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Migrating Boot Device fom SCSI to SATA
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W
May 6, 2012, 4:41:38 AM5/6/12
to
I am trying to transfer the boot partition from a Windows XP SCSI drive to a
RAID 5 SATA volume on an Addonics Compact RAID enclosure. I created a
large RAID 5 on the Addonics Compact RAID, and then I used a disk partition
management utility to make an image copy from the boot partition on C: to
the Addonics Compact RAID partition. I made the copy before Windows
boots, so there is no issue here about files on the source partition being
locked or used. The image made was a perfect copy of the original.
After creating the new boot partition, I disconnected the SCSI drives and
attempted to boot from the new partition. Even when I specify the new
partition explicitly as the boot device in the system bios, all attempts to
boot from it give back the error that it is not a system disk, and the boot
process for Windows never starts. Is there a trick to making Compact RAID
the boot device on a Windows system? Perhaps some adjustment needs to be
made into boot.ini? Perhaps I need to explicitly disble BIOS in the
Adaptec host adapter?
There is no BIOS boot environment for the eSATA card I am using, which
appears to be based on the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.
--
W
RAID 5 SATA volume on an Addonics Compact RAID enclosure. I created a
large RAID 5 on the Addonics Compact RAID, and then I used a disk partition
management utility to make an image copy from the boot partition on C: to
the Addonics Compact RAID partition. I made the copy before Windows
boots, so there is no issue here about files on the source partition being
locked or used. The image made was a perfect copy of the original.
After creating the new boot partition, I disconnected the SCSI drives and
attempted to boot from the new partition. Even when I specify the new
partition explicitly as the boot device in the system bios, all attempts to
boot from it give back the error that it is not a system disk, and the boot
process for Windows never starts. Is there a trick to making Compact RAID
the boot device on a Windows system? Perhaps some adjustment needs to be
made into boot.ini? Perhaps I need to explicitly disble BIOS in the
Adaptec host adapter?
There is no BIOS boot environment for the eSATA card I am using, which
appears to be based on the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.
--
W
Paul
May 6, 2012, 5:52:49 AM5/6/12
to
was still the boot source and running the system ? You'd need that
driver in place, so you won't get something like an "Inaccessible Boot Volume"
after the cloning of the partition is finished.
Other than that, you'd want to compare the source MBR and dest MBR. And
whether the same partition table entry was used. (If not, boot.ini might
need to be repaired, on the new array.)
In this example, in line #2 you can see the boot flag is set. So that
second partition is the one to boot from. This is a "Windows specific" thing,
in that the MBR boot code installed by Windows, uses the boot flag info.
Other OSes, such as Linux, don't look for the boot flag. They have
another means of locating what to boot from.
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/files/dell-tbl.gif
You'd also need the proper MBR code to be copied over (that's the 440 bytes of
the MBR, just before the partition table entries. The MBR is sector 0 of the
disk. The MBR code can be installed by using the recovery console and "FIXMBR".
The cloning (not just copying) of the partition, should have taken care of
the partition boot sector (which would otherwise be fixed by "FIXBOOT", but
that really shouldn't be needed in this case).
If you just "copy" files from the original disk, to the RAID 5, that
would not include the partition boot sector. If you use a utility
that transfers the entire partition, then it should have covered the
partition boot sector. But if you're crafty enough, you could probably
manage to transfer files from the source disk to the dest array, and
avoid properly copying the partition boot sector. Partition managers
probably wouldn't miss such a step.
In the BIOS, you'd have to make sure the BIOS option that causes
option ROMs to load, is enabled. There are some motherboards, where
that is disabled and needs to be turned on. Lots of retail motherboards,
already have several non-chipset chips added, and the option is turned
on so those can work. But if the motherboard is stripped down, and
had a simplified BIOS, that option might be turned off. It is needed,
so the Extended INT 0x13 routine in the SIl3124 card EEPROM, gets loaded,
and then the BIOS will have code it can use to read the RAID 5. Eventually,
the Windows driver for the RAID 5 takes over (that's the driver you
installed, before the cloning step).
Paul
philo
May 6, 2012, 7:34:10 AM5/6/12
to
as in boot.ini the raid signature will need to be referenced rather than
the present simple volume reference
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
Yousuf Khan
May 6, 2012, 5:06:55 PM5/6/12
to
Yousuf Khan
W
May 6, 2012, 5:14:25 PM5/6/12
to
"Yousuf Khan" <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4fa6e7f8$1...@news.bnb-lp.com...
Yes of course.
--
W
news:4fa6e7f8$1...@news.bnb-lp.com...
--
W
W
May 6, 2012, 5:21:21 PM5/6/12
to
"Paul" <nos...@needed.com> wrote in message
news:jo5hmn$oc3$1...@dont-email.me...
