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Taichi x399 cannot install windows in RAID mode
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daddyo View Drop Down
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    Posted: 30 Oct 2017 at 12:04pm
Dear forum,

I've been trying to install windows on a single SSD while my SATA mode is in RAID. The reason why I am in RAID, is because I later want to build a RAID with other disks, but keep my windows install on a separate physical drive.

In RAIDXpert, I created an array and associated, and initialized the physical disc to it. The disc shows as "online" in "View Associated Physical Disks", but I noticed the menu option next to it always reverts to "Disabled". I can set it to ENABLED, but that setting never saves, apparently. I don't know if that is an issue.

At any rate, I do not see any bootable drives in my boot options, which I assume is because I would need to inject the RAID drivers at install. I got the lastest drivers from Asrock's site and placed then on a USB stick.

Then I booted with my bootable Windows 10 USB media to begin install. At the drive selection screen, still no drive showing. I find the drivers by browsing my other USB disc, and install them. I can now see the drive, but Windows has a message under the drive selection options saying it cannot install to that drive and that I should check my setting in BIOS.


Am I doing something wrong? I was able to install windows on this drive in normal SATA mode, so I know  the drive is working ok. If I switch to RAID mode, however, the boot partition is no longer visible, so I'm assuming I need to install Windows on this single drive while in RAID mode.

I would appreciate any help!
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parsec View Drop Down
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Originally posted by daddyo daddyo wrote:

Dear forum,

I've been trying to install windows on a single SSD while my SATA mode is in RAID. The reason why I am in RAID, is because I later want to build a RAID with other disks, but keep my windows install on a separate physical drive.

In RAIDXpert, I created an array and associated, and initialized the physical disc to it. The disc shows as "online" in "View Associated Physical Disks", but I noticed the menu option next to it always reverts to "Disabled". I can set it to ENABLED, but that setting never saves, apparently. I don't know if that is an issue.

At any rate, I do not see any bootable drives in my boot options, which I assume is because I would need to inject the RAID drivers at install. I got the lastest drivers from Asrock's site and placed then on a USB stick.

Then I booted with my bootable Windows 10 USB media to begin install. At the drive selection screen, still no drive showing. I find the drivers by browsing my other USB disc, and install them. I can now see the drive, but Windows has a message under the drive selection options saying it cannot install to that drive and that I should check my setting in BIOS.


Am I doing something wrong? I was able to install windows on this drive in normal SATA mode, so I know  the drive is working ok. If I switch to RAID mode, however, the boot partition is no longer visible, so I'm assuming I need to install Windows on this single drive while in RAID mode.

I would appreciate any help!


Which UEFI/BIOS version are you using? The latest, 1.70?

The RAID drivers from your board's download page, SATA Floppy Image ver:9.0.0.88 and AMD RAID driver ver:9.00.00.088? You must have UEFI version 1.70 to use those RAID driver versions. Not clear to me is that is the case.

Your description is confusing to me. You want to install Windows on a single, non-RAID SSD. But you also created an array in "RAIDXpert" (must be RAIDXpert2 with X399), which must be in Windows. Or is that in the UEFI/BIOS RAID utility?

So you tried to install Window 10 on the single SSD, but with a RAID array also connected to the board? Is that right?

The AMD RAID "drivers" you refer to, there are two separate driver downloads and two drivers are installed during the Windows installation, in two driver load steps. It's not clear to me if you installed two drivers in two steps.

There are two places to enable RAID in your UEFI, have you done both?

