James Titcumb

An issue thats been annoying me a little over the last few days was trying to get my nVidia nForce RAID array working. I’d taken 4x 300GB hard disks out of one of my servers as I wanted to keep them. Initially I tried to set up the array using my shiny Adaptec 2410SA. Alas, on a brief check, Adaptec don’t have Vista drivers. I tried hacking it a bit, but didn’t get it to work.

I gave up on that and tried setting up the array using the onboard RAID device… which actually makes more sense as it’ll probably be a lot faster and efficient than using a PCI RAID device. Anyway, I enabled RAID in the BIOS, set up the array in the nForce BIOS, and it was happy and existing as a nice big striped 1.2TB (!) array. Then it came to Vista, and the annoyance began.

The array appeared in Disk Manager as four seperate drives. My first instinct was to reinstall or upgrade drivers. I tried re-installing, to no avail. Having no internet meant I had to go round a friends house and download the latest nForce drivers (and get exceedingly drunk in the process…). I installed these, and still the same result. I did a lot of Googling, and some people recommended upgrading the BIOS. I managed to get my mobile phone to connect my PC to the internet just long enough to get on the ABit site and download the latest BIOS. No difference…

I tried various hacks that were suggested, and I finally gave in and posted on the nVidia forums. A bloke called Fernando responded telling me that the latest nForce drivers (15.17) didn’t support nForce 4 for RAID. Nice one, nVidia. This guy has obviously done a lot of work on this issue as he’s actually made a driver pack (even WHQL’ed!) for nForce 4 systems that worked straight off. If anyone has any issues at all with nForce 4 boards, I highly recommend installing this driver pack at the first instance. I am now happy with my 1.2TB hard drive… now I just need to fill it!

More detail, and the download links can be found here.

And lastly, thanks to Fernando for putting the effort in and making the solution so simple.

Yes, another soppy gay post. Some of you may or may not know that Hannah and I are officially engaged. I recently finally purchased her engagement ring (pictured). I’m currently in the process of developing a website for the wedding and information about it, which will soon be available on this website.

Our current idea is to have the ceremony at a place called Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. Unfortunately, the great hall (where the wedding itself takes place) can only accomodate 45 guests. However, our plan is to have the ceremony there, then have everybody waiting outside for photos… we’ll see if we can do that, as then most people (of the approximately 90-100 we are intending on inviting) will be able to be there for most of the celebrations.

Currently, there is no fixed date for the wedding, but we are aiming for summer next year! I’ll announce the location of the website when it’s ready!

I’m so happy - I’ve found the one. I just love the fact we are spending the rest of our lives together and we’re just so perfect for each other. I never want her to stop loving me like she does, otherwise I may not be happy ever again - she’s the bestest thing to ever happen to me. She makes me feel so special and loved and wanted - she’s like a goddess. I want to just cuddle her forever and hold her in my arms until death do us part… she’s that amazing. I never want her to forget that.

Teehee - As with most failblog posts, I can’t tell you if this is real or not, but it’s funny nonetheless:

Heh… As seen on failblog (and all over the internet). Not sure about the authenticity of this… but funny nonetheless.

• James is missin’ teh intarwebs… teh BT shud hurries up n connectses mah linez! (14/07/2008 09:05:14)
• James wants teh Diablo 3! (14/07/2008 11:10:35)
• James thinks BT should sort themselves out and get me a copper overlay - stat! (14/07/2008 13:45:20)
• James wishes Hannah good luck for interview! (15/07/2008 09:18:52)
• James thinks no-one should ever use UK2.net. Ever. (15/07/2008 15:52:11)
• James wants to go airsofting again.. he misses it. (15/07/2008 16:28:09)
• James is sitting in the sun with a refreshing pint. (15/07/2008 17:51:08)
• James says: “Innocent people are being tortured everyday… by our restrooms!!!” (16/07/2008 09:16:01)
• James had a nice lunch, yummy. (16/07/2008 14:10:50)
• James gave baby Finley breakfast this morning! (17/07/2008 08:43:12)
• James has popcorn! Wooties! (17/07/2008 14:12:35)
• James is the internet. (17/07/2008 14:45:26)
• James thinks you should subscribe to the Frosthold mailing list at http://www.frosthold.com! (17/07/2008 17:22:10)
• James just played Twister. (18/07/2008 11:13:55)
• James says screw you to the people in Winchester who didn’t give Hannah a job. (18/07/2008 11:48:03)
• James thinks someone should give Hannah a job she wants - stat. (18/07/2008 15:47:25)
• James has his own shooting range, woop! (19/07/2008 16:30:01)
• James is happy that his websites are all alive again. (19/07/2008 21:13:11)