Windows 7 drivers/support for 82801ER RAID controller

idata · ‎10-28-2009

I have a problem either doing a clean(custom install) or upgrade of Windows 7 on a Vista SP2 machine. I get the message:

"Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed."

It appears from searching Microsoft's forums that the problem is no support for my RAID controller even if the most current driver is installed as described in this thread:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/b8b5d971-c19c-42d6-9d40-d28508247e6b

My PC is a 5 and a half year old Dell Dimension XPS Gen2 (Dell mother board Model 0U2424) and Intel chipset i875P with a 82801ER SATA RAID controller and a Dell Bios version A03. It has a 3.2Ghz P-4 CPU and 4Gigs of RAM and performs VERY well for a machine this old.

Is there any hope of finding or ever seeing drivers from Intel or any other source that would allow me to install Windows 7 on this machine?

idata · ‎11-04-2009

JimG,

When I run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor at http://windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor http://windows.microsoft.com/upgradeadvisor it says "Not Compatible" and "The driver installed for this device is not compatible with Windows 7."

In Windows Vista Ultimate - Device Manager, under Storage Controllers -> Intel(R) 82801ER SATA RAID Controller -> Driver the version number listed is 5.5.0.1035 dated 10/12/2005. This probably explains the message above.

This chipset is also known as the Intel ICH5R (R = RAID) which appears (IMHO) to be supported under Windows 7 using the 8.9.0.1023 drivers dated 7/17/2009. The page for the Intel Series 5 driver download is http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Desktop+Chipsets&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+5+Series+Chipset http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Desktop+Chipsets&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+5+Series+Chipset When I installed Windows Vista Ultimate, I had to use the Intel 32-bit Floppy Configuration Utility with F6 during Windows Setup in order to have my RAID 0 disk recognized.

I would try the following (apart from the solution on the Microsoft link you posted):

Install the 8.9.0.1023 driver above in Windows Vista using Device Manager, reboot, then run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor again (to see if it reports being compatible).
Boot the Windows 7 DVD and use F6 option (if available) with the 8.9.0.1023 floppy to check if it recognizes the RAID0/1 disk and partition(s).
Backup all data (or install a new/blank SATA drive), remove the Intel RAID option in the BIOS (no CTRL+I) and attempt a SATA (non-RAID) install by booting the Windows 7 DVD.

I should be able to try Option 1 and post back.

idata · ‎11-04-2009

Alphastar,

When I look at the Intel 82801ER SATA RAID Controller Driver info in the control panel, I see:

version 3.5.0.2568 dated 6/17/2003 with "Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatability" as the digital signer and Intel as the provider.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor reports Status "unknown" for this device and "We don't have compatibility information about this device."

I would certainly like to hear the result of your experiments, and LOVE to hear that you had success.

Please report back.

Thanks for the interesting reply. I had lost hope.

idata · ‎11-07-2009

JimG,

Unfortunately, I don't think I have good news for you. After my post, I tried updating my driver in Windows Vista Ultimate with the 8.9.0.1023 version from Intel's site...Device Manager says "The best driver software for your device is already installed." Needless to say, Windows Update doesn't do anything either...so I decided to do some more digging.

I downloaded a bunch of the versions from http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+Matrix+Storage+Manager http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+Matrix+Storage+Manager After looking at the drivers from versions 5.5.0.1035, 5.7.0.1011, 7.0.0.1020 and 8.9.0.1023 (there are others too) I noticed the following:

The iaAHCI.* files support the newer ICH* chipsets. The relevant ICH5R driver files are:

iaStor.cat = signed Windows GUI driver catalog

iaStor.inf = text file describing registry entries, PCI vendor IDs, etc.

iaStor.sys = driver

TXTSETUP.OEM = text file for Windows DOS/Setup installer

Starting from 5.7.0.1011, the iaStor.sys driver shrinks from 854KB to 245KB and the driver supports just ICH6* and ICH7* chipsets (compared TXTSETUP.OEM wiith 5.5.0.1023 version). My guess is, even if you were to mix and match the versions (violating the license agreement), the iaStor.sys file would not support ICH5R.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I also remember seeing a ReadMe that indicated that 5.5.0.1035 would be the last version to support the ICH5R chipset.

