Athalon 64, X2 or not

I definitely recommend primary. I only use logical and extended for making separate partitions on the one HDD.

Matt

 

I'll get out my fork and eat some crow on that one. I've always installed these when first installing an OS but I think you'll also find that there's an update to your 3114 drivers so I'll be interested what you experience when you do update them - mine went fine and I'm not running a RAID configuration with any of my drives on this motherboard. Then again, I'm not going to argue with the mfg. on this so I'd leave well enough alone - Good Catch.

Ditto on the primary.

 

So much to say, so little clarity....

Matt, out of curiosity, if I do partition up an existing physical drive, should I use the logical or extended, and why? I assume logical. I am going to re-flash the firmware for the Samsung DVD-RW after I confirm that it is the right file!! I am pretty sure I did it right the first time and I guess Samsung could have scrwed up here... but the odds are not in my favor.

Rock, stay away from crow... unless its Sheryl. I am not sure what you suggested based on the following:

Since I am not running RAID, does it matter?? Argue with the mfg. about what? Leave well enough alone?.. I can do that!! Can I just disable the RAID controller in Device Mgr if yellow question marks keep me from sleeping at night?

As far as ASUS (mfg) updates go, a very confusing site. For example, which RAID file update do I use?? I do not even see one for the nVidia chipset update. Please try the link and search for A8N-SLI Deluxe. ASUS Support. I would like to know your thoughts on it.

Lar

 

Clear as mud huh? Sometimes its one of my talents.

What I was trying to say is that I had no problem downloading and installing updated RAID drivers. Because of your quote from the mfg re: All non-Raid drives would be invalidated, I wasn't going to continue arguing with Asus and tell you to download and install those updates. Thats all - (the leave well enough alone was an olive branch - Sheryl likes olives)

So, what would I do if it were me? The question marks are because you did not install the manufacturer's drivers during your initial setup. If you follow your own Asus Support link through to your board and expand IDE, you'll see Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID driver V1.1.9.9 for Windows XP(WHQL)/2K/2003 dated 8/10/2005. This was newer than what I had on my A8N-SLI Premium CD and I downloaded and installed it. No problem. You should be able to do the same but I'll wave that Olive Branch again because I don't want to be responsible if it messes you up.

As to the NVidia drivers - you'll find those at the NVidia Website. I also updated all of these, including the RAID drivers without problems. Again - the Olive Branch.

I've got 4 Samsung SATAII drives on the NVidia controller and 2 Raptors on the 3114 along with two external SATA connectors to fill it out. None were invalidated when I updated drivers.

Quiet n' Cool - dispensible in my book. Just throttles you down when you don't need the processing horsepower.

 

Actually, it was XP, I believe, that gave me the "invalided" message. It came up when I actually (there is that word again) attempted to install the Sil RAID drivers from the ASUS disc. Will downloading and installing from ASUS get rid of my Device Mgr Post-Its "[SIZE= "4"]?[/SIZE]" ?

Where do I get the exact spec for the nVidia chipset so that I install the right update? I looked for it but I could not be sure.

Regarding the infamous ASUS Northbridge fan, have had to replace one yet? I have heard that they sometimes last only a few months. I know I mentioned this before, sorry. But I would rather fix it before something bad comes this way. Sheryl with olives. Do you have a jpg of that?

Thanks again, Lar

 

NVidia drivers - NForce 4 series AMD.

As to chipset fans & coolers - go to this page.

Will downloading and installing from ASUS get rid of my Device Mgr Post-Its [SIZE= "5"]? [/SIZE]
I believe that will do the trick - odd as it may sound, on the driver page look under the IDE section for your specific board

 

Hey Rock, when I downloaded and attempted to install the Sil 3114 update, I got the same windows.... "Do you have any non-RAID drives attached to the RAID controller. Yes/No. If you proceed, your non-RAID drives will be invalidated. Continue?" Errr, that is a big "NO ". So, same old.

Also, I found the nForce4 drivers on ASUS and they are v6.65. The ones on the nVidia site are 6.86. How do I find out what my current driver version is? My Device Mgr is full of different nVidia things.

Oh, and RSINFO, thanks for that useful keyboard combo. Right up my alley.

Thx, Lar

 

Read the partitioning information here:
www.pcguide.com
I would need to refresh my knowledge there to answer you anyway (after trying to write two paragraphs I have given up )
There is some excellent basic information there if you need it. For any of your questions regarding "how does it work ", check there.

Matt

 

Larry:

I'm at a loss here. I've always set up my SATA drives using the F6 prompt and floppies during the OS installation - strict adherence to "by the book" procedure. Have followed this religiously for all motherboards.

Now we have a situation where you appearantly don't have the correct drivers installed and are getting a warning whenever you attempt to install them. Closest document I can find at Asus re: this is found here. Particular note should be made of item 6 on page 19. I think you can do this but, again - since I've never done it this way - I'm skeptical about making a recommendation. If it was my board, I'd do it but this isn't my board. You also want to make sure you have any referenced configuration set up as JBOD so it treats your hard drives as plain ol' HDD's.

Good Luck.

 

Still here. Hrmmmmmph. Just went through hell with Outlook Express but I am cool now. Otherwise, moving along pretty good. Thanks for coming back to ck up on me.

Details

RAID- I have pretty much given up on the RAID driver thing. It does not seem to be affecting anything. Device Mgr does say that the driver has not yet been installed. Obviously the HDD's are working. Can I just disable it in Device Mgr and make it go away??

Also, at boot up, there is a point where it stops at the RAID array and waits for 4 seconds in case you want to go into the RAID setup (F4). Any way to get rid of that, too??

