For the record, these systems run 3.7/i386 rock solid. Just forget entirely about using the "Software Assist RAID" support on the motherboard and use RAIDFrame instead.
In the BIOS, you can toggle it between "RAID" and "NON-RAID" mode, but it makes no difference. The kernel probes it just the same. Even if you go into the "CERC SATA 2S RAID BIOS v2.1", which is actually an Adaptec menu. It actually probes as "Intel 82801ER SATA" on all the BSDs. It should be noted that the "RAID Mode" does indeed only show one low-level DOS disk signature at 0x80 if you go into the menu and build an array. However, the kernel doesnt probe a meta-disk in either mode. Just the individual components on each SATA channel l8r, ~lava Below as follows: - Entire OpenBSD dmesg(8), NetBSD-current relevent info on the controller, then FreeBSD. >> OpenBSD/i386 BOOT 2.06 boot> booting fd0a:/bsd: 4302596+825452=0x4e40b8 entry point at 0x100120* Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 1995-2005 OpenBSD. All rights reserved. http://www.OpenBSD.org OpenBSD 3.7 (RAMDISK_CD) #573: Sun Mar 20 00:27:05 MST 2005 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/RAMDISK_CD cpu0: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.00GHz ("GenuineIntel" 686-class) 3 GHz cpu0: FPU,V86,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CF LUSH,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,SBF,PNI,MWAIT,CNXT-ID real mem = 534933504 (522396K) avail mem = 482287616 (470984K) using 4278 buffers containing 26849280 bytes (26220K) of memory mainbus0 (root) bios0 at mainbus0: AT/286+(00) BIOS, date 08/18/05, BIOS32 rev. 0 @ 0xffe90 apm0 at bios0: Power Management spec V1.2 pcibios0 at bios0: rev 2.1 @ 0xf0000/0x10000 pcibios0: PCI IRQ Routing Table rev 1.0 @ 0xfeb00/256 (14 entries) pcibios0: PCI Interrupt Router at 000:31:0 ("Intel 82801EB/ER LPC" rev 0x00) pcibios0: PCI bus #6 is the last bus bios0: ROM list: 0xc0000/0x8000 0xc8000/0x1800! 0xc9800/0x4800 0xce000/0x2000 cpu0 at mainbus0 pci0 at mainbus0 bus 0: configuration mode 1 (no bios) pchb0 at pci0 dev 0 function 0 "Intel E7710 SMCH" rev 0x09 "Intel E7710 MCH ERR" rev 0x09 at pci0 dev 0 function 1 not configured ppb0 at pci0 dev 2 function 0 "Intel E7710 MCH PCIE" rev 0x09 pci1 at ppb0 bus 1 ppb1 at pci1 dev 0 function 0 "Intel PCIE-PCIE" rev 0x00 pci2 at ppb1 bus 2 vga1 at pci2 dev 12 function 0 "ATI Mach64 GO" rev 0x27 wsdisplay0 at vga1: console (80x25, vt100 emulation) ppb2 at pci1 dev 0 function 2 "Intel PCIE-PCIE" rev 0x00 pci3 at ppb2 bus 3 em0 at pci3 dev 14 function 0 "Intel PRO/1000MT (82545GM)" rev 0x04: irq 11, add ress: 00:12:3f:61:7a:75 ppb3 at pci0 dev 3 function 0 "Intel E7710 MCH PCIE" rev 0x09 pci4 at ppb3 bus 4 ppb4 at pci0 dev 4 function 0 "Intel E7710 MCH PCIE" rev 0x09 pci5 at ppb4 bus 5 uhci0 at pci0 dev 29 function 0 "Intel 82801EB/ER USB" rev 0x02: irq 11 usb0 at uhci0: USB revision 1.0 uhub0 at usb0 uhub0: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered uhci1 at pci0 dev 29 function 1 "Intel 82801EB/ER USB" rev 0x02: irq 10 usb1 at uhci1: USB revision 1.0 uhub1 at usb1 uhub1: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered uhci2 at pci0 dev 29 function 2 "Intel 82801EB/ER USB" rev 0x02: irq 9 usb2 at uhci2: USB revision 1.0 uhub2 at usb2 uhub2: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub2: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered uhci3 at pci0 dev 29 function 3 "Intel 82801EB/ER USB" rev 0x02: irq 11 usb3 at uhci3: USB revision 1.0 uhub3 at usb3 uhub3: Intel UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered ehci0 at pci0 dev 29 function 7 "Intel 82801EB/ER USB" rev 0x02: irq 5 