ASUS P5W DH - Problems + Fixes Thread

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Originally Posted by MrDisco

Hopefully a P5W DH owner could answer this for me. Can the board support 6 SATA drives *without* using RAID? I'm concerned about the 2 orange SATA ports which are used for the 'EZBackup' feature. Will those two ports also allow for just regular SATA useage?

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Nope I tried using them both as normal sata but board wouldn't POST properly with a drive in the left port. If you remove the ez-raid jumpers you can use ther right orange port as Port 1 on the ICH7R which is what I'm doing, and 3 more drives on the other ICH ports. I'm just not using one of my 200gb atm because of it. There is the Jmicron one but you need to enable that in bios and get the bootrom screen every boot and also trail a long sata cable around my case to get to it..

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Originally Posted by Gascogne

What was the tRFC value one should have now again?

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Well if you can't boot manual timings then you want 42

PS: can't you use the search

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Originally Posted by lawrywild

Well if you can't boot manual timings then you want 42

PS: can't you use the search

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Thank you and no sorry I didn't know there was a search button for the thread but now I know. :)

Current setup
2 raid0 on ez-backup-boot drives
2 non-raid drives on ICH7R
and 2 on the pata
On the P5W DH DELUXE, i have these 2 (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ode=101220-12&)
in Raid0 on the ez-backup ports, how much difference would i get if i moved them to the ICH7R, considering the recent improvements for the drivers.
also if i would move those 2 drives on the ICH7R ports, i have a partition on the raid0 drives now, would i lose that partition when moving as well?i know i gotta reinstall windows,and use the intel drivers. also i have 2 other sata drives Nonraid, if i leave one of them plugged in the ICH7R ports, and unplugged all the jumpers for the ez-backup,putting one of the non-raid drivers and put it into the ez-backup ports, would i lose what i had on the nonraid that would be on the ez-raid?

im sorry if this is confusing, please let me know if i left any details out that you guys might need to give best adivce

Thanks, a ton
Brock01

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Originally Posted by brock01

Current setup
2 raid0 on ez-backup-boot drives
2 non-raid drives on ICH7R
and 2 on the pata
On the P5W DH DELUXE, i have these 2 (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ode=101220-12&)
in Raid0 on the ez-backup ports, how much difference would i get if i moved them to the ICH7R, considering the recent improvements for the drivers.

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http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...4&postcount=13

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Originally Posted by MrDisco

Hopefully a P5W DH owner could answer this for me. Can the board support 6 SATA drives *without* using RAID? I'm concerned about the 2 orange SATA ports which are used for the 'EZBackup' feature. Will those two ports also allow for just regular SATA useage?

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Normal Configuration, with Sil4723 in RAID 0:

ICH7R:
SATA 1 (red) = boot drive
SATA 3 (blk) = data
SATA 4 (blk) = data

Sil4723
EzRAID 1 (org) = RAID 0 (drive 1)
EzRAID 2 (org) = RAID 0 (drive 2)

JMicron363
SATA RAID 1 (blk) = data

PATA = (not used)

Reading Silicon Image 4723 datasheet and seeing this:
"...4) JBOD or Port Multiplier—this allows the direct attached PC/Server to see each drive as single drives (PM mode requires a host that is PM-aware.)..."

- appears P5WDH RAID_SEL jumpers allow RAID1, BIG, RAID0, but no "JBOD"
- pulled all jumpers in hopes it might be the mysterious "JBOD" function
- had to use Seagate HD tools to write "zeros" to clear MBRs for two 7200.10 400G previously used for RAID0
- regardless of jumper configurations, I can only get one port (EzRAID 1) to act as a non-RAID drive

Makes sense, since the Sil4723 is connected to one ICH7R lane (2nd) and is acting as an extension.
It appears the host ICH7R is not capable of "Port-Multiplier" mode or PM mode cannot be set properly via MB jumpers.

Five Drive Configuration, non-RAID: (RAID_SEL jumpers removed)

ICH7R:
SATA 1 (red) = boot drive
SATA 3 (blk) = data
SATA 4 (blk) = data

Sil4723
EzRAID 1 (org) = data
EzRAID 2 (org) = (refuses to be recognised)
* note: if two drives are electrically connected to EzRAID ports in "non-RAID" mode, access to the recognized drive appears to be "sluggish."

