Boot problems after SATA card ?

[BuckSkin]

I have had a Vantec PCI 6-port SATA card working flawlessly for years.
Yesterday, I installed a second identical card; Vantec 6-Port SATA II 150 PCI Host Card w/RAID
Model: UGT-ST310R

I don't want any type of RAID; I just want all of my drives to work as independent drives.
Whoever wrote the descriptions and such in the configuration menu was a specialist in confusion and not making common sense.

Once installed, from the get-go, during the boot sequence, I have to "Strike F1", at which point it may go on into Windows and other times my only recourse is a forced shutdown and start over.
It says there are certain disks it cannot find; I don't know why not, they are there and connected.

Somehow, maybe on account of this second card, in RAID Configuration, F4 I think it is, there are four choices and the third choice was selected "RAID on" (as best I remember); nothing else was working, so I changed this selection to "Legacy"; that seemed to help but I still have to press F1 to get past the boot screen and into Windows.

I had some HDDs that, when connected, one at a time or all of them, it would not boot at all and I would have to force shutdown and unplug them to get it to boot.

Still having to press F1 with every boot.

I then tried something with the HDDs whose being connected were not allowing it to boot at all --- I got it booted into Windows --- and then, one by one, I connected them --- sort of Hot Swap style.
Nothing untoward happened, no smoke nor crashing OS.
Each HDD/drive showed up in Explorer as I connected them; the drive letters and names were correct and I could access all data just like normal.


Now, please tell me how I am going to fix this "Strike F1 to continue" business.
Thanks for reading.

- - - Updated - - -

UPDATE after being up all night with it.....

Okay, I kept messing with it until I no longer have to do the "Strike F1 to Continue" thing.

It now boots into Windows no problem --- so long as I have all the HDDs on the new card disconnected during boot.

If the new card has even a single HDD connected, I get 00/1F/2:Error Allocating Upper Memory Block for PCI Device"and the boot progress stops there.

I can force shutdown, unhook the second cards HDDs, and it will then boot fine.
Once Windows is up and running, I can one-by-one reconnect the second cards HDDs, Windows will treat them the same as when I plug in a Flash Drive or Memory Card by opening a new Explorer window to that HDD/drive, complete with the proper assigned letter.

From this point, I can go on with business as usual.

I tried both cards in both slots in all configurations and the behavior is the same; so, I believe I can rule out faulty card or faulty slot.

I searched that Error and the only thing I came up with that makes sense is THIS

The gist of what I found is this: "The error occurs when attempting to use multiple PCI cards of the same type, including video, audio or Network cards. The system is unable to allocate DMA, I/O addresses or IRQ's across the multiple PCI\PCIe devices."

My understanding is that this is a DELL thing.

I have had no luck in finding a way around this behavior when two identical cards are installed.

If anyone knows a solution, I am all ears.

Although somewhat annoying, I do have a workaround = as the second card's HDDs are mounted externally, whenever I need to Restart, I first disconnect those HDDs and then plug them back in one-by-one once the OS is up and running.

Not the best scenario, but I seldom ever Restart.

Thanks for reading.

 

[file3456]

Do these hard drive have more the one operating system on them?

It's an Optiplex 780?

 

[BuckSkin]

Do these hard drive have more the one operating system on them?

It's an Optiplex 780?

Yes; DELL Optiplex 780 tower.

The main mother-board-connected SSD has always had two OS on it and has never been a problem before.
The HDD on either card are simple storage.

I looked at the IRQ of both cards in Device Manager and as best I can determine they are different.
I have not yet checked the IRQ in BIOS; if the IRQ are different in Device Manager, could they yet be identical in BIOS ?

It boots fine so long as no HDD are connected to the second card.
HDD connected to the first/original card do not affect startup.
Once it gets past startup, it accepts up to four HDD being connected to the second card and all works seamlessly.

 

[samuria]

You need to check irq,dma, iooutput mboth cards may be using the same stting some board may give you option to change setting

 

[BuckSkin]

You need to check irq,dma, iooutput mboth cards may be using the same stting some board may give you option to change setting

Thanks; I will investigate just as soon as I get this bit of work finished and post back with my findings.

 

[file3456]

Yes; DELL Optiplex 780 tower.

I'll have a look in the BIOS of my Optiplex 780 and see if I can tell what might be wrong. Other than that, I'm wondering if different partition schemes would be a factor? Are they all MBR?

Reset BIOS to defaults following this guide. I'd also make sure the BIOS is updated. If you have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) use that on the computer while flashing the BIOS!


You're just using internal ports? There is a jumper and by default the external eSATA ports are disabled. You can only use four HDDs at a time. See screenshots.











The driver appears to be for RAID only.




You shouldn't need the driver for legacy operation. I'm assuming by Vantec's use of the word "legacy" they mean non-RAID and just straight up using each drive individually like your intention.

