RAID Arrays and Vista

Question

More information for those of us with Dell XPS 410 systems configured with RAID arrays. I, myself, have the Dell Datasafe System (which, incidently, is NO LONGER OFFERED on the XPS 410 with Windows Home Premium) and a RAID 1 (mirrored) array. Dell insists that this is NOT the reason my "Express" Upgrade is taking so long (I registered in the early morning hours of November 29, 2007) but I have suspected for a long time and now it's being confirmed that my configuration is "white listed" as Vista and RAID arrays are not compatible/stable. Here is a response from somebody who has talked with Dell Support:

For what it's worth, Dell's XPS support escalation folks told me they're well aware of this problem, and it comes up every week in a tech conference call with Intel. They've heard more troubles with striping (e.g., RAID0) than with mirroring (RAID1), though there have been some complaints about the latter too. I'm guessing that the problem simply takes longer to present in the case of RAID1 since most people are not actively doing chkdsk c: /f at bootup or monitoring for Event ID 9 in the System log, and thus don't realize they have a problem until the NTFS corruption starts causing applications or the OS itself to fail.

Of course the question comes to mind: if they know this is a problem, why are they selling computers with a configuration that's known not to work?

So, once again Dell - Bill B or Aaron, what is the problem with Vista Home Premium and my XPS 410 with a RAID 1 (mirrored) array and the Dell "Datasafe" System and will I be able to use my new computer with Vista and the RAID array enabled?

I'm all ears!

Message Edited by mbarrows on 03-18-2007 06:41 PM

Message Edited by mbarrows on 03-18-2007 06:42 PM

mbarrows2 · Answer

Another's reply on the Vista (Microsoft) - Dell - Intel RAID drivers/array issue:

I can confirm that the problem occurs with RAID1 as well. I don't think the issue is so much that chkdisk is run less often, it's just that if a RAID0 screws up then that's it for the NTFS data whereas a RAID1 might at least regenerate itself. Generally on my 250GB disks that throws up about 100 or so errors each time!

I'm not convinced that the problem is with RAID per se as much as the Matrix drivers themselves. I've actually deleted the RAID1 configuration on my machine and am still seeing iastor0 errors.

I have a replacement system on the way from Dell. If they are aware of the problem as Intel's then someone needs to let the Dell support department know. I suspect that the left hand isn't talking to the right hand.

Message Edited by mbarrows on 03-18-2007 06:47 PM

mbarrows2 · Answer

Dudley,   Thank you for responding; you're the first person with a XPS 410 which is configured like mine to respond.   Did you perform the Express Upgrade or did your machine come with Vista (or did you purchase a retail version and install it)? If it came with Vista pre-installed, why doesn't Dell offer this option any more? Is your RAID1 array still 'on' and in use? If you did the Express Upgrade, where did you obtain the Intel Matrix manager drivers that supposedly work with Vista?   Norton Ghost v 10.0 is NOT compatible with Vista. They are coming out with a new version (supposedly in April) which will be Vista compatible.   Thank you in advance for your answers.

DUDLEY YOUNG · Answer

Hi: I have an XPS 410 with a RAID 1 (mirrored) array and the Dell "Datasafe" System. I ordered it supposedly vista ready. I have installed vista and most of it works OK, but i have a lot of small issues. The Norton ghost does not work with vista, so why did they install it at dell? I can't get any pdf files to open. Adobe acrobat reader 6.0 is installed but 8.0 (the latest) will not install. It says not enough disk space. Not true, plenty of disk space. Hopefully the upcoming updates will fix some or all of these problems. Dudley

XPS 410
VISTA Home Premium
Core 2 Duo E6400
2GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
19" ultra sharp LCD Monitor
ATI Radeon X1300 pro 256MB DVIVGA
Datasafe 320GB/Norton Ghost
48X Combo and 16X DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster Audigy MB Audio

DUDLEY YOUNG · Answer

lllini: I got mine Vista ready and received the upgrade a couple weeks ago. I did a clean install. It didn't go with some problems, but I worked through it. That's why I mentioned that I can't understand why dell installed a program like norton ghost that they knew was not compatable. The raid 1 array is still on. I don't know about the Intel Matrix manager drivers. I have the backup set to preform automaticaly once a week until the drivers for the ghost are released. As far as why they don't offer the option anymore, I guess they up and I was a er. LOL I like Vista and I have spent too much time installing all my programs and new drivers to go back now. Dudley

