installation failure via raid sata controller

I've been trying several times to install the public beta of Vista on my setup without much success. The installation process keeps crashing at different stages. The crashes are pretty serious, either blue screens or either setup crashes.
I somehow figured out how to install it in safe mode but then the whole installation failed later on. "winload.exe" seems to be corrupted after the installation.
My setup is the following: - Abit AV8 - AMD XP3200+ - 2 gigs of ram (tested of course) - 3 hd: 2 connected on SATA on the VIA raid controller + 1 connected on the IDE controller. My main boot drive is connected on the VIA raid controller.
My computer is rock stable... I have not had any crash on XP for many months, no blue screens, no strange crashes, etc. My guess is that the cause is the SATA Raid Controller, maybe the driver is too "beta"? I have not seen any update on VIA drivers... So what should I try to install Vista?
Thanks,
Erik.

I am sure you already thought of this, but just in case, are you loading your SATA drivers during the installation process?
-- Mark
Keeping the fun in dysfunctional!
"Erik Putrycz" wrote in message

I've been trying several times to install the public beta of Vista on my setup without much success. The installation process keeps crashing at different stages. The crashes are pretty serious, either blue screens or either setup crashes.
I somehow figured out how to install it in safe mode but then the whole installation failed later on. "winload.exe" seems to be corrupted after the installation.
My setup is the following: - Abit AV8 - AMD XP3200+ - 2 gigs of ram (tested of course) - 3 hd: 2 connected on SATA on the VIA raid controller + 1 connected on the IDE controller. My main boot drive is connected on the VIA raid controller.
My computer is rock stable... I have not had any crash on XP for many months, no blue screens, no strange crashes, etc. My guess is that the cause is the SATA Raid Controller, maybe the driver is too "beta"? I have not seen any update on VIA drivers... So what should I try to install Vista?
Thanks,
Erik.

Mark D. VandenBerg wrote:

I am sure you already thought of this, but just in case, are you loading your SATA drivers during the installation process?
How would I do that? WOuldn't windows do it for me?

Erik.

Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. So, at this point, simply take your floppy disk with the SATA drivers installed into the root of the disk and insert the disk into the floppy drive, click on the "Load Drivers" hyperlink, direct it to your floppy if you have to and, PRESTO, Bob's your uncle.
-- Mark
Keeping the fun in dysfunctional! "Erik Putrycz" wrote in message

Mark D. VandenBerg wrote: I am sure you already thought of this, but just in case, are you loading your SATA drivers during the installation process?
How would I do that? WOuldn't windows do it for me?
Erik.

Hmm, I shoulda caught this one when I saw it. I think I did have to manually load a SATA driver when I installed Vista.
"Mark D. VandenBerg" wrote in message

Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. So, at this point, simply take your floppy disk with the SATA drivers installed into the root of the disk and insert the disk into the floppy drive, click on the "Load Drivers" hyperlink, direct it to your floppy if you have to and, PRESTO, Bob's your uncle.
-- Mark
Keeping the fun in dysfunctional! "Erik Putrycz" wrote in message Mark D. VandenBerg wrote: I am sure you already thought of this, but just in case, are you loading your SATA drivers during the installation process?
How would I do that? WOuldn't windows do it for me?
Erik.

Mark D. VandenBerg wrote:

Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. My installation crashes most of times before that window unless I run the

install in safe-mode. Also would Vista take XP Sata drivers?
Erik.

SATA is starting to sound like a major issue with Vista.
I have an ABIT AV8 flashed to latest BIOS (27). This board has the Via SATA controller VT8237.
1. Vista installs OK onto an IDE drive 2. SATA drives not shown in explorer view 3. The SATA drives 'initialise' OK in disk management, I can create volumes and they are then shown in explorer view 4. Attempting to explore the drives, a popup says they need to be formatted, naturally 5. Can't format. Either the format window hangs or it finishes and then presents an error message at which time the drives again show as unitialised.
I am getting the impression here that we need to install the SATA drives manually. I'm perfectly happy to try that if someone can point me to the correct 64-bit drivers
cheers
"Erik Putrycz" wrote:

Mark D. VandenBerg wrote: Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. My installation crashes most of times before that window unless I run the install in safe-mode. Also would Vista take XP Sata drivers?
Erik.

