ASROCK Z87 EXTREME6 INTEL

miholmes wrote: Good Morning, I have a machine with this motherboard that I've used for gaming the last 3 years.  Unfortunately, the hard drive on it went and now I'm having a HECK of a time getting things setup again.  It's was originally setup with 2 SSDs in a raid configuration with the addition of another SSD for a cache drive and a 3 TB scratch drive.  It was built by CyberpowerPC. It's been great, but now I want to replace it with a single SSD, the cache SSD and the scratch drive.  And while I'm technical, I'm not a gaming rig wizard, nor a motherboard bios wizard.  I assume I need to change from RAID to ACHI, and I have done that and can get Windows 10 on the single SSD, I'm not able to get my cache and scratch drive plugged in and recognized. I have the documentation downloaded and have been going through it, but would anyone have some friendly advice or a guide that might help me out.  I would really like to get things up and running again.  Any help or direction is greatly appreciated.  I believe my issue is getting things set correctly in the BIOS...and it's a maze to me.  Smile

Your main mistake, sorry to say, was installing Windows 10 in AHCI mode.

Using a cache drive (SSD) as you said you did, known as Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT) or Accelerating the system, is a type of RAID array.

In order for that to function, the SATA mode must be set to RAID, and maintained in that mode.

Your description of the cache and scratch drive is confusing, since an SSD cache drive is used with a HDD, and when an SRT drive system is created out of the two drives, it is recognized as one drive by the OS. I assume the 3TB scratch drive is part of the SRT drive system, with another SSD?

If that is correct, an SRT drive system won't be recognized by the Intel IRST (RAID) software, or Windows, when the SATA mode is set to AHCI. You also must have the Intel IRST software installed, or any type of Intel RAID array, including an SRT drive, will not work.

You also mentioned "plugged in". Did you try moving the SATA data cables of the SRT drives to different SATA ports? Your board has four SATA ports provided by two ASMedia 1061 SATA controllers, that are independent of the Intel SATA ports. If either of the SRT drives are now connected to the ASMedia SATA ports, they won't function as an SRT drive.

If you have the single SSD for Windows 10 connected to an ASMedia SATA port, which will not support the Intel RAID software, you must connect it to an Intel SATA port.

Finally, if you have booted Windows in AHCI mode with the SRT drives connected to the board, the SRT drive system may have been corrupted. In theory the contents of the HDD should be fine, and is hopefully recognized in Windows. Is that correct?

We also have no idea what you may have done with those drives to get them working, or if they were even recognized by Windows 10. I'm sure you have booted Windows 10, which is when you discovered the SRT drive system was not recognized.

We can try to fix this for you, but I cannot guarantee the the SRT drive system will just pick up where it left off. You may need to create it again.

We also need all the questions I asked above to be answered, please.

This is the procedure to have an SRT/caching drive system again. The steps are in sequence and it is necessary to follow this sequence. You should read through it first completely, as there is some preparation involved. Preparation first.

Download the Intel IRST RAID software from your board's Windows 10 download page, the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and utility ver:14.5.0.1081. We don't know which version was being used before, but that should not matter. Don't install it yet.

http:////www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z87%20Extreme6/?cat=Download&os=Win1064

You also need to download the ASRock APP Shop program from the same download page, APP Shop ver:1.0.24. Install that right away, and run it. On the main Apps screen, find the Rapid SATA Switch Change program. Click on it, which will download and install it. Then run it to change to RAID mode, just follow the instructions on the screen.

When that is done, restart the PC into the UEFI/BIOS. Go to Advanced, Storage Configuration screen, and change the Intel SATA mode to RAID. You'll need to maintain the SATA mode as RAID. If you do a UEFI/BIOS clear, restore default values, or install a different UEFI/BIOS version, the Intel SATA mode will be set to AHCI. You must set the SATA mode to RAID before the PC boots the OS again.

After you set the SATA mode to RAID, be sure to Save and Exit the UEFI/BIOS, in the Exit screen. The PC should boot fine.

Once the PC boots, immediately run the Intel IRST RAID software installation program you downloaded. You'll need to restart the PC when that is done.

After the PC reboots, start the IRST software. There will be an entry in Control Panel for it, and also an entry in the Task Bar entry on the right side of Task Bar.

When the IRST software starts, click on the Status button at the top of the screen. That will show you if the SRT/cache drive is still working or not. Also in Windows Explorer, you will either see one drive, the SRT drive, or the HDD and caching SSD as separate entries. Plus the SSD OS drive, of course.

Let us know what happens after doing this, or if you have any questions or problems along the way.