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Adaptec SCSI RAID 3210S and WindowsXP

KC9UDX

KC9UDX

Space Commander
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Messages
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So I have this Wintel server box. It yoosta run Windows 2003. It has an Adaptec 3210S with a 6-drive RAID array. Fifteen years ago I tried to install Solaris on it and the RAID array is now unformatted.

I'm trying (probably for nothing) to install WindowsXP. Apparently there are drivers for this card which aren't included with WindowsXP. The installation crashes without the drivers. How would I get these drivers to work? I'm hoping I don't have to install another hard drive just to install Windows.
 
Do you have a working floppy with it? There is a point (very early) where XP CD will ask for F6 to install RAID drivers. Press F6, insert diskette with files, load those and then install should continue. The driver download is only 35 kB so it should fit on a floppy.
 
g4ugm said:
If you don't have a floppy you might be able to build a custom XP installation CD as per:-

https://www.prime-expert.com/articl...s-xp-with-f6-ahci-raid-drivers-from-usb-only/

I think if I was re-installing XP I would want a a CD with the service packs pre-applied, but I don't think you can create the merged CD on Windows/10....
Click to expand...

XP SP2 slip-streamed was the 'standard' for installing XP back in the day. There may even be a slip-streamed SP3 but I never encountered it. Unless you possess above average programming skills, attempting to make the XP installer emulate a 3.5 floppy from a CD or USB would be quite a task for the average person. Much, much easier to source a 3.5 floppy drive than attempting to get creative with the established install routine IMHO.
 
Have you used nLite? When I was working at a school with 2000 workstations, we used it to help build our images with latest updates and drivers and what not... it was not as nice as MDT is today, but works pretty well. :)
 
lyonadmiral said:
Have you used nLite? When I was working at a school with 2000 workstations, we used it to help build our images with latest updates and drivers and what not... it was not as nice as MDT is today, but works pretty well. :)
Click to expand...

I agree - it would work very well. But, all one really needs in this case is the particular driver on 3.5 floppy. Doesn't get much simpler.
 
Agent Orange said:
XP SP2 slip-streamed was the 'standard' for installing XP back in the day. There may even be a slip-streamed SP3 but I never encountered it. Unless you possess above average programming skills, attempting to make the XP installer emulate a 3.5 floppy from a CD or USB would be quite a task for the average person. Much, much easier to source a 3.5 floppy drive than attempting to get creative with the established install routine IMHO.
Click to expand...

I thought you could add the drivers to the CD....
 
g4ugm said:
I thought you could add the drivers to the CD....
Click to expand...

Yes, you can add anything you want to the CD but the XP install procedure asks for you to press F6 if you have a 3rd party driver to install, and then after the initial XP boot and a little farther into the install procedure, you will asked to install the subject driver from a FLOPPY (F2), not a CD or USB. You're dealing with XP here, not W10. Possibly, if you're the IT person and doing an unattended install, you might be able to coax it install the driver from another source, don't know never tried.
 
No dice

No dice

It doesn't work with or without the additional driver.


Probably I need to partition and format the logical drive. I for some reason thought that this would be part of the WindowsXP installation process, but maybe not. I'm not sure how I'd partition the disk at this point without making too big a project of this.
 
The 3210S drivers are supposed to be embedded in the XP CD. If all else fails, I would try setting up XP without the Adaptec controller and then attempt the install in at least a 1.5 GB bootable/primary partition.
 
I don't have any suitable IDE drives, so my next step is probably to see if I still have installation notes from Windows 2003. Else I'll try to hoist this thing back up on the shelf for another fifteen year hiatus, I guess.
 
Yes, those are the ones used in the video, XP reports them as older than the inbuilt drivers, which neither work.
 
Just before his passing, leakinoil posted one of those for sale. I paid him for it, but he died before he could ship it. Looking back, it's probably just as well that I didn't get it.
 
I managed to install MSDOS 6.22 on the RAID array and it boots and works. But this is pretty useless to me.
 
The lack of a hard drive might not be the cause of this crash. I found an IDE drive and installed it. With that drive and the IDE CD-ROM drive plugged in, but nothing else except RAM installed, I get the same crash.

What else can cause this?

MemTest86 is currently running.
 
KC9UDX said:
The lack of a hard drive might not be the cause of this crash. I found an IDE drive and installed it. With that drive and the IDE CD-ROM drive plugged in, but nothing else except RAM installed, I get the same crash.

What else can cause this?

MemTest86 is currently running.
Click to expand...

This error may be related to a SATA/ACHI conflict. No embedded support for SATA in XP. Check you BIOS settings and see what's up. I had a similar situation with XP on my A7 gamer project a while back (http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?50255-ASUS-A7N8X-E-Deluxe/page8). W7 would install on a PATA drive but not on a SATA SSD.
 
I don't think this thing has SATA support, but I'll have to check when I get a chance. Memtest86 found a bad bit, and I swapped out SIMM #2. I left Memtest86 running on it.

I'm actually surprised it works with the SIMMs that are in it. #1 is 512M, #2 is now 1024M. #3 and #4 are empty. Originally, it was 512M, 512M, 1024M, 1024M. SIMM #4 went missing, and the system wouldn't boot with 512M, 512M, 1024M, empty.
 
Memtest86 passed, WindowsXP still fails to install in any configuration. There's no SATA support in this machine.

It might still be due to the lack of an IDE boot drive. I have to see if I can make this drive boot at all; it might not be bootable.
 
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