RAID Card for MAC Pro + Boot Camp

[oz1]

Can anyone please suggest a RAID card for a MAC Pro that will also let me get into Boot Camp.

I have a Rocketraid 2644 connected to an external box with a RAID 0 array but it forces me to boot into OS X and nothing else

 

[oz1]

Anyone?

 

[nanofrog]

Can anyone please suggest a RAID card for a MAC Pro that will also let me get into Boot Camp.

I have a Rocketraid 2644 connected to an external box with a RAID 0 array but it forces me to boot into OS X and nothing else

The only card that actually works with Boot Camp, is the CalDigit RAID card. It's also crap IMO. Unstable when I had dealings with it. Now may be different, but I still don't trust it. No partition table backups, can't upgrade the cache, it's slow, and it's tied to the HDElement if you want to expand via external enclosures. Too restricting if you think in terms of the future (expansion). New equipment each time adds up fast, so you're better off to get more than the bare minimum, and only need to add drives, and possibly enclosures.

In your case, the easiest solution is remove Windows from the OS X boot disk, and put it on its own separate drive. You don't need Boot Camp installed for this, and can load the drivers for the card during the Windows install. This would give Windows access to the card, but you'd need a partition or have another drive/array to use it.

If you need to boot both, you'll need a different card, and they're not exactly cheap.

Beyond this, it's impossible to help, as there's too many details missing.
1. How many disks now, and needed for expansion?
2. What capacity?
3. Do you need mulitple OS access or boot, and which ones?
4. What array types? (I know you listed 0, but you might want to consider another later).

Hope this helps , but the details would allow you to obtain more specific answers.

 

[TK2K]

You can add an extra hard drive and boot off that...
out of curiosity why do you want to boot off a raid array

 

[oz1]

Thanks to Nanofrog & TK2K for the helpful replies.

I guess I was a bit ambiguous in my question. I don't want to boot from the RAID array. I just want to dual boot from the drive in Bay 1 & maybe see the external RAID array from XP, possibly using something like MAC Drive.

My problem was that after making a Boot Camp partition, I couldn't seem to get XP to install as the comp just seemed to hang after displaying the RocketRAID BIOS screen.

As it was, it looks like I was giving up too soon & powering down after what I thought was a hang after the RR BIOS screen. I solved the problem by leaving the machine running after the RR BIOS (actually I went off & had a cup of coffee). After what seemed like a very long wait, the XP install started up again & after various reboots has now installed without any interference from me.

 

[TK2K]

Thanks to Nanofrog & TK2K for the helpful replies.

I guess I was a bit ambiguous in my question. I don't want to boot from the RAID array. I just want to dual boot from the drive in Bay 1 & maybe see the external RAID array from XP, possibly using something like MAC Drive.

My problem was that after making a Boot Camp partition, I couldn't seem to get XP to install as the comp just seemed to hang after displaying the RocketRAID BIOS screen.

As it was, it looks like I was giving up too soon & powering down after what I thought was a hang after the RR BIOS screen. I solved the problem by leaving the machine running after the RR BIOS (actually I went off & had a cup of coffee). After what seemed like a very long wait, the XP install started up again & after various reboots has now installed without any interference from me.

well if that's the case, macdrive will let you see it as long as the card has windows drivers available. If you decide you want a caldigit card I'm selling mine *shameless plug*

 

[nanofrog]

Thanks to Nanofrog & TK2K for the helpful replies.

I guess I was a bit ambiguous in my question. I don't want to boot from the RAID array. I just want to dual boot from the drive in Bay 1 & maybe see the external RAID array from XP, possibly using something like MAC Drive.

My problem was that after making a Boot Camp partition, I couldn't seem to get XP to install as the comp just seemed to hang after displaying the RocketRAID BIOS screen.

As it was, it looks like I was giving up too soon & powering down after what I thought was a hang after the RR BIOS screen. I solved the problem by leaving the machine running after the RR BIOS (actually I went off & had a cup of coffee). After what seemed like a very long wait, the XP install started up again & after various reboots has now installed without any interference from me.

It seems you've got it sorted.

At least you aren't trying to do something the hardware and software combination aren't capable of doing, such as boot multiple OS's.

 

[Vinnievin]

New Mac Pros (Nahalem2009) has no Ipass cable

Can anyone please suggest a RAID card for a MAC Pro that will also let me get into Boot Camp.

I have a Rocketraid 2644 connected to an external box with a RAID 0 array but it forces me to boot into OS X and nothing else

I found this out the hard way ... the manuals on caldigit and Apple websites do not mention the change in the 'new' Mac Pros - the Nahalem 2009.

I ordered mine with four 1TB hard drives. I then ordered the Caldigit RAID card. They showed up, and imagine my confusion when I could not find an Ipass cable. Turns out the SATA ports are DIRECTLY on the motherboard. Much to my chagrin, I get to send the RAID card back with a restocking fee and, because I am in Africa with this equipment, an expensive quick shipping to meet the RMA requirements.

This computer has been out for months, and neither Apple nor Caldigit make any significant reference to it on their sites. I did find it in one of the forums, after the fact.