GA-EP45-UD3P rev1.6 for 3TB drives

[gto4ben]

1. First install the Intel RST 11.2.0.1527 first into your OS, reboot, and then update your bios to the one supplied. The RST will recognize any RAID arrays you've already created. Be sure to perform a chkdisk on your boot drive before RST installaton.

Hit END when the logo pops up at boot up to use the Q-FLASH built in bios updater. I find this way very reliable.

You can reverse the order and Install the bios first but I'm not sure if the Intel Matrix Manager will be stable. I recall that Intel Matrix Manager and earlier RST had problems that corrupted the RAID arrays and adding a new bios may complicate this.. Either way, backup your critical files in case you need to rebuild an array.

2. External drives not used in an RAID do not need a new bios or RST. Both INTEL ports and GSATA ports can read 3TB drives if set up as AHCI/IDE. They are controlled by the OS. I believe Vista and later will handle 3TB and much higher. The caveat is that these drives need to be GPT instead of MBR if you want one contiguous partition at 3TB. MBR's maximum size is 2047GB.  EasUS Partition Master, Paragon Hard Disk Manager, or Windows Disk Management can help set up the drive as GPT.

[sgayner]

<<1. First install the Intel RST 11.2.0.1527 first into your OS, reboot, and then update your bios to the one supplied. 

Hit END when the logo pops up at boot up to use the Q-FLASH built in bios updater. I find this way very reliable.>>

Do I have to catch the first reboot and hit END or can I let the first reboot complete and upgrade the BIOS on the second reboot?


<<2. External drives not used in an RAID do not need a new bios or RST. Both INTEL ports and GSATA ports can read 3TB drives if set up as AHCI/IDE.>>

But since I am in RAID mode (and therefore not AHCI/IDE) because I have an array connected to Intel ports 1&2, I do need to update the BIOS to read the 3TB drive connected to port 4. Right? The controller is in RAID mode even though the one drive that's 3TB is not in a RAID array.


From your first reply: <<I'm currently using Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) 11.2.0.1527 with no problems.>>

I can only find RST 11.7.0.1013 on the Intel web site. Can you point me to 11.2.0.1527?


Sorry for all the questions. It's my data server and if I mess it up, it will take a long time to rebuild. Having said that, I have lots of backup, so I am in little danger. Just a question of wasting time.

Thanks again for all the effort on my behalf.

Steve

[gto4ben]

1. upgrade the bios on the second reboot.


2.  I think you're saying the OS is installed on ports 1 &2 in either RAID 0 or RAID1 but you just wish to add a single 3TB HD on port4. If this is the case, you will need the bios update so the RAID controller see the full 3TB and passes it along to the OS. Otherwise, it will read 747GB in the bios when you hit Cntrl-I at boot.

Sorry for the mixup. The RST is 11.2.0.1006 and may be found here: <http://www.win-raid.com/t2f23-Intel-RST-RSTe-Drivers-newest-v-WHQL-v-WHQL.html>. The OROM is 11.2.0.1527 and that's what's in the bios. Confirm you have either a 32bit or 64bit OS and choose the correct one.

[sgayner]

<<1. upgrade the bios on the second reboot.>> 

Excellent. Thanks.

<<2.  I think you're saying the OS is installed on ports 1 &2 in either RAID 0 or RAID1 but you just wish to add a single 3TB HD on port4. If this is the case, you will need the bios update so the RAID controller see the full 3TB and passes it along to the OS. Otherwise, it will read 747GB in the bios when you hit Cntrl-I at boot.>> 

I wasn't completely clear, but in answering my poorly worded question, you told me what I needed to know. Thank you.

<<Sorry for the mixup. The RST is 11.2.0.1006 and may be found here: <http://www.win-raid.com/t2f23-Intel-RST-RSTe-Drivers-newest-v-WHQL-v-WHQL.html>. The OROM is 11.2.0.1527 and that's what's in the bios. Confirm you have either a 32bit or 64bit OS and choose the correct one.>>

Excellent. No apology is necessary. All is clear now. (And that win-raid site offers an excellent explanation of how this all fits together. Thank you for that.)

Thanks, again, for all your time and effort on my behalf. I would have done it wrong, for sure. Have a great Memorial Day.

Steve G

[Biosin]

- Will a BIOS update allow me to use a 3TB drive under these conditions?
Yes, A bios update to the INTEL RAID OROM will allow 3TB recognition. Version 11.2.0.127 is supposedly best but I've used the 12 series previously without problems. Provided by Fernando, 11.2.0.127 is the universally TRIM modified version to allow RAID0 support.

The GSATA ports used with Windows Vista, 7, etc, will allow 3TB and higher recognition in AHCI but the GSATA bios and driver does not support 3TB+ recognition in RAID modes.

- Would one of the modded BIOSes earlier in this thread do the trick? Which one?
I've attached the latest I'm using now. I have a few machines still running this motherboard very reliably.

- What version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology should I use?
I'm currently using Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) 11.2.0.1527 with no problems.

