I know this is annoying (RAID on 7811FX)

Okay, i have been following everyones comments from the beginning of this thread for a while and have chose not to get involved because some of this stuff is a little over my head. A little, not alot. But today i took my own route in trying to figure all this raid stuff out because i have been wanting to put in raid 0 config on xp. well i tested xp and couldnt get sound to work and didnt feel like going through all the trouble of gettin the sound to work. I had xp on one drive and vista on another. Keep in mind i have the old bios with the same raid problem everyone is having. Well when i put xp on the secondary drive it mirrored to the primary drive like raid mirror config not raid 0. So i decided that since i couldnt get sound working on xp that i would just put vista back on it. and i was going to use the drive that originally had vista on it just for extra storage because it wouldnt boot after all the xp files mirrored to it. So i formatted both drives and installed vista on the primary drive and it once again mirrored to the secondary drive. So i dont have any raid options but it seems like something is a little screwy with my 2 drives. I know this is not anything beneficial to the situation at hand i just thought it was interesting and wanted to share it with everyone. I hope thgis gets figured out cause i really have been wanting to put my drives in raid 0. I also hope solid driver comes up for xp for the sound and everything. Good luck to everyone and i appreciate everyones hard work. -Haco

 

understood...
i have seen that error before... but when i seen it...it had something to do with the bios file i was using as the main source and the one coming from my laptop.
they weren't compatible. hope that is not the case here...let me look for another winphlash.

when you need to remove a pesky spyware file or something that cant be removed under windows. that is the time for ntfs4dos. hows that for a good use...lol

 

mirror...what do you mean mirrored? and how?

 

in all honesty, i havent been bugged by a spyware file in about....8 months. i've been really careful with what i download and what websites i surf to. but yeah, i would say that is a good use.

on another note: lagoom has the WD 320 gb 7200 rpm OEM drives for $101. gull dern prices....

 

I mean RAID 1 config where everything done to one drive duplicated on the second drive. How, i havce no earthly idea.... Im pretty savvy but this just seemed really odd may be a glitch in bios?

 

and it says raid one?
and it gives the option to mirror?

yeah, you got me all interested now.

 

dan.g i just ordered 2 samsung 320's 5400's for 160.00

 

No thats why its so weird is in the bios and in POST nothing is said about RAID anywhere. Im having the same problem as everyone else with the old bios but my comp is "acting" like its in raid 1 config. However not every file duplicates. Its wierd i know its interesting as hell but very odd.

 

a piece, or total?


i'm contemplating as to whether or not the gains would be worth the cost for me, as i am contemplating the thought of two 7200 rpm drives.

 

total

yeah, them 7200's sound nice. i sure wouldn't do it with them hitachi's though. i ran a test on them and the 5400 samsung pretty much beat them all the way around. these we're both 160 gig drives

 

yay Samsung.

 

Cannot Load Driver C:\PHLASH.SYS ACCESS DENIED'

was that the error you got before this error your getting now?

 

that happens when i use the one that is not for 64bit so do say version 1.6 that i used. the screenshot is the only error message

 

alright...give me some time to see if i can still come with a dos based version of the back up.

 

Ok..let me ask y'all a quick question.. Does gateway have any other laptops either local, or foreign(ie japan), that have the PM45 Chipset? I downloaded the 9D.05 bios.. and seeing as the name is similar..I'm thinking it may be an idea. If anyone is trying to make an expensive brick via someone elses BIOS..you may as well make one via Gateway's BIOS.

 

Well if the bios isnt supported by the machine then it wont install anyway so you have nothing to lose .

 

Look at these guys... contrast to my previous posts... is this burst rate normal?