Yes, the Addonics was installed and working while the source volume was
still the active boot device.
> Other than that, you'd want to compare the source MBR and dest MBR. And
> whether the same partition table entry was used. (If not, boot.ini might
> need to be repaired, on the new array.)
>
> In this example, in line #2 you can see the boot flag is set. So that
> second partition is the one to boot from. This is a "Windows specific"
thing,
> in that the MBR boot code installed by Windows, uses the boot flag info.
> Other OSes, such as Linux, don't look for the boot flag. They have
> another means of locating what to boot from.
>
> http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/files/dell-tbl.gif
>
> You'd also need the proper MBR code to be copied over (that's the 440
bytes of
> the MBR, just before the partition table entries. The MBR is sector 0 of
the
> disk. The MBR code can be installed by using the recovery console and
"FIXMBR".
> The cloning (not just copying) of the partition, should have taken care of
> the partition boot sector (which would otherwise be fixed by "FIXBOOT",
but
> that really shouldn't be needed in this case).
I will try to schedule FIXMBR, but is there any utility that I could run
while Windows is booted on the source volume to patch the MBR of the
destination volume under Windows?
I despise booting from the repair CD. It's a non functional environment,
slow, etc.
> If you just "copy" files from the original disk, to the RAID 5, that
> would not include the partition boot sector. If you use a utility
> that transfers the entire partition, then it should have covered the
> partition boot sector. But if you're crafty enough, you could probably
> manage to transfer files from the source disk to the dest array, and
> avoid properly copying the partition boot sector. Partition managers
> probably wouldn't miss such a step.
I used Acronis Disk Director 2011, which appears to have done a mirror copy
of the boot partitions. I explicitly checked that the new boot volume was
marked Active in Windows Disk Manager.
> In the BIOS, you'd have to make sure the BIOS option that causes
> option ROMs to load, is enabled. There are some motherboards, where
> that is disabled and needs to be turned on. Lots of retail motherboards,
> already have several non-chipset chips added, and the option is turned
> on so those can work. But if the motherboard is stripped down, and
> had a simplified BIOS, that option might be turned off. It is needed,
> so the Extended INT 0x13 routine in the SIl3124 card EEPROM, gets loaded,
> and then the BIOS will have code it can use to read the RAID 5.
Eventually,
> the Windows driver for the RAID 5 takes over (that's the driver you
> installed, before the cloning step).
You might be onto something there. My eSATA card is a four port host
adapter, and not native on the motherboard. Since I don't have a BIOS
environment user interface for managing that board, I don't really know what
capability it does or doesn't have to become a boot device.
--
W
news:jo5hmn$oc3$1...@dont-email.me...
still the active boot device.
> Other than that, you'd want to compare the source MBR and dest MBR. And
> whether the same partition table entry was used. (If not, boot.ini might
> need to be repaired, on the new array.)
>
> In this example, in line #2 you can see the boot flag is set. So that
> second partition is the one to boot from. This is a "Windows specific"
thing,
> in that the MBR boot code installed by Windows, uses the boot flag info.
> Other OSes, such as Linux, don't look for the boot flag. They have
> another means of locating what to boot from.
>
> http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/files/dell-tbl.gif
>
> You'd also need the proper MBR code to be copied over (that's the 440
bytes of
> the MBR, just before the partition table entries. The MBR is sector 0 of
the
> disk. The MBR code can be installed by using the recovery console and
"FIXMBR".
> The cloning (not just copying) of the partition, should have taken care of
> the partition boot sector (which would otherwise be fixed by "FIXBOOT",
but
> that really shouldn't be needed in this case).
while Windows is booted on the source volume to patch the MBR of the
destination volume under Windows?
I despise booting from the repair CD. It's a non functional environment,
slow, etc.
> If you just "copy" files from the original disk, to the RAID 5, that
> would not include the partition boot sector. If you use a utility
> that transfers the entire partition, then it should have covered the
> partition boot sector. But if you're crafty enough, you could probably
> manage to transfer files from the source disk to the dest array, and
> avoid properly copying the partition boot sector. Partition managers
> probably wouldn't miss such a step.
of the boot partitions. I explicitly checked that the new boot volume was
marked Active in Windows Disk Manager.
> In the BIOS, you'd have to make sure the BIOS option that causes
> option ROMs to load, is enabled. There are some motherboards, where
> that is disabled and needs to be turned on. Lots of retail motherboards,
> already have several non-chipset chips added, and the option is turned
> on so those can work. But if the motherboard is stripped down, and
> had a simplified BIOS, that option might be turned off. It is needed,
> so the Extended INT 0x13 routine in the SIl3124 card EEPROM, gets loaded,
> and then the BIOS will have code it can use to read the RAID 5.
