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R3BE: Marvell SATA 6G Issues, AHCI and RAID

Retired
Not applicable
To my R3BE I have connected:

Marvell Controller:
2x SATA3 Vertex 3 SSD's

Intel Controller:
2x optical drives
3x 2TB SATA3 Baracuda XT HDDs (6TB GPT volume)

My motherboard is not overclocked... BIOS 0501 is installed.

The problem I'm having is with the (2) Vertex 3's.

In AHCI, it's very diffcult to get Windows installed... Either the SSD disappears after I load the latest Marvell driver. Or Windows will install to a great degree, then abort due to a missing file, or because it suddenly cannot read the (new) disc. Or, I can get Windows installed, but I'm unable to format the remaining partitons afterwards. Or, I can install Windows, do a good deal of configuring, but after reboot, Windows complains my boot disk has no MBR...

In RAID, (I found a RAID driver that reportedly works here), I can see the RAID after loading the F6 drivers, but then Windows says it can't find a partition suitable to install Windows onto. Or, because it didn't create a 100MB reserved partition, it says it has no place to store the system files...

For testing purposes, I replaced the Vertex 3's with an 80GB Intel X25M and a 128 GB Crucial C300. Hmmm, no problems installing Windows with AHCI selected in the BIOS. No problem formatting the remaining partitions, etc... So, I'm left thinking there's something about the Vertex 3 the Marvell controller just doesn't like. ???

(BTW, he Vertex 3's have the latest firmware installed and have already been secure erased)

All of my new/target drives (SSD and HDD) are SATA3 drives. If possible, I'd like to remove the Intel/Crucial SSD, then configure the 2 Vertex 3's in a RAID 0 using the Marvell controller.

Questions:

1) Has anyone here successfully striped (2) Vertex 3's together using the Marvell 9182 controller?

2) Does anyone know approximately when ASUS plans to release the next R3BE BIOS revision (greater than 0501)? Do we know if it will include new Marvell controller firmware?

3) I'm using Marvell 91xx driver v1.2.0.1003 from the site referenced above. Does anyone have a newer/better driver? If so, please post a link.

Thanks,
DF
16,890 Views
3 REPLIES 3

Raja
Level 13
Hi,

1) You may need to update the Vertex 3 firmware.

2) Not sure on a release date of a new BIOS, and no date of Marvell update.

3) Use the Marvell drivers on the ASUS download page for the R3E BE - that driver will coincide with the current Marvell OPROM.

-Raja

Unfortunately the Marvell SATA 6G ports on all x58 motherboards do not preform well in raid [This includes all raid forms not just raid 0] and there is plenty of info on the net to support this.

I recently posted about that on this thread: http://www.asusrog.com/forums/showthread.php?2739-6Gb-s-RAID/page2

Here's another good link to read: http://communities.intel.com/thread/19714?start=0&tstart=0

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but on the bright side there are solutions to speed and redundancy, just not for the Marvell SATA 6G ports.
Asus Rampage III Formula / Intel Core i7-980X / CORSAIR Hydro H70 CPU Cooler / 24GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR DDR3 1600 / Asus OC station / 2 X Radeon HD 6870 in CrossFire / 2 X Corsair Force 120GB Solid State Drives in raid 0 / 4 X SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2TB 5400 RPM in raid 5 / ASUS Blu-ray Burner / ASUS 24X DVD Burner / CORSAIR 1000W Modular PSU / Corsair Obsidian 800D ATX Case / 3 X Asus VE248H Black 24" LCD Monitors for Eyefinity

TrickMasterPC
Level 10
The ASUS Rampage III Black Edition BIOS version 0501 can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?t5ef3v45u9yb94e

Some items to note:
- The ASUS Rampage III Black Edition 0501 BIOS (leaked) DOES allow you to enter the RAID configuration utility for your Marvell 88SE9182 controller (GOOD)
- The RAID options on the Marvell 88SE9182 controller include: RAID 0,1 ** Stripe Sizes of: 32KB, 64KB, 128KB ** Write Back Cache On/Off (recommend on for 5-10%higher performance) (GOOD)
- 128GB OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS speeds on the 0501 BIOS running Marvell 88SE91xx driver 1.2.0.1003 WHQL are max 750MB/s Read and Write (NOT BAD)
- The 0501 BIOS runs perfectly stable on stock clock speeds. When I try to use the previous overclock settings which worked on my Rampage III Extreme the system (on boot up) sometimes messages "Overclocking Failed" (NOT BAD)
- Hopefully, once Marvell provides ASUS with an updated firmware image for 9182 controller and a set of appropriate drivers we will see the true speed potential which should be around 1000MB/s Read and Write on the Vertex 3 MAX IOPS drives.


Now to help you resolve your issue:
1) Upgrade your OCZ drive firmware to version 2.09
- Unfortunately, the only way to do this right now is using the Bootable USB stick method. The updater application on OCZ's website will only update to version 2.08 (even though it says 2.38-2.09, it's not the case).
- Follow these instructions: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?89670-Bootable-Tools-for-OCZ-Vertex2-3-Agilit...
- Your drives will appear during windows install after you load the RAID driver found here: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm The driver file is in the Floppy 64 folder.

2) RAID Drives for your Marvell 9182 Controller:
Since ASUS has no Marvell 9182 RAID drives and RAID software on their website yet for the Rampage III Black Edition, you can download them from Gigabit's website. The Gigabit G1.Assassin has the same 9182 controller as the Rampage III Black Edition, so this will work for you (it worked for me perfectly): http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3752&dl=1#dl


I performed all of the steps as outline above and was able to install Windows 7 Professional an all updates without any problems. I ran the Intel Burning Test and passed with flying colors. I also ran the ATTO disk benchmark application and was pretty happy with the results (screen shot coming tonight). Basically I was able to achieve 750MB/s Read and Write. A huge improvement in RAID0 speeds over the 9128 controller and over using Intel's onboard SATA II controller which maxed out at 550MB/s Read and Write.

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Rampage V Edition 10
CPU: Intel 6950x 4.2GHz
GPU: 2x Nvidia ASUS RTX 3090 with EK Water Blocks
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 64GB (4x8GB) 3,600 MHz
M.2 SSD: Samsung 960 Pro NVMEI
Sound: Creative XFI Fatal1ty Champion Series
PSU: Corsair AX1200i