T ab le of Contents
Configuring SATA Hard Drive(s) (Controller: VIA VT8237/VT8237R) ................................................2
(1) Ins talling SATA hard drive(s) in your comput er......................................................................2
(2) Conf iguring SATA controller mode and boot sequence in BIOS Setup ..................................3
(3) Conf iguring RAID set in RAID BIOS ........................................................................................5
(4) Mak ing a SATA D river Disk ...................................................................................................10
(5) Inst alling SATA controller driver during OS installation .........................................................12
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Configuring SATA Hard Drive(s) (Controller: VIA VT8237/VT8237R)
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To configure SATA hard drive(s), follow the steps below:
(1) Install SATA hard drive(s) in your system.
(2) Configure SATA controller mode and boot sequence in BIOS Setup.
(3)* Configure RAID set in RAID BIOS.
(4) Make a floppy disk containing the SATA controller driver.
(5) Install the SATA controller driver during OS installation.
Before you begin
Please prepare:
(a) Tw o SAT A hard drives (to ensure opt imal performance, it is recom mended that you use two hard
drives with identical model and capac ity). If y ou do not w ant to create RAID with the SATA
controller, you may prepare only one hard drive.
(b) An empty formatted floppy disk.
(c) W indows XP/2000 setup disk .
(d) Driver CD for your mot herboard.
(1) Installing SATA hard drive(s) in your computer
Attach one end of the SATA signal cable to the rear of the SATA hard drive and the other end to available
SATA port(s) on the mot herboard. (If there are more than one SATA controller on your mot herboard, you
may check the name of the SATA connector to identify the SATA controller for the connector. For example,
SAT A0_SB/ SATA_SB is controlled by t he SATA controller on Sout h-Bridge.) Then connect the power
connector from your power supply t o the hard drive.
"*" Skip this st ep if you do not w ant to create RAID array on the SATA controller.
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 2 -
(2) Configuring SATA controller mode and boot sequence in BIOS Setup
You have to m ake s ure whether the SATA controller is configured correctly in system BIOS Setup and
set BIOS boot sequence for t he SATA hard drive(s).
Step 1:
Turn on your computer and press Del to enter BIOS Setup during POST (Power-On Self Test). If you want
to create RAID, select SATA Mode under t he Integ rated Per ipherals menu (Figure 1) and set this item
to RAID (RAID by default). Set SAT A Mo de to IDE if you do not want to creat e RAID.
CMOS Setup Utility-Cop yright (C) 1984-2004 Award Software
IDE DMA transfer access [Enabled]
OnChip IDE Channel 0 [Enabled]
OnChip IDE Channel 1 [Enabled]
OnChip Serial ATA [Enabled]
SATA Mode [RAID]
AC97 Audio [Auto]
VIA Onboard LAN [Enabled]
USB 1.1 Controller [Enabled]
USB 2.0 Controller [Enabled]
USB Keyboard Support [Disabled]
USB Mouse Support [Disabled]
Onboard H/W LAN [Enabled]
Onboard H/W 1394 [Enabled]
Onboard H/W Serial ATA [Enabled]
Serial ATA Function [RAID]
GigaBit LAN Boot ROM [Disabled]
On-Chip LAN Boot ROM [Disabled]
Onboard Serial Port 1 [3F8/IRQ4]
Onboard Serial Port 2 [2F8/IRQ3]
higf: Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10: Save ESC: Exit F1: Gen eral Help
F5: Previou s Values F6: Fail-Safe Defaults F7: Optimized Defaults
The BIOS Setup menus described in this section may not show the exact settings for your
motherboard. The act ual BIOS Setup menu options you will see shall depend on the motherboard
you have and the BIOS version.
Integrated Periph erals
Figure 1
Item Help
Menu Level}
SATA Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R))- 3 -
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Step 2:
Lat er, select Hard Disk Boot Pr iority under t he Ad vanced BIOS Features menu. I n the Hard Disk
Boot Pr iority submenu, select the model of the SATA hard drive onto which you intent to install Microsoft
Window s 2000/XP (Figure 2).
