I have an Asus X79 Deluxe (C600/X79). I use Intel’s soft RAID 1 and SSD caching features. I’ve installed both UEFI and legacy OSes on this system but mostly use EFI.
I have read the stickies so I will be okay modding my own bios with UMU but I am still pretty confused. Can someone explain which versions of RST/RSTe/orom are suggested for this board, and which versions of the software work with which versions of the orom, and help me understand what the situation is? Also should I update SataDriver as well, or not needed?
Thank you!
Everything depends on your decision (by doing the related BIOS setting), if you want to use the on-board Intel SATA RAID Controller as X79 standard RSTe (DEV_2826) or as "switched" RST (DEV_2822) device.
If you should have chosen the RSTe BIOS option, I recommend to put the Intel RAID ROM and SataDriver v3.8.0.1029 into the BIOS and to install the Intel RSTe drivers & Software Set v3.8.1.1006 WHQL.
In case of the RST option the Intel RAID ROM and SataDriver v12.9.0.2006 in combination with the Intel RST(e) Drivers & Software Set v12.9.4.1000 WHQL will be a good choice.
Thanks. One question - I don’t see a BIOS option that says whether to use the onboard controller in RST or RSTe mode. I don’t think there is an option with this kind of label in any Asus BIOS I have seen?? Unless it is hidden in some special RST options I don’t know about.
The onboard Intel controller options I have in the BIOS are the usual IDE/AHCI/RAID choice, and for the BIOS as a whole, UEFI+secure boot, UEFI+CSM, or Legacy. is it one of these? If so I am using mostly RAID and UEFI+CSM.
Since I don’t have an ASUS P9 X79 Deluxe mainboard, I cannot tell you, where you can choose the way your on-board Intel SATA RAID Controller shall run (RSTe or RST mode), but there must be such option within your BIOS, because it contains Intel RAID ROM modules for both options.
This is what the UBU tool has detected after having done a deeper ook into the latest BIOS 4701 for your mainboard:
That might be for the wrong board, mine’s the X79 not the P9X79. UBU shows:
1 Intel RST(e) OROM and EFI SataDriver
OROM IRST SATA 12.7.0.1936
EFI IRST SATA 12.7.0.1936
3 LAN OROM PXE and EFI UNDI - Intel, Realtek, BCM, QCA
OROM Intel PXE 1.3.72
EFI Intel UNDI 5.5.23
OROM Realtek PXE 2.52
EFI Realtek UNDI 2.020
5 Marvell SATA Option ROM and EFI
OROM Marvell 88SE91xx/92xx 1.0.0.1011
EFI Narvell SATA AHCI 1.1.0.1001
I see that there is no entry for IRSTe, but I don’t know what the implications are. I hope these few questions will help clarify it!
1) If I keep RST only (as it is now), then am I limited to the 12.x series (orom+sw), or can I use 13.x orom+sw as well?
2) If I mod the bios to add RSTe orom and RSTe SataDriver using UBU, do you think the BIOS/EFI could handle it correctly or will it fail because it will need config options to be set (like RST/RSTe selection) that can’t be set in the BIOS? (Can they be set in the RST/RSTe orom instead?)
3) If I can add RSTe to the bios and use it without problems, then is it correct I would use the 13.x drivers?
4) If I stick with RST and not RSTe, am I losing out anything much?
Thanks for this!
I am sorry, but I didn’t know that.
According to the UBU tool detection your mainboard doesn’t allow to set the on-board Intel SATA RAID Controller to DEV_2826 (RSTe mode), which is its native DeviceID.
You can use the RST drivers/OROM v13 series as well (since you have a RAID system), but I do not really recommend to insert/install them, because they are optimized for Intel’s 8- and 9-series chipsets. The X79 (C600 Series) chipsets belong to Intel’s 6-Series chipsets.
You will not be able to get any RSTe OROM or SataDriver inserted by the UBU tool, because it is just an updater and there is obviously no RSTe BIOS RAID module within the BIOS, which can be updated. Furthermore an inserted RSTe RAID ROM or SataDriver module cannot be used by your system, because the Intel SATA RAID Controller is running in DEV_2822 mode and needs the related RST RAID ROM/SataDriver modules.
No. The v13 series drivers are RST ones like the v12 series. If you would be able to set your Intel SATA RAID Controller to RSTe mode (DEV_2826), it would need Intel RSTe drivers v3.x.x.xxxx or v4.x.x.xxxx.
No, it may be even an advantage, because the RST drivers probably will give your system a better performance than the RTe ones.
I have to fall back on a meme here, my apologies for this…
Such wow!
So happies!
Very reassurance!
Many thankyous for helping me with this incredibly helpful information, Fernando 
Finally I feel like I understand a bit better what RST uses on my board!
Last question, do you have specific RST orom or software versions you’d recommend, or suggest to try? I use SATA RAID and SSD caching on it, so I guess one of the more modern releases, like 12.7 - 12.9? Does this also mean it might be best to stick with an 11.x or 12.x orom and ignore the 13.x updates?
Yes, if I were you, I would either take the RAID driver/OROM combo v11.2.0.1006/v11.2.0.1527 or v12.9.4.1000/v12.9.0.2006.