ehci0: EHCI version 1.0 ehci0: companion controllers, 2 ports each: uhci0 uhci1 uhci2 uhci3 usb4 at ehci0: USB revision 2.0 uhub4 at usb4 uhub4: Intel EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub4: single transaction translator uhub4: 8 ports with 8 removable, self powered ppb5 at pci0 dev 30 function 0 "Intel 82801BA AGP" rev 0xc2 pci6 at ppb5 bus 6 ichpcib0 at pci0 dev 31 function 0 "Intel 82801EB/ER LPC" rev 0x02 pciide0 at pci0 dev 31 function 1 "Intel 82801EB/ER IDE" rev 0x02: DMA, channel 0 configured to compatibility, channel 1 configured to compatibility pciide0: channel 0 ignored (disabled) atapiscsi0 at pciide0 channel 1 drive 0 scsibus0 at atapiscsi0: 2 targets cd0 at scsibus0 targ 0 lun 0: <LITE-ON, CD-ROM LTN-489S, 8DS2> SCSI0 5/cdrom rem ovable cd0(pciide0:1:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 2 pciide1 at pci0 dev 31 function 2 "Intel 82801ER SATA" rev 0x02: DMA, channel 0 configured to native-PCI, channel 1 configured to native-PCI pciide1: using irq 9 for native-PCI interrupt wd0 at pciide1 channel 0 drive 0: <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0> wd0: 16-sector PIO, LBA48, 76293MB, 156250000 sectors wd0(pciide1:0:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 5 wd1 at pciide1 channel 1 drive 0: <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0> wd1: 16-sector PIO, LBA48, 76293MB, 156250000 sectors wd1(pciide1:1:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 5 "Intel 82801EB/ER SMBus" rev 0x02 at pci0 dev 31 function 3 not configured isa0 at ichpcib0 isadma0 at isa0 pckbc0 at isa0 port 0x60/5 pckbd0 at pckbc0 (kbd slot) pckbc0: using irq 1 for kbd slot wskbd0 at pckbd0 (mux 1 ignored for console): console keyboard, using wsdisplay0 npx0 at isa0 port 0xf0/16: using exception 16 pccom0 at isa0 port 0x3f8/8 irq 4: ns16550a, 16 byte fifo pccom0: console pccom1 at isa0 port 0x2f8/8 irq 3: ns16550a, 16 byte fifo biomask ffe5 netmask ffe5 ttymask ffe7 rd0: fixed, 3800 blocks wd0: no disk label wd1: no disk label dkcsum: warning: dup BSD->BIOS disk mapping root on rd0a rootdev=0x1100 rrootdev=0x2f00 rawdev=0x2f02 atapci0: <Intel ICH5 UDMA100 controller> port 0xffa0-0xffaf,0x376,0x170-0x177,0x 3f6,0x1f0-0x1f7 irq 18 at device 31.1 on pci0 ata0: channel #0 on atapci0 ata1: channel #1 on atapci0 atapci1: <Intel ICH5 SATA150 controller> port 0xfea0-0xfeaf,0xfe30-0xfe33,0xfe20 ata2: channel #0 on atapci1 ata3: channel #1 on atapci1 ad4: 76293MB <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0/09.01D09> [155009/16/63] at ata2-master SATA150 ad6: 76293MB <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0/09.01D09> [155009/16/63] at ata3-master SATA150 pciide0 at pci0 dev 31 function 1 "Intel 82801EB/ER IDE" rev 0x02: DMA, channel 0 configured to compatibility, channel 1 configured to compatibility pciide0: channel 0 ignored (disabled) atapiscsi0 at pciide0 channel 1 drive 0 scsibus0 at atapiscsi0: 2 targets cd0 at scsibus0 targ 0 lun 0: <LITE-ON, CD-ROM LTN-489S, 8DS2> SCSI0 5/cdrom rem ovable cd0(pciide0:1:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 2 pciide1 at pci0 dev 31 function 2 "Intel 82801ER SATA" rev 0x02: DMA, channel 0 configured to native-PCI, channel 1 configured to native-PCI pciide1: using irq 9 for native-PCI interrupt wd0 at pciide1 channel 0 drive 0: <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0> wd0: 16-sector PIO, LBA48, 76293MB, 156250000 sectors wd0(pciide1:0:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 5 wd1 at pciide1 channel 1 drive 0: <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0> wd1: 16-sector PIO, LBA48, 76293MB, 156250000 sectors