RAID problem?

[thebluemeanie1]

I was reinstalling windows XP today, once the first batch of files were installed and the computer began to restart, after the Gigabyte logo was displayed, and it moved onto the page where it shows the different SATA devices, it gets stuck on the first device. The white horizontal line continues to blink and pressing a key causes the speaker to make a sound.

I unplugged both hard drives and tried both of the SATA ports and cables with both drives. It will go past the point of error as long as Drive A (just a random name for it) is disconnected. Hard Drive B (again, just a random name) works with both cables and ports. Once the CTRL+I option appears, if I open the utility and connect Drive A again, it will be recognized, the RAID array will be complete and windows will boot without any problem.

Every time I shut the computer down the drive needs to be unplugged and plugged back in at the correct time.

I checked the serial number on Seagates website and it said that the drive was not in need of a firmware update. I also ran the HD Tune error scan and it came up with zero errors.

I have been using both these drives in RAID 0 for over a year on two different motherboards. The current setup has been in use for about 3 months.

The drives are Seagate ST3500320AS.
Motherboard is a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P.

Is this just a user error that can be corrected or is it time to RMA the drive? If it is a user error a little help in correcting it would be greatly appreciated.

[Nanometer]

I believe you are looking in the wrong place. This sounds like a bios error to me. Are you running the latest bios? Also refer to the manual to make sure you aren't missing any settings, make sure to disable anything you aren't using and that you have the right settings for RAID. who knows..

[thebluemeanie1]

The RAID settings appear to be all correct according to the manual and they did work for a while. It stops at the same time even with it set to AHCI instead of RAID.
I tried a different power connector but it didn't help.

[Nanometer]

clear your cmos, or better yet, i would flash it to the latest.. make sure your card has the latest firmware too. if we think it might be hardware related, and it at least was working at one point, we have to try to eliminate the possibility of software problems Make sure the drivers have no issues and try connecting them again.who knows, your raid card could be on its way out

[thebluemeanie1]

I turned the computer off for the first time in several days and when it was powering back on the option to press CTRL+I and enter the RAID configuration was not displayed. After a number of reboots and trying different settings I reset the CMOS and enabled RAID again, still no CTRL+I option, updated the BIOS from F6 to F9 and enabled RAID, still no CTRL+I option so I reset the CMOS again and enabled RAID but the CTRL+I option is still not displayed.

I tried Drive A(the one that causes problems) on my DFI LP LT-X48-T2R in RAID, IDE and AHCI modes and didn't encounter any issues.

I am using onboard RAID if that makes any difference.

EDIT: After playing with the "SATA RAID/AHCI Mode" setting (changing it from RAID to AHCI to Disabled and back to RAID) the CTRL+I option has returned.

Still having the original problem of not booting correctly with Drive A connected.

EDIT2: After rebooting the CTRL+I utility disapeared again. I used Seatools to erease both hard drives. The original problem and the CTRL+I utility problem were both solved.