So I'm trying to set up RAID 0 on my Gigabyte P35-DS3R. I've changed the controller to "on" in the BIOS and I've been doing my darndest to get into the configuration utility. And my computer is doing its darndest to ignore my keyboard and any input it's giving. Apparently "delete" is ok to get into BIOS, but "ctrl i" is off-limits. I get one function light on the keyboard during the basic boot which almost immediately turns off, so I'm guessing it's getting no power at all. I've tried all the USB ports. Am I fucked or being stoopid and doing something wrong?

4/18/2010 12:37:54 AM

how old is the mobo? any ps/2 input for keyboard?

4/18/2010 12:45:36 AM

It's about 2 years old. There are PS/2 inputs, but I don't think there's an old keyboard like that in the house.

4/18/2010 12:50:13 AM

any interesting settings in the BIOS relating to USB?

4/18/2010 12:59:45 AM

Well, I haven't checked. The boot screen says that the only hardware that's "on" are hard drives and disk drives, but that doesn't explain the lights on the keyboard.

messing with the bios settings seems to have fixed it. thanks for the help

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 1:06 AM. Reason : woot]

4/18/2010 1:01:51 AM

4/18/2010 1:25:32 AM

Of course, now that that issue is fixed, my Windows 7 activation key does not work.

4/18/2010 2:44:28 AM

Is it an upgrade key?

4/18/2010 2:52:09 AM

Godfuckingdammit, it is the upgrade. I could have sworn I got the "new install" disk. I can't simply install Win7 on my new RAID now, can I? Is it possible to exchange activation keys with Microsoft?

4/18/2010 2:58:28 AM

Nope, they'll make you pay for the full version.

I'd google a bit before giving up, tho. There are some probable ways around it, if the key hasn't been fully activated yet.

4/18/2010 3:03:56 AM

Yeah, I've yet to use it. I got the el-inexpensivo student version back in December and had been waiting on setting up RAID to install it. Anybody have an old version of XP I could borrow so I can upgrade the damn thing right away?

4/18/2010 3:19:09 AM

You can do a clean install with the upgrade disk.
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

4/18/2010 12:24:13 PM

^^ You can't upgrade from WinXP to Win7.

There are a bunch of tutorials for using the upgrade media for a clean install (and without clicking the link above, I'd imagine that's what darkone has linked you to)

4/18/2010 1:54:32 PM

^ yes you can

4/18/2010 8:38:16 PM

^^ pretty sure you can

format c:\

4/18/2010 8:40:30 PM

Dont do raid 0

4/19/2010 9:06:35 AM

Quote :

"Dont do raid 0"

4/19/2010 12:46:26 PM

Why not? You have a better option for two identical hard drives? I'm not buying any more computer stuff for a while.

4/19/2010 11:21:26 PM

Here is the list of everything RAID0 is good at:
1. Doubling the chance you lose all your data


Just leave them as basic disks or do RAID1 if you want redundancy.

[Edited on April 19, 2010 at 11:50 PM. Reason : a]

4/19/2010 11:37:53 PM

Everything that I need will be backed up already, probably in more than one place.

4/19/2010 11:50:33 PM

Sounds like you may be a glutton for punishment here.

4/20/2010 11:16:07 AM

You guys are full of shit. RAID 0 is great. I ran it in a 3 drive array on my home machine (u360), and I run it on servers at work that require high degrees of disk performance (when they dont support RAID 10) as long as they are routinely backed up.

Worst case scenario, you lose a drive, you buy another, you rebuild and restore.

For the performance, its generally worth the risk.

of course, this assumes it is hardware raid. If it isnt hardware, dont bother.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 12:06 PM. Reason : .]

4/20/2010 12:05:20 PM

Quote :

"Worst case scenario, you lose a drive, you buy another, you rebuild and restore."

Please explain how you rebuild a Raid 0? If you lose a disk, you lose the data ON that disk. There is no parity.

4/20/2010 12:27:21 PM

I think he means he restores from a backup image or from backup data that's kept on a separate system. That's probably fine if you're ok with taking the down time to restore the image.

4/20/2010 1:25:58 PM

hahaha


what a dumbass

4/20/2010 1:26:23 PM

i think he meant lose all the data, rebuild a blank array, then restore everything from backup.

4/20/2010 1:26:23 PM

^exactly... not what I would do but I suppose you could do it.

4/20/2010 1:37:00 PM

yea its not really worth it especially when the performance gains are non-existant for desktop use.

4/20/2010 1:55:54 PM

The hell they arent. Most of you have never taken the time to actually benchmark tests. When I built my super machine years back, I literally rebuilt it 3 and 4 times, running exhaustive benchmarks. The performance difference was substancial. It all depends on what you are doing, of course. If you are an iPad user, then yes, I doubt you'll need much performance out of a PC.

And yes, when I mean 'rebuild' the array, I mean recreate the array and restore. Obviously you dont rebuild (and self repair) a RAID 0 setup.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 2:05 PM. Reason : .]

4/20/2010 2:03:48 PM

All of this discussion is rather moot until I figure out how to install Windows 7 with my upgrade DVD.

Shaggy, I will gladly set up some other form of RAID if you want to buy me more drives.

4/20/2010 5:38:02 PM

Quote :

"Most of you have never taken the time to actually benchmark tests."

Most people are too busy using their computers, not watching Prime95, 3DMark, and HDTune run for hours on end.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/1371/11

Quote :

"All of this discussion is rather moot until I figure out how to install Windows 7 with my upgrade DVD."

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

Method #3 works great (and was linked earlier in the thread by darkone.)

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 6:53 PM. Reason : Also, don't do RAID0]

4/20/2010 6:51:21 PM