M17x R2 RAID Issue

I have looked in what seems to be everywhere trying to resolve this issue I have. Been working on this for more than 24 hours now so I hope someone here has an answer. I have gotten a ton of information from you guys just reading threads here so I have hope

I have had my M17X R2 for 1.5 yrs so far with no issues, so this comes to a surprise to me. I had a handful of BSOD's and I was due for a fresh install anyway..

So, I backup my files in prep for install. Insert the W7 dvd, and move to delete/reformat my drives. Once I do this, one of the drives drops off the list. I had to remove the drives and put them into another system as secondary drives and use SeaTools. The system now detects them. However..
Now I cannot set them up in Raid 0. I have re-installed W7 on there a few times already and haven't had this problem before.
I have gone into Bios and selected Raid but I don't get any options to add or setup the drives in Raid. It sees both, but only as separate drives. That is the only option I have when installing the OS. So I need raid drivers right
? I have not had the want to have raid before so I am new to this.
How do I find this driver and set it up?

M17x R2 Nebula Red |i7-720m |8gb 1333 Ram|Blu-Ray Slot Load |xfire 5870 |RGB LED 1200p | 2x500gb Raid0 HDD

 

Hello and welcome to NBR.
After selecting the RAID 0 option in BIOS (Advanced > SATA operation > RAID, then RAID mode selection > RAID 0), save and exit.

You'll now be given the option to press Ctrl+I upon boot to configure your RAID array.

Make sure you have your RAID drivers ready on a USB stick for the windows installation.

 

I've done this in bios, but I do not get this option for ctrl-I. I used to see this screen while booting up, but I don't see it anymore. Is that part of the bios? I have the A10 Bios.

Also, I don't know where the Raid drivers are located..? I have read they are in the chipset file, so I grabbed that and unzipped it and placed on my usb. When I select the load driver option from the OS install screen and navigate to that folder, it cannot find the driver.

 

After changing the options in BIOS you must press F10 (or save and exit).
The system will reboot and you should be able to get the Ctrl+I option.

As for the drivers, try the ones i attached below.

View attachment M17x R2 RAID drivers.zip

 

I re-flashed my Bios and I get the ctrl I option now.. So my bios somehow corrupted? Setup the raid volume and am now working on installing the OS. When setup started it came up as a single drive with combined storage amount as it was before. It looks like it is setup in Raid, so do I still need to load the Raid drivers you provided? I have read that Windows 7 has native drivers for raid but it isn't clear to me if these native drivers are sufficient for performance, particularly for this type of machine. I have read numerous articles and posts and I have yet to read one that is clear on these things. I appreciate your help. I really am trying to learn.

Hopefully this helps someone else who may be having the same issues.

 

You are welcome to ask, Vargess, we were all beginners at some point

The ones i attached are the latest Intel RAID drivers, concerning performance i don't know if they're going to be better.