Mac Pro blinking cursor before booting into Windows 7 from Areca RAID

[Spacedust]

I have to restore my VHD image on my new array and everything is working ok. It boots directly from my array, but it takes about 30 seconds with cursor blinking before each boot.

Why is this happening ? It didn't happen before.

Maybe I have to change something with bless because it's looking for boot sector on non-existing drives ?

I only got 16 GB SSD installed in bay 1 and connect to Mac Pro internal ports with Lion installed.

 

[nanofrog]

IF you're currently missing drives/arrays that are setup on the card, then Yes, it will cause a delay before it stops looking for them, and continues to boot.

Either restore the missing drives/arrays, or delete them from the controller to fix the problem.

 

[mm9]

IF you're currently missing drives/arrays that are setup on the card, then Yes, it will cause a delay before it stops looking for them, and continues to boot.

Either restore the missing drives/arrays, or delete them from the controller to fix the problem.

I have exactly the same problem. What should I edit? How to delete non existing drives?

Best

Michael

 

[nanofrog]

I have exactly the same problem. What should I edit? How to delete non existing drives?

Best

Michael

Generally speaking, you add/delete drives both physically and if you need to do something manually, you use Disk Utility.

But without specifics, it's kind of hard to tell (OP knew what drive was where, ..., so they knew where to start, thus it was a simple answer).

In your case, are they on the MP's SATA controllers or separate cards? And if separate cards, which one/s?

I ask, as most SATA cards are no different in their approach (physical connection and Disk Utility), but if it's on a proper RAID card for example, then you're in an entirely different situation (must enter the card's setup screens to make changes, as it's configuration data is stored in it's own firmware, not the MP's). MP just sees a card in such a case (RAID card has direct control of the drives, not the MP as it does with it's own SATA ports).

 

[mm9]

Generally speaking, you add/delete drives both physically and if you need to do something manually, you use Disk Utility.

But without specifics, it's kind of hard to tell (OP knew what drive was where, ..., so they knew where to start, thus it was a simple answer).

In your case, are they on the MP's SATA controllers or separate cards? And if separate cards, which one/s?

I ask, as most SATA cards are no different in their approach (physical connection and Disk Utility), but if it's on a proper RAID card for example, then you're in an entirely different situation (must enter the card's setup screens to make changes, as it's configuration data is stored in it's own firmware, not the MP's). MP just sees a card in such a case (RAID card has direct control of the drives, not the MP as it does with it's own SATA ports).

Thanks for your help. I need to wait with this one.

I have bought new PCI card to speed my SSD on Mac PRO without SATA 3.

That changes my drive from SATA 2 to PCI SSD card which is using AHCI controller which works great after few tweaks but is causing the long wait on boot.

I have read elsewhere that my problem could be caused by activation. I have a legal copy of Windows 7 which was very hard to activate on my system. At the end I had to use Windows DAZ activator to stop having activation issues and Microsoft popups.

Maybe this wait on boot is caused by activation issue while main boot drive is connected via PCI card??

Best

Michael

 

[nanofrog]

Thanks for your help. I need to wait with this one.

I have bought new PCI card to speed my SSD on Mac PRO without SATA 3.

That changes my drive from SATA 2 to PCI SSD card which is using AHCI controller which works great after few tweaks but is causing the long wait on boot.

I have read elsewhere that my problem could be caused by activation. I have a legal copy of Windows 7 which was very hard to activate on my system. At the end I had to use Windows DAZ activator to stop having activation issues and Microsoft popups.

Maybe this wait on boot is caused by activation issue while main boot drive is connected via PCI card??

It's possible, but without specifics it's hard to say for certain. Could simply be delays in the firmware load timing of the 3rd party products you're using.