JMicron363
SATA RAID 1 (blk) = data

PATA = (not used)

I submitted a tech support ticket to ASUS regarding the shutdown/reboot issue, where the machine turns off, but then turn on again a second later - forcing you to hold in the button.

It is annoying, but I only turn it off at night. I just can't set my pc to turn off after a long encoding session or whatever... or it will just turn itself back on.

I checked the USB and wake-up events, and neither one is the problem.

When I called ASUS, they pointed me to an ACPI driver on the website, but it seems that driver is only for Win2000.

of course this doesnt answer the question but i've tested both the 2 port Sata Sil pcie card
and now Bytecs jmicron 363 actually ) 2 internal sata ii ports, 2 esata ports and 1 ide pata internal port $39 buxs newegg. dig this, was screwing around with it cause the embedded mobo jmicron port (ide) worked 4 some but not others.. well once i updated the software to current even that port works). Eidently when these are advertsed as Raid, u can force them into non Raid modes 2 (dep on drivers used if u can find em).. So some of u still out there like myself who couldnt update cause u get bluer screens andthe like. have 2 resort to updating the intel matrix driver then the jmicron, and on and on. or delete the partition (move it) before rebuilding all yer stuff otherwise u do get that blue kiss of death screen)..al this is if u r rebuilding but still have the past os installed..

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Originally Posted by lawrywild

Well if you can't boot manual timings then you want 42

PS: can't you use the search

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I've been trying to use memset 3.0 to change my memory timings, and I can't get it to run at it's rated 4-4-4-12 timings. tRFC is already 42 in memset when I load it up. I have tried setting it to 63 and also changed tRD form 7 to 8. But when I try to change tCL from 5 to 4 after that, the PC reboots.

Maybe someone knows of some other timings I could try changing to make this work?

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Originally Posted by Pluppo

I've been trying to use memset 3.0 to change my memory timings, and I can't get it to run at it's rated 4-4-4-12 timings. tRFC is already 42 in memset when I load it up. I have tried setting it to 63 and also changed tRD form 7 to 8. But when I try to change tCL from 5 to 4 after that, the PC reboots.

Maybe someone knows of some other timings I could try changing to make this work?

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You cannot set cas latency (tCL) on-the-fly, so your pc will crash. You must set it in bios

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Originally Posted by bichi

Reading Silicon Image 4723 datasheet and seeing this:
"...4) JBOD or Port Multiplier—this allows the direct attached PC/Server to see each drive as single drives (PM mode requires a host that is PM-aware.)..."

- appears P5WDH RAID_SEL jumpers allow RAID1, BIG, RAID0, but no "JBOD"
- pulled all jumpers in hopes it might be the mysterious "JBOD" function
- had to use Seagate HD tools to write "zeros" to clear MBRs for two 7200.10 400G previously used for RAID0
- regardless of jumper configurations, I can only get one port (EzRAID 1) to act as a non-RAID drive

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interesting, perhaps another jumper configuration could enable it

Maybe have all 3 jumpers connected, but sounds kinda risky :nono: i.e. not worth trying it

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Originally Posted by bichi

Normal Configuration, with Sil4723 in RAID 0:

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WOW! Thank you so much for the very detailed post (wish all my questions were answered in this manner :P). Ultimately it appears the P5W can only support a max of 5 SATA drives in a non-raid configuration. Guess I'll return this board and get the BadAxe2 which I believe can support 8 SATA non-raid drives.

Man I thought I did my research but none of the reviews or user comments mentioned this.

edit: as an aside, I noticed you have the AC Pro cooler installed. How do you find it? Is the fan noisy or pretty quiet?

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Originally Posted by lawrywild

Maybe have all 3 jumpers connected, but sounds kinda risky :nono: i.e. not worth trying it

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- if you look at the jumpers, the center pair have a pin missing, so we've done all the jumper combos, LawryWild.....

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Originally Posted by MrDisco

edit: as an aside, I noticed you have the AC Pro cooler installed. How do you find it? Is the fan noisy or pretty quiet?

