Your X99 Chipset mainboard obviously has 2 different Intel SATA Controllers:
a “normal” Intel SATA Controller, supporting IDE/AHCI/RAID, currently running in RAID mode and using the Intel RST RAID driver v14.8.0.1042 (my comment: this driver version doesn’t really match the Intel RST RAID ROM/EFI “RaidDriver” BIOS modules v13.1.0.2126) and
an Intel sSATA SATA Controller, supporting only IDE/AHCI and no RAID, currently running in AHCI mode and using the Win10 in-box MS AHCI driver named STORAHCI.SYS. (my comment: The currently running generic MS AHCI driver is not the best choice for your on-board “Intel(R) C600+/C220+ series chipset sSATA AHCI Controller”
For further details please read what our Forum member parsec had written >here< regarding the differences between the Intel SATA and sSATA ports of X99 systems.
If you want to optimize your storage system, I recommend to do the following: A. SATA RAID Configuration You should either a) update the Intel RAID ROM/EFI BIOS modules to v14.8.2.2397 and the in-use 64bit Intel RAID driver to the RST v14.8.9.1053 WHQL (currently latest of the v14.8 development branch) or b) “downgrade” the in-use Intel RST driver to v13.1.0.1058 WHQL (matches the best your currently in-use Intel RAID ROM/EFI module version). Important: Before you change the driver version, you have to uninstall the Intel RST Software from within the Control Panel > “Add/Remove Programs” and to reboot your system.
B. sSATA AHCI Configuration: For a better performance you may manually update the driver of the on-board Intel sSATA AHCI Controller (currently listed within your Device Manager as “Standard SATA AHCI Controller”) to the 64bit Intel RSTe driver v4.5.4.1030 by choosing the file named iaAHCIB.inf. This is currently the latest and probably best AHCI driver for your on-board “Intel(R) C600+/C220+ series chipset sSATA AHCI Controller”.
You can find the recommended Intel RAID BIOS modules as well as the recommended Intel RAID and sSATA AHCI drivers within this Forum (just use the search option and enter the version numbers)
Questions: 1. Where is your system drive (containing the OS on drive C:) connected? Is it one of the the Intel SATA ports running in RAID mode or one of the the Intel sSATA ports running in AHCI mode? 2. Which Intel RST Software version did you install? 3. What means “Intel RST hangs”? Is it the RST Software or the RST driver? Are you still able to boot into the OS? Does your Windows File Explorer still see the RAID5 drives and data?
Thanks for the reply…Love your site…looking forward to doing the Bios Mod
To answer you questions:
1. Where is your system drive (containing the OS on drive C:) connected? Is it one of the the Intel SATA ports running in RAID mode or one of the the Intel sSATA ports running in AHCI mode? - My system drives are connected to the Intel SATA ports running RAID-5 - I have a single drive in a External case that is connected to the eSATA port. (Linux)
2. Which Intel RST Software version did you install? - I installed the version from the MSI website Intel RST v14.8.0.1042
3. (PART 1) What means “Intel RST hangs”? Is it the RST Software or the RST driver? Are you still able to boot into the OS? Does your Windows File Explorer still see the RAID5 drives and data? - With the current Intel RST v14.8.0.1042 everything is working fine. - With one Blu-Ray burner connected everything runs fine. - IF I connect a second Blu-Ray the burner it works fine…BUT the Intel RST software will give me errors and instead of a “check mark” I get the “blue circle” on the RST tray icon.
4. (PART 2) IF I install the “64bit Intel RSTe driver v4.5.4.1030” instead of the “Standard SATA AHCI Controller” (see original screenshot I sent) Intel RST software will give me errors and instead of a “check mark” I get the “blue circle” on the RST tray icon.
BIOS MODDING: Questions - I read a lot of material on your website: (BIOS Modding: Introduction and Preparations) - I downloaded the following files: (my Bios is AMI UEFI) - Intel-RSTe_RAID-ROM_v14.8.2.2397 - AMI Aptio UEFI MMTool v5.0.0.7 (is this the correct one) or UEFITool_v0.21.5 - Intel RSTe Drivers & Software Set v14.8.9.1053 - 64bit Win8-10 Intel RSTe AHCI & RAID drivers v4.5.4.1030 WHQL - HxDSetupEN_1.7.7.0 - MSI Manufacturer BIOS- 7882v28 (currently using this version)
* If I mod the BIOS and something goes wrong can I flash the the original manufacturer BIOS (My motherboard has DUAL-BIOS so I can go back) * Will I LOSE my current RAID-5 setup
* Off-Topic…but what is the best stripe size for RAID-5 (I am currently using 128k)
This is a wellknown issue of nearly all Intel RST driver versions and Intel knows about it. There is a long thread about this topic within >this< Forum. Possible solution: Either disconnect one of the Optical Drives, connect them to different SATA Controllers or run the related SATA Controller in IDE mode.
>this<Since your BIOS modding questions have nothing to do with the topic of this thread and Sub-Forum, you should better post them into Sub-Forum. By the way: The easiest and safest way for you would be to update just the Intel EFI RaidDriver module of the BIOS and let the UBU tool do this task (look >here<). Since you probably will always install your OS in UEFI mode, there is no need to update the Intel RAID ROM module (it will never be used).
According to my knowledge this is the best stripe size, if you want the best RAID5 performance.
