Z97 Pro build turning disastrous: Need AHCI RAID help/advice. 3 days in & I'm dead

[msp1518]

I'm having a complete nightmare trying to build my system and have been at it for THREE DAYS. And am barely anywhere. My voice is shot from screaming so much. I cannot remember when I have been this stressed out.

System info:
ASUS Z97 Pro wifi MB with i7 CPU and Win7 64bit.

Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD installed on SATA Express port 1
DVD-ROM installed on SATA Express port 2
SATA 3 & 4 will be a RAID 0
SATA 5 & 6 will be a RAID 1

I read in numerous places I can use the SATA Express port as two SATA 6GB ports. If this is wrong someone please tell me!

(SATA ports 1-6 are Intel - SATA ports 7 & 8 are ASMedia and I want to avoid using them)

After four hours with Microsoft validating my Win7 (yes, four actual hours, including time between calls) I have found that something went wrong when I set up the BIOS and installed Windows.

It seems my being color blind may have screwed things up. I know I went in and set my SATAs to RAID mode and not AHCI. I SAVED when I exited. I was completely paranoid about this because four years ago I had to install Windows THREE times due to AHCI vs. RAID setup issues.

So I set it ro RAID, SAVED and exited. Then I installed Windows 7.

But Samsung Magician is showing me this...



WTH?! Not only is RAID not enabled, it doesn't think the drive is in AHCI mode either? :confused:

So I went into the BIOS and found despite my setting it to RAID, it reads AHCI...




WTF?!! I saved when I exited! And Samsung even tells me it is NOT in AHCI mode. ?????

Not only that, but for some reason my BIOS is missing Intel Rapid Storage Technology as an option where the manual says it should be.

The Manual...




And what I see in my BIOS...




Again... WTH?

Worse, I am color blind, so when I see what I think are gray vs. black buttons, I cannot even come close to telling which is ON or OFF.

I do see INTEL Rapid Storage Technology in the EZ Menu, but haven't a clue which is on or of!




Honestly, gents. I am ready to have a nervous breakdown. PLEASE someone help me.

Do I have to reinstall Windows 7 again? Everything I have ever read states the BIOS must be set to RAID before the windows install or there will be big trouble. If I don't ned to reinstall, what do I do?

My Samsung doesn't even see AHCI? Why?

Sorry to sound like a newbie. I think I need help in understanding the black/gray BIOS in the ASUS because I cannot see which is which. It all looks murky to me.

[Nate152]

Hello msp1518

If you just have one drive do not set it to raid set it to AHCI like you have it. Connect your ssd to one of the intel sata 6 ports not the sata express ports.

You might also want to check if you have the latest firmware installed.

In the bios it looks like you have the Intel Rapid Storage Technology to ON, have you installed the IRST driver?

Try setting the windows power plan to high performance and restart the Samsung magician, are there any changes?.

[msp1518]

Okay now I am really lost. I am getting conflicting advice in different forums. I have been told that since I will be installing a RAID on the system that Windows needs to be installed on the SSD with RAID already enabled in the BIOS.

It looks like I cannot installthe RST software or drivers because Microsft Framework 4.5 is missing???? I've no clue what that is about. Haven't run into it before and do not see a way to install it. Whatever the heck it is.

if I cannot use the SATA 1 & 2 ports I am down to just four INTEL SATA ports. So After the SSD and the DVD-ROM I can only do a RAID 0. No RAID 1. So that means I have no choice but to install a SATA card.

So basically I cannot use those SATA Express ports?

[Nate152]

Raid is when you run two identical ssd's together to increase performance, if you only have one ssd, setting raid will do nothing or even give you trouble. Please set the sata configuration to AHCI.

It's preferred to use the intel sata 3 ports. Although sata express should be backward compatible I would not recommend using the sata express ports.

The Microsoft framework 4.5 is a windows update, run the windows update and see if it installs the framework 4.5.

[msp1518]

Well I kinda know what a RAID is. I have had a RAID in my other systems for six years now. My last system, which I built four years ago, has a RAID 0 and a RAID 1. That is what I am upgrading from.

This current build will have exactly the same. But to save myself trouble I am only installing the SSD to get Windows running properly. I cant handle doing the two RAIDS as well. I tried that four years ago and it nearly killed me. It took me a week with at least three Windows installs before it was correct.
I have found the Framework and am going to install it now.

EDIT: Microsoft Framework is installed. Intel RST is installed. But Samsung Magician Software still says the SSD is not AHCI or RAID and therefore running incorrectly.

It says:

AHCI Mode ?
Deactivated (IDE or RAID)
AHCI Mode is required for the best SSD performance

And for SATA Interface is says N/A Unable to detect SATA interface details

[Nate152]

All right I'm not sure why the Samsung magician is not recognizing your ssd in ahci mode, in the bios set the sata configuration to ahci and reboot, maybe this will get it to recognize in ahci mode.

On the magician page to the left have you checked for a firmware update?

[msp1518]

I'm definitely not doing the firmware update. It's known to brick the drive. Actually Samsung pulled that update, so it's not an option.

I'm going to call their customer service shortly.

[OneMoar]

Hmm fire up regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services
look at the keys labeled "msachi" and "iastorv"
the "start" dword value for both sub-keys should be 0 if its not change it
also you may need to go to the device manger and uninstall the drive controllers and reboot
also you need to install intel RST for to setup the array
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24779/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver...

[msp1518]

I'm likely starting over. And get this, I just talked to ASUS. It didn't go well. Two different agents gave me completely different information!

One states that in the EZ Mode of the BIOS, Intel Rapid Storage Tech. is ON if the ON part is gray.

But no, the other technician said that ON is ON when it is black! WTF!

And they also gave conflicting information about the INTEL SATA Express ports (ports 1 & 2). One said don't use them. The other said it's clear they are also 2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports so I should install my SSD and DVD-ROM there and then my two RAIDS on SATA ports 3-6 (4 x SATA 6Gb/s from INTEL).

Are you kidding me? How in the hell am I supposed to continue when the company that made this MB is giving me conflicting information. I want to scream. Seriously. This is beyond bullsh!t.

[OneMoar]

those people read from a script you are better off talking to somebody here or on anouther forum such is techpowerup or anandtech
take a breath and do what I said to confirm that windows has ACHI enabled

try this config
isata-e-1 SSD
isata-e-2 n/a
sata-3 optical
sata 4+5 raid 0
asmedia (nothing wrong with the ASmedia controler)
7 and 8 RAID 1
and no 1 sata express does not equal two 6Gb when using both sata express ports they drop back to 3GB and as far as I know intel RST does not work with sata-e And sata-e to two sata 3 will not work for raid