Perhaps someone with more skill directly related to Windows drivers might have an alternative...or maybe Intel/Microsoft will give in and support the older ICH5R on Windows 7.

idata · ‎11-07-2009

Alphastar,

I was afraid you would not have good news.

I did a little more digging, too. I found this discouraging info:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18246&ProdId=2578&lang=eng

I have no idea if any of these discontinued boards use the chipset/RAID controller we are concerned with, but it certainly looks like Intel is not in the mood to work on older stuff.

Can you say "Planned Obsolescence"?!

idata · ‎11-18-2009

So true.

I wonder if it applies to the servers using this chipset as well? I discovered that the Dell PowerEdge SC1420 (Adaptec CERC SATA1.5/6ch) and the HP ProLiant ML150 G5 (HP Embedded G5 SATA RAID Controller) also uses the ICH5R 82801ER chipset (or some variant); which leads me to wonder if (the Windows 7 -based) Windows Server 2008 R2 would install...or if the server OS is also left in the cold.

At any rate, I was able to find (one of?) the listing(s) for which drivers support which chipsets - http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-020826.htm http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imst/sb/CS-020826.htm

idata · ‎11-18-2009

Alphastar,

Thanks for the new info, but it's too late.

I gave up and installed Windows 7 on another disk drive I already had in my PC - a Barracuda that was used for video editing, but is now not really needed for that. I was then able to turn off the RAID configuration and format the two drives that had been my primary drive under RAID 0. So, I have not lost the use of any hardware....just a different configuration.

Windows 7 is quite impressive, and I am a happy camper....sort of.

Thanks again for you efforts.

idata · ‎11-20-2009

I have the same computer and same problem. Did you give up on RAID and just use the previous RAID array as non-RAID disks?

idata · ‎11-21-2009

Kurtsimon,

Yes - see my last post.

idata · ‎11-28-2009

Thanks for the reply and excuse my density. So you used the IDE hard drive for C: and the SATA drives on the RAID controller in non-RAID configuration (D: and E:?) and were able to install Windows 7?

idata · ‎11-28-2009

Kurtsimon,

Yes - I had to use the options in the Windows 7 setup/install procedure to point to the IDE drive and do a clean install to it, and fiddle around with the BIOS settings to point to it as the primary drive to get it to boot windows from there. Then I was able to get Windows 7 to recognize the two ex-RAID drives, format them, and use them (actually as my G and H drives since I had partitioned the IDE drive into C,D,E,F). I also had to use the tricks that are out there on the web to get the clean install of Windows 7 (from my Upgrade) to be activated. Use google to find them. There are several ways to do it, and one of them will probably work.

idata · ‎11-29-2009

Thanks, JimG. I'm on my way.

idata · ‎05-29-2010

This is a little late but I was able to get RAID to work on my Dell XPS Dimension Gen 2. The drivers are not Windows 7 drivers, but they work. I downloaded the '32-bit Floppy Configuration Utility for Intel® Matrix Storage Manager version 5.5.0.1035' from the Intel site, located here:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=15599&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Professional&lang=eng http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=15599&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Professional&lang=eng

After creating the floppy disk, I set up a RAID0 array using CTRL-I at boot time (since I installed two new drives) and booted from the Win 7 DVD. It looked like the install was going to hang as it sat on the Win 7 dove wallpaper for a few minutes with just a mouse pointer, but it eventually got going. When the installation started, it informed me it could not find the driver for the RAID controller and prompted to search for one. I put in the floppy and it showed one SATA RAID controller in the list. However, it showed the wrong one so I unchecked the box that limits the display to showing what Win 7 thinks is compatible. With the full list of controllers displayed, I picked the 82801ER and off it went, nice clean install with no problems.

