Arrrrgggh!

Bookwyrm wrote:
> Well, we've done everything that we could think of (and that we could
> find instructions for) but we can't get Win XP to install with the RAID
> array.
> It keeps telling us it can't find the hard drives *at all*.
> And giving this error message:
>
> File \WINXP\iteraid.sys caused an unexpected error (1 at line 2113 in
> d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c.
> Press any key to continue.
>
> Grrrr.
> Off to Micro Center to buy a card so that I can use both the new HDs as
> *normal* HDs and at least get my computer working.
> Pfui.
>
> 'wyrm

Check this:
- Last version of Bios. Be carefull, update is slightly tricky
- Faulty drive / disc with the things to install
- Faulty ram
- Old / corrupted drivers for anything that may "touch" the raid array

Yes, installing Raid IS a pain in the bleeep with windows, believe me,
i've done it more than I would like.

Aphrael...

--
http://www.loutan.net/blog/
http://www.ludivers.ch
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

Check the documentation for the RAID drivers. If you're trying to get them
to install during the Windows XP installation you'll need to hit F6 during
the initial boot window for the installation disk. There's a prompt on the
screen inviting you to do that:

Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver

The system won't acknowledge your pressing F6, but later in the
character-mode part of startup you'll be asked to indicate that you have
special SCSI, CD-ROM, or disk controller drivers; press S (this is
explicitly part of the on-screen instructions) and you'll be taken through
the steps to load the drivers you need.

The issue is that RAID drivers are highly individualized and it's not likely
that the drivers packaged with Windows XP include ones for your particular
RAID chip.

The instructions that came with the RAID controller will probably tell you
to copy the drivers to a floppy disk (or it may include a floppy disk with
the kit).

Joe Morris

"Bookwyrm" <Bookwyrm DeleteThis @comcast.net> wrote in message
news:47f7cf50$1@news.bnb-lp.com...
> Well, we've done everything that we could think of (and that we could find
> instructions for) but we can't get Win XP to install with the RAID array.
> It keeps telling us it can't find the hard drives *at all*.
> And giving this error message:
>
> File \WINXP\iteraid.sys caused an unexpected error (1 at line 2113 in
> d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c.
> Press any key to continue.
>
> Grrrr.
> Off to Micro Center to buy a card so that I can use both the new HDs as
> *normal* HDs and at least get my computer working.
> Pfui.
>
> 'wyrm
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

Joe Morris wrote:
> Check the documentation for the RAID drivers. If you're trying to get them
> to install during the Windows XP installation you'll need to hit F6 during
> the initial boot window for the installation disk. There's a prompt on the
> screen inviting you to do that:
>
> Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver
>
> The system won't acknowledge your pressing F6, but later in the
> character-mode part of startup you'll be asked to indicate that you have
> special SCSI, CD-ROM, or disk controller drivers; press S (this is
> explicitly part of the on-screen instructions) and you'll be taken through
> the steps to load the drivers you need.
>
> The issue is that RAID drivers are highly individualized and it's not likely
> that the drivers packaged with Windows XP include ones for your particular
> RAID chip.

Yup. Yup.
We were doing all that.
Over and over and over.
With the same results.

>
> The instructions that came with the RAID controller will probably tell you
> to copy the drivers to a floppy disk (or it may include a floppy disk with
> the kit).

Funniest thing. The mini-CD that came with the RAID controller
contained stuff that didn't *quite* match what the instructions told us
to load to a floppy. (What do folks do who buy new machines without a
floppy drive nowadays????)

What we ended up doing was to 1) take *out* the new, inexpensive (ie:
cheap) RAID card (for IDE drives) that wasn't working for us.
2) go to Micro Center and buy a new, more expensive RAID card (for SATA
drives) and two new IDE to SATA converters to put on the new HDs (which
are IDE, natch).
3) come home and assemble the new configuration and send prayers
heavenward that *this time* it's gonna work.

It does seem to be working <crossing fingers and toes and eyes> -- at
least we were able to finally get the computer to recognize that it
*had* HDs and finish loading Windows XP.

Hubby has a question. When we look at 'My Computer' it only shows that
we have a single C: DRIVE. Does this mean that the (RAID1) 'mirror' HD
is hidden?
How do we check that the 'mirror' is active and working??
(Can you tell that we haven't done RAID before?? Duh.)

Computers -- love 'em and hate 'em at the same time.