 

Try downloading the 9d.05 BIOS from gateway's support site..same size BIOS as the 7811FX.. And will likely work. It supports raid as well.. Ya never know

 

and the gatway seems to be getting better by the day... seems you dont even need to do a bios recovery option if you have it set to boot usb devices first.

put your bios flash drive in and it will do the rest. tried to flash a 8800m gtx dell bios this time. came back with no video. popped in the usb flash without thinking. seen some lights... seen some more lights. seen it reading the flash. and i even tried to turn the laptop off like a big dummy once again! lmao! but it would not shut off with me holding the button for 25 seconds. was about to pull the pull when the computer rebooted. this time with video working. dam.n the things we find out by accident.....

 

That's writeback cache in action. Although I've never seen it quite that high before. Mines usually around 5-600.

 

E-Wrecked just curious with your comp stats, what os are you running?

 

oO: It's vista 64bit Home Premium..original OS installed with the system. The CPU makes the difference, the x9100 is a little bit faster than the original P8400.

And just a heads up to everyone else..the new BIOS is installed on gateways being shipped now. Yes, it is confirmed. I just picked one up. I'm at work so I cant rightly go taking pics and crap til I get home. Just a heads up though.. And it is version 9c.08.00. I'll be interested to see if the x9100 can overclock now. Not likely, but maybe! *crosses fingers*

 

congrats on you 18th machine man hopefully you will have some luck figuring out how to back up the bios for us and on OCing as i will be putting a fat processor in my machine at some point as well.

 

Maybe you can give mistargill a break and backup/upload that puppy.

 

I may have to go for another exchange this weekend

 

this sound issue with the 7811 and xp is absolutely rediculous among the raid problem as well. im quickly beginning to hate gateway....

 

Question, I just picked up a different P7811 today at BB, and it does have the version of bios, 9C.08.00.

But there is no raid option in the drop down. Does anyone know if this appears only when you add a second harddrive?

 

Do you know of another Brand that uses Conexant for Vista64 and has an XP driver that works?

If not then it really is not a Gateway only based issue. If yes then let's have it.

 

Exactly. The 7811 has it's fair share of problems, but sound not working in Xp ISN'T one of them. Nobody designs machines around XP anymore. It's outdated. You're lucky you got anything to work.

EDIT: SYN! Nice avatar!!

 

no i dont but i think its kinda dumb for them to keep putting bios updates and drivers under the 7811fx that dont work. its been a pretty repetitive procedure for them so far. they started with the bunk bios that dont work and then now they have an xp32 bit sound driver that they claim works....

 

Ya, I hear ya man. I can understand how 7811 owners can be getting frustrated, but XP compatibility isn't really something I would let myself get too up in arms about.

 

Returning mine tomorrow, kinda pissed that you cant get another 14 days for the exchanged one... its good thing that I returned and rebought... cost me a game though... see if I can retun that and get refund

 

I may have no idea what I'm talking about, but has anyone tried to replace the bios file in the 94.28 bios executable (downloaded from gateway's website and is actually an archive) with the bios uploaded by mistargill, and then see if the executable will run through the bios update?

 

Yep tried it and no go . tried everything i could think of /sigh but hopefully since theres been updated drivers the past couple days maybe theres a sign that the new bios is on its way as well /holdsbreath.

 