ACTIVATE- I was holding off on activating windows. Anything else I should wait for?

ODDS- I still have a few things to do. As volatile as the partitioning schism may be, what about Norton? I do have a fresh 2006 SystemWorks but I know that its overkill. I had been using AVG freeware after I purged Norton from my old P1 W98SE puter to help it limp along a little longer. AVG seems OK. Agree on AVG or thoughts on Norton?

ENDS- I also picked up a Roxio Easy Creator for all things media related. Heard good things about it. I know that it is big and kind of "Norton-esque ". Still OK, though??

SPEED- I would like to speed things up a bit. I do have that bad boy Zalman installed. Device Mgr does recognize 2 Opterons so I am in Dual Core mode. Should I be checking on certain settings/benchmarks to see if all of my bus speeds, SATA2 devices, etc, are all where they should be?

XP- Have some trouble conceptualizing what the User Acct biz is about. I do have a teenage boy and do want to restrict his access. I do not see an Admin acct and not sure how to set this up. Kind of a big question. Thx

THANKS!!!!!

Lar

 

Hi Pete, The RAID issue is now moot. Thanks. Out of curiosity, which controller is operating the HDDs and I assume that I am getting the SATA2 transfer rate?

Lar

 

Hi Pete, I have two SATA Controllers in Device Mgr. One is empty and the other has both HDDs as Gen 2 - 3G. Should I somehow shut off the other controller as unnecessary or just forget about it?

I did the speed tests, not looking good. says burst speed 130, sustained 64. Your thoughts?

I went to the WD site for clues. I am not using any jumpers and they discuss Spread Spectrum Clocking being disabled. Am I good with no jumpers?

If interested WD 2500KS. Options 2 and 3 look the same to me. Looks like a faux paz.

Thx,

Lar

 

You should try running the tests at www.pcpitstop.com, they may lead you the cause.

Some of your other questions:
Hold off on Activation until you have the system running smoothly and there is no chance of having to do a reinstall.

AVG plus an occasional visit to an online scanner, in my opinion. The utilities in Systemworks are good if you control them carefully (don't use "automatic ", apart from disk checking and defrag).

Easy Creator should be OK. Try to install only what you need.

PCpitstop should give you info about how your system ranks.

User accounts - read about their levels (look in Help and Support and the User icon in Control Panel). They are not really a "net nanny ", but you can restrict some sites/privileges.

Matt

 

I might see it as the same as default 1, except that the SSC is enabled (along with PM2).
Don't ask me what they mean.

Matt

 

Love the candor and honesty ... found my head spinning too! I always thought spread spectrum related to IDE power management and controlled resources based upon populated slots - after a little reading, its appearantly an EMI thing related to frequency modulation and was actually "invented" by Hedi Lamar in the 40's. Sure, now it too is clear as mud. (I guess you can tell I keep this disabled because I don't pretend to understand it's significance)

LAR:
As difficult as it has been I've tried to stay purposely silent as I thought it best to get some other opinions re: your RAID drivers (be ye using RAID configuration or like me (and Pete) (and yourself), NOT using a RAID configuration). My thoughts haven't changed so no need to rehash earlier comments.

As to your drive speed, I don't think you have anything to worry about here. My speeds on the Nvidia controller are similar. My system drive checks out at 138/59.6 and its a Samsung SATA II. Also, my results at PCPitstop rank my drives right in the middle of the pack of similar systems with none significantly better and none significantly worse. Overall System score is 2735 so my box is no slouch.

Have heard similar good reports on latest Roxio but remain a "Nero" type. Have now officially left the Norton camp on all but one machine and that too will soon be history. AVG gets my vote and run NOD32 on my server and all commercial client servers. As to the teenage son - best advice is to set him up with his own rig and enforce a strict "hands-off" posture re: your machine. This may sound like a bit much, but I've seen enough to make this one of the most valuable pieces of advice that any parent will ever receive. Lastly, re: activation - I'm again going to go along with Matt on holding off until the eleventh hour but you're not going to get hurt one way or the other - MS isn't the Beast some would have us believe. If it were me, I'd reformat and re-install including putting all those (un-mentionable) drivers in following an F6 prompt and chalk the last few weeks up to a test run.

Regards,


edit: spelling

 

Hi, Larry.

Compare the left part of each diagram directly below the black rectangle.

 

Wow, a flurry of activity!! Yesssssss!!

HDD- Driver wise I am standing pat. The detail on the Drive Letters in Pitstop said that the uncached speed for both HDD's was only at 58% of typical! That sounds pretty bad. I found it funny that the HDD was advertised as SATA2 3.0Gb/S when I it is actually 300Mb/S. Is that typical or am I missing something? Also, Mailman, what IS that little chink in that rectangle under the black box?

SPEED- Since I got the Opteron 165, I need to juice it up, baby!! I am at 102% of typical in Pitstop. Oh, Pete's Device Mgr suggestions cut my boot up time in half. Thanks again.

PCPITSTOP SCORE- Everything looked pretty good exc the HDD's! I completed a few of the suggested reg adjustments. My score was 2363.

ACTIVATION- There is a snag in our cautious stance. I have 14 days left and I am out of here for 12 days starting on Thursday. No time to reformat. Rock, maybe I can work on the OC stuff at that time, too!!

DRIVERS- Besides the usual stuff, do HDD's need firmware updates occassionally, too??

ASUS A8N Northbridge Fan- I had mentioned the weak fan in this thread much earlier on and I found a great thread on PlanetAMD64 on this issue. The new style fan (like mine) is supposed to be better but is still prone to failure. I want to be prepared for this eventuality. If interested.. PlantetAMD64

Thanks a ton!! I am still at my post here until Thursday.

Lar