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yep - quiet, reasonably priced, light and cools QX6700 @ 3.0 effectively, even with BIOS PWM feature off, where HSF fan is getting max volts...

This is the best ram i have tested on p5dh OCZ 2p8001gk pc6400. 2.3v
Asus p5dh deluxe
x6800 extreme
ati 1950xtx crossfire

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Originally Posted by bichi

- if you look at the jumpers, the center pair have a pin missing, so we've done all the jumper combos, LawryWild.....

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Yeh but jumper pins are easily soldered on ;)

I've got 6300 and Everest shows temperature of one core about 2 degree Celsius (4 degree Fahrenheits) less than the other one. I wonder, is it usual?

Yeh it's usual

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Originally Posted by MrDisco

WOW! Thank you so much for the very detailed post (wish all my questions were answered in this manner :P). Ultimately it appears the P5W can only support a max of 5 SATA drives in a non-raid configuration. Guess I'll return this board and get the BadAxe2 which I believe can support 8 SATA non-raid drives.

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You can get away with a 6th in non-raid if you hook it up to the eSATA on the back. I've never tried it but it's another port that should be available.

Does eSATA work better than Firewire when you already have a lot of drive letters in use? I can't attach a Firewire drive to my main computer anymore because it never gets a drive letter. A USB drive still works though, and gets inserted in a gap between some permanent letters.. I guess it has no special rules about what letter is next.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...MP=OTC-Froogle looks looks like something to get for when a 1TB drive isn't a bank-breaker, but only if it's REALLY plug-and-play...

eSATA should be way quicker than firewire. You are literally attaching another SATA drive directly to the board Vs firewire which is rated at only 400/800mbs at best.

Re the drive letters... if your firewire is getting confused (and I can't understand why it should be), you can always go into drive manager and give some of the less relevant drives different letters, like a Music drive "M" & a Videos drive "V". Could be worth a try.

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Originally Posted by fritzman

Re the drive letters... if your firewire is getting confused (and I can't understand why it should be), you can always go into drive manager and give some of the less relevant drives different letters, like a Music drive "M" & a Videos drive "V". Could be worth a try.

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It may be due to having a memory card reader with 5 drive letters, with a gap (don't know why) between my last hard drive and those, and the USB drive ends up in that gap. However it happened, when I plug in a Firewire drive (DVD or HD), nothing like a drive letter asignment happens to let me use it. There are a few letters after the reader, but I assumed Firewire didn't like to get high letters.

I could try moving the card reader drives down, though...

It should automatically assign a letter... the next available one typically. I would move the card readers UP... Right-Click My Computer, left click Manage>Storage>Disk Management. You should be able to give the card-reader M/N/O/P/Q there which will free up all the ones after your real drives.

Hope that helps.

Hi , i've a couple of questions about the p5w-dh.

Anyone tried some of that Crucial 10th Aniversary Memory ( micron d9 i'm told ) in the p5w-dh, can i use the manual timings or will i still suffer from the spd bug, that i have with this Geil.

There's a extra hard disk that appears in other operating systems , called Config Disk. Its related to the silicon image pos no matter what i do i cant disable it. It affects Linux / OSX / Acronis True Image / Partition Magic amongst others.

Thanks

Amigan.

I have three sata drives connected to the ICH7R connectors, but I am not booting to a sata drive but an IDE drive atm. I wan to add two 73G 10,000RPM sata drives on the EZ Backup connectors in RAID0 config and ultimately install my OS and boot to them, is this possible and easy to do?

AM

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Originally Posted by ashman

I have three sata drives connected to the ICH7R connectors, but I am not booting to a sata drive but an IDE drive atm. I wan to add two 73G 10,000RPM sata drives on the EZ Backup connectors in RAID0 config and ultimately install my OS and boot to them, is this possible and easy to do?

AM

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Yes, but considering that you are going with 10k RPM drives in RAID 0 one would assume that you are interested in getting the best performance. If that is correct then the EZ-RAID is a bad choice because you are craming both drives into one of the ICH7R SATA II ports (what would be port 2) via the SIL4723. I think you may also lose NCQ using EZ-RAID. For best performance use the ICH7R directly.