RAID 1 partition problem

[nonobaddog]

I am building a new PC. Trying to use Windows XP Pro on 2 matching Western Digital 160 GB ATA drives in a RAID 1 configuration using an Adaptec 1200A card. So far I have:
installed the Adaptec card, updated the card's BIOS to v 1.3, created the RAID 1 array and designated the boot disk. I then booted to the Windows XP install CD and started installing XP. I installed the latest Adaptec driver v 1.3 for Windows XP when prompted. I created 2 partitions, one 40 GB for Windows and programs and the other the rest of the drive, about 112 GB. Windows reported my 40 GB partition was not formatted and gave me the option to format that partition. I did the format(NTFS) and finished installing Windows XP Pro. I am not online yet so I have done none of the Windows updates, not even SP1. ((Bookmark #1))
At this point I could boot to the RAID 1 array and everything seemed OK so I went into Disk Manager and formatted(NTFS) the other 112 GB partition. This broke everything and I could no longer boot to the array, it would just get to an empty black screen and freeze.
I deleted the RAID 1 array and repeated the whole process from the beginning and ended up with the same results.
I deleted the RAID 1 array again and repeated everything up to ((Bookmark #1)).

So here I am, able to boot to Windows on the array but afraid to format the 112 GB partition. I have looked through the Adaptec support info but didn't find any real help. As a last resort I will repeat these steps and install Windows on one big partition but I would much prefer to keep both partitions.

Please help, any ideas are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks,
John

[meese]

What if you partition, format, and load the os on the first drive. Then add the second drive. Partion and format it the same way. Make sure both drives are dynamic. Then create the mirror.

[nonobaddog]

Thank you Meese, I think you might have said the magic words, "Make sure both drives are dynamic.". This is my first time with RAID anything and I didn't do this. Right now, in Disk Management, it says disk 0 is basic and volume C (39 GB) says Basic, NTFS, Healthy(System) while volume F (110 GB) only says Basic, Healthy.
I understand if I were using Windows Server and using software RAID the disks and volumes would have to be dynamic. But if I were using pure hardware RAID it wouldn't matter what Windows thought they were because the hardware takes care of that. In my case I am using the Adaptec 1200A which in turn uses a HighPoint chip that is not real hardware RAID. I have read it is basically an IDE controller that makes the CPU do a good share of the RAID processing. Obviously I can have some RAID functionality on a Basic disk because I can boot to Windows installed on one but I will make it Dynamic right away. I totally forgot about that. I read where the 3ware RAID cards can use Basic volumes in RAID 1 too but they are very, very slow until changed to Dynamic.
I believe what you say about setting up one disk and then doing the mirror thing is the right way to go and I will probably end up doing just that but I am stubborn enough to keep trying it this way a little bit longer. I just had a hard drive crash that really irritated me so I am going to switch all 3 computers to RAID 1 and only use RAID 1 from now on so I want to learn as much as I can while setting up this first one. If things go well I want to try to set up a common storage device using RAID 5.
Anyhow, for the next steps I will try deleting the F volume and converting Disk 0 to Dynamic. Does this automatically convert the C volume to dynamic? I hope it does and if so I will recreate the F volume as dynamic and try formatting it. I will reboot after each step so if things go wrong I will know where it happened.

[nonobaddog]

Thanks Meese, everything worked great now that the disk is dynamic !

Would it kill Adaptec to put that in the destructions?

Makes me wonder how they use this card with Win 98 or ME. Also makes me happy I don't need to go there.

Now to finish setting up this machine and on to the others. They have RAID on the motherboard plus they have an existing hard drive so all I have to do is mirror it.

[meese]

Good job.

[sechs]

Dynamic disks = bad idea for most users

[meese]

You can't mirror two drives unless they are Dynamic using the tools that come with windows.

[sechs]

This does not change or modify my statement.

The poster already has a pricey, if crappy, RAID controller card. No reason to mess with dynamic disks!

[nonobaddog]

Regarding upgrading to dynamic disks -

I don't have any situations going that would be problematic for dynamic disks.
1 - I am not trying to dual boot to any other OS and if I were it would be on different disk(s).
2 - This is a fresh install of XP Pro so I am never going to try to uninstall XP to roll back to Win 98 or any other old OS.
3 - I do not have any system restore partitions from the PC manufacturer because I built it myself.

I do have situations going that are favorable for using dynamic disks.
1 - I insist on having RAID on all my computers since a rather traumatic hard disk failure. I don't much care if it is RAID 1 - 6, 10 - 60 or 0+1 as long as it has redundancy and fault tolerance.
2 - Microsoft explians it this way: "Dynamic disks provide features that basic disks do not, such as the ability to create multidisk volumes, such as striped, mirrored, and RAID-5 volumes."
3 - This is a learning experience as well since I have not used dynamic disks at home before.
4 - The best reason of all - dynamic disks let my computer boot and run!

Regarding the RAID adaptor - the Adaptec 1200A does have some bad press in many reviews and I believe it too, but it certainly was not pricey. I got mine for $5, new and in shrink wrap. It would not be my first choice again. My next one will not use the Highpoint HPT370A chip and will be a true hardware implementation (unless I find another 1200A for $5 which I would jump all over).

You are wasting your poohs on me sechs, I am very happy with my dynamic redundant storage array. It is all set up and running great and I appreciate the help meese. Now I am going to do a couple more.

[sechs]

nonobaddog, you need to do a lot of research, as you clearly do not know of what you are speaking.

The uninformed user is the one most likely to make poor decisions and have problems.

[nonobaddog]

sechs, just what tipped you off that I clearly do not know of what I am speaking? Perhaps you could share your expertise and pontificate a little on specific evils of dynamic disks?

[sechs]

I will leave the pontificating to the pontiff. There's no need to lecture when the information is freely available for those willing and able to use it.

[nonobaddog]

Underwhelming.