Eventually,
> the Windows driver for the RAID 5 takes over (that's the driver you
> installed, before the cloning step).
adapter, and not native on the motherboard. Since I don't have a BIOS
environment user interface for managing that board, I don't really know what
capability it does or doesn't have to become a boot device.
--
W
W
May 6, 2012, 6:43:19 PM5/6/12
to
Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the boot
device on the system?
Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
drives on each connection.
--
W
that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the boot
device on the system?
Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
drives on each connection.
--
W
philo
May 6, 2012, 7:30:16 PM5/6/12
to
On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, W wrote:
> Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
> that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the boot
> device on the system?
>
> Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
> drives on each connection.
>
You missed the point.
> Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
> that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the boot
> device on the system?
>
> Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
> drives on each connection.
>
If you cloned your old system to a raid
there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
as you were previously booting from a simple volume
if you took the advice you were given you'd have been up and running
yesterday.
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
Paul
May 6, 2012, 8:35:11 PM5/6/12
to
place of FIXMBR or FIXBOOT. (Like, a user friendly tool.)
If I was stuck, and needed to "repair" the MBR, I know I could copy
sector 0 from one drive to another, with the port of "dd". But doing
so, could wipe out the partition table if I was careless.
http://www.chrysocome.net/dd
The article on this page, they seem to think you can write a fraction of a sector.
(Note - there should be no "#" in front of the command.) The sample command
here, is copying 446 bytes of data, implying fractional sectors works.
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/howto-copy-mbr/
dd if=/tmp/mbrsda.bak of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1
The syntax for the Windows "dd" port is a bit different than
it would be for Linux. First, you do this, to get the disk names.
dd --list
You can compare the output of dd --list to the Disk Management
labeling scheme, and the two methods should correlate. (I.e.
You could predict the names, with a little practice.)
On my machine, I have two disks. And these would be the
references of interest, out of the dd --list output.
\\?=Device\Harddisk0\Partition0
\\?=Device\Harddisk1\Partition0
These would be references to the entire disk, starting at sector 0.
Say I needed to copy the boot code, from the MBR of disk0 to disk1.
First, I backup the disk1 MBR, in case I make a mistake. The MBR is
512 bytes total, and I want to save all of it just in case. The
"bs" stands for block size, and the "count" is a count of blocks.
dd if=\\?=Device\Harddisk1\Partition0 of=C:\disk1mbr.bak bs=512 count=1
Then, I copy the first 446 bytes, from one disk to the other.
dd if=\\?=Device\Harddisk0\Partition0 of=\\?=Device\Harddisk1\Partition0 bs=446 count=1
That would be the equivalent of FIXMBR, using a "good" chunk of
sector 0 boot code from disk0, for disk1. Naturally, if
disk0 had a Linux install, and disk1 had a Windows install,
this wouldn't work. I can only do it with confidence, because
I know the exact same OS is on each disk, and the MBR boot code
required is the same.
You're using an array, but the array will still be referred as a volume,
so it should be of the form \\?=Device\Harddisk1\Partition0 and you can
compare how Disk Management labels things, to the dd --list output.
Disk Management should be referring to your array as a virtual volume
as well.
You run "dd" from the command prompt. It's not a GUI tool. It's
quite powerful, and accepts "seek" and "skip" parameters as well,
allowing a source block of data, to be written anywhere on a
second drive (or file, if you use file syntax). I've even used the
tool, as a crude "disk editor", snipping gigabyte chunks one at
a time, and examining a gigabyte of data with my hex editor.
Loads of fun.
*******
When you start the computer, see if you can determine the key to
press, to enter the BIOS setup. On my Asus motherboard, it's <DEL>.
On my Asrock and my laptop, it's probably <F2>. Usually, the
key to press, is printed on the first screen full of text, down
near the bottom of the screen.
Look for a page that mentions "Add-On ROM", and that may help
the EEPROM on the SIL3124 load during POST.
Add On ROM Display Mode [Force BIOS] <--- Display array status during POST ???
Interrupt 19 Capture [Enabled[ <--- Should enable option ROMs, like SIL3124...
19 decimal is the same as 0x13 hex, and
they used decimal just to confuse matters.
The add-on ROM is Extended INT 0x13 routine.
The last setting in particular, would affect the ability to boot
from the array, but would not prevent the SIL3124 from being
detected as a "data array" by an OS driver.
If you have too many controller cards on a server, and the
Add On ROMs all load, you can exhaust the tiny memory area
reserved for them. In such a case, you'd need to disable
the unused controllers, so the RAM can be freed up for the
controller being used to boot. (Otherwise, it is a first come
first serve scheme, and the card you want to load, is always the
one that got screwed out of space to load to.) Once the system
is booted, that RAM area is no longer of concern. The RAM area
allocated is only 128KB, and it's down in the "640K" region.
