one-day they will fix it on latest version. Otherwise, you will have to make a change or other arrangements.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Trackballs/comments/42etu0/trackballworks_install_error/
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 26th, 2018 02:00
What's that, mpo? Never mind. Can't delete these replies. So, I responded with a different one I quoted you for.
ReneeFoxx
18 Posts
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February 26th, 2018 02:00
Well, Tesla ... is that was true, why is this the only software trying to install itself in that partition? I have lots & lots of software. None of them do that! Yes, there's lots of space left on my RAID drive ... 3TB. But, why only with Kensington software is this happening? I used to be a software consultant, and my hunches are usually very accurate. If there was a problem with all the space on what Windows 7 Ultimate sees as 1 drive, wouldn't something else have issues? Hmmmmmmm...