This release note and the software that accompanies it are copyright (c) 2012, Intel Corporation or its suppliers, and may only be installed and used in accordance with the license that accompanies the software.

This Software is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of that license. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document. The Software is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Intel Corporation or its suppliers to market, license, sell or support any product or technology. Unless otherwise provided for in the license under which this Software is provided, the Software is provided AS IS, with no warranties of any kind, express or implied. Except as expressly permitted by the Software license, neither Intel Corporation nor its suppliers assumes any responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear herein. Except as expressly permitted by the Software license, no part of the Software may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form, or distributed by any means without the express written consent of Intel Corporation.

==========================
Supported RAID Controllers
==========================
This download provides support for the Intel(R) C600 chipset on both AHCI Capable SATA Controller and SATA/SAS Capable Controller in Intel(R) Embedded Server RAID Technology 2 (ESRT2) mode. 

This package also supports Intel(R) Embedded Server RAID Technology 2 RAID adapter products (Intel(R) RAID controller SASMF8I and Intel(R) RAID SAS controller 
AXX4SASMOD); and EPSD Server boards that support ESRT2 on the chipset SATA controller via the ICH9R, ICH10R, S5000 (ESB2), and 3420 PCH chipsets (including S5000PAL, S5000XAL, S5000PSL, S5000XSL, S5000XVN, SC5400RA, S5000VSA, S5000VCL, S5300SF, S5400SF, S5520HC, S5520HCT, S5500HCV, S5520SC, S5500WBV, S5500WB, S5520UR, S5520URT, S5500BC, S3000AHX, S3000AH, S3000AHV, S3200SHX, S3200SHC, S3200SHL, S3200SHV, S3000SHC, X38MLST, S3420GPX, S3420GPC, S3420GP, S3420GPV, S3420GPR, S7000FC4UR, S1200BT, and S1200BTS)

Please verify that this package has been tested with the RAID Controller and Operating System combination you have chosen to use by checking the drivers web page for your controller at http://support.intel.com.

===================
Package Information
===================
Driver Version = 15.01.2013.0115
OS supported = Microsoft* Windows* Server 2012 (x64), Windows* 8 (x86 & x64), Windows* 2008R2 (x64), Windows* 7 (x86 & x64), Windows* 2008 (x86 & x64), Windows* Vista (x86 & x64), Windows* 2003 (x86 & x64), and Windows* XP (x86 & x64).

These drivers are WHQL certified, and all required .cat files for installation are included in the appropriate directories. 

==========
Attention!
==========
None

==================
Known Restrictions
==================
1. Intel(R) ESRT2 does not support UEFI functionality. A UEFI driver is planned/expected to be made available in the future.

2. The on-board C600 SATA/SAS Capable Controller does not support ODD devices. No Optical Devices should be connected to the SATA/SAS controller at any time (ODD devices are not supported in any mode), but the onboard AHCI capable ports do support ODD devices (in all modes).

3. RAID 5 feature is enabled only if the appropriate Intel(R) RAID Upgrade Key is present in the system. 

4. A RAID 5 logical drive can recover from a single drive failure by reconstructing missing data from the data and parity contained on the remaining drives. The assumption underlying this ability is that the data in the remaining drives is consistent. This assumption becomes invalid if there is a power loss during write operation(s). If there is a loss of power during a write operation, data inconsistencies may occur because data and parity writes may have completed only partially. After subsequent reboot the logical drive has inconsistent data on that particular stripe. If a drive were to fail at this point, missing data (for the inconsistent stripe alone) cannot be reconstructed from remaining drives. To correct an inconsistency, the drivers starts a back ground initialization (BGI) at reboot. While BGI is in progress, the inconsistent stripe(s) are vulnerable to drive failure. One way to avoid this window of vulnerability is to run check consistency on the logical drive using the BIOS utility. Another way is to prevent an unplanned shutdown (e.g. using UPS).

5. The LITE-ON SH S752K model CD/DVD ROM device does not respond to 0x55 & 0x51 MMC commands properly. The device hangs when these commands are issued multiple times. The driver resets the device when it hangs; but the reset adversely affects DVD burning. This behavior can be consistently observed using K3B DVD burning software. K3B aborts DVD writes when 0x55 is failed and device is reset.

6. RAID 5, by its very nature, cannot tolerate double failures. The double failure can be a combination of a single drive failure and either additional drive failures or an unplanned power failure in the RAID system. Unplanned power failures can include but be not limited to, loss of power source or an unusual system shutdown. Unplanned power failures while there are medium errors on the drives is also considered as a double failure condition.

7. Multiple drive failures would result in a data loss condition. A single drive failure combined with any additional unplanned failure can cause loss of data integrity. To avoid loss of data integrity for the power failure case, it is highly recommended to provide an uninterrupted power supply to the server to protect the RAID 5 subsystem during the event of a degraded or rebuilding state. Medium errors on the disks, combined with an unplanned power failure can also cause loss of data integrity, but this occurrence would be very unlikely.

8. Hotplug limitation in runtime 
If the user pulls out or plugs in a drive when the Intel(R) ESRT2 OpROM has completed its execution, and before the OS driver is loaded (like DOS shell, or AHCI?Ctrl-M screen, etc), the OpROM's runtime code displays a message and force reboot the system to avoid configuration losses or data corruption. 

9. Maximum two storage controllers supported 
If the user tries to enable SATA/SAS Capable Controller and AHCI Capable SATA Controller on the C600 chipset in Intel(R) ESRT2 mode concurrently, and then inserts any external storage controller (for example, a Hardware RAID adapter), the last controller in the boot sequence might not be able to POST due to limitations in pre-OS memory utilization. 

10. Windows installation limitation in RAID Mode: 
If Windows installation is done on a drive connected through the AHCI capable SATA Controller, make sure SATA/SAS Capable Controller is disabled in BIOS. After completion of installation, the SATA/SAS Capable Controller can be enabled in BIOS. If both controllers are enabled in Intel(R) ESRT2 mode, the installation may fail.

11. BIOS communicates the presence/absence of specific Intel(R) RAID C600 Upgrade key (RKSATA4R5, RKSATA8R5, RKSAS4R5 and RKSAS8R5) using configuration data on disk (DDF) and through device registers from BIOS. If driver does not read a valid DDF, it will disable R5 creation. The driver may not see valid DDF if (A) user does not configure using BIOS Ctrl+M; or (B