'wyrm
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

There SHOULD be software that came with the card to install under Windoze to
allow you to monitor the array. If there isn't, try the manufacturers
website.
"Bookwyrm" <Bookwyrm RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote in message
news:47f8250b$1@news.bnb-lp.com...
> Joe Morris wrote:
>> Check the documentation for the RAID drivers. If you're trying to get
>> them to install during the Windows XP installation you'll need to hit F6
>> during the initial boot window for the installation disk. There's a
>> prompt on the screen inviting you to do that:
>>
>> Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver
>>
>> The system won't acknowledge your pressing F6, but later in the
>> character-mode part of startup you'll be asked to indicate that you have
>> special SCSI, CD-ROM, or disk controller drivers; press S (this is
>> explicitly part of the on-screen instructions) and you'll be taken
>> through the steps to load the drivers you need.
>>
>> The issue is that RAID drivers are highly individualized and it's not
>> likely that the drivers packaged with Windows XP include ones for your
>> particular RAID chip.
>
> Yup. Yup.
> We were doing all that.
> Over and over and over.
> With the same results.
>
>>
>> The instructions that came with the RAID controller will probably tell
>> you to copy the drivers to a floppy disk (or it may include a floppy disk
>> with the kit).
>
> Funniest thing. The mini-CD that came with the RAID controller contained
> stuff that didn't *quite* match what the instructions told us to load to a
> floppy. (What do folks do who buy new machines without a floppy drive
> nowadays????)
>
> What we ended up doing was to 1) take *out* the new, inexpensive (ie:
> cheap) RAID card (for IDE drives) that wasn't working for us.
> 2) go to Micro Center and buy a new, more expensive RAID card (for SATA
> drives) and two new IDE to SATA converters to put on the new HDs (which
> are IDE, natch).
> 3) come home and assemble the new configuration and send prayers
> heavenward that *this time* it's gonna work.
>
> It does seem to be working <crossing fingers and toes and eyes> -- at
> least we were able to finally get the computer to recognize that it *had*
> HDs and finish loading Windows XP.
>
> Hubby has a question. When we look at 'My Computer' it only shows that we
> have a single C: DRIVE. Does this mean that the (RAID1) 'mirror' HD is
> hidden?
> How do we check that the 'mirror' is active and working??
> (Can you tell that we haven't done RAID before?? Duh.)
>
> Computers -- love 'em and hate 'em at the same time.
>
> 'wyrm
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

>> Well, we've done everything that we could think of (and that we could
>> find instructions for) but we can't get Win XP to install with the
>> RAID array.
>> It keeps telling us it can't find the hard drives *at all*.
>> And giving this error message:
>>
>> File \WINXP\iteraid.sys caused an unexpected error (1 at line 2113
>> in d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c.
>> Press any key to continue.
>>
>> Grrrr.
>> Off to Micro Center to buy a card so that I can use both the new HDs
>> as *normal* HDs and at least get my computer working.
>> Pfui.
>
> HUGS!
>
> (Silly computer. No biscuit!)

That is milder than threatening to forcefully remove its dongle.

--
I'm glad my Mom named me Aaron,
That's what everybody calls me.

Hemidemisemideity of Anonymous Eponymity
Patron Saint of Hair Color Changing
Currently: Dark Intense Red - Hydrience 3RR.
Holder of a provisional pedant licens/ce
(limited to the area of physical sciens/ce)
Member of ABMLNCSC - Base singer, very base
"Mommy, make daddy stop singing".

I dye my hair so much my driver's license
has a color wheel. Nancy Mura
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

"Aaron" <kemtek.1.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:TOUJj.128$N62.104@trndny07...
>>> Well, we've done everything that we could think of (and that we could
>>> find instructions for) but we can't get Win XP to install with the RAID
>>> array.
>>> It keeps telling us it can't find the hard drives *at all*.
>>> And giving this error message:
>>>
>>> File \WINXP\iteraid.sys caused an unexpected error (1 at line 2113 in
>>> d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c.
>>> Press any key to continue.
>>>
>>> Grrrr.
>>> Off to Micro Center to buy a card so that I can use both the new HDs as
>>> *normal* HDs and at least get my computer working.
>>> Pfui.
>>
>> HUGS!
>>
>> (Silly computer. No biscuit!)
>
> That is milder than threatening to forcefully remove its dongle.

