Issues with Samsung 840 EVO SSD for OS and Raid 1 (2HHD)

[Billiumss]

Hello guys. I need some guidance on my new build.

I just built my latest PC, here are all the parts:

Intel I7 4770K CPU
Asus Z87-A Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) F3-1866C9D-16GXM Ram
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
WD Black 1TB HDD (Data Drive for SSD)
LG WH14NS40 Blu Ray Burner
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler
EVGA 600 B 80 PLUS BRONZE Power Supply
Artic MX-2 Thermal Compound
Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
(2) Western Digital WD7500AAKS HDD for Raid 1 (from old PC)

I built the PC with only the Samsung SSD and Blu ray hooked up. Since I am going to use a Raid 1 from my old PC, I set the BIOS SATA to "Raid" instead of AHCI before I installed the OS. From what I have read online, it should be ok since Raid does have the AHCI protocols.

I loaded the OS, installed the drivers from the Asus disc, did all the windows updates, installed all the latest drivers for the hardware, updated the BIOS firmware, and installed the Samsung Magician software. I also did a lot of the SSD tweaks in Windows for the SSD from some of the guides I found online.

The issue I am seeing at this point is in the Samsung Magician software it is showing that the SSD in not in AHCI mode. In the Device Manager the SSD comes up as a SCSI drive.

I have built probably around 15 computers (2 with Raid 0 and 4 with Raid 1) over the last 20 years and this one has me stumped.

I thought AHCI was part of Raid?

As of right now, only the SSD and Blu Ray are hooked up to the motherboard. I didn't hook up the WD 1TB data drive or the WD 750GB Raid 1 from my old PC yet.

What is the proper way to set up a single SSD for the OS and a Raid 1 using HDD?


Bill

 

[trents]

So you only have one drive in the RAID 1? Were you intending to add another? Normally, RAID 1 uses two identical (ideally) drives. However, it will boot with just one of the two. Why are you going with RAID when you only have one drive, excluding the SSD which you said would be the system drive?

If you have a drive (or drives) in RAID 0 or RAID 1 then any other drives added will need to run in IDE mode. Thus, if you're WD drive or drives are in RAID then the SSD would need to be in IDE mode. I could be wrong but that's my understanding. Or maybe I should say, that's the way my AMD chipset board is set up.

As far as the SCSI question goes, Device Manager will often report non conventional storage devices (i.e., things that are different than conventional platter-based PATA/SATA hard drives) as SCSI, even when they don't actually employ SCSCI technology.

 

[Lvcoyote]

When the intel controller is set to raid, any drive that isn't part of the array will be working as AHCI. In order to run a Raid1, you'll have to leave the Intel controller set to raid and just leave the SSD out of the array when you set the raid1 up. The only thing you might run into is the SSD's trim function not working while the controller is set to raid. Trim might be working with the latest Intel raid drivers, but I haven't kept up on that to know for sure. Also, it's perfectly normal for windows to see the SCSI controller when it's set to raid. Windows has always done that.

 

[Billiumss]

Ok. I guess I need to clarify what I'm trying to do. I've done raid before with success in the past just never with an ssd as my os drive.

My old system has a 500gb hdd for the os and programs. I have a raid 1 using (2) 750gb hdd. Everything works great, works as its suppose to.

My new system will have the following- samsung 250tb ssd For the os and programs. (1) 1 tb hdd for my data drive, a raid 1 using my old raid hdd from my old setup (2) 750gb hdd.

I like having a raid 1 since I do not always back up my files on a regular basis. I usually have a back up for my back up.

 

[Lvcoyote]

So what drives do you want included in the Raid1 array?

 

[trents]

Sounds like he wants to use the two 750 gb drives for the RAID 1 part. The problem may be that you cannot have some of the SATA ports designated for RAID an others not for AHCI. On my AMD board, SATA ports 0-4 must all be the same, whether RAID, AHCI, or IDE. Ports 5&6 are on their own controller but cannot be anything other than IDE if 0-4 are configured for RAID.

 

[Billiumss]

Yep just want the 750gb drives for raid 1. The new 1tb drive will be a data drive for the ssd.

On my old pc, it has a asus z67 motherboard and has 2 sata 6gb ports and 4 3gb ports. I have the main os hdd on the 6gb port and the raid 1 on the 3gb ports.

I wonder since the new asus z87 motherboard has all the same ports I can't do what I want since its the same controller, unlike the older mb it has 2 controllers for the sata ports.

 

[trents]

My guess is you hunch is correct about the limitations of having one controller. You might have to invest in an external hard drive for backup.

 

[Lvcoyote]

Sure you can.... Like I said, enter the intel raid utility and set the raid 1 araay up and only include the two drives you want in the array. The Samsung and 1tb drive will still be usable as stand alone drives.

 

[Billiumss]

Sure you can.... Like I said, enter the intel raid utility and set the raid 1 araay up and only include the two drives you want in the array. The Samsung and 1tb drive will still be usable as stand alone drives.

Ill have to just hook up all the drive and try it out. With all of the other raids i setup, i had to load the raid driver then when it boots up hit "ctrl I or L" to go into the intel raid utility. So with the newer motherboards you dont have to hit ctrl l?

As long as I dont lose all the data on the drives I'll be happy!

 

[Lvcoyote]

Yes, you still need to hit CNTL I to access the raid utility. If the two drives in question where already set in a raid1 array on a different intel motherboard, there is a good chance once you enter the raid utility they'll already be set. But make sure your controller is set to raid in BIOS then hit CNTL I during boot and see what shows up. IIRC you said you set the controller to raid in BIOS from the get go, so you should be good to go.

 

[Billiumss]

Say I get the raid 1 to work, I have 2 questions:

1 - will the ssd be in ahci mode and will the samsung magician software see it as ahci?

2 - will trim work on the ssd?

 

[Lvcoyote]

I already answered those questions in post #3

 

[Billiumss]

Im installing windows onto another new ssd drive that I'm using for my wifes build, she is getting my old I5 2500k with a 840 evo ssd 250gb. It has a Asus P8 Z68-v ls1 motherboard with 2 sata controllers.

Will give update later tonight on the I7 build, so far found out some interesting things with just setting the bios to AHCI.