Question : RAID 0  Windows 7 install

I am assembling a new computer,
Intel i5 750 processor 2.66 GHz  LGA1156
8GB Kingston memory DDR3
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3R ver 1.0 Mobo
2 x Samsung HD161HJ 160GB 7200rpm SATAII 3GB/s
Galaxy 9600GT
Windows 7 32bit OEM Pro  version
Quattro True Power 850W PS
plus other new bits [case etc]

Got it all assembled and systems boots into BIOS fine.  Setup the disks as a striped raid pair and this is displayed fine in BIOS.

I have the disk configured in a RAID 0 set using serial ata bios version iSRC1.2e .  The drives are visible in the bios boot device delection menu as:
1. SCSI-0 : Intel OS RAID0 W7       [OS RAID0 W7 being what I called the RAID set]

In the Intergrated Peripherals menu I have the  "exteme Hard Drive (XHD)" option enabled which automatically sets the PCH SATA Control Mode to RAID(XHD).

So I have copied the chipset RAID driver off the motherboard disk D:\bootdrv\imsm\32bit\*.* to a floppy [and have also tried a USB key]

I insert the driver into the appropriate drive reader for the prompt when installing W7 and the driver file Intel(r) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO/PCH SATA RAID Controller (A:/iaSTOR.inf) is eventually displayed as the suitable file for the system.

The install checks the hard drive, and the floppy clicks into gear and the following message appears: "No new devices could be found.  Make sure the driver files are correct and located on the driver installation media."

My initial reaction was to head off and locate some W7 32bit drivers off the Gigabye web site and try these however this was not successful, same as above.  Have also tried Intel site.

There is probably something very obvious that I have done or not done.  However can seem to get the driver for the P55 chipset RAID option to install.

Any help appreciated.
 

Answer : RAID 0  Windows 7 install

If your hard disks are connected to 0-5 SATA connectors - your need INTEL RAID driver (CTRL-I for configuration), 6-7 - Marvell(Accessed from BIOS - GSATA Raid configuration), E-sata - Gigabyte (CTRL-G).
Installation of operating system is very good described in Appendix 5 of manual for your motherboard. Also there are mentioned necessary drivers:
For the Intel P55:
bootdrv\imsm\32bit\*.*
• For the JMB362:
bootdrv\gsata\32bit\*.*
• For the Marvell 9128:
bootdrv\Marvell\win32\*.*