Or forcefully INSERTING the dongle.
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

"Bookwyrm" <Bookwyrm.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote:
> Joe Morris wrote:

>> Check the documentation for the RAID drivers. If you're trying to get
>> them to install during the Windows XP installation you'll need to hit F6
>> during the initial boot window for the installation disk. There's a
>> prompt on the screen inviting you to do that:
>>
>> Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver
>>
>> The system won't acknowledge your pressing F6, but later in the
>> character-mode part of startup you'll be asked to indicate that you have
>> special SCSI, CD-ROM, or disk controller drivers; press S (this is
>> explicitly part of the on-screen instructions) and you'll be taken
>> through the steps to load the drivers you need.

> Yup. Yup.
> We were doing all that.
> Over and over and over.
> With the same results.

Have you tried to use the vendor's web site? For that matter, does the
documentation that came with the controller say anything about installing XP
on a RAID structure? (And what is the make and model of your RAID card?)

>> The instructions that came with the RAID controller will probably tell
>> you to copy the drivers to a floppy disk (or it may include a floppy disk
>> with the kit).
>
> Funniest thing. The mini-CD that came with the RAID controller contained
> stuff that didn't *quite* match what the instructions told us to load to a
> floppy. (What do folks do who buy new machines without a floppy drive
> nowadays????)

They cuss a lot.

Actually, there's still a lot of special-purpose software that really does
need a floppy, but all it takes these days is to buy a USB floppy drive and
make sure that your BIOS configuration is set to treat a USB floppy as a
legacy A-disk. (Vista will cheerfully read from a USB thumb drive during
setup, but recall that XP was released in 2001 when floppies were
everywhere.) I keep a USB floppy in my desk at the office; every desktop of
my own at the house has a floppy and I've got a USB floppy to use with my
(personal) laptop.

And there's always the issue of being able to install all the software
you've purchased over the years that is still on floppies. I'm slowly
building images of these disks using a nice tool called WinImage (which BTW
can also handle ISO images) but some install programs work *only* from
floppies (or images thereof).


> What we ended up doing was to 1) take *out* the new, inexpensive (ie:
> cheap) RAID card (for IDE drives) that wasn't working for us.
> 2) go to Micro Center and buy a new, more expensive RAID card (for SATA
> drives) and two new IDE to SATA converters to put on the new HDs (which
> are IDE, natch).
> 3) come home and assemble the new configuration and send prayers
> heavenward that *this time* it's gonna work.
>
> It does seem to be working <crossing fingers and toes and eyes> -- at
> least we were able to finally get the computer to recognize that it *had*
> HDs and finish loading Windows XP.
>
> Hubby has a question. When we look at 'My Computer' it only shows that we
> have a single C: DRIVE. Does this mean that the (RAID1) 'mirror' HD is
> hidden?

Nope. All it means is that Windows is seeing only one partition. That's at
least consistent with proper operation of the RAID card, but doesn't prove
anything else. Windows itself dosen't know from beans what's going on
inside a RAID controller, so you need to use tools from your RAID card
vendor to report on its health.

> How do we check that the 'mirror' is active and working??

See above, preferably with a strong drink in hand.


> (Can you tell that we haven't done RAID before?? Duh.)

If my users were as willing to say "I don't know" then I would have far
fewer gray hairs. One thing I've told student pilots (or did before I lost
my medical certificate) was that the only dumb question is the one you don't
ask.


> Computers -- love 'em and hate 'em at the same time.

Amen.

Joe
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

Bookwyrm wrote:
<snip>

>
> Funniest thing. The mini-CD that came with the RAID controller
> contained stuff that didn't *quite* match what the instructions told us
> to load to a floppy. (What do folks do who buy new machines without a
> floppy drive nowadays????)

Dig the old floppy drive out of the closet and hook it up to the
computer. What people who don't have 3 bins of "spare" computer
parts do, I don't know. *GGG*

Kat
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

On Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:20:08 GMT, "Joe Morris"
<j.c.morris DeleteThis @verizon.net> wrote:

>Check the documentation for the RAID drivers. If you're trying to get them
>to install during the Windows XP installation you'll need to hit F6 during
>the initial boot window for the installation disk. There's a prompt on the
>screen inviting you to do that:
>
> Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver
>
>The system won't acknowledge your pressing F6, but later in the
>character-mode part of startup you'll be asked to indicate that you have
>special SCSI, CD-ROM, or disk controller drivers; press S (this is
>explicitly part of the on-screen instructions) and you'll be taken through
>the steps to load the drivers you need.