It does not make sense that a non-RAID drive would not be shown in a Windows install. But I'm not sure if you have the RAID array and the single SSD connected at the same time. Also not sure which UEFI version you have, so we need to get all the questions I've asked clear before we can continue, please.
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MisterJ View Drop Down
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daddyo, I think you may be having a symptom of what I am seeing.  Please see my post at the end of this thread and the reply from free-eagle: http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=6152&PN=5&title=asrock-x399-taichi-m2-nvme-ssd-raid
Here is something you can try but no guarantee:  When you can see the drive you wish to install W10 on, hit Shift-F10.  This should give you an Administrator command prompt.  Type Diskpart to open the disk utility.  Please be warned it is not for the faint of heart.  Type List Disk and find the disk number to install on.  Type Select Disk # where # is the disk number.  Do another List Disk and make sure that the disk you want has an asterisk on the left (selected).  Now be brave and type Clean.  When you hit enter Diskpart will clean your disk - asking nothing, telling you nothing except disk cleaned successfully.  Please ask questions if you have any.
parsec, what two places ,"There are two places to enable RAID in your UEFI, have you done both?".
Good luck and enjoy, John.
Fat1 X399 Pro Gaming, TR 1950X, RAID0 3xSamsung SSD 960 EVO, G.SKILL FlareX F4-3200C14Q-32GFX, Win 10 x64 Pro, Enermx Platimax 850, Enermx Liqtech TR4 CPU Cooler, Radeon RX580, BIOS 2.00, 2xHDDs WD
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daddyo View Drop Down
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Hey Parsec,

Thanks for responding in such detail, it is VERY appreciated!!

Your questions are on point. My UEFI vesion is 1.70. And am using the RAID driver version you mention. I did find the note about that, and anyways I habitually update the BIOS to the latest available version when I build a computer.

As for the RAIDXpert2 comment, there is a section in the BIOS with the name...

Regarding for the RAID driver install process, you are correct, I did have to perform a two step driver load (from my USB drive) in order for my SSD drive to become listed. You mention RAID needs to be enabled in two places, which are they?
As far as I know, I have enabled RAID in the Storage settings page, created an array under the first controller, and set my single SSD drive in there as a "volume", which to my understanding is a JBOD type configuration.


When I attempted this, I only had two SATA devices connected: a dvdROM (I rip my bluRay discs to build a movie library), and my intended system SSD. Ultimately, here is my desired system configuration, which perhaps you can tell me whether I can even manage with this chipset alone:

- 1x BLURAY drive (hooked up at time of post and visible in BIOS))
- 1xSSD Boot OS (Hooked up at time of posting and visible in BIOS)
- 1xpcie NVME SSD for cache drive
- 2xSSD in RAID 1 for data
- 2xHDD in RAID 1 for lots of data


I figured I would connect the other drives and create the two RAID arrays once my OS was installed, because that's a crucial step. 
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daddyo View Drop Down
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Hey Mister J,

Thanks for showing me this. I read the thread, and what I am concluding is that the RAID system in general may not be very robust. 

This person is trying to keep one drive out of the array, which isn't exactly unusual, and is having a hard time with the install. Ultimately, I'd like to have 2 separate RAID 1 arrays (2x2 disks), a single boot drive for Windows, a single PCIE NVME SSD for a cache, and my BLU RAY drive. This system is for video editing, hence the use for so many drives. Am I expecting too much? This is my first time with an AMD system, and coming from building Intel workstations, I know it is feasible on the latter.

I will try to use diskpart under DOS, as per your suggestion. Maybe that might change something. 
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MisterJ View Drop Down
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daddyo, that person is me and I am in contact with AMD support.  I suspect you are very correct on the RAID implementation.  I think free-eagle is saying to enable RAID, as you did, then open Array Management and use Delete Array to delete all drives (arrays).  You may have no arrays, but Delete Array will definitely delete all your data from a disk.  Obviously be sure you have a copy of the data.  Then use Create Array to make your array(s).  After this, install W10 on a lone drive (try diskpart, as I suggested).  For me he was saying after installing W10 on my 2 SSD RAID0, then go into W10 and copy my data back to my lone device.  I suspect I would need to do a Clean to be able to use this last SSD outside a RAID.  I do not know if any of this will work and have concluded that we, as users, need to do some of this testing.  I have an open ticket with AMD and will wait for their reply.  I have asked them to try what I did and see if they have the reboot problem.  Will keep all informed via the other thread.  Please let us hear any experiences.  Thanks and enjoy, John.
Fat1 X399 Pro Gaming, TR 1950X, RAID0 3xSamsung SSD 960 EVO, G.SKILL FlareX F4-3200C14Q-32GFX, Win 10 x64 Pro, Enermx Platimax 850, Enermx Liqtech TR4 CPU Cooler, Radeon RX580, BIOS 2.00, 2xHDDs WD
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Kevin A View Drop Down
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Certainly not to be argumentative but...If you are configuring your system to be used as a production/professional/workstation/etc... - then it is possible to find one never uses the 'on-board' raid option the standard motherboards have offered over the decades. All of them come across as 'sub-par/gimmicky' to me. - again just to 'me'.