*******
If you have a hex editor, you can examine the backup copy of the
MBR first, and see if it has a "standard" 446 bytes of code.
Each Windows OS could have slightly different code there.
There is at least one web page, that gives a breakdown
of what that code is actually doing.
HTH,
Paul
W
May 7, 2012, 1:03:01 AM5/7/12
to
"philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:jo71i8$ba9$1...@dont-email.me...
disk, just as the source was. I am creating simple volumes on both source
and destination. From the OS point of view it is the 0 partition on the 0
disk.
Which parameter in boot.ini do you think needs to be changed? You might be
right, but it is not obvious to me which adjustment to make.
In addition, the request you are responding to above is independent of any
resolution based on boot.ini. It would simply be nice to have an adapter
that has a configuration environment that can be called up in a pre boot
environment. I could at least make explicit to the adapter that it should
try to be the boot adapter.
--
W
news:jo71i8$ba9$1...@dont-email.me...
> On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, W wrote:
> > Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
> > that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the
boot
> > device on the system?
> >
> > Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
> > drives on each connection.
>
> You missed the point.
>
> If you cloned your old system to a raid
> there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
> as you were previously booting from a simple volume
Since the destination is a hardware raid, it is seen by the OS as a basic
> > Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
> > that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the
boot
> > device on the system?
> >
> > Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
> > drives on each connection.
>
> You missed the point.
>
> If you cloned your old system to a raid
> there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
> as you were previously booting from a simple volume
disk, just as the source was. I am creating simple volumes on both source
and destination. From the OS point of view it is the 0 partition on the 0
disk.
Which parameter in boot.ini do you think needs to be changed? You might be
right, but it is not obvious to me which adjustment to make.
In addition, the request you are responding to above is independent of any
resolution based on boot.ini. It would simply be nice to have an adapter
that has a configuration environment that can be called up in a pre boot
environment. I could at least make explicit to the adapter that it should
try to be the boot adapter.
--
W
W
May 7, 2012, 1:29:08 AM5/7/12
to
> On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, W wrote:
> > Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
> > that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the
boot
> > device on the system?
> >
> > Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
> > drives on each connection.
>
> You missed the point.
>
> If you cloned your old system to a raid
> there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
> as you were previously booting from a simple volume
Another point relative to my trying to investigate other host adapters: my
> > Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in BIOS
> > that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the
boot
> > device on the system?
> >
> > Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple SATA
> > drives on each connection.
>
> You missed the point.
>
> If you cloned your old system to a raid
> there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
> as you were previously booting from a simple volume
existing host adapter doesn't behave in a robust way. It has four ports 0
through 3. I have drives on 0 (the new boot device) and 2. When I turn
on the drive on 2, during a bootup the drive on 0 disappears from the BIOS
announcement of attached devices. If I turn off 2, then 0 re-appears.
That isn't the kind of robust and reliable behavior I expect from a host
adapter that is going to be booting my OS.
--
W
philo
May 7, 2012, 5:39:02 AM5/7/12
to
references the RAID signature, rather than a simple volume...I have no
idea how Windows actually assigns the signature.
This might explain how to rebuild boot.ini
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291980
Here is an example of what a "signature" looks like
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291980
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
W
May 7, 2012, 9:54:48 PM5/7/12
to
"philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:jo857n$3qg$1...@dont-email.me...
build the volume. I am using hardware RAID and Windows XP sees the RAID 5
array as a single Basic Disk with a single bootable Active Simple Partition.
--
W
Yousuf Khan
May 7, 2012, 10:09:42 PM5/7/12
to
On 06/05/2012 4:41 AM, W wrote:
> After creating the new boot partition, I disconnected the SCSI drives and
> attempted to boot from the new partition. Even when I specify the new
> partition explicitly as the boot device in the system bios, all attempts to
> boot from it give back the error that it is not a system disk, and the boot
> process for Windows never starts. Is there a trick to making Compact RAID
> the boot device on a Windows system? Perhaps some adjustment needs to be
> made into boot.ini? Perhaps I need to explicitly disble BIOS in the
> Adaptec host adapter?
>
> There is no BIOS boot environment for the eSATA card I am using, which
> appears to be based on the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.
It's a little confusing as to how if you say that there is no BIOS boot
> attempted to boot from the new partition. Even when I specify the new
> partition explicitly as the boot device in the system bios, all attempts to
> boot from it give back the error that it is not a system disk, and the boot
> process for Windows never starts. Is there a trick to making Compact RAID
> the boot device on a Windows system? Perhaps some adjustment needs to be
> made into boot.ini? Perhaps I need to explicitly disble BIOS in the
> Adaptec host adapter?