wd1(pciide1:1:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 5 "Intel 82801EB/ER SMBus" rev 0x02 at pci0 dev 31 function 3 not configured Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. NetBSD 3.99.7 (INSTALL) #0: Thu Jun 30 15:26:44 UTC 2005 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/builds/ab/HEAD/i386/200506300000Z-obj/home/bu ilds/ab/HEAD/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/INSTALL total memory = 510 MB avail memory = 492 MB BIOS32 rev. 0 found at 0xffe90 mainbus0 (root) cpu0 at mainbus0: (uniprocessor) cpu0: Intel (686-class), 2992.83 MHz, id 0xf43 cpu0: features bfebfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR> cpu0: features bfebfbff<PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CFLUSH,DS,ACPI,MMX> cpu0: features bfebfbff<FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,SBF> cpu0: features2 641d<SSE3,MONITOR,DS-CPL,CID,xTPR> cpu0: features3 20100000<EM64T> cpu0: "Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.00GHz" cpu0: I-cache 12K uOp cache 8-way cpu0: L2 cache 2 MB 64B/line 8-way cpu0: ITLB 4K/4M: 64 entries cpu0: DTLB 4K/4M: 64 entries cpu0: running without thermal monitor! cpu0: 64 page colors pci0 at mainbus0 bus 0: configuration mode 1 pci0: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, rd/mult, wr/inv ok pchb0 at pci0 dev 0 function 0 pchb0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x3590 (rev. 0x09) vendor 0x8086 product 0x3591 (undefined subclass 0x00, revision 0x09) at pci0 de v 0 function 1 not configured ppb0 at pci0 dev 2 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x3595 (rev. 0x09) pci1 at ppb0 bus 1 pci1: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok ppb1 at pci1 dev 0 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x0329 (rev. 0x00) pci2 at ppb1 bus 2 pci2: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok vga1 at pci2 dev 12 function 0: vendor 0x1002 product 0x474f (rev. 0x27) wsdisplay0 at vga1 kbdmux 1 wsmux1: connecting to wsdisplay0 ppb2 at pci1 dev 0 function 2: vendor 0x8086 product 0x032a (rev. 0x00) pci3 at ppb2 bus 3 pci3: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok wm0 at pci3 dev 14 function 0: Intel i82545GM 1000BASE-T Ethernet, rev. 4 wm0: interrupting at irq 11 wm0: Ethernet address 00:12:3f:61:7a:75 makphy0 at wm0 phy 1: Marvell 88E1011 Gigabit PHY, rev. 5 makphy0: 10baseT, 10baseT-FDX, 100baseTX, 100baseTX-FDX, 1000baseT, 1000baseT-FD X, auto ppb3 at pci0 dev 3 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x3596 (rev. 0x09) pci4 at ppb3 bus 4 pci4: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok ppb4 at pci0 dev 4 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x3597 (rev. 0x09) pci5 at ppb4 bus 5 pci5: i/o space, memory space enabled, rd/line, wr/inv ok uhci0 at pci0 dev 29 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x24d2 (rev. 0x02) uhci0: interrupting at irq 11 usb0 at uhci0: USB revision 1.0 uhub0 at usb0 uhub0: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub0: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered uhci1 at pci0 dev 29 function 1: vendor 0x8086 product 0x24d4 (rev. 0x02) uhci1: interrupting at irq 10 usb1 at uhci1: USB revision 1.0 uhub1 at usb1 uhub1: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub1: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered uhci2 at pci0 dev 29 function 2: vendor 0x8086 product 0x24d7 (rev. 0x02) uhci2: interrupting at irq 9 usb2 at uhci2: USB revision 1.0 uhub2 at usb2 uhub2: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub2: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered uhci3 at pci0 dev 29 function 3: vendor 0x8086 