Cannot install OS on 500gb sata SSD's in raid 0

[ezcharlie]

I have an old dell precision m6700.
i'm trying to upgrade the storage so i installed 2 500gb corsair mx500's.
when installing win 10, it shows the raid 0 i setup but when rebooting, it does not load windows and keeps going straight to the usb installer.
i tried 2 60gb SSD's and they worked fine w/ the exact same settings.
i installed the os on each 500gb ssd for testing and they worked fine w/o raid 0.

 

[don256us]

In my experience, failure to install the OS is generally a memory error. Download and run something like memtest86+ to check your RAM.

However, your situation may be something different. Make sure all of your drivers and firmware are up to date. Maybe even the firmware for the SSDs but that's a bit of a stretch on my part.

I would 100% check the firmware of the laptop itself.

 

[ezcharlie]

In my experience, failure to install the OS is generally a memory error. Download and run something like memtest86+ to check your RAM.

However, your situation may be something different. Make sure all of your drivers and firmware are up to date. Maybe even the firmware for the SSDs but that's a bit of a stretch on my part.

I would 100% check the firmware of the laptop itself.

No BSOD's though.
Just not detecting the raid 0 setup as a bootable device upon reboot.
Laptop BIOS is updated, not sure about the ssd firmware.
Might play around w/ the ram. It currently has 4x4gb sticks.

It's weird though since 2 x 60gb raid 0 works normally.
Not entirely sure what drivers to load since i'm not sure what raid hw is installed (intel). (win 10 detects it fine during install)

btw, the built in mem diags on this dell says everything is fine.

 

[don256us]

Yeah. So this is not a RAM issue. Hmmm...

I would look at the SSD firmware or read up for compatibility issues? I think that taps me out if that is not helpful. Sorry.

 

[EarthDog]

To be clear........are you able to begin to install it, but after it installs, upon reboot, you can't get into it??

 

[ezcharlie]

Yeah. So this is not a RAM issue. Hmmm...

I would look at the SSD firmware or read up for compatibility issues? I think that taps me out if that is not helpful. Sorry.

I was also eyeing a compatibility issue.
maybe 2x500gb is too big?
the specs say it can read 512gb max which it does but nothing about max ssd size for raid.
i'm just not fluent enough in raid to know for sure.
even tried setting the raid drive to just 250gb but same problem.

 

[EarthDog]

Yeah, this was never a RAM issue... and if it's installing on the drives, I doubt it's firmware, but it never hurts to update your mobo (what mobo??? specs?) or the drive's firmware if it has any.

What specs say the max is 512GB for RAID?

And again... .are you able to begin to install it, but after it installs, upon reboot, you can't get into it??

 

[ezcharlie]

Dell Precision M6700 mobile workstation.
(has 3 ssd slots. 2 x sata. and 1 x m.2.)
I didn't say max size for raid. I said max size ssd that can be installed.
Maybe what the user manual means is primary ssd can be 512gb and secondary ssd is 256gb???
Though i have tried installing the os on either w/o raid and they both work in their respective slots.

***Yes, installing windows is fine until it reboots, then it just boots directly to the usb installer.

 

[EarthDog]

I didn't say max size for raid. I said max size ssd that can be installed.

Potato, Potatoe, lol. I don't think I've seen that before... but that thing is ancient, lol.

***Yes, installing windows is fine until it reboots, then it just boots directly to the usb installer.

Are you able to access the BIOS and see if you can manually select it to boot from the R0 drive?

I'd imagine it's a capacity thing...I read that as a 512/256GB max as well and your testing seems to confirm this. Though it's weird that it will see it in the BIOS and actually install it, but then suddenly won't boot to WIndows. I'd think the system would prevent seeing the second drive if it's larger than it's supposed to be.

If I was you, I'd ping Dell and ask...

 

[ezcharlie]

Potato, Potatoe, lol. I don't think I've seen that before... but that thing is ancient, lol.


Are you able to access the BIOS and see if you can manually select it to boot from the R0 drive?

I'd imagine it's a capacity thing...I read that as a 512/256GB max as well and your testing seems to confirm this. Though it's weird that it will see it in the BIOS and actually install it, but then suddenly won't boot to WIndows. I'd think the system would prevent seeing the second drive if it's larger than it's supposed to be.

If I was you, I'd ping Dell and ask...

Dell's machines have an F12 option where you can specify the boot device w/o needing to go to the bios.
It lists "Windows Boot Manager" in both aside from all the other boot devices.
It shows exactly the same thing when i use raid 0 on the 60gb drives.
I can't ping Dell as this is an older machine and has no warranty therefore limited support.

I have an extra 128gb drive here.
I guess I'll trying the 500gb in the primary slot and the 128gb in the 2nd.
If it boots then I'll be able to somewhat almost confirm the issue.

 

[EarthDog]

I can't ping Dell as this is an older machine and has no warranty therefore limited support.