CMOS Setup Utility-Cop yright (C) 1984-2004 Award Software
1. SCSI-0 : ST3120026AS
2. SCSI-1 : ST3120026AS
3. Bootable Add-in Cards
hi: Move PU/PD/+/-: Change Priority F10: Save ESC: Exit
Hard Disk Boot Priority
Item Help
Menu Level }}
Use <h > o r <i > to
select a device, then
press <+> to move it
up, or <-> to move it
down the list. Press
<ESC> to exit this
menu.
Figure 2
Step 3:
Se t F i rs t B o ot D e v ic e u n de r t he A d va n c e d B I O S Fe a t u r es m e n u t o C D RO M t o b o o t fr o m C D- R O M
aft er s ystem restarts (Figure 3).
CMOS Setup Utility-Cop yright (C) 1984-2004 Award Software
} Hard Disk Boot Priority [Press Enter]
First Boot Device [CDROM]
Second Boot Device [Hard Disk]
Third Boot Device [CDROM]
Boot Up Floopy Seek [Disabled]
Password Check [Setup]
Flexible AGP 8X [Auto]
Init Display First [AGP]
Advanced BIOS Features
Item Help
Menu Level}
higf: Move Enter: Select +/-/PU/PD: Value F10: Save ESC: Exit F1: Gen eral Help
F5: Previou s Values F6: Fail-Safe Defaults F7: Optimized Defaults
Figure 3
Step 4:
Sav e and exit BIOS Setup.
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 4 -
(3) Configuring RAID set in RAID BIOS
Enter the RAID BIOS setup utilit y to configure a RAID array. Sk ip this step and proceed to Section 4 if
you do not want to create RAID.
Step 1:
After the POST memory test begins and before the operating system boot begins, the following information
will appear on screen (Figure 4). Press the TAB key to enter the VT8237 Serial ATA RAI D BIOS
conf iguration utility.
VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility V2.31
Copyright (C) VIA Technologies, Inc. All Right reserved.
Scan Devices, Please wait...
Press <Tab> key into User Window!
Serial_Ch0 Master : ST3120026AS
Serial_Ch1 Master : ST3120026AS
Figure 4
Step 2:
In t he VT 8237 SATA RAID BIOS utility screen (Figure 5), you can us e the UP or DOW N ARR OW key
to highlight through choic es. H ighlight an item that you want to execute and press ENTER.
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Create Array
u Delete Array
u Create/Delete Spare
u Select Boot Array
u Serial Number View
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Hdd
Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Hdd
Create a RAID array with
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 5
SATA Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R))- 5 -
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A. Create Array:
In Main M enu, select Create A rray and press ENTER, a screen similar to F igure 6 below will appear.
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Auto Setup For Performance
u Array Mode RAID 0 (Striping)
u Select Disk Drives
u Block Size 64K
u Start Create Process
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Hdd
Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Hdd
Create a RAID array with
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 6
The first step to create a RAID array is t o set the RAID mode. Select Array Mod e and press ENTER.
And the RAI D mode selection m enu w ill appear (Figure 7). The s upported RAID modes include RAID
0 for performance, RAID 1 for data protection, and R AID SPAN for capacity. Use the UP or DOWN
ARR OW k ey t o select a RAID mode.
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Auto Setup For Data Security
RAID 0 for performance
u Array Mode RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 1 for data protection
u Select Disk Drives
RAID SPAN for capacity
u Block Size 64K
u Start Create Process
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Hdd
Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Hdd
Create a RAID array with
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 7
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 6 -
Af ter select ing a RAID mode, you must decide whether you want the RAID array to be c onfigured
automatically or manually.
Auto Setup allows BIOS to assign the hard drives and create arrays automat ically, but it does not duplic ate
the mirroring drives even if user selects C reate and dup licate for RAID 1. It is recommended all hard
drives are new ones when you want to create an array.
Select D isk Drives lets users select t he array drives by their requirements. Select the Select Disk Drives
item and press ENTER, use the ARROW keys to select the target hard drive(s). T he selected hard drives
will be marked w ith an asterisk (F igure 8).
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Auto Setup For Performance
u Array Mode RAID 0 (Striping)
u Select Disk Drives
u Block Size 64K
u Start Create Process
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
[*]Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Stripe0
[*]Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Stripe1
Create a RAID array with
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 8
If you select to create RAID 0 array m anually, you can specify the block size. Use t he UP or DOW N
ARROW keys to selec t Block Size and press ENT ER. Select the block size from the popup menu. The
block size can be set between 4KB to 64KB (Figure 9).