>
> There is no BIOS boot environment for the eSATA card I am using, which
> appears to be based on the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.
environment on the eSATA card, then how does your BIOS even show them as
available drives to boot from?
If you need a simple, cheap BIOS-equipped eSATA card then I had
purchased one from Bytecc:
Newegg.ca - BYTECC PCIe SATA II 300 + PATA Raid Card Model BT-PESAPA
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815283005
It uses a Jmicron controller, it even acts as its own RAID controller,
and it even has an internal PATA connector on it. I've successfully
booted from a single drive attached to it, although I've never attempted
to boot from an externally-attached RAID array.
Yousuf Khan
W
May 8, 2012, 4:03:07 PM5/8/12
to
"Yousuf Khan" <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4fa8806f$1...@news.bnb-lp.com...
> On 06/05/2012 4:41 AM, W wrote:
> > After creating the new boot partition, I disconnected the SCSI drives
and
> > attempted to boot from the new partition. Even when I specify the new
> > partition explicitly as the boot device in the system bios, all attempts
to
> > boot from it give back the error that it is not a system disk, and the
boot
> > process for Windows never starts. Is there a trick to making Compact
RAID
> > the boot device on a Windows system? Perhaps some adjustment needs to
be
> > made into boot.ini? Perhaps I need to explicitly disble BIOS in the
> > Adaptec host adapter?
> >
> > There is no BIOS boot environment for the eSATA card I am using, which
> > appears to be based on the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.
>
> It's a little confusing as to how if you say that there is no BIOS boot
> environment on the eSATA card, then how does your BIOS even show them as
> available drives to boot from?
BIOS boot environment means - for example - "Hit ctrl-a to enter
> > After creating the new boot partition, I disconnected the SCSI drives
and
> > attempted to boot from the new partition. Even when I specify the new
> > partition explicitly as the boot device in the system bios, all attempts
to
> > boot from it give back the error that it is not a system disk, and the
boot
> > process for Windows never starts. Is there a trick to making Compact
RAID
> > the boot device on a Windows system? Perhaps some adjustment needs to
be
> > made into boot.ini? Perhaps I need to explicitly disble BIOS in the
> > Adaptec host adapter?
> >
> > There is no BIOS boot environment for the eSATA card I am using, which
> > appears to be based on the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.
>
> It's a little confusing as to how if you say that there is no BIOS boot
> environment on the eSATA card, then how does your BIOS even show them as
> available drives to boot from?
configuration tool" presented during the initial stages of booting the
computer, before the OS loads. Adaptec does that on all of its host
adapters and usually the UI for that pre-boot BIOS conifiguration allows you
to explicitly designate that the host adapter can act as a bootable adapter.
> If you need a simple, cheap BIOS-equipped eSATA card then I had
> purchased one from Bytecc:
>
> Newegg.ca - BYTECC PCIe SATA II 300 + PATA Raid Card Model BT-PESAPA
> http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815283005
>
> It uses a Jmicron controller, it even acts as its own RAID controller,
> and it even has an internal PATA connector on it. I've successfully
> booted from a single drive attached to it, although I've never attempted
> to boot from an externally-attached RAID array.
--
W
Yousuf Khan
May 8, 2012, 7:44:08 PM5/8/12
to
On 08/05/2012 4:03 PM, W wrote:
> Unfortunately this is PCIe and I need PCI.
Maybe this, then?
> Unfortunately this is PCIe and I need PCI.
Newegg.ca - VANTEC 2-Port SATA II-150 PCI Host Card Model UGT-ST200
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815102102
Char Jackson
May 8, 2012, 8:24:47 PM5/8/12
to
that card. Also, it only runs at SATA-I speeds. Not sure if that will
be an issue or not but it's good to be aware.
W
May 8, 2012, 9:30:08 PM5/8/12
to
"Yousuf Khan" <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4fa9afd2$1...@news.bnb-lp.com...
question was to get recommendations for a specific card that someone had
experience with, specifically does the card have a BIOS configuration UI
that lives in the preboot environment so that I could explicitly enable the
card as a boot device.
It seems the world is filled with $25 eSATA cards that have minimal software
and minimal support. I would not mind spending $100 for something that is
top notch, extremely robust, and well supported in software and by email.
--
W
YKhan
May 9, 2012, 12:26:30 AM5/9/12
to
On May 8, 9:30 pm, "W" <persistent...@spamarrest.com> wrote:
> "Yousuf Khan" <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> "Yousuf Khan" <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > Maybe this, then?
