H8DCE User's Manual Enabling SATA RAID in the BIOS Before installing the Windows Operating System, you must change some settings in BIOS. Boot up the system and hit the key to enter the BIOS Setup Utlility. After the Setup Utility loads, 1. Use the arrow keys to move to the Exit menu. Scroll down with the arrow keys to the "Load Optimal Defaults setting and press . Select "OK" to confi rm, then to load the default settings. 2. Use the arrow keys to move to the "Advanced" menu, then scroll down to "IDE Confi guration" and press the key. Once in the IDE Confi guration submenu, scroll down to "Confi guration nVidia RAID ROM" and press to access that submenu.
Highlight the setting "RAID Option ROM" and press enter, change the setting to Enabled and hit again. Two new settings should now be dis- played: "Master SATA as RAID" and "Slave SATA as RAID". Enable both of these settings, whether you think you will use them both or not. 3. Hit the key twice and scroll to the Exit menu. Select "Save Changes and Exit" and hit , then hit again to verify. 4. After exiting the BIOS Setup Utility, the system will reboot. When prompted during the startup, press the key when prompted to run the nVidia RAID Utility program.
Using the nVidia RAID Utility The nVidia RAID Utility program is where you can defi ne the drives you want to include in the RAID array and the mode and type of RAID. Two main windows are shown in the utility. The "Free Disks" window on the left will list all available drives. Use the arrow keys to select and move drives to the window on the right, which lists all drives that are to become part of the RAID array. Once you have fi nished selecting the drives and type of RAID you wish to use for your RAID array, press the key. You will be prompted to verify your choice; if you want to continue with your choices, select "Yes".
Note that selecting "Yes" will clear all previous data from the drives you selected to be a part of the array. You are then given the choice of making the RAID array bootable by pressing the the key. After you have fi nshed, press the and keys simultaneously. Installing the OS and Drivers With the Windows OS installation CD in the CD-ROM drive, restart the system. When you see the prompt, hit the key to enter Windows setup. Eventually a blue screen will appear with a message that begins "Windows could not determine the type of one or more storage devices . . ." When you see the screen, hit the key to "Specify Additional Device", then insert the driver diskette you just created 2-24