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Auto Setup For Performance
u Array Mode RAID 0 (Striping)
u Select Disk Drives
u Block Size 64K
u Start Create Process
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
[*]Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Stripe0
[*]Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS SATA 111.79 Stripe1
4K
8K
16K
32K
64K
Create a RAID array with
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 9
Next , use the ARROW keys to selec t Star t Create Process and press ENTER . The prompt "The data
on the selected disks will be destr oied. Con tinue? (Y/N)" will appear. Press Y to confirm or N to
abort.
Imp ortan t All existing c ontents in the hard drive will be destroyed after the array creation.
SATA Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R))- 7 -
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B. Delete Array:
If you want to delete an existing array, s elect Delete Array in Main Menu and press EN TER. The channel
column w ill be activated. Select the member of an array that is to be deleted and press ENTER. A warning
mes sage will show up, press Y t o confirm or press N to canc el (Figure 10).
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Create Array
u Delete Array
u Create/Delete Spare
u Select Boot Array
u Serial Number View
The selected array will be destoried.
Are you sure? Continue? Press Y/N
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
[*]Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS ARRAY 0 SATA 111.79 Stripe0
[*]Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS ARRAY 0 SATA 111.79 Stripe1
Delete a RAID array contain
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 10
Delet ing a disk array will destroy all the data on the disk array except f or RAID 1 array(s ). When a RAID
1 array is deleted, the data on the two hard drives will be reserved and the two hard drives will become
tw o normal drives.
C. Select Boot Ar ray:
You can select a disk array as boot device if you want to boot operating sys tem from an array. Boot
disk array cannot be selected if the operating system does not boot from the disk array. Highlight the Select
Boot Array item in Main Menu; press ENTER and t he channel column will be activated. Then highlight
the target disk array and press ENTER. Press ESC to go back to Main Menu. If you want to cancel the
boot array setting, select the disk array that has an asterisk and press ENTER, its boot setting will be
canceled (Figure 11).
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Create Array
u Delete Array
u Create/Delete Spare
u Select Boot Array
u Serial Number View
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
[*]Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS ARRAY 0 SATA 111.79 Boot
[*]Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS ARRAY 0 SATA 111.79 Boot
Set/Clear bootable array
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 11
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 8 -
D. Serial Number View:
Highlight Seri al Number View and press ENTER. U se the ARROW keys to select a drive, and the
selected drive's serial number can be v iewed in the last line. The serial number is ass igned by the disk
drive manuf acturer (F igure 12).
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Create Array
u Delete Array
u Create/Delete Spare
u Select Boot Array
u Serial Number View
Channel Drive Name Array Name Mode Size(GB) Status
Serial_Ch0 Master ST3120026AS ARRAY 0 SATA 111.79 Stripe0
Serial_Ch1 Master ST3120026AS ARRAY 0 SATA 111.79 Stripe1
Serial Number: 3JT354CP
View the serial number of
hard disk, it is useful for
identify same model disks
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 12
E. View Array Status:
Pres s F1 to show the array st atus on the lower screen. If t here are no disk arrays then nothing will be
dis played on t he screen (Figure 13).
VIA Tech. VT8237 SATA RAID BIOS Ver 2.31
u Create Array
u Delete Array
u Create/Delete Spare
u Select Boot Array
u Serial Number View
Array Name Array Mode Block Size(GB) Size(GB)
ARRAY 0 Stripe 64K 223.58
Create a RAID array with
the hard disks attached to
VIA RAID controller
F1 : View Array/disk Status
h, i : Move to next item
Enter : Confirm the selection
ESC : Exit
Figure 13
SATA Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R))- 9 -
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(4) Making a SATA Driver Disk
To install Window s 2000/XP onto a SATA hard drive on the VT8237 controller succes sfully , you need
to install required driver for the SAT A controller during OS installation. Without the driver, the hard drive
may not be recognized during the Windows setup process.
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First of all, you need to copy the driver for the SATA controller from the motherboard driver CD to a floppy
dis k. The instructions below ex plain how to copy the driver.
Step 1: Find an available syst em and insert the motherboard driver CD into the CD-ROM driv e. T he
inst allation utility will appear automatically. Quit the ins tallation ut ility first.
Step 2: Go to My Computer and right -click the CD-ROM drive icon and select Open (Figure 14).