Some Sata how to's (some earlier Vista Builds but same steps):
http://129.44.9.54:9087/CS/blogs/wes/archive/2006/02/27/186.aspx
All Credits go to Chris123NT of Winbeta for the steps below: http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t375782.html
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=495702&SiteID=1
"I tried to install Vista on a machine with 2 SATA drives, XP on the first, nothing on the second. The install process got to the first reboot, then failed. When I reboot, I have to quickly hit the up arrow to pick a boot menu entry called Older Version Windows. If I don't get the up arrow hit in time, Vista tries to boot but fails." Solved my own problem by gount to http://www.pro-networks.org/vistabootpro/intro.php and downloading VistaBootPro from Pro Networks. Installed and was able to change the default OS to the "Earlier Version of Windows" from "Windows Setup." Also changed the timout period to 30 seconds. Rebooted and all worked fine.
See if taking a look at these utilities helps you. They were used in the link above:
Take a look at
Easy BCD http://neosmart.net/blog/archives/185
and
Vista Boot Pro http://www.pro-networks.org/vistabootpro/intro.php
Coming soon VBP 2.0
Also see this:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=528303&SiteID=17
"Go to you mother board or drive controlers site and download the SATA drivers and the do the following
What you'll need to do is make a copy of the SATA Drivers and put them in the Root of a Floppy so that the Vista Install can grab the necessary drivers. Try and get signed drivers but if you can not, When you reach this stage you'll be presented with a blank window and a tick in a box that says something about ignoring unsigned drivers for Vista. Uncheck this box and select one of the available SATA drivers and then continue it should install without a problem."
Signed is Much better for the stability of your system
Good luck,
CH


"Tony*R" wrote in message

SATA is starting to sound like a major issue with Vista.
I have an ABIT AV8 flashed to latest BIOS (27). This board has the Via SATA controller VT8237.
1. Vista installs OK onto an IDE drive 2. SATA drives not shown in explorer view 3. The SATA drives 'initialise' OK in disk management, I can create volumes and they are then shown in explorer view 4. Attempting to explore the drives, a popup says they need to be formatted, naturally 5. Can't format. Either the format window hangs or it finishes and then presents an error message at which time the drives again show as unitialised.
I am getting the impression here that we need to install the SATA drives manually. I'm perfectly happy to try that if someone can point me to the correct 64-bit drivers
cheers
"Erik Putrycz" wrote:
Mark D. VandenBerg wrote: Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. My installation crashes most of times before that window unless I run the install in safe-mode. Also would Vista take XP Sata drivers?
Erik.

Tony and Eric--
I pasted this reference from Charlie Russell's blog on 64 bit:
NVidia RAID and SATA http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2005/09/25/67898.aspx
SATA Drives and F6 http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2005/06/11/52162.aspx
I thought it could be helpful and Charlie's blog is an excellent source of all sorts of information: http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/default.aspx
CH
"Tony*R" wrote in message

SATA is starting to sound like a major issue with Vista.
I have an ABIT AV8 flashed to latest BIOS (27). This board has the Via SATA controller VT8237.
1. Vista installs OK onto an IDE drive 2. SATA drives not shown in explorer view 3. The SATA drives 'initialise' OK in disk management, I can create volumes and they are then shown in explorer view 4. Attempting to explore the drives, a popup says they need to be formatted, naturally 5. Can't format. Either the format window hangs or it finishes and then presents an error message at which time the drives again show as unitialised.
I am getting the impression here that we need to install the SATA drives manually. I'm perfectly happy to try that if someone can point me to the correct 64-bit drivers
cheers
"Erik Putrycz" wrote:
Mark D. VandenBerg wrote: Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. My installation crashes most of times before that window unless I run the install in safe-mode. Also would Vista take XP Sata drivers?
Erik.

I tried the suggestions in one of Chad's links, viz:
1. Download latest drivers via_raid_v530c.zip from ViaArena
2. Extract relevant files to root of USB key /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.cat /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/VIAMRX64.INF /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.sys
3. Fresh install of Vista, click on "Load Drivers" at the screen that asks where you want to install
4. Complete installation
Trouble is, it didn't make a bit of difference. I am assuming that Vista picked the drivers up because it is reporting the the same version as described in the INF file (DriverVer=03/31/2006, 5.2.3790.530).
I still cannot initialise or format the drives properly.
Has ANYONE managed to get the Via SATA controller working correctly under Vista? I don't mind beating my head against a wall if I know that the pain will stop at some stage but this is becoming ludicrous.
Also, where do bug reports go? I've found a few in my travels and I may as well report them.
-- Abit AV8 3rd Eye, AMD64 3200+ 4GB Elixir DDR400 2 x Seagate 160GB IDE 2 x Seagate 320GB SATA Pioneer Dual Layer DVD Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT Dlink DWL-G520 108MB Wireless Winfast TV2000 Deluxe
"Chad Harris" wrote:

Tony and Eric--
I pasted this reference from Charlie Russell's blog on 64 bit:
NVidia RAID and SATA http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2005/09/25/67898.aspx
SATA Drives and F6 http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/archive/2005/06/11/52162.aspx
I thought it could be helpful and Charlie's blog is an excellent source of all sorts of information: http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64/default.aspx
CH
"Tony*R" wrote in message SATA is starting to sound like a major issue with Vista.
I have an ABIT AV8 flashed to latest BIOS (27). This board has the Via SATA controller VT8237.
1. Vista installs OK onto an IDE drive 2. SATA drives not shown in explorer view 3. The SATA drives 'initialise' OK in disk management, I can create volumes and they are then shown in explorer view 4. Attempting to explore the drives, a popup says they need to be formatted, naturally 5. Can't format. Either the format window hangs or it finishes and then presents an error message at which time the drives again show as unitialised.
I am getting the impression here that we need to install the SATA drives manually. I'm perfectly happy to try that if someone can point me to the correct 64-bit drivers
cheers
"Erik Putrycz" wrote:
Mark D. VandenBerg wrote: Not for SATA drives.
At some point in the installation process, you come to a window. On the window are several options, and near the bottom in light-blue type is "Load Drivers" which is self-explanatory. My installation crashes most of times before that window unless I run the install in safe-mode. Also would Vista take XP Sata drivers?
Erik.

I have installed both Vista x86 & x64 on VIA SATA, but not in a RAID configuration. No additional drivers were needed because the necessary drivers are in the Vista distribution.
Tony*R wrote:

I tried the suggestions in one of Chad's links, viz:
1. Download latest drivers via_raid_v530c.zip from ViaArena
2. Extract relevant files to root of USB key /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.cat /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/VIAMRX64.INF /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.sys
3. Fresh install of Vista, click on "Load Drivers" at the screen that asks where you want to install
4. Complete installation
Trouble is, it didn't make a bit of difference. I am assuming that Vista picked the drivers up because it is reporting the the same version as described in the INF file (DriverVer=03/31/2006, 5.2.3790.530).
I still cannot initialise or format the drives properly.
Has ANYONE managed to get the Via SATA controller working correctly under Vista? I don't mind beating my head against a wall if I know that the pain will stop at some stage but this is becoming ludicrous.
Also, where do bug reports go? I've found a few in my travels and I may as well report them.

John Boy
could you please:
1. Confirm you used the public Beta2 of x64 2. Post your hardware configuration, specifically m/board model and BIOS level 3. Were your drives formatted prior to installing Vista eg in a previous XP installation? Mine are totally unused and this may be part of the issue. 4. Please post the driver versions shown in device manager in Vista x64
Thanx -- Abit AV8 3rd Eye, AMD64 3200+ 4GB Elixir DDR400 2 x Seagate 160GB IDE 2 x Seagate 320GB SATA Pioneer Dual Layer DVD Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT Dlink DWL-G520 108MB Wireless Winfast TV2000 Deluxe
"John Boy" wrote:

I have installed both Vista x86 & x64 on VIA SATA, but not in a RAID configuration. No additional drivers were needed because the necessary drivers are in the Vista distribution.
Tony*R wrote: I tried the suggestions in one of Chad's links, viz:
1. Download latest drivers via_raid_v530c.zip from ViaArena
2. Extract relevant files to root of USB key /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.cat /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/VIAMRX64.INF /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.sys
3. Fresh install of Vista, click on "Load Drivers" at the screen that asks where you want to install
4. Complete installation
Trouble is, it didn't make a bit of difference. I am assuming that Vista picked the drivers up because it is reporting the the same version as described in the INF file (DriverVer=03/31/2006, 5.2.3790.530).
I still cannot initialise or format the drives properly.
Has ANYONE managed to get the Via SATA controller working correctly under Vista? I don't mind beating my head against a wall if I know that the pain will stop at some stage but this is becoming ludicrous.
Also, where do bug reports go? I've found a few in my travels and I may as well report them.

More likely the SATA drivers are in the firmware on your mobo, not in Vista.
"John Boy" wrote in message

I have installed both Vista x86 & x64 on VIA SATA, but not in a RAID configuration. No additional drivers were needed because the necessary drivers are in the Vista distribution.
Tony*R wrote: I tried the suggestions in one of Chad's links, viz:
1. Download latest drivers via_raid_v530c.zip from ViaArena
2. Extract relevant files to root of USB key /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.cat /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/VIAMRX64.INF /drvdisk/AMD64/2003x64/viamrx64.sys
3. Fresh install of Vista, click on "Load Drivers" at the screen that asks where you want to install
4. Complete installation
Trouble is, it didn't make a bit of difference. I am assuming that Vista picked the drivers up because it is reporting the the same version as described in the INF file (DriverVer=03/31/2006, 5.2.3790.530).
I still cannot initialise or format the drives properly.
Has ANYONE managed to get the Via SATA controller working correctly under Vista? I don't mind beating my head against a wall if I know that the pain will stop at some stage but this is becoming ludicrous.
Also, where do bug reports go? I've found a few in my travels and I may as well report them.