XPS 410
VISTA Home Premium
Core 2 Duo E6400
2GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
19" ultra sharp LCD Monitor
ATI Radeon X1300 pro 256MB DVIVGA
Datasafe 320GB/Norton Ghost
48X Combo and 16X DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster Audigy MB Audio

gdwrnch3 · Answer

I also have an XPS 400 with A07 bios, Vista Ultimate, running raid 0 with no issues at all. It's been running this way since November 25th.

keithg2 · Answer

I don't know if this helps mbarrows, but I have an XPS 400 (purchased 07/2006) running RAID 1 and a dual boot between XP MCE and Vista Business. I haven't had any issues with RAID 1 and Vista. I've been running Vista on this machine for over a month and have not seen any Event 9 in my System Log. I haven't performed a chkdsk only because I haven't had a need. I'm also using the Intel Matrix Storage Manager version 6.0.2.2002. I have RAID set to AUTODETECT in my BIOS.

I did get DataSafe with Ghost 10 installed on the XP MCE partition. However, I'm using Acronis True Image Home v10 on my Vista partition.

Hope this helps!

Message Edited by keithg2 on 03-19-2007 12:34 PM

Message Edited by keithg2 on 03-19-2007 12:35 PM

Morpheus Phreak · Answer

I have an XPS410 purchased in October that I've ran all of the Vista betas (and now RTM on) and it works just fine.   It runs in RAID0 and has since Day 1.   Specs are as follows:   CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6600 Mem: 3GB DDR2-1066 (2-512MB sticks of Dell original memory and 2-1GB Corsair sticks) HD's: RAID 0 Array consiting of 1 WD 250GB HD, 1 Samsung 250GB HD Video: ATi Radeon X1300 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate   The OS is direct from Microsoft and was the final release given to me right after the original RTM date.

mbarrows2 · Answer

Thanks guys!   Keithg, I've been told in these forums that if you set RAID to 'autodetect' you essentially disable it. Is this correct? They also said the setting needs to be RAID 'on.' What's your take on this?

keithg2 · Answer

mbarrows wrote:

Thanks guys!

Keithg, I've been told in these forums that if you set RAID to "autodetect" you essentially disable it. Is this correct? They also said the setting needs to be RAID "on." What's your take on this?

I'm currently running RAID 1 in "Autodetect/AHCI" mode. My system was set this way from the factory and was setup with RAID 1.

I had to turn RAID "off" (CTRL+I 'Delete RAID Volume') after I played with Vista RC1. When I removed Vista, it "broke" the CTRL+F11 feature. At the time, the DSRFIX utility I found on the Web didn't support RAID. So, I had to turn RAID off (breaking the RAID 1 array w/o data loss) to fix CTRL+F11 with DSRFIX. Afterwards, I worked with the author of DSRFIX to get RAID working with his utility.

After the above and wanting to turn RAID 1 back on, I still had the BIOS set to "Autodetect/AHCI" and I could not enter the Intel Matrix screen (CTRL+I). So, I went into the BIOS and turned RAID "on" and was able to access the Intel Matrix screen (CTRL+I) to define the RAID 1 volume. I booted into XP and entered the Intel Matrix Storage Manager to "Create RAID from existing hard drive" to rebuild the RAID 1 array (mirror). After this was done, I rebooted back into the BIOS and set RAID from "on" to "Autodetect/AHCI" which was set in the BIOS from the factory.

Message Edited by keithg2 on 03-21-2007 11:33 AM

philby123 · Answer

Hi all, I got my new dell dimension 9200 about a month ago, I had loads of problems with the system freezing, especially with Itunes (yes I know its not fully vista compatible) all the event viewer logs indicated the Iastor.sys failed to respond in given time. having read many threads on this subject and on different forums its obvious that the Intel matrix manager on this platform is flawed, I took the brave step (for me at least!!) of deleting the raid setup (was in raid0) and went to a normal IDE setup. I then installed XP Home then did a Vista Install, I can happily report that I have experienced NIL problems or perceived performance loss since doing so, I am not saying it was the cleverest thing to do (yes I know I have lost the factory partition setup) but it has at least for me given me a stable/fast setup. Hope this was of some use for the rest of you who are experiencing similar problems.   My system specs   Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz Nvidia 7900GS 256MB ram 2 GB 667 Mhz dual channel Ram 2 x 160 GB Samsung Hard discs (formerly raid0) Onboard Sound Dell 2407WFP monitor (gorgeous!!) Vista home premium

PosterBoy · Answer

Hello Everyone. Sorry this is really long, but I was hoping it might contain some useful information for some of the people out there having RAID headaches, and several other issues.

