6 HDD Mac Pro 2.1 and Win 7

[osama rasheed]

hello all,
my proplem is that win7 on my mac pro dosent regonize the Extra 2 intern sata HDD i can only use the main 4!!!
dose any one knows what the issu here and why? and i need them while i have 4 hdd as raid inside and the 5th is ssd for os "both win 7 and lion" and 6th as backip and time maschine for the SSD.
hope someone can help me.
thanks

[ashman70]

What file system are the drives Windows won't recognize?

[osama rasheed]

Originally Posted by ashman70

What file system are the drives Windows won't recognize?

it dosent reqonize a hard disk at all. so in disk manegment or in device maneger nothing.. and if it is mac formated or ntfs or fat cant also see it!! then i put the ssd on the 5th and start to boot with ALT i see there is windows or osx lion, but with windows dosent go forther the computer freze. in osx lion i can see all of the hard disk so it is not a hradware problem.

[hfg]

My Mac Pro 3,1 also has 2 motherboard SATA ports, and they will not work with Windows (a well known issue). Why can't you put 1 or 2 of your RAID drives on those ports (mount in the spare optical bay), leaving your normal Drive-1 interface for the Windows drive? My system requires the Windows drive be in Drive Bay #1 in order for Windows to avoid too many disk partitions.

I also would make my backup/time machine drive external to the Mac Pro ... a power supply failure could take out all the drives including your backup.


-howard

[osama rasheed]

Originally Posted by hfg

My Mac Pro 3,1 also has 2 motherboard SATA ports, and they will not work with Windows (a well known issue). Why can't you put 1 or 2 of your RAID drives on those ports (mount in the spare optical bay), leaving your normal Drive-1 interface for the Windows drive? My system requires the Windows drive be in Drive Bay #1 in order for Windows to avoid too many disk partitions.

I also would make my backup/time machine drive external to the Mac Pro ... a power supply failure could take out all the drives including your backup.


-howard

thanks for ur replay. i did what you said to install the windows but i wantted to use the 4 drives as raid 0 to improve video editing speed! any way i ll but the windows away and keep working with lion, but do you have an idea why is there in issu with 4th and 5th ?
chears

[hfg]

Originally Posted by osama rasheed

thanks for ur replay. i did what you said to install the windows but i wantted to use the 4 drives as raid 0 to improve video editing speed! any way i ll but the windows away and keep working with lion, but do you have an idea why is there in issu with 4th and 5th ?
chears

There have been some discussions as to why the motherboard SATA ports don't work with Windows, but I don't recall the details now. The ports work fine under OS X, which was why I suggested you use them with your 4-drive RAID-0 array. Run the SATA data cables from the motherboard ports up into the optical drive bay, then put 1 or 2 of your 4-total RAID-0 drives in the optical bay, and the remaining drives in the normal drive sleds. I would think that arrangement would work fine for your video editing RAID array, and free up 1 or 2 drive sleds for other disks, including your Windows SSD in Drive-Bay #1.

-howard

[monkeybagel]

Originally Posted by hfg

There have been some discussions as to why the motherboard SATA ports don't work with Windows, but I don't recall the details now. The ports work fine under OS X, which was why I suggested you use them with your 4-drive RAID-0 array. Run the SATA data cables from the motherboard ports up into the optical drive bay, then put 1 or 2 of your 4-total RAID-0 drives in the optical bay, and the remaining drives in the normal drive sleds. I would think that arrangement would work fine for your video editing RAID array, and free up 1 or 2 drive sleds for other disks, including your Windows SSD in Drive-Bay #1.

-howard

I think it has something to do with Windows using the CSM technology to emulate a BIOS, and is not a true EFI boot. If you use Windows 8 with true EFI booting, I think they would probably still work.

[hfg]

Originally Posted by monkeybagel

I think it has something to do with Windows using the CSM technology to emulate a BIOS, and is not a true EFI boot. If you use Windows 8 with true EFI booting, I think they would probably still work.

Interesting ... Have to look into that more.

Another solution for the OP Windows might be PCIe slot SSD such as the Velocity Solo, but I am not sure the Mac Pro 2,1 can full utilize the x2 model for maximum speed. But it would still be as fast as one of the SATA-II internal positions.