>
> > Newegg.ca - VANTEC 2-Port SATA II-150 PCI Host Card Model UGT-ST200
> >http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815102102
>
> You can find 100 such cards on every retail web site. The point of my
> question was to get recommendations for a specific card that someone had
> experience with, specifically does the card have a BIOS configuration UI
> that lives in the preboot environment so that I could explicitly enable the
> card as a boot device.
I only know for sure that the PCIe eSATA card that I pointed to first
>
> > Newegg.ca - VANTEC 2-Port SATA II-150 PCI Host Card Model UGT-ST200
> >http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815102102
>
> You can find 100 such cards on every retail web site. The point of my
> question was to get recommendations for a specific card that someone had
> experience with, specifically does the card have a BIOS configuration UI
> that lives in the preboot environment so that I could explicitly enable the
> card as a boot device.
does have its own BIOS, since I use that card. I don't know about the
second one, though.
According to one of the entries in that card's comments, they said
that they had to update the card's BIOS to get it to work with their
system, so that might indicate it's got some kind of a BIOS of its
own. But the commenter might actually be talking mistakenly about the
system BIOS rather than the card BIOS, hard to say.
It might be best to look for a PCI-SATA RAID card, as those would be
guaranteed to have their own BIOS. Something like this (it's much more
expensive than the previous one):
Newegg.ca - HighPoint RocketRaid1522A PCI SATA External Controller
Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115035
> It seems the world is filled with $25 eSATA cards that have minimal software
> and minimal support. I would not mind spending $100 for something that is
> top notch, extremely robust, and well supported in software and by email.
>
> --
> W
Char Jackson
May 9, 2012, 1:01:56 AM5/9/12
to
On Tue, 8 May 2012 21:26:30 -0700 (PDT), YKhan <yjk...@gmail.com>
wrote:
I barely have the foggiest idea what the OP is looking for, but here's
a solution that uses the motherboard BIOS since it's just a pass-thru.
<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812226003>
wrote:
a solution that uses the motherboard BIOS since it's just a pass-thru.
<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812226003>
Paul
May 9, 2012, 1:05:08 AM5/9/12
to
that code is present, the BIOS reads in that code during POST.
And any disks off the card, can then be considered as boot
candidates. The EEPROM can also contain code, such as RAID
management code, so a user can create an array from the comfort
of their BIOS setup screen. So the code in the EEPROM on the
card, can provide two functions - Extended INT 0x13 for reading
sectors for boot purposes, as well as the ability to have
a "control panel in the BIOS" for setting up arrays.
There's an example here, of a card with an EEPROM on it. The
paper label stuck on the EEPROM, is for the manufacturer to keep
track of what kind of program was stored in it. With a lot of the
SIL3112 cards, customers spend most of their time changing the
code in there (as customers buy the "vanilla" card and want to
run a RAID array, or buy the "RAID" card and want to run the
ports in vanilla mode). To do that kind of flashing, you need
the flasher program, as well as the binary file with the code
in it, to do the updating. SiliconImage on their website, used
to provide such things. It's a distraction that I bet a lot
of customers could do without (i.e. find a solution where one
code performs all flavors). Even a switch or a jumper on the card,
would be better than having to screw around with flashers.
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/15-104-219-16.jpg
As far as I know, that code lives in "config space". And when the
code is loaded during POST, it is located below 640K, in a 128KB
area set aside for it. Once the system is booted, then it doesn't
really matter what happens in there. The VESA BIOS code copied
from the video card during POST, also lives in that 128KB area.
Even peripheral chips on the motherboard, have code modules
provided for them. The motherboard BIOS image is modular, and
is a miniature file system. As an example, a NIC chip can have
a PXE code module, so that the BIOS can "net boot" via the NIC.
With the appropriate BIOS tools, it's possible to review what
modules are present in the BIOS. For things like the PXE code
module, there is probably also a BIOS setting, to disable
that code module if you don't want it. On my motherboard, the
options are:
Marvell Gigabit LAN [Enabled]
LAN Boot ROM [Disabled]
I can leave the so-called Boot ROM disabled on that, because
I have no devices on the network for serving up an OS image
to boot from.
Paul
philo
May 9, 2012, 5:50:51 AM5/9/12
to
On 05/07/2012 08:54 PM, W wrote:
> "philo"<ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:jo857n$3qg$1...@dont-email.me...
>> On 05/07/2012 12:03 AM, W wrote:
>>> "philo"<ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
>>> news:jo71i8$ba9$1...@dont-email.me...
>>>> On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, W wrote:
>>>>> Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in
> BIOS
>>>>> that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the
>>> boot
>>>>> device on the system?
>>>>>
>>>>> Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple
> SATA
>>>>> drives on each connection.
>>>>
>>>> You missed the point.
>>>>
>>>> If you cloned your old system to a raid
>>>> there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
>>>> as you were previously booting from a simple volume
>>>
>>> Since the the boot adapter.