FWIW, I have the latest BIOS installed (A06).

Hope this helps anyone still looking to put Win 7 on their XPS Dimension Gen 2 with RAID enabled. It's worth it.

idata · ‎07-25-2010

Installed Windows 7 recently.

The motherboard is an Abit IS7 with 82801ER RAID controller.

Followed dlewisfl' instructions - downloaded the drivers that he linked to.

Booted with my Windows 7 DVD - and after loading the RAID drivers - was able to see all my previous partitions under XP.

Deleted my boot partition but wasn't able to install Windows 7

Rebooted - and booted the Windows 7 DVD once again - chose the correct RAID driver - and now I was able to install Windows 7 on my previous XP partition.

Voila!

Everything works - and I am a happy camper 😉

Definitely worth it - give it a try! (if you are worried about your current partitions/files - backup is probably a good way to go - better safe than sorry )

idata · ‎04-16-2011

dlewisfl...after 8 hours of troubleshooting, your post saved me!!!!!!!!! Thank you....and then because of my graphics card, I spent another 3 hours diagnosing a framebuf BSOD error....but it's now working!!!!

idata · ‎04-21-2011

Excelente!!! despues de dias sin exito, encontre tu post y funciona a la perfeccion

¿por que intel no pone esto en la placa D875PBZ?

te felicito y mil gracias, ya estaba a punto de rendirme

instalacion exitosa windows 7 32 bits en mb intel d875pbz raid 0 de 1 tb 4 gb ram

saludos

idata · ‎09-22-2011

dlewisfl, tanks!

idata · ‎12-11-2011

Hi,

I tried to use the utility to create the driver files to a floppy disk. Unfortunately I could not get the tool to work. I keep getting various errors about not supported structure. I tried formatting the disk couple of times, but no help there. I even tried mapping a network folder as A:, but that didn't help either. Would somebody be so kind as to put the files up somewhere for a little while so I could give Win8 a try on my old PC. Thanks.

idata · ‎01-13-2012

Hi there blend.

Here you go - I've uploaded the driver files to megaupload

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IRBK6D51 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IRBK6D51

Let me know if it fails to work

idata · ‎03-08-2012

I'm too running into the issue with Windows 8. Fortunately, I'm installing it on a computer I don't really use anymore and I don't mind wiping all content on the drives. So my issue is that I'm trying to disable the RAID drive completely and use the hard drives as just normal SATA drives; I thought that this would allow me to install them without having to go through that problem.

Here's the deal though, I went into the Storage Manager and told it to remove them both from RAID (erasing data... which was fine). However, it's still giving me issues because of the RAID. If I disable the RAID in BIOS, I don't have the drives show up at all. I realize this is probably just me missing something, so I'm hoping someone can help me out here - in a typical BIOS, how would I disable RAID and get the drives to just show up in SATA? I know every BIOS is slightly different, but what should I be looking for? I know that the drives will likely need to be formatted again - is their some sort of utility that I should run before Windows 8? I assumed Windows 8 could format them (previous versions of Windows could) but it won't do me any good if they don't show up at all.

I guess the other thing I might be missing is in the way the drives are hooked up internally. Are there cables that I should be switching internally to get them to run as normal SATA instead of off the RAID? I wasn't thinking there would be, but honestly I'm not ultra familiar with RAID setups (I'm pretty computer-literate past that, but I've not really messed with RAIDs a whole lot).

So... any help you can get is very much appreciated!

Thanks!

idata · ‎03-12-2012

Hi WaterOz

Every motherboard is different - and very often the BIOS too..

Best guess is to find (or download) the manual for your motherboard, and follow the guidelines in there.

As for the drives - you could remove one of the drives - so you're no longer in RAID setup.

(you will still have to change the settings in BIOS though).

If it's IDE hard drives - remember to set the dip switch to master (or CS - cable select).

Wish you luck

Message was edited by: steyrs