Manual under the support section.


Due note that PCI (not PCIe) has waaaay less bandwidth than PCIe. So you're hard drive performance may suffer with many hard drives (4 per card?) on one card being used all the time. It appears the desktop version of the 780 has two PCIe slots (1x and 16x). So I'd use those instead of the legacy old PCI spec. Again, all those hard drives are going to saturate the living hell out of the bandwidth capability of PCI. The south bridge (Now called the PCH (Platform Controller Hub) may suffer too...Intel 82Q45 Graphics and Memory Controller Hub Product Specifications

What are the drive options when you press F4? Probably need to just use legacy.

 

[BuckSkin]

I'll have a look in the BIOS of my Optiplex 780 and see if I can tell what might be wrong.

Thanks; that would be great.

Other than that, I'm wondering if different partition schemes would be a factor? Are they all MBR?

All are MBR to the best of my knowledge.

Reset BIOS to defaults following this guide. I'd also make sure the BIOS is updated. If you have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) use that on the computer while flashing the BIOS!

And, if I don't have a UPS ?

You're just using internal ports?

On the first card, I am using the internal ports.
On the second card, two internal and two external eSATA, mostly to keep so many wires from inside the case.

It appears the desktop version of the 780 has two PCIe slots (1x and 16x). So I'd use those instead of the legacy old PCI spec.

I have a video card in the 16x and a USB3.0 card in the 1x.

What are the drive options when you press F4? Probably need to just use legacy.

There are four options; the first three are RAID options(as best I can understand) and the fourth option is Legacy.
For whatever reason, my machine was set on the third option, "RAID On" or something like that; during my efforts to fix the situation, I did switch it to Legacy and I have not switched it back.

When you look in your BIOS, I hope you can find a way around this:
"The error occurs when attempting to use multiple PCI cards of the same type, including video, audio or Network cards. The system is unable to allocate DMA, I/O addresses or IRQ's across the multiple PCI\PCIe devices."

I currently have it booting into Windows so long as none of the HDDs on the second card are connected.

If I can't get this set-up running like I want, I have been reading that I can use a PCIe 1x splitter and put my USB3.0 card on one leg and a SATA card on another.
From what I read, a USB card and a SATA card should not overwhelm the bandwidth of PCIe 1x.
But this brings about another conundrum = how and where to mount the two cards so the ports will be available.
The only "windows to the outside" I have are the ones directly in line with the four expansion slots.


I really appreciate you guys helping me with this.

 

[file3456]

I have yet to look in my 780's BIOS. But I have a felling it won't shed much light about your issue. I'd start by following those instructions on resetting the BIOS. And I'd make sure the legacy option is on for the cards. The three former options as you described them sound to me like RAID array types. Since you're not running any two or more drives in a RAID configuration, the most prudent option to use would be their legacy option given in the boot up options. I'm hoping that by resetting the BIOS, proper IRQ reservations can be obtained.

And, if I don't have a UPS ?

Not entirely necessary, and most people don't even use one when they flash the BIOS. But do know if out of the blue you get a sudden power loss or hiccup the BIOS flash will brick your motherboard... well, the CMOS chip. Those can possibly be replaced and had on eBay, but you need to be damn good with a soldering iron.

I'd first reset the BIOS back to defaults, power off, reboot and make sure the cards are in legacy. If that doesn't fix the problem then note what version of BIOS you're currently running (either directly in BIOS or using the small CPUz program while in the booted OS). Then see if Dell has a new version of BIOS for that computer model and update.

On the subject of a UPS, I do highly recommend one. A good, reputable UPS that is. Reason being is that I've read numerous times on many tech forums much like this one where people were asking for help due to a sudden loss of power completely hosing over their computer. Even a power sag or what ever could do it. Forget about so-called protections in modern day power supplies. Loss of a moving force known as electricity is gonna have the potential to cause chaos. Might not happen all the time, but the risk is there and I personally like risk mitigation in EVERYTHING I do. I've actually experienced this myself with the power adapter to a Dell netbook that's on 24/7. One day during the Summer the power went out for about 5 minutes or less, and even though the netbook has a battery, the power adapter went south. Had to order an OEM replacement off eBay (stay far away from fake power supplies!). You don't have to buy a UPS right away or anything, just something to think about in the future. Besides, having more computer crap is awesome. LOL! My current UPS is a CyberPower model. If your computer PSU is active, make sure the UPS is rated for active PSUs. I had to find out by emailing CyberPower...

 

[BuckSkin]

I have yet to look in my 780's BIOS. But I have a felling it won't shed much light about your issue.

Is there another "deeper" "advanced" level of BIOS other than that I can obtain easily from several different directions, one being from the F12 One Time Boot Menu labeled "System Setup" ?

 

[file3456]

Not that I know of. Read the last post here to know what Dell has for their computers.