> "philo"<ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:jo857n$3qg$1...@dont-email.me...
>> On 05/07/2012 12:03 AM, W wrote:
>>> "philo"<ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
>>> news:jo71i8$ba9$1...@dont-email.me...
>>>> On 05/06/2012 05:43 PM, W wrote:
>>>>> Can someone recommend an eSATA PCI host adapter that has a built in
> BIOS
>>>>> that can be configured in a preboot environment to make the card the
>>> boot
>>>>> device on the system?
>>>>>
>>>>> Ideally the card should have four eSATA ports and supports multiple
> SATA
>>>>> drives on each connection.
>>>>
>>>> You missed the point.
>>>>
>>>> If you cloned your old system to a raid
>>>> there will be no reference to the raid signature in boot.ini
>>>> as you were previously booting from a simple volume
>>>
>>
>> Although I know your system will not be able to boot until boot.ini
>> references the RAID signature, rather than a simple volume...I have no
>> idea how Windows actually assigns the signature.
>
> What I am trying to explain is that I did NOT use Windows software RAID to
> build the volume. I am using hardware RAID and Windows XP sees the RAID 5
> array as a single Basic Disk with a single bootable Active Simple Partition.
>
That was obvious
>> Although I know your system will not be able to boot until boot.ini
>> references the RAID signature, rather than a simple volume...I have no
>> idea how Windows actually assigns the signature.
>
> What I am trying to explain is that I did NOT use Windows software RAID to
> build the volume. I am using hardware RAID and Windows XP sees the RAID 5
> array as a single Basic Disk with a single bootable Active Simple Partition.
>
Like I said if you had taken my advice you would have been up and
running days ago
sheesh
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
Yousuf Khan
May 9, 2012, 9:58:51 AM5/9/12
to
On 09/05/2012 1:01 AM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Tue, 8 May 2012 21:26:30 -0700 (PDT), YKhan<yjk...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> On May 8, 9:30 pm, "W"<persistent...@spamarrest.com> wrote:
>> It might be best to look for a PCI-SATA RAID card, as those would be
>> guaranteed to have their own BIOS. Something like this (it's much more
>> expensive than the previous one):
>>
>> Newegg.ca - HighPoint RocketRaid1522A PCI SATA External Controller
>> Card
>> http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115035
>
> On Tue, 8 May 2012 21:26:30 -0700 (PDT), YKhan<yjk...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> On May 8, 9:30 pm, "W"<persistent...@spamarrest.com> wrote:
>> It might be best to look for a PCI-SATA RAID card, as those would be
>> guaranteed to have their own BIOS. Something like this (it's much more
>> expensive than the previous one):
>>
>> Newegg.ca - HighPoint RocketRaid1522A PCI SATA External Controller
>> Card
>> http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115035
>
> I barely have the foggiest idea what the OP is looking for, but here's
> a solution that uses the motherboard BIOS since it's just a pass-thru.
> <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812226003>
My assumption is that he's running some sort of an older board which
> a solution that uses the motherboard BIOS since it's just a pass-thru.
> <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812226003>
doesn't have any onboard SATA ports. It may not have any PCIe X1 ports
either, therefore he has to use a PCI SATA card instead.
Yousuf Khan
W
May 9, 2012, 1:52:34 PM5/9/12
to
"philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:jodelr$u56$1...@dont-email.me...
post you made that appears in my newsreader software is a complaint.
I have advice from other users to run FIXMBR. I have users indicating I
may need to adjust boot.ini and some advice on how to examine the partition
table. I don't have any post explaining any procedure that would
automatically recreate or adjust boot.ini. Maybe you need to repost
something.
--
W
W
May 9, 2012, 1:53:04 PM5/9/12
to
"Yousuf Khan" <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4faa7824$1...@news.bnb-lp.com...
--
W
Paul
May 9, 2012, 6:07:35 PM5/9/12
to
who posted what.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware/browse_frm/thread/8b1ad15c7d79dcf4/5b9eff4e9191f6da?tvc=1#5b9eff4e9191f6da
Paul
philo
May 9, 2012, 7:22:24 PM5/9/12
to
> news:jodelr$u56$1...@dont-email.me...
>> On 05/07/2012 0ago
just did not take the advice you were given and fix your MBR.
It is totally obvious you are not using s software RAID
and as I clearly stated ...if you cloned your "simple volume"
installation to a RAID it will be impossible to boot as boot.ini will
have no reference to the RAID signature
If you boot from your XP cd and go to the repair console
all you'd have to do is issue the command fixboot or possibly fixmbr
or else follow the link I gave you for other methods to rebuild your
boot configuration...