I understand it is an additional expense but you may find you are better served if you were to purchase a professional/workstation grade RAID controller. The benefits are numerous but include better performance /rebuilds /reconstructions /polling /consistency checks as well as raid level options. I currently have an LSI Mega RAID 9000 series in my Ryzen 1800x build. But own others in different systems.

Edited by Kevin A - 31 Oct 2017 at 9:15pm
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MisterJ View Drop Down
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Well, Kevin A, to each his/her own.  I had a LSI PCIe RAID controller some years ago and it was a disaster, not even warning me that the battery was dead.  If one is interested in pure speed and does not care about losing data (no RAID5), then the onboard RAID should be considered.

https://community.amd.com/community/gaming/blog/2017/10/02/now-available-free-nvme-raid-upgrade-for-amd-x399-chipset

The AMD implementation right now is bad and there is little documentation.  I hope it is fixed soon.
Thanks for your comments.  Enjoy, John.
Fat1 X399 Pro Gaming, TR 1950X, RAID0 3xSamsung SSD 960 EVO, G.SKILL FlareX F4-3200C14Q-32GFX, Win 10 x64 Pro, Enermx Platimax 850, Enermx Liqtech TR4 CPU Cooler, Radeon RX580, BIOS 2.00, 2xHDDs WD
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daddyo View Drop Down
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I'm actually looking at one of those LSI RAID cards as an alternative in case I can't get this build going from the motherboard chipset alone. 

Coming from Intel platforms, I have been able to get good enough performance for a light duty editing workstation for HD footage from the onboard RAID chipsets.  With a handful of SSD, you can go a long way. Also, it would be nice not to have to spring another $400 bucks!

I'll be reporting in the next few days on my success or failure with this. I want to be a supporter of AMD's efforts to make a high end/ power user platform, but for a $1,000 CPU I would expect the high end features on the chipset to be reliable and available, as they are on Intel. Maturity is a factor, but again, I expect a lot of care being put in a high end platform.



Edited by daddyo - 01 Nov 2017 at 6:36am
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parsec View Drop Down
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I see no reason for you to create any RAID array before you install Windows. You should only have the target OS drive in the PC when installing Windows. Otherwise the Windows installer will put the System/Boot partition on another available drive. Or try to in the case of your unformatted RAID array, which will most likely fail.

You still must set the SATA mode to RAID before you install Windows, and since you are using the 1.70 UEFI version, you MUST install the two RAID drivers you have. You can create the RAID arrays using the latest Windows RAIDXpert2 software you will install after Windows is installed.

Since the OS drive is not a RAID array, and should NOT be initialized for RAID in any way, it should be recognized by Windows as simply a SATA drive. That is unless the new AMD RAID has some strange requirement that all drives be initialized for use in a RAID array. I installed Windows 10 on an NVMe SSD with the SATA mode set to RAID on my Ryzen board, but then NVMe is not SATA.

Are you also aware of the requirements for the version of Windows 10 you must use with the new AMD NVMe compatible RAID drivers? That is Windows 10 64bit Build 1703. More information on this page:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/NVMe-RAID-Support-for-the-AMD-Ryzen-Threadripper-platform.aspx

The other place to enable RAID should be in the screen below, in the UEFI. I can only use the manual as a reference but this is at worst the general location:

Advanced\AMD CBS\FCH Common Options\SATA Configuration Options.
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