You've convinced me. No RAID!

My USB keyboard doesn't work during boots. I found that out when
tapping F8 trying to get into safe mode.
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

John Oliver wrote:
> On Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:20:08 GMT, "Joe Morris"
> <j.c.morris.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Check the documentation for the RAID drivers. If you're trying to get them
>> to install during the Windows XP installation you'll need to hit F6 during
>> the initial boot window for the installation disk. There's a prompt on the
>> screen inviting you to do that:
>>
>> Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver
>>
>> The system won't acknowledge your pressing F6, but later in the
>> character-mode part of startup you'll be asked to indicate that you have
>> special SCSI, CD-ROM, or disk controller drivers; press S (this is
>> explicitly part of the on-screen instructions) and you'll be taken through
>> the steps to load the drivers you need.
>
> You've convinced me. No RAID!
>
> My USB keyboard doesn't work during boots. I found that out when
> tapping F8 trying to get into safe mode.

Ouch!
My Logitech cordless keyboard works during boots, TBTG.

'wyrm
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

"John Oliver" wrote:

> You've convinced me. No RAID!
>
> My USB keyboard doesn't work during boots. I found that out when
> tapping F8 trying to get into safe mode.

Check your BIOS settings for an option to treat USB floppies, keyboards, and
mice as legacy devices. (The exact names will vary depending on the brand
and version of the BIOS, but look for the words "USB" and "Legacy" in the
option name.)

Joe Morris
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

On Sun, 06 Apr 2008 02:16:14 GMT, "Joe Morris"
<j.c.morris.RemoveThis@verizon.net> wrote:

>"John Oliver" wrote:
>
>> You've convinced me. No RAID!
>>
>> My USB keyboard doesn't work during boots. I found that out when
>> tapping F8 trying to get into safe mode.
>
>Check your BIOS settings for an option to treat USB floppies, keyboards, and
>mice as legacy devices. (The exact names will vary depending on the brand
>and version of the BIOS, but look for the words "USB" and "Legacy" in the
>option name.)
>
>Joe Morris

Is there any way to get to the BIOS except during a boot? If not, I'd
have to shut down the PC, move the tower so I can see the back,
disconnect the USB, connect the PS2 keyboard and ...

I'd rather live with the problem. I almost never use safe mode.
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh! 

"John Oliver" <jdoliver.DeleteThis@westnet.com.au> wrote:
> "Joe Morris" <j.c.morris.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote:
>>"John Oliver" wrote:

>>> You've convinced me. No RAID!

>>> My USB keyboard doesn't work during boots. I found that out when
>>> tapping F8 trying to get into safe mode.

>>Check your BIOS settings for an option to treat USB floppies, keyboards,
>>and
>>mice as legacy devices. (The exact names will vary depending on the brand
>>and version of the BIOS, but look for the words "USB" and "Legacy" in the
>>option name.)

> Is there any way to get to the BIOS except during a boot? If not, I'd
> have to shut down the PC, move the tower so I can see the back,
> disconnect the USB, connect the PS2 keyboard and ...

> I'd rather live with the problem. I almost never use safe mode.

Depends totally on the vendor. Even then, most of the on-the-fly tools I've
seen for inspecting/setting BIOS options from within Windows are intended
for use in an enterprise setting, and are buried inside huge, bloated asset
control packages.

If you can't use the keyboard at boot time to enter the BIOS then you don't
have the USB legacy option set. If the system was designed to support a
USB-only keyboard/mouse configuration it's got to have that option, which I
would expect to be the factory default. The problem still sounds odd. Care
to post what computer vendor and model (and BIOS version) you're using? (or
email it to me?)

My suggestion, if you want to live with the problem for now, is to put it on
your to-do list for the next time you want to clean out the rat's nest
behind the computers.

OTOH, safe mode is an emergency tool, which when you need it, you *really*
need it, and Murphy's Law says that you absolutely, positively need it NOW.
Not knowing how you use your computer (other, of course, than for the
absolutely, positively necessary task of posting to ABML) you might not have
any really time-critical requirements for it to be operational. If you *do*
have something that might need to be done immediately - even though the
computer just died - you might want to decide whether the hassle of playing
cut/shuffle/deal with the cables in the back of your tower is balanced by
the peace of mind in knowing that you can get to safe mode if you need it.
You're the only one who can make that decision.

Joe
 >> Stay informed about: Arrrrgggh!