- Will the existing RAID1 array remain viable or will I have to rebuild it?
The existing RAID1 will be recognized by the new bios since the total size is under 2047GB. Once you decide to increase the size beyond that, you'll need to replace the Intel Matrix Manager with Intel RST and install the updated bios.

for GA-EP45-UD3P rev1.6
ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
RTL8111C ethernet - rtegrom264.lom
SATA2 chip - j1.08.01
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE

Hi gto4ben,

Excuse me for not posting a new thread as I think its better to request it here.

Would you please add SLIC 2.1 for Dell for above modded GA-EP45-UD3p rev 1.6 BIOS.

Thanks in advance.

[gto4ben]

- Will a BIOS update allow me to use a 3TB drive under these conditions?
Yes, A bios update to the INTEL RAID OROM will allow 3TB recognition. Version 11.2.0.127 is supposedly best but I've used the 12 series previously without problems. Provided by Fernando, 11.2.0.127 is the universally TRIM modified version to allow RAID0 support.

The GSATA ports used with Windows Vista, 7, etc, will allow 3TB and higher recognition in AHCI but the GSATA bios and driver does not support 3TB+ recognition in RAID modes.

- Would one of the modded BIOSes earlier in this thread do the trick? Which one?
I've attached the latest I'm using now. I have a few machines still running this motherboard very reliably.

- What version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology should I use?
I'm currently using Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) 11.2.0.1527 with no problems.

- Will the existing RAID1 array remain viable or will I have to rebuild it?
The existing RAID1 will be recognized by the new bios since the total size is under 2047GB. Once you decide to increase the size beyond that, you'll need to replace the Intel Matrix Manager with Intel RST and install the updated bios.

for GA-EP45-UD3P rev1.6
ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
RTL8111C ethernet - rtegrom264.lom
SATA2 chip - j1.08.01
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE

Hi gto4ben,

Excuse me for not posting a new thread as I think its better to request it here.

Would you please add SLIC 2.1 for Dell for above modded GA-EP45-UD3p rev 1.6 BIOS.

Thanks in advance.

-------------------------
I think the bios in this thread is already set up for a Gigabyte SLIC for convenience since its a Gigabyte motherboard. It may be easier to simply change your SLIC certificate to Gigabyte and then execute "slmgr -ilc C:\GIGABYTE-GBT-2.1.xrm-ms"

I'll can dust off the tools to change it to read a Dell certificate tomorrow. I'll try an overwrite first and post it. If that does not work, I will need to reconstruct the whole bios from the original and include the Dell SLIC.

[NETTWORX]

Hello Everyone,

This thread is full of wonderful information.

I've read all 11 pages - and I see to have a problem of my own. MY GA-EP45-UD3R is (rev. 1.1).

My ICH10R ROM is version 8.0.something, and is NOT happy with the 4x 3TB drives I just tried to install.

...and I just realized I've been reading a thread about the UD3P, and not the UD3R, which makes my question about why I can't flash the BIOS files... rather obvious...

I shall start my own thread, shall I?

[Skeeter3]

<snip> for GA-EP45-UD3P rev1.6
ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
RTL8111C ethernet - rtegrom264.lom
SATA2 chip - j1.08.01
ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
Updated NCPUCODE </snip>

Much thanks gto4ben for the EP45UD3P.rar  BIOS in post 99 above.  I'm using the recommended RST 11.2.0.1006 from <www.win-raid.com/t2f23-Intel-RST-RSTe-Drivers-newest-v-WHQL-v-WHQL.html>, RAID1, and SSD's -- It's reliable and fast.  The new BIOS and RST seemed to increase speed even before changing out the RAID1 drives for SSD's.

[gto4ben]

With the news reporting the "Meltdown" and "Spectre" security issues with the Intel processor kernel, I thought I'd revisit the bios for my trusty GA-EP45-UD3P Rev1.6 machines. The 01/08/2018 microcodes from Intel does not address the socket 775 processors yet but there are updates since the 09/13/2014 microcodes I previously used as well as updates available from Git-Hub.

The attached bios contains the following mods:

ICHAACHI 1.2 original from a EP45-USB3P
ICH10R southbridge - v11.2.0.1527 with the TRIM mod
SATA2 chip - 1.08.01
8111 ethernet - rtegrom266.lom
Updated NCPUCODE (uses Intel 771/775 microcode-20180108)
Gigabyte SLIC

My machine has a X5492 CPU and it booted up fine with this bios.

For those interested, early instructions on the web only appended NCPUCODE which results in a size increase and in many cases errors
(cbrom195.exe BIOS.BIN /nc_cpucode NCPUCODE.BIN)

A complete microcode overwrite requires a release first to free up the address so nc_cpucode knows where to start the rewrite.
(cbrom195.exe BIOS.BIN /nc_cpucode release
cbrom195.exe BIOS.BIN /nc_cpucode NCPUCODE.BIN)

Using the "release" first results in a clean and compact microcode. I used MC_Extractor to confirm microcodes are the latest.

[Skeeter3]

<snip>
The attached bios contains the following mods:
</snip>

The .rar file would''t open with 7-zip (v9.2), is it perhaps corrupted? --Thanks