I ordered a 9200 In November. I got the data safe option with 2 x 240 GB hard drives in Raid 1 mode. My system also had a DVD ROM drive and a DVD RW drive. Since November I had added a 160 GB drive to the system for backups to reside on to free up space on my RAID 1 array.

I got my Vista upgrade disk last Wednesday, and yes my system was shipped in RAID 1 mode. Before I did the upgrade, I was planning on converting my 2 x 240 GB drives to Raid 0 because I was safely doing backups to my 160 GB drive.

I was planning on using Ghost to help me do the RAID conversion. I was very frustrated to learn that Ghost 10 was not compatable with Vista. I heard from Dell that we could get a free upgrade to Symantec Save and Restore 2.0, but would not be getting a free copy of the Vista version of Ghost (Ghost 12). I went out and bought a copy of Arconis True Image 10 Home to permantly replace Ghost. True Image 10 is Vista compatable, and has worked perfectly for me. I converted my 2 240 GB drives from Raid 1 (mirrored) to Raid 0 (striped). I then restored my old system (XP) onto the new Raid 0 Array. After that was complete, I deleted the XP partition and did a clean install of Vista Business Pro.

The Vista Business Pro installation went smoothly, but I immediately had the ~30 second lock-ups, and the associated IASTOR log error entries every half hour or so. I read some posts on the Dell forums that installing the IntelMatrix Storage Manager software might fix the problem. I installed version v.6.2.0.2002, A01 that is available from the Dell drivers page. This solved the problem for me. I did not have any more errors. I used the computer with no problems or errors that night.

The next day (Thursday) I still had no errors until I got the bright Idea that I should upgrade from Business Pro to Ultimate to use Media Center. I did the Anytime Upgrade to Vista Ultimate, and immediately started having problems with the IASTOR errors again. In addition my onboard sound card was not recognized. I followed the message board suggestions that involved removing the sound drivers then installing them again to solve my sound problem. Note that the issue of the sound card being lost only appears if you upgrade from XP or another version of Vista, and REQUIRES that you remove the driver first, then reinstall the very same driver to get it working again.

I tried re-installing (it was still there after the upgrade) the IntelMatrix Storage Manager software to see if it would solve my problem again. It didn't :-(. I tried uninstalling the IntelMatrix Storage Manager software to see if it was similar to the sound driver issue, but it would not let me uninstall the softerware. It said it was critical to the systems operation.

I started researching the problem again on message boards and found out that the same issue is appearing on non-Dell systems on the Microsoft messgage boards. I found another message that stated that some people had fixed the problem on 9200s by swaping the SATA ports that the 2 DVD drives were plugged into. I tried this, after the system booted and reinstalled the DVD drives I got no more errors!!!! I ran my computer again all that night with no further problems or error logs.

The next day (Friday) I tried swapping the cables back to the original setup, and within a few minutes had another IASTOR timout error. I changed them back and have been running ever since with no errors.

I have run chkdsk once this weekend and it fixed some errors that I assume were from the times when I did have the timouts before swapping the DVD drives. I will run chkdsk again in a few days to make sure nothing new is happening, but I am confident that there will be no errors, because I assume the errors get introduced during the IASTOR timeouts. Since I have had no timeouts logged, I dont think I will have any future problems

Here is a list of the drives shipped with my system

JH300 ASSEMBLY, DVD+/-RW, 16, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, Serial ATA, BLACK
JX718 HARD DRIVE, 250G, S2, 7.2K, 3.5, WD-HAWK
JX718 HARD DRIVE, 250G, S2, 7.2K, 3.5, WD-HAWK
WH522 ASSEMBLY, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE, 16X, Serial ATA, HALF HEIGHT, PHILIPS, BLACK

I hope this helps

Good Luck

Message Edited by PosterBoy on 03-21-2007 05:25 PM

Windows General

RAID Arrays and Vista

Was this post helpful?