Q: Why can't I boot from a SCSI CDROM attached to Adaptec 29160 SCSI card then install operation system onto assigned hard drive? Or fail to start Windows with Adaptec 29160 SCSI card plugged on KG7-RAID mainboard? (KG7 / KG7-RAID / KT7A / KT7A-RAID / KT7 / KT7-RAID)
A: Some users encountered problems on RAID onboard mainboard and thought it's owing to mainboard BIOS bug. Actually this issue is caused by basic limitation of AWARD BIOS- all the PCI add-on cards' BIOSes use C000~DFFF memory address, which is a quite limited space. Especially the BIOS size of current VGA, RAID and SCSI card become larger and larger. While two or more cards are plugged into the system, the initial sequence, allocated memory address, and different characteristics may lead to a very complicated situation and configuration. Sometimes mainboard BIOS cannot afford enough ROM space to PCI cards BIOSes and cause abnormal functionality. Please note that for RAID onboard mainboards, users can't see PCI add-on card but the RAID BIOS does exist and be included in mainboard BIOS. If the add-on SCSI card's BIOS is with too large size and quite different characteristic, the boot issue may occur.
For Adaptec 29160 SCSI card users, we suggest the following troubleshooting and workable configuration:
1. Use an IDE CDROM to boot up and install the operation system. Please set the boot sequence to "1st: CD-ROM, 2nd: ATA100RAID, 3rd: SCSI", thus you will be able to boot from a Windows 2000 installation CD disk and install the OS onto IDE RAID drive or SCSI drive. If wrongfully set the boot sequence to "1st: CD-ROM, 2nd: SCSI, 3rd: ATA100RAID", the installation process may fail because mainboard BIOS cannot afford enough ROM space to RAID BIOS.
2. Use an SCSI CDROM to boot up and install the operation system. Please set the boot sequence to "1st: ATA100RAID, 2nd: SCSI, 3rd: any", thus you will be able to boot from a Windows 2000 installation CD disk and install the OS onto IDE RAID drive or SCSI drive. If wrongfully set the boot sequence to "1st: SCSI, 2nd: ATA100RAID, 3rd: any", the installation process may fail because mainboard BIOS cannot afford enough ROM space to RAID BIOS.
3. We highly recommend choosing one option from IDE RAID and SCSI solu