mista..every time you return or exchange you get a new 14 day window. How do you think I'm still getting a new laptop, over a month after it came out? AND I had the sh*t scared out of me, I thought they had freakin busted me for something this time! I forgot my mask at home! So, the experience wasnt as pleasurable as last time.. Went in to BB wearing my work clothes, shirt and tie..thinking maybe they wouldnt recognize me cause Ive been there 3 times.. and maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I'm not sure. But I went to exchange counter and told the girl my screen has issues..she immediately called comp dept to bring up a new laptop. I'm thinking, sweet! (By the way, it had horrid ghosting..and that was why I found the excuse reasonable.) I knew they just got a shipment in too, so was figuring that it would be all good. Anyhow, new computer shows up and gets set on the counter beside me..I glance over at the ship label and its the orange one(like mista's), so I look closer and realize it's batch 250k+ and version B. At this point, I know I'm in it to win it! Then me and Geek Squad take out original computer to look at it. As I'm attempting and failing to show him the ghosting, an older gentleman that I immediately knew was a high up manager walks out and interupts. His blue BB shirt was actually ironed, tucked in, he had a non-digital watch, and an expensive looking walkie-talkie ear piece. Not the cheap ones the other employees brandish. I assume was the GM. He asked if I could explain why I had made a purchase, returned it, returned that exchange the same day, and was now back at this store to exchange this one. Essentially, asking why I bought 4, 2 in one day and now this one. I acted as though it was only NORMAL to do that. Am I a bit nutty? "Sir, *odd, who the f*ck are you look on my face* this one has screen problems. The previous had system failures, the previous had a dead pixel, and the original had screen problems and system failures. What was your concern?" He looked as though he was thinking of a response.. "Ok.. Gary, go ahead and finish your inspection and if there are any issues make sure you let me know". Then gateway reps were more plentiful for the next couple minutes..roaming around the area(or maybe I was paranoid). I then began to get a bit nervous.. and wouldn't you know, the computer screen was CLEAR as day! I felt like an idiot, and the ghosting was no longer visible. We agreed it must have been the drivers, he told me have a nice day. I stood and waited to talk to cashier..the geek squad walked back over and asked if I needed anything else. I told him I would like to pay the restocking fee for the exchange since Im in the time frame its available. He offered to optimize mine, or warranty it..I declined, and persisted that I pay the restock fee. He took my comp and receipt, went around the corner for 5 mnutes, I finally came around the corner to let him know Id be right back..and offered to leave my CC to pay the restock, which he asked me to wait to do. Went outside, smoked a cig to calm my nerves..looked around for police, saw one police car that wasnt there when I arrived..more nervous. Finally, walked back in to the counter where he handed me a new receipt, and the new computer. Told me have a nice day. No re-stock fee. No police. No handcuffs. No mace. Walked out the front door waiting to be tackled by a group of attorneys or something. In the end, I think if I had never offered to pay the restocking fee, then I would have looked more suspicous. But I let them know I wasn't happy with what I had, and would pay to have different. Sorry if this is a long post, but it was quite the adrenaline rush at the moment it was happening.

Ok..no more gateway BS for me.. My face is likely posted inside the geek squad's offices all around town. "14-day Exchanger - Beware"

 

Now..I have never had any luck backing up a BIOS..but Ill do some quick research and see if there's any hope.

 

i know john had mentioned possibly doing it through DOS but i dont think he ever came back with anything regarding that .

 

dam.n that was a crazy story... but i have been there before so i know exactly what your talking about!! they come with the nonsense, im like look. ill take a restock cut, but i aint keeping this one period!


and about the bios...you probably wont be able to get a working copy with out a compatible one to start with. (speculation of course) meaning an original .wph file. i hope im wrong and i hope you prove me wrong!!!! but we can try. use 94.28 and if you need mine to see if it will work that way, then download a copy of it and try it with that one.

 

yeah, i couldn't get it to work. still looking around for an answer though.

 

Just ran across this ... not sure if significant.

E-Wrecked +1 rep for creative writing.

 

*off topic*

the fx line of notebooks was not built for xp compatibility. so getting it to work is really not a gateway problem. it's a "personal problem" *LOL* and the word support is taken in the same context as warranty. you really need to read the fine print. full support means yes, while support means...maybe/could be/don't know/let me transfer you to a different department & so on.

raid is one thing and sound is another... you see the new batch of laptops already have the new bios on them, which means that was under "full support" and they corrected it. windows xp is not under full support. that is something the end user decided they wanted to do. can't blame gateway for that. guess that's why you can't have one configured from them with xp on it to begin with. now dont get me wrong..im not hating on winodws xp, because i have it installed on my 6860 as well, but hating them for not wanting to backwards is pretty crazy. they have a line of notebooks that carry windows xp....just not the fx line. and just like us...im also sure that a few gateway people also own some of fx notebooks as well. and are going through the same things we are going through now.(more incognito than out in the open. *LOL*) and im sure they aren't all happy with the out come as well....

