Mac Pro RAID w/Bootcamp (Windows 7 only)

[ScottishCaptain]

Greetings to all.

I would like to convert my MacPro5,1 into a Windows 7 workstation. I only intend on running ONE operating system, and that would be Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I do not need to multi-boot OS X anymore, nor do I want it installed anywhere.

I currently have the official Apple RAID card installed in my system providing RAID5 protection across 4x1TB WD drives. Obviously this card will not boot into Windows as there were never any drivers written for it (and I've personally explored the option of writing my own drivers- but the Apple RAID card is a bit of a hack based around a chipset that was never supposed to be used as an HBA, so I decided not to go there).

Which cards are out there that will let me accomplish this? I'd like something that supports RAID5 and will let me boot into Windows 7. I've read that some Highpoint and/or Areca cards *might* support this, but I've not been able to get confirmation on which cards would work. For that fact, I can't seem to determine which sort of firmware the cards would need- an EFI or PC BIOS, and whether or not the Bootcamp CSM even supports loading PC-style card BIOS at all.

So... is this even possible? Which cards should I be looking at if it is?

Cheers,
-SC

 

[orph]

why boot from the raid volume?
just stick a SSD in the lower optical bay or on a PCI card then do a raid for storage, saves a lot of time and may make life simple.

 

[AidenShaw]

So... is this even possible? Which cards should I be looking at if it is?

LSI MegaRAID cards are bootable, and support battery backup so that RAID-5 writes are much, much faster.

The 9380 https://www.broadcom.com/products/storage/raid-controllers/megaraid-sas-9380-4i4e has 4 internal ports, and an external connector for 4 more lanes. Add an external drive case like https://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-16-111-477 and get 4 more RAID drives. (Go for the 12Gbps speed - driver support is better than for the older 6Gbps controllers.)

 

[w1z]

Areca 1882ix booting Windows 10 here without any issue. It was on 7 previously.

If you opt for Areca, make sure to flash the windows firmware so you get bios boot/control.

 

[ScottishCaptain]

LSI MegaRAID cards are bootable, and support battery backup so that RAID-5 writes are much, much faster.

The 9380 https://www.broadcom.com/products/storage/raid-controllers/megaraid-sas-9380-4i4e has 4 internal ports, and an external connector for 4 more lanes. Add an external drive case like https://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-16-111-477 and get 4 more RAID drives. (Go for the 12Gbps speed - driver support is better than for the older 6Gbps controllers.)

I can get a LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-8i for fairly cheap locally (with the LSICVM01 BBU kit and the PCI-e mounting bracket).

Can you confirm that this card would be able to boot Windows 7 on the MacPro5,1 if I bought an interposer board kit for the SATA drives?

-SC

 

[AidenShaw]

I can get a LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-8i for fairly cheap locally (with the LSICVM01 BBU kit and the PCI-e mounting bracket).

Can you confirm that this card would be able to boot Windows 7 on the MacPro5,1 if I bought an interposer board kit for the SATA drives?

-SC

The user guide definitely describes installing the Windows OS on disks on the card. https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/pub-005116

The release notes cover Win7 installations https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/MR_LINUX_DRIVER_7.2-07.702.06.00-1-README.txt .

I'd still recommend using a SATA SSD for the OS drive. The Windows 7 DVD does not contain a driver for that card, so you'll have to provide the driver during OS installation. It also means that you'll have to use the BIOS RAID utility to configure the volume before installation.

 

[ScottishCaptain]

The user guide definitely describes installing the Windows OS on disks on the card. https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/pub-005116

The release notes cover Win7 installations https://docs.broadcom.com/docs/MR_LINUX_DRIVER_7.2-07.702.06.00-1-README.txt .

I'd still recommend using a SATA SSD for the OS drive. The Windows 7 DVD does not contain a driver for that card, so you'll have to provide the driver during OS installation. It also means that you'll have to use the BIOS RAID utility to configure the volume before installation.

Sorry, I'm getting lost about something here.

How exactly does the BIOS work on a Mac Pro? Does this mean the EFI CSM (aka "Bootcamp") has the ability to load and execute PCI-e option ROMs? Will I see the LSI MegaRAID BIOS load and initialize once the screen goes black and the system drops into VGA text mode?

How does this work if there are no other operating systems on the Mac Pro? Doesn't EFI need to know that there's some sort of bootable OS present before it'll show up in the chooser? How can it know that the LSI MegaRAID contains a bootable OS before the CSM is loaded and the card BIOS launches (if in fact that actually works on a Mac Pro)?

Does the Apple EFI just default to the CSM if it can't find anything else on the system?

Sorry for all the questions here. I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly since I had no idea this was even possible on a Mac Pro. I've spent a lot of time and money fiddling around with eSATA stuff before which never worked right, so I'm kinda surprised to hear that this should "just work".

Cheers,
-SC

 

[AidenShaw]

Sorry, I'm getting lost about something here.

How exactly does the BIOS work on a Mac Pro? Does this mean the EFI CSM (aka "Bootcamp") has the ability to load and execute PCI-e option ROMs? Will I see the LSI MegaRAID BIOS load and initialize once the screen goes black and the system drops into VGA text mode?

How does this work if there are no other operating systems on the Mac Pro? Doesn't EFI need to know that there's some sort of bootable OS present before it'll show up in the chooser? How can it know that the LSI MegaRAID contains a bootable OS before the CSM is loaded and the card BIOS launches (if in fact that actually works on a Mac Pro)?

Does the Apple EFI just default to the CSM if it can't find anything else on the system?

Sorry for all the questions here. I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly since I had no idea this was even possible on a Mac Pro. I've spent a lot of time and money fiddling around with eSATA stuff before which never worked right, so I'm kinda surprised to hear that this should "just work".

Cheers,
-SC

I don't know the answers, but the answers won't matter if you put a SATA SSD in for the OS disk. You can install from the (DVD/USB/...) and configure the RAID from the Windows utilities.

EFI is deprecated, legacy code. Abandoned in 2005. Last used (in a bastardized version) in a Mac Pro that went EOL in 2013.

Windows and Linux like UEFI. Supported. Maintained.