product 0x24de (rev. 0x02) uhci3: interrupting at irq 11 usb3 at uhci3: USB revision 1.0 uhub3 at usb3 uhub3: vendor 0x8086 UHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub3: 2 ports with 2 removable, self powered ehci0 at pci0 dev 29 function 7: vendor 0x8086 product 0x24dd (rev. 0x02) ehci0: interrupting at irq 5 ehci0: EHCI version 1.0 ehci0: companion controllers, 2 ports each: uhci0 uhci1 uhci2 uhci3 usb4 at ehci0: USB revision 2.0 uhub4 at usb4 uhub4: vendor 0x8086 EHCI root hub, class 9/0, rev 2.00/1.00, addr 1 uhub4: 8 ports with 8 removable, self powered ppb5 at pci0 dev 30 function 0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x244e (rev. 0xc2) pci6 at ppb5 bus 6 pci6: i/o space, memory space enabled pcib0 at pci0 dev 31 function 0 pcib0: vendor 0x8086 product 0x24d0 (rev. 0x02) piixide0 at pci0 dev 31 function 1 piixide0: Intel 82801EB IDE Controller (ICH5) (rev. 0x02) piixide0: bus-master DMA support present piixide0: primary channel wired to compatibility mode piixide0: primary channel ignored (disabled) piixide0: secondary channel wired to compatibility mode piixide0: secondary channel interrupting at irq 15 atabus0 at piixide0 channel 1 piixide1 at pci0 dev 31 function 2 piixide1: Intel 82801ER Serial ATA/Raid Controller (rev. 0x02) piixide1: bus-master DMA support present piixide1: primary channel configured to native-PCI mode piixide1: using irq 9 for native-PCI interrupt atabus1 at piixide1 channel 0 piixide1: secondary channel configured to native-PCI mode atabus2 at piixide1 channel 1 vendor 0x8086 product 0x24d3 (SMBus serial bus, revision 0x02) at pci0 dev 31 fu nction 3 not configured isa0 at pcib0 com0 at isa0 port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4: ns16550a, working fifo com0: console com1 at isa0 port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3: ns16550a, working fifo pckbc0 at isa0 port 0x60-0x64 pckbd0 at pckbc0 (kbd slot) pckbc0: using irq 1 for kbd slot wskbd0 at pckbd0 mux 1 wskbd0: connecting to wsdisplay0 attimer0 at isa0 port 0x40-0x43: AT Timer pcppi0 at isa0 port 0x61 isapnp0 at isa0 port 0x279: ISA Plug 'n Play device support npx0 at isa0 port 0xf0-0xff: using exception 16 pcppi0: attached to attimer0 isapnp0: no ISA Plug 'n Play devices found Kernelized RAIDframe activated md0: internal 5000 KB image area atapibus0 at atabus0: 2 targets cd0 at atapibus0 drive 0: <LITE-ON CD-ROM LTN-489S, , 8DS2> cdrom removable cd0: 32-bit data port cd0: drive supports PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 2 (Ultra/33) cd0(piixide0:1:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 2 (Ultra/33) (using DMA) wd0 at atabus1 drive 0: <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0> wd0: drive supports 16-sector PIO transfers, LBA48 addressing wd0: 76293 MB, 155009 cyl, 16 head, 63 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 156250000 sectors wd0: 32-bit data port wd0: drive supports PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 6 (Ultra/133) wd0(piixide1:0:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 6 (Ultra/133) (using DMA) wd1 at atabus2 drive 0: <WDC WD800JD-75LSA0> wd1: drive supports 16-sector PIO transfers, LBA48 addressing wd1: 76293 MB, 155009 cyl, 16 head, 63 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 156250000 sectors wd1: 32-bit data port wd1: drive supports PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 6 (Ultra/133) wd1(piixide1:1:0): using PIO mode 4, Ultra-DMA mode 6 (Ultra/133) (using DMA) boot device: <unknown> root on md0a dumps on md0b root file system type: ffs warning: no /dev/console init: Creating mfs /dev (412 blocks, 1024 inodes)