new build wont load windows

[Effex]

i just put together a gaming comp comprised of

a8n32-sli deluxe
2x 74gb raptors
7900gtx SLI
2gb corsair xms

the first time it booted up i went into BIOS and disabled the display and quickboot then enabled RAID to set up the raptors in a striped set

when it boots up it beeps once likes its good to go then it continues with the POST and everything looks normal until right after you can set up RAID. that is where it counts down only givng you the option to press esc to reboot instead of prompting to press space to boot from CD

any ideas?

 

[Trotter]

The RAID drivers are normally loaded off of a floppy.

I have heard of some that can be burned on a CD, though.

Check the user's manual for your mobo as to what steps you should be following.

 

[CrazeD]

Maybe set the CD-ROM as the first boot device?

 

[Effex]

i just built a gaming rig yesterday with an a8n-sli premium and it didnt even require drivers or even have a floppy for that matter...nor does this one so im assuming that it wont require a floppy either. i noticed at the top when it says to press f4 that it already has RAID drivers loaded btw

besides i cant even get to the point where i can start loading windows to even press f6

i had already set the cd-rom as the first boot priority

 

[jeremy]

if you wanna use raid then you must use the sata controller floppy or integrate it with nlite http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html , windows setup indid alredy have several built-in raid drivers but defintly not the one needed for your mobo sata raid controller

what exactly do you mean by "i cant even get to the point where i can start loading windows to even press f6" , provide more details

 

[Effex]

it doesnt ever get to the screen saying to press the spacebar to boot from cdrom... so i cant launch the windows install

this problem existed before i even raided the raptors also

 

[jeremy]

sounds like your xp cd is not bootable , browse it and copy its contents to some new folder then download cdimagegui & follow the guide
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/15/

 

[Effex]

good guess but but i just tried a different XP disc and same thing

if i dont press anything it acts like its trying to load. it prompts me to insert media but it acts like it doesnt see the cd even though i know the cd is good and the drive shows up

the only thing that is wierd is that i have 2 cd drives and only the master is recognized. the power and data cable is on good on both of them and they are both set to CS

 

[jeremy]

your sure that other xp cd was bootable? you said its tryin to load & prompts you , be more specific about those its not clear , some mobos dont like cs i suggest youll set em to master/slave also the ide connectors goes like this
blue - to the motherboard ide slot
grey - to the slave drive
black - to the master drive

 

[Effex]

good call jeremy, i believe it was the IDE hanging up as it looked at all of my hardware but i couldnt tell at the time since it gave me a blank screen

it just seems like so many drives these days are built smarter to work with CS. but apparently even with brand new hardware you can still get into trouble if you dont adjust everything manually

as soon as i set master and slave they both came up. i figured this a8n32- deluxe would do the same as the a8n-sli premium and like the CS. also, once i got into windows setup i found that unlike the Premium i am going to need a raid driver from a floppy since it didnt recognize my striped set. i surprised that asus didnt prove a floppy though

anyways... thanks for the help