Figure 14
Step 3: Go to the BootDr v folder and look for an executable program named MENU .exe (Figure 15).
Figure 15
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 10 -
Step 4:
Double-clic k MENU.ex e. An MS-DOS prompt screen sim ilar to Figure 16 below will appear.
Figure 16
Step 5:
Insert an empty floppy disk. Press C to select the C ) VIA 8237 Series ATA it em. Then it w ill take about
one minute to copy the SATA driver from the motherboard driver CD to the f loppy disk.
Step 6:
Press 0 t o exit when the procedure is complete (Figure 17). You have copied the SATA driv er successfully.
Figure 17
SATA Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R))- 11 -
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(5) Installing SATA controller driver during OS installation
Now t hat you have prepared the SAT A driver disk and configured BIOS s ettings, you are ready to install
Windows 2000/XP onto your SATA hard drive with the SATA driver. The following is an ex ample of
Windows XP installation.
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Step 1: Res tart your system to boot from the Windows 2000/ XP Setup disk and press F6 as soon as
you see the "Press F6 if you need to install a 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver" message (Figure 18). After
pressing F6, there will be a few moments of some files being loaded before you see the next s creen.
Windows Setup
Press F6 if you need to install a 3rd party SCSI or RAID driver.
Figure 18
Step 2:
When a screen similar to that below appears, insert the floppy disk containing the SATA driver and press
S (Figure 19).
Windows Setup
Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices
installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an adapter.
Currently, Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices(s)
<none>
* To specify additional SCSI adapters, CD-ROM drives, or special
disk controllers for use with Windows, including those for
which you have a device support disk from a mass storage device
manufacturer, press S.
* If you do not have any device support disks from a mass storage
device manufacturer, or do not want to specify additional
mass storage devices for use with Windows, press ENTER.
S=Specify Additional Device ENTER=Continue F3=Exit
Figure 19
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 12 -
Step 3:
If Setup correctly recognizes t he driver in the floppy disk, a cont roller menu sim ilar to Figure 20 below
will appear. If you want t o install Windows XP, use the ARROW keys to s elect VIA Serial A TA RA ID
Contro ller(Windo ws XP)* and press ENTER. Then it will begin to load the SATA driver from the floppy
disk.
Windows Setup
You have chosen to configure a SCSI Adapter for use with Windows,
using a device support disk provided by an adapter manufacturer.
Select the SCSI Adapter you want from the following list, or press ESC
to return to the previous screen.
VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows XP)
VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows 2000)
VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows NT4)
VIA ATA/ATAPI Host Controller(Windows XP)
ENTER=Select F3=Exit
Figure 20
If a message appears saying one or some file(s) cannot be found, please check the floppy disk
or copy the correct SATA driver again from the motherboard driver CD.
Step 4:
When the screen as shown below appears, press ENTER to continue the SATA driver installation from
the floppy disk. The driver installation will be finished in about one minute.
Windows Setup
Setup will load support for the following mass storage device(s):
VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows XP)
* To specify additional SCSI adapters, CD-ROM drives, or special
disk controllers for use with Windows, including those for
which you have a device support disk from a mass storage device
manufacturer, press S.
* If you do not have any device support disks from a mass storage
device manufacturer, or do not want to specify additional
mass storage devices for use with Windows, press ENTER.
S=Specify Additional Device Enter=Continue F3=Exit
Figure 21
"*" If you want to create a RAID array , select the item depending on the operat ing system that you want
to install. (Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows NT4). If you do not want create a RAID array,
select VIA ATA/A TAPI H ost Contr oll er(Windows XP).
SATA Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R))- 13 -
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After the SATA controller driver installation is completed, you should see a sc reen as below. I t indicates
that you have installed the SATA controller driver succes sfully. You can proceed w ith the Window s
2000/XP installation.
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WindowsXP Professional Setup
Welcome to Setup.
This port of the Setup program prepares Microsoft(R)
Windows (R) XP to run on your computer.
To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using
Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Enter= Continue R=Repair F3=Exit
Figure 19
(Note: Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array, t he R AID driver will have t o be installed
under Windows onc e for that hard drive. After that, the driver will not have to be installed.)
SAT A Hard Drive Configurations (VT8237(R)) 14 -
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