In order to install an operating system onto a RAID volume, the RAID option must be enabled in the system BIOS, a RAID volume must be created, and the F6 installation method must be used to load the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager driver during operating system setup.

Note: The F6 installation method is not required for Microsoft Windows Vista*.

• Enabling RAID in BIOS
• RAID Volume Creation
• F6 Installation Method

Enabling RAID in BIOS

Perform the following steps to enable the RAID option in the system BIOS:

Note: These instructions are specific to motherboards manufactured by Intel with a supported Intel® chipset. Always follow the instructions that are provided with your motherboard, as the specific BIOS settings on non-Intel manufactured motherboards may differ.

1. Enter the BIOS Setup program by pressing the F2 key after the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) memory test begins.
2. Select the Advanced menu, and then the Drive Configuration menu.
3. Switch the Drive Mode option from Legacy to Enhanced.
4. Enable Intel® RAID Technology.
5. Press the F10 key to save the BIOS settings and exit the BIOS Setup program.

RAID Volume Creation

Perform the following steps to create a RAID volume:

1. When the Intel Matrix Storage Manager option ROM status screen appears during POST, press the Ctrl and i keys at the same time to enter the Intel Matrix Storage Manager option ROM user interface.
2. Select Option 1: Create RAID Volume and press the Enter key.
3. Use the up or down arrow keys to select the RAID level and press the Enter key.
4. Unless you have selected RAID 1, use the up or down arrow keys to select the strip size and press the Enter key.
5. Press the Enter key to select the physical disks.
6. Select the appropriate number of hard drives by using the up or down arrow keys to scroll through the list of hard drives and pressing the Space key to select the drive. When finished, press the Enter key.
7. Select the volume size and press the Enter key.
8. Press the Enter key to create the volume. At the prompt, press the Y key to confirm volume creation.
9. Select Option 4: Exit and press the Enter key. Press the Y key to confirm exit.

F6 Installation Method

Perform the following steps to install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver during operating system setup:

1. Press the F6 key when prompted in the status line with the Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver message. This message appears at the beginning of Windows* XP setup (during text-mode phase).
   Note: Nothing will happen immediately after pressing F6. Setup will temporarily continue loading drivers. You will then be prompted with a screen asking you to load support for mass storage device(s).
2. Press the S key to Specify Additional Device.
3. You will be prompted to Please insert the disk labeled Manufacturer-supplied hardware support disk into Drive A: When prompted, insert the floppy disk containing the following files: IAAHCI.INF, IAAHCI.CAT, IASTOR.INF, IASTOR.CAT, IASTOR.SYS, and TXTSETUP.OEM and press the Enterkey.
4. After pressing Enter, you should be presented with a list of available SCSI Adapters. Select your controller from the list. The up and down arrow keys can be used to scroll through the list as all controllers may not be visible. The list may include:
   • Intel® 82801ER SATA RAID Controller
   • Intel® 82801FR SATA RAID Controller
   • Intel® 82801GR/GH SATA RAID Controller
   • Intel® 82801GHM SATA RAID Controller
   • Intel® 631xESB/632xESB SATA RAID Controller
   • Intel® 82801R/DO/DH SATA RAID Controller
5. The next screen should confirm your selected controller. Press the Enter key again to continue.
6. At this point, you have successfully F6'ed in the Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver and Windows setup should continue. Leave the floppy disk in the floppy drive until the system reboots. Windows setup will need to copy the files from the floppy again to the Windows installation folders. Once Windows setup has copied these files again, you should then remove the floppy diskette so that Windows setup can reboot as needed.
7. During Windows setup, create a partition and file system on the RAID volume as you would on any physical disk.

Note: If you wish to use the Intel Matrix Storage Manager graphical user interface in Windows, you will need to install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager by running the Setup.exe process after these steps have been completed and the operating system has been successfully installed.

This applies to:

Intel® Matrix Storage Manager