At any rate it would have been a simple enough process
but my first suggestion to perform a repair install might have been the
simplest way to go if you are not comfortable using the repair console.
(It would have taken a longer time though)
Now I know you wanted to manually edit your boot.ini file...
and that's a reasonable enough question...but honestly
I do not know how Windows assigns the RAID signature but I can tell you
it is not intuitive. Once you do it and have a look you'll see wht
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
>> On 05/07/2012 0ago
>
> I don't find any advice from a user named philo in this thread. The first
> post you made that appears in my newsreader software is a complaint.
>
> I have advice from other users to run FIXMBR. I have users indicating I
> may need to adjust boot.ini and some advice on how to examine the partition
> table. I don't have any post explaining any procedure that would
> automatically recreate or adjust boot.ini. Maybe you need to repost
> something.
>
I did not post any complaints other than trying to figure out why you
> I don't find any advice from a user named philo in this thread. The first
> post you made that appears in my newsreader software is a complaint.
>
> I have advice from other users to run FIXMBR. I have users indicating I
> may need to adjust boot.ini and some advice on how to examine the partition
> table. I don't have any post explaining any procedure that would
> automatically recreate or adjust boot.ini. Maybe you need to repost
> something.
>
just did not take the advice you were given and fix your MBR.
It is totally obvious you are not using s software RAID
and as I clearly stated ...if you cloned your "simple volume"
installation to a RAID it will be impossible to boot as boot.ini will
have no reference to the RAID signature
If you boot from your XP cd and go to the repair console
all you'd have to do is issue the command fixboot or possibly fixmbr
or else follow the link I gave you for other methods to rebuild your
boot configuration...
At any rate it would have been a simple enough process
but my first suggestion to perform a repair install might have been the
simplest way to go if you are not comfortable using the repair console.
(It would have taken a longer time though)
Now I know you wanted to manually edit your boot.ini file...
and that's a reasonable enough question...but honestly
I do not know how Windows assigns the RAID signature but I can tell you
it is not intuitive. Once you do it and have a look you'll see wht
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
W
May 11, 2012, 7:46:24 PM5/11/12
to
"philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:joeu7i$9ru$1...@dont-email.me...
> On 05/09/2012 12:52 PM, W wrote:
> > "philo"<ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> > news:jodelr$u56$1...@dont-email.me...
> >> On 05/07/2012 0ago
> >
> > I don't find any advice from a user named philo in this thread. The
first
> > post you made that appears in my newsreader software is a complaint.
> >
> > I have advice from other users to run FIXMBR. I have users indicating
I
> > may need to adjust boot.ini and some advice on how to examine the
partition
> > table. I don't have any post explaining any procedure that would
> > automatically recreate or adjust boot.ini. Maybe you need to repost
> > something.
>
> I did not post any complaints other than trying to figure out why you
> just did not take the advice you were given and fix your MBR.
> It is totally obvious you are not using s software RAID
> and as I clearly stated ...if you cloned your "simple volume"
> installation to a RAID it will be impossible to boot as boot.ini will
> have no reference to the RAID signature
The original advice was to use FIXMBR. But that doesn't modify boot.ini
> > "philo"<ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> > news:jodelr$u56$1...@dont-email.me...
> >> On 05/07/2012 0ago
> >
> > I don't find any advice from a user named philo in this thread. The
first
> > post you made that appears in my newsreader software is a complaint.
> >
> > I have advice from other users to run FIXMBR. I have users indicating
I
> > may need to adjust boot.ini and some advice on how to examine the
partition
> > table. I don't have any post explaining any procedure that would
> > automatically recreate or adjust boot.ini. Maybe you need to repost
> > something.
>
> I did not post any complaints other than trying to figure out why you
> just did not take the advice you were given and fix your MBR.
> It is totally obvious you are not using s software RAID
> and as I clearly stated ...if you cloned your "simple volume"
> installation to a RAID it will be impossible to boot as boot.ini will
> have no reference to the RAID signature
does it? I assumed I might have to play with BOOTCFG /Rebuild for that.
In any case I appreciate the advise.
--
W
philo
May 12, 2012, 4:27:05 AM5/12/12
to
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058
--
https://www.createspace.com/3707686
BillW50
May 16, 2012, 5:06:38 AM5/16/12
to
On 5/11/2012 6:46 PM, W wrote:
> The original advice was to use FIXMBR. But that doesn't modify boot.ini
> does it? I assumed I might have to play with BOOTCFG /Rebuild for that.
No FIXMBR doesn't touch the boot.ini.
> The original advice was to use FIXMBR. But that doesn't modify boot.ini
> does it? I assumed I might have to play with BOOTCFG /Rebuild for that.
--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core Duo T5600 1.83GHz - 2GB - Windows XP SP2
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