Silicon Image RAID Windows Update Corruption

I'm using 32-bit Vista with a Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID controller
with three 250 GB disks in a RAID 0 configuration on an Asus A8N-SLI
Premium motherboard. Two days ago, I allowed a Windows update to
update the drivers for the SiI3114 controller. Needless to say, my
system no longer boots. It continuously runs through an endless loop,
attempting to load Windows each time. I've tried all attempts to
restore/repair/etc. from the install DVD. Vista does not show as a
valid install during recovery so I also tried to reload the SiI3114
drivers that were downloaded from Silicon Image and Asus, all to no
avail. What are my options? I'm open to manually adding/changing .sys
files from the command prompt if necessary. Again, normal bootup, safe
mode, repair, restore, none of these options work.


--
sigep441
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486

http://forums.techarena.in

"sigep441" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I'm using 32-bit Vista with a Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID controller
> with three 250 GB disks in a RAID 0 configuration on an Asus A8N-SLI
> Premium motherboard. Two days ago, I allowed a Windows update to
> update the drivers for the SiI3114 controller. Needless to say, my
> system no longer boots. It continuously runs through an endless loop,
> attempting to load Windows each time. I've tried all attempts to
> restore/repair/etc. from the install DVD. Vista does not show as a
> valid install during recovery so I also tried to reload the SiI3114
> drivers that were downloaded from Silicon Image and Asus, all to no
> avail. What are my options? I'm open to manually adding/changing .sys
> files from the command prompt if necessary. Again, normal bootup, safe
> mode, repair, restore, none of these options work.
>
When you boot from the DVD to do a repair install are you
pressing F6 at the appropriate time and loading the original
driver for the SIL controller that worked?

You do NOT install the SATA/RAID drivers under Vista by pressing F6. That is
the way you do it under Windows XP. In Vista you get to a GUI where there is
a radio button you click on to install drivers. These drivers can be on a
floppy, a USB thumb drive, a CD, a DVD etc.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"John" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>
> "sigep441" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> I'm using 32-bit Vista with a Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID controller
>> with three 250 GB disks in a RAID 0 configuration on an Asus A8N-SLI
>> Premium motherboard. Two days ago, I allowed a Windows update to
>> update the drivers for the SiI3114 controller. Needless to say, my
>> system no longer boots. It continuously runs through an endless loop,
>> attempting to load Windows each time. I've tried all attempts to
>> restore/repair/etc. from the install DVD. Vista does not show as a
>> valid install during recovery so I also tried to reload the SiI3114
>> drivers that were downloaded from Silicon Image and Asus, all to no
>> avail. What are my options? I'm open to manually adding/changing .sys
>> files from the command prompt if necessary. Again, normal bootup, safe
>> mode, repair, restore, none of these options work.
>>
> When you boot from the DVD to do a repair install are you
> pressing F6 at the appropriate time and loading the original
> driver for the SIL controller that worked?
>
>

I'm trying to load the original driver, but since the driver was updated
through Windows update, it won't load. The RAID array still exists and
loads upon boot, but once it hits Windows, that's where the problems
begin. I've tried downloading other versions from both Silicon Image
and Asus, none of them will load.

I believe that it may have been called 'Silicon Image Pseudo Processor"
or something similar when I updated it through the Windows update.

Yes, I know... Never update hardware through Windows update...


--
sigep441
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486

http://forums.techarena.in

When trying to load SiI 3114 drivers from my USB stick, I receive an
error of "Installation has failed" when trying to load some of them.
I've tried multiple drivers to no avail. I also loaded Vista on an IDE
drive to see if I could see the RAID drives. This didn't work either.
They're still detected upon boot, but not when Vista loads. If I were
to use a Live Linux CD, what files should I delete/replace/rename in
order to redetect the correct drivers, assuming that it would even
detect the RAID array?


--
sigep441
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486

http://forums.techarena.in

I have SIL 3112 chipset. I have to load the drivers "twice" - once initially
(and I think this is held in the RAM) to allow the setup program to see the
drive and again during the second boot (when, I guess, the drivers are
actually written to the drive.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)



"sigep441" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> When trying to load SiI 3114 drivers from my USB stick, I receive an
> error of "Installation has failed" when trying to load some of them.
> I've tried multiple drivers to no avail. I also loaded Vista on an IDE
> drive to see if I could see the RAID drives. This didn't work either.
> They're still detected upon boot, but not when Vista loads. If I were
> to use a Live Linux CD, what files should I delete/replace/rename in
> order to redetect the correct drivers, assuming that it would even
> detect the RAID array?
>
>
> --
> sigep441
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
> View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486
>
> http://forums.techarena.in
>

So now I've installed the SI management utility onto the IDE drive that
I installed a second copy of Vista on so that I could try to find my
RAID array. Of the three channels, channel 0 is orphaned, channels 1
and 2 are both fine. I know that RAID0 is generally unrecoverable, but
since it was a Windows Update driver that trashed it, is there a way to
somehow get access to the array so that the correct drivers can be
placed on it.


--
sigep441
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486

http://forums.techarena.in

Thankfully, I have backups of everything, so I'll probably do a
reinstall this weekend. I can't seem to find any instance of anyone
else messing up their RAID 0 installation due to this Windows Vista
Update of the Silicon Image Pseudo Processor Device. I think I'm at
the point where now, it's not even relevant anymore. The bigger issue
is "Can I recover an orphaned drive in my RAID array?" It's not
looking likely, but again, I have backups, so really all I need to do
is just reinstall it.

Last shot here. Does anyone have any other ideas that I could try?


--
sigep441
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486

http://forums.techarena.in

Thanks for all of the help everyone. Luckily, I held off on my
reformat. While I was running a copy of Vista on a spare IDE drive, I
decided to do a BIOS update to my motherboard just for kicks. I didn't
think anything of it for a few days, then I thought I'd try a last ditch
attempt to see if I could load the RAID drivers again. Much to my
surprise, the OS was found! I attempted a repair of the install (of
which it said no problems could be found), and when I rebooted,
everything was there. Needless to say, I was very excited! Once I
booted back into my install, I ran a Windows Update just to see if the
offending driver would show again, and it did.

Again, I have an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium motherboard. The optional update
from Vista shows a Silicon Image Pseudo Processor Device. Do not
download it! Luckily, I was able to save my system after 2 full weeks
of trying to fix it and wondering what to do.

Just a reminder, keep your backups current. Mine were about 3 weeks
old, so I felt pretty good about that, but I was not looking forward to
doing a reinstall.


--
sigep441
------------------------------------------------------------------------
sigep441's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=33713
View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=839486

http://forums.techarena.in