Does it have to be in warranty to get an answer to a simple question? You can probably find out while you're installing Windows.

 

[don256us]

Another option would be to install the OS on the smaller drive and shunt all data to the larger drive. Skip RAID 0 all together. I can't recall a single test where RAID 0 SATA SSDs make enough of a difference for me to ever try. I suspect that the key notion to my statement is the SATA part.

I looked up the specs for this machine. It has 4 SATA connectors one of which is a "Mini card". I also noted another issue that needs to be addressed. At least one spot is SATA II and at least one more is SATA III. Not sure if that is playing a roll.

Finally, F12 booting only makes a one time selection. Using F12, go into the BIOS and change the boot order there.

P.S. The specs do list 512 as a maximum that they sold. This does not necessarily mean that it is the largest allowed. It's just the largest they pre-installed.

 

[EarthDog]

At least one spot is SATA II and at least one more is SATA III. Not sure if that is playing a roll.

Good catch! I'd make sure w/e you're trying to RAID is in the two SATA3 ports.

Then again, why it would let you build the array, format, and install to it, and then not boot. If the limitations are on the platform, it should be problematic earlier/there as opposed to after a full setup and installation.

What Windows are you trying to install on it? Is your old platform and w/e Windows version you're trying to install (??) compatible?

This is really a good one, lol.

 

[Janus67]

And the possible need to install some form of the raid/irst driver during the image may also be needed.

Is your bios set to legacy, ahci, or raid?

 

[infinitevalence]

And the possible need to install some form of the raid/irst driver during the image may also be needed.

Is your bios set to legacy, ahci, or raid?

Its this, it will install to an Intel RAID 0, but unless you slipstream or install the Intel RST driver and tools it wont know how to read the drive back out.

 

[ezcharlie]

Tried to install using the 500gb ssd in the primary slot and 128gb in the 2nd slot. Still unsuccessfull in booting to Windows after the install.

Does it have to be in warranty to get an answer to a simple question? You can probably find out while you're installing Windows.

That's them. Even chat goes to the default online resources after entering the Service Tag.

Another option would be to install the OS on the smaller drive and shunt all data to the larger drive. Skip RAID 0 all together. I can't recall a single test where RAID 0 SATA SSDs make enough of a difference for me to ever try. I suspect that the key notion to my statement is the SATA part.

I looked up the specs for this machine. It has 4 SATA connectors one of which is a "Mini card". I also noted another issue that needs to be addressed. At least one spot is SATA II and at least one more is SATA III. Not sure if that is playing a roll.

Finally, F12 booting only makes a one time selection. Using F12, go into the BIOS and change the boot order there.

P.S. The specs do list 512 as a maximum that they sold. This does not necessarily mean that it is the largest allowed. It's just the largest they pre-installed.

It's an older sys so any performance upgrade is a plus. Not mission critical so data loss is a "meh".
I was able to install raid 0 on 2 60gb ssds and it booted fine right after so i'm pretty sure my boot sequence is good.
3 sata ports. 2 "normal" sata ports and 1 m.2 sata port. (i am only using the 2 "normal" sata ports labeled hdd 1 and hdd 2)

And the possible need to install some form of the raid/irst driver during the image may also be needed.

Is your bios set to legacy, ahci, or raid?

I was able to install raid 0 on 2 60gb ssds and it booted fine right after so my bios settings are fine otherwise i would not have been able to get to ctrl + i to setup my array.
And i think driver wise, Win 10 loaded it's default raid 0 drivers fine.

Its this, it will install to an Intel RAID 0, but unless you slipstream or install the Intel RST driver and tools it wont know how to read the drive back out.

Does that mean for 60gb ssds, win 10 default raid drivers are good but for 500gb ssds, i'd have to install something else? i mean it shows my array when installing windows so shouldn't that be enough?

Good catch! I'd make sure w/e you're trying to RAID is in the two SATA3 ports.

Then again, why it would let you build the array, format, and install to it, and then not boot. If the limitations are on the platform, it should be problematic earlier/there as opposed to after a full setup and installation.

What Windows are you trying to install on it? Is your old platform and w/e Windows version you're trying to install (??) compatible?

This is really a good one, lol.

Weird right? I mean sata ssds are cheap and all and used ones are fine as long as you have the right tools to test them, but wasting money buying different sized ssds for testing kinda doesn't sit well w/ me

 

[ezcharlie]

Update, i was able to install Win 10 in raid 0 using 2x128gb m.2 ssds using m.2 to sata coverters. (i already had the adapters and 1 128gb ssd so this was the easiest way to test.)
For some reason, my laptop has a weird limit/compatibility issue w/ my 500gb ssds.
The only difference i noticed was the voltage for the drives. the 500gbs were 1.7v, 60gbs were 5v and the 128gbs were 3 or 3.3v.
Anyone have any idea if there is a way to install the 500gbs? Or should i try 2x256gbs next?