span array and DD

Greetings all, i would like some guidance from anyone who has an idea what might be going on here:

First, i have span array set-up with 2 X 160 HDD, they have 3 partitions on them, the first 2 are Win XP, the 3rd is a small partition for OSS data. (Sata II raid)

Also i have

Sata II 160G with vista. (just one partition)
IDE 250G HDD just for storage (just one partition)
IDE 120G HDD with linux on the it. (just one partition)


Now what i was doing... i have had OSS working fine on the raid between the 2 XP partition and linux install.

Purchased a 160G Sata, installed vista on it with all other drives disabled and not accessable. Enabled all the drives, OSS detected it automatically and gave the me the Vista logo etc etc, but when i selected it i get a blank screen with a white flashing curser in the top left.

Next i scrubbed the drive and installed vista via the OSS boot system. End result was the same.

If i disable all other drives Vista boots fine.

What am i missing here?

The Raid is onboard. Asus A8N-E MB, DD 2160

M.

 

In the OSS Properties->Disks section for the Vista menu entry, check the Specify boot order manually box and make sure the Vista hard disk is first in the list.

 

yes this was already done. Anything else u can thing of?

M.

 

In the current state your system is in, was Vista installed with the other hard drives connected or were they disconnected? (When you say disabled, I assume you mean they were physcially disconnected from the computer; cables unattached.)

If they were connected, were the XP partitions hidden when Vista was installed?

From OSS, do all the other OS's boot correctly and directly into the OS they're supposed to?

Is the Vista menu entry the only one having problems?

If the Vista hard drive is the ONLY hard drive physically connected (cable attached) to the computer, Vista boots normally?

If this is the case, then Vista was not detected correctly by OSS. Can you attach the BOOTWIZ.OSS file to a post? It is in the BOOTWIZ folder on the partition you installed OSS on. You may have to enable viewing of Hidden and System Files in Windows Explorer to find it. Create a copy and reanme it BOOTWIZ.TXT so you can upload it in the post. Please just attach the file (don't paste the text into the post as it loses the formatting). I'll take a look at it and see if I can see anything wrong.

 

Thankyou for taking the time is read my post. Most appreciated.

Vista was installed both ways, as i have a ghost copy of my raid drives, first i tried installing it via the OSS when that didn't work, (Xp was hidden) i ghosted the image back and removed the drives, only having the vista 160Sata drive in.

All other OS boot normally from the OSS.

When i plug vista HDD in, it is detected in the OSS. When i click iti get a black screen with a white flashing char (top left)

I have refreshed my system from a backup, just including the 2 Xp partitions and the OSS partition on the raid, plus the vista drive installed (separately)

Here is the file.

Thanks

M.

 

I don't see anything really wrong with the bootwiz.oss file. There are a rew little things, but they don't seem to be causing any problems.

Since you have an image to restore to get back to the current working state, I would try the following and see if it lets Vista boot from OSS. If it screws up the other OS's then just restore your image again.

Boot into OSS
Insert the Vista DVD. The menu item for it should appear
Right-click the Vista DVD menu item and select Properties
Set the disk order so the Vista hard disk first in the list
Set ALL other Primary partitions as hidden (the other XP partitions, the OSS partition, etc.). You may want to just hide all the partitions except the Vista partition
Once the settings are applied, boot to the Vista DVD menu entry
When you get the prompt, press a key to boot the Vista DVD
Let Vista start and when you get the option, run Vista Repair
When the Repair is finished, remove the Vista DVD and let the computer reboot (or reboot manually, if necessary)

I doubt Vista will boot directly, you should get the OSS menu. If you do then check the Vista entry, making sure the Vista hard drive is first and the XP partitions are hidden. Then try and and boot into Vista.

If Vista boots directly, boot into Vista and install OSS, choosing to do a repair/reactivation install.

 

=(

same as before, black screen and a white flashing char... i am wondering if DD or OSS more specifically has issues with Vista, DD v2160 should be ok right?

M.

 

DD build 2,160 still has some problems when it comes to detecting and booting Vista. Some people can't get it to detect Vista at all. OSS on your computer seems to detect Vista okay, but Vista doesn't want to boot. I haven't run any tests using OSS and installing Vista on a 2nd hard drive. Only tests where Vista was on the booting hard drive and XP was on the 2nd hard drive.

If want to try and switch them, change the BIOS boot drive to the Vista drive. Boot to the DD cd and hide all the other partitions on the other hard drives (so Vista Repair won't see them). Then run Vista Repair and make sure the computer boots directly into Vista. Then reactivate OSS (from Vista, not the CD).

The BIOS order of the drives will have changed so you'll need to specify in each of the OSS menu entry properties for your XP and Linux boots to put the RAID array drive first in the disks list, the 2nd disk 2nd and the Vista disk 3rd. Also check the correct partitions are active and hidden as appropriate.

 

Earlier i did try a single HDD and installing vista then OSS, but it all ended badly, can you or anyone suggest a nice boot selector that does work with Vista and all other types of OS's.

M.