they also knew people would not be happy with 64 bit, so they gave you the option to load the 32 bit version of the os. which is a new thing. last year you we're paying for both os's. major plus right here!

so before you go bashing gateway because of their fx line which is NOT fully xp compliant....you might want to pay close attention to the small and fine print.....

now me, i will be right there with you all. hunting for drivers like there is no tomorrow! *LOL*. the minute i get one....but not because i preferred xp over vista, because i don't...but to help those with xp operating systems around the world. (problem solving stuff. )

 

lol Syn.. Nice. Hey, I have gotten access to the Gateway FTP Site..this is where they upload all the support crap. Im in the directory where the BIOSs are kept. Here's the ftp site..maybe someone wants to take the time to read the .txt files of each..or even browse the site more for maybe archived or unreleased files.

ftp://ftp.gateway.com/pub/hardware_support/drivers/win_vista/bios/

Login: esupport
Password: vImvF88

You can access the root directory if you wanna browse everything. But the BIOS downloads for vista are there too. Lemme know if yall have any luck finding something usefull

 

Wow E-wrked that was funny. I could feel my back starting to sweat. That was a good information. so the gateway rep was there? if i goto my store(its going to be the same store since last time) it would be easy. cuz I have a physical defect(my keyboard is slightly rasied from f7 keys to f12keys)

oh by the way. I called my local store and bestbuy triple 8 number. they told me that my 14 day return starts the day I bought and doesnt get renewed by exchanging. which means mine should end today... but luckly even they are telling me the truth, my second one is technically newly bought. because I returned it on the same day... oh wells. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

How is your new laptop by the way?

 

Oh..and there are BIOSs uploaded *today* that arent on the support site. - EDIT: added the 16th not today.

 

Seems solid.. Im about to reboot with my old hard drives in it. Ive been running off the stock hard drive. Just giving it a feel for stability and speed. Brb - reboot

Ok..so its trying to isntall a new driver. Evidentally they used a different DVD Drive in this one.. HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-t50F. Dont think it found the driver.

ok..it installed generica vista driver.

 

It has all the fertility of the Sahara Desert.

 

By fertility, you mean it's arid, dry, and lacks something special? Hey man..don't shoot the messenger. However, this is the FTP site gateway posts all uploads/downloads to. Granted, they may have cleaned some of them up. Did you explore any other directories?


And by the way.. maybe its my imagination. Or maybe I need to defrag.. But this computer seems to lag a bit compared to the pervious ones. I mean, not a lot. But yeah, a little bit.

 

Ok.. just reformatted my hard drive with factory recovery disk... the problems I had is gone. Im in AHCI mode, no raid... raid seems to be reducing my game performance. It caused my games to frame drop every few seconds... now with stock config. I dont have it. and just got 8700 on 3dmark06 without any driver updates... any idea why?

 

Very nice. And no clue why..maybe the hard drives? Im curious..if I wanted to go raid, would I have to re-install the OS entirely? And then go back thru and update all my settings, etc? Is there any other way? I have an external HD enclosure. I can always backup/transfer crap. But, is there any way so that I dont have to deal with the gateway optimizing, etc?
I'd rather not re-install crysis, cod, bioshock, all again. The worst part is typing in the CD keys!

I've never fooled with RAID.. but am tempted. That's why I got these nice scorpio HDs

 

Not really. I already tried to image from one hard drive then image back down to the RAID array. Big BSOD on boot. However, the data is there, it just wont boot. I tried the recovery option on from the Vista CD, but it "found no error". I'm sure theres a way, but it was just quicker for me to do a complete re-install. Vista doesnt like going cold turkey from IDE/AHCI to RAID.