Can't seem to load XP on my system

[virginiamonkeys]

I changed my BIOS to boot off of the CD ROM.

When it starts to load XP, I press F6 to install the drivers for my RAID card.

I insert the disk labelled "RocketRaid 1540 Adapter Device Driver" and select the XP driver.

It then asks to partition a hard drive, so I select the 160GB drive and partition all but the 8MB it allows.

Then XP tries to load, but it gets 85% done, and the RAID card starts beeping at me and it quickly proceeds to 100% and give me an error that this cannot be done.

What am I doing wrong?

Chaintech 9CJS Zenith 875P Northbridge
2.8G P4
RocketRAID 1540 card
Two 7200.7 Seagate Barracuda 160GB drives SATA
1Gig PC3200 DDR

I guess the big clue is the fact that it gets to 85% without any evident problem.

 

[redduc900]

Are you running the latest v2.03s Highpoint drivers and BIOS for your RAID card?

 

[virginiamonkeys]

I don't know. Probably not. I only have a floppy drive in my new computer and don't have any on my old computers.

Where do I get the latest version of the driver? And how do I update the BIOS with just a floppy drive?

 

[redduc900]

I believe this is the driver/BIOS file you'll need for your card...Driver_BIOS_154x_164x_v203s.zip, available from Highpoint here:

http://www.highpoint-tech.com/1540drivers_down.htm

I believe the documentation download that's available seperately contains infromation on how to flash the card's BIOS. It may also be contained within the *.zip file above. You'll need to boot using a Win98/Me bootdisk, and flash from the A:> prompt. If I remember correctly, I think you'll need to run the "Load.exe" file in order to flash your card.

 

[virginiamonkeys]

Okay, sorry for being stupid here, but what is a "Win98/Me bootdisk"?

 

[redduc900]

I may of rushed ahead here in that it's possible your RAID card already has the latest BIOS version. When you boot up and see the Highpoint BIOS screen, check the version number at the top of the screen...compare it to the latest BIOS available for your card. You can also check the BIOS version by using HPT's RAID Management software, also available from the HPT site I linked to above. Chaintech's site should also have information available regarding which RAID BIOS is installed with your particular board's BIOS.

If you decide to flash the BIOS, you'll need a bootdisk from Win98 or Me...which you can download from:

http://www.bootdisk.com

You'll then be given the option during bootup to select "Command Prompt Only", which when selected will take you to the A:> prompt...from where you can flash the card's BIOS.

 

[virginiamonkeys]

I'll check the version in a few minutes. What bootdisk version do I want?

 

[redduc900]

Here you go...

http://utils.skull-tech.com/bootdisks/bootme.exe

 

[virginiamonkeys]

I have the BIOS v1.21. So I see I can update that to the v1.22.

 

[redduc900]

Another thing I should've mentioned was...always make sure the RAID driver version matches the RAID BIOS version. In other words, if you have v1.21 of the RAID BIOS, make sure you're running v1.21 of the RAID drivers (sometimes the version numbers won't be the same, but when d/l'ing the driver/BIOS pack from HPT...you're guaranteed matching versions). I've seen quite a few problems associated with the fact that the versions didn't match. Also, make sure you're at default clock before flashing any BIOS...whether it be your RAID card, MB, video card, etc.

 

[Lancelot]

XP install cannot format 160GB, so make a smaller partition for the OS and format the rest later on for data/storgage...

 

[virginiamonkeys]

You say XP can't install on 160GB? Is it limited to 137GB then?

Also, I wasn't even at the install part. It was just formatting the hard drive. Can it format the whole 160GB?

What size partition should I use for XP?

I have the All-In-Wonder 9800 so I think I want a partition for the OS, one for regular programs, and one for recording TV programs.

Does this make sense, or is this a dumb idea?

 

[virginiamonkeys]

Okay, I have several disks here today. I have:

An MS-DOS start up disk copied from a computer at work running XP.

Windows 98/ME 1.22 BIOS disk.

Windows 2K/XP 1.22 BIOS disk.

v1.22 BIOS

Load utility v 2.2.07.01

Drivers for BIOS v2.03.


What am I supposed to do? I feel like a dermass asking. I guess you're only a noob once, eh?

 

[N-Bandit]

No some of us like me are still noobs after being on this board for a while.when did I register here??

Mike

 

[shadowdr]

If you don't allready have a 98 bootdisk floppy go here .chose the 98se oem and write to a formatted floppy.Restart and enter bios and be sure boot sequence is set to boot floppy first.Restart with floppy in drive and when it enters dos chose the option to start comp. without cd-rom support.answers yes when promted if you want large drive support. At a: promt type fdisk,enter.chose create primary dos partition.chose size.Considering you have chosen to have seperate partitions for programs and such 10 gigs is plenty however chose the size you prefere (win uses about 3.5 gigs of space fully installed) and make that partition active.
This is assuming that you have allready set up the array in the bios before this step.DOS may not see the full 320 gigs however windows will.
remove the floppy re enter bios and be sure that cd rom is at least 2nd boot device and third is scsi or harddrive 0(most arrays name drives 0 and 2 in bios).Reboot with xp cd-rom in drive and press f6 to install third party software when prompted.when xp enters setup you will see the active partition displayed.format and install there.After windows installs you will see the rest of the drive as unpartioned space or raw.You can then go to settings/administrative tools/computer management/disc management and create the rest of your partitions and format them as well there.
This is all from memory but i beleive that you can muddle through if i left out anything minor.Good luck!