Dell Precision 690 Upgrade Multiple Issues

Good Morning All,

I have a Precision 690 that cam with a single Dual Core Xeon. I upgrade it to 18GB of Ram and Installed Windows Vista SP1 with no issues on a 320WD HD. I installed 3 10K Raptor HD's and put them in RAID 0. If I go to install Windows 7 on that RAID Array it fails 66% through the expnading Windows Section. I have flashed the BIOS to A08 which is the newest version and also flashed the BIOS and Firmware on the LSI 1069E onboard RAID controller.

I have two Xeon E5345 2.3GHZ Processors here. I installed one processor boots into windows Vista fine. If I installed the second processor, same speed, step and lot number, I got a yellow power button with three flashing diagnostic lights. I checked the manual the lights mean "imporoperly installed hardware" If I take the processor in slot 1 and move it to slot 0 and run it as a single processor it boots just fine. So both CPU's are good and boot into Vista with no issues.

So I have issues installing Windows 7 or any OS for that matter ont he LSI RAID controller and I cant even get a POST if I installed two processors. Any ideas?

I did all the basic steps all the memory and CPU's have been tested and all function. I was thinking maybe since I have 6 memory modules maybe there could be an issue with bank popoulation since each processor may access a specific set of banks I dont have the manual for that so I dont know what pin outs or how the board is wired to work. As far as the OS goes I though maybe its a driver issue with the RAID card since I can install the OS into a drive not on the controller if I just use the drive as a SATA drive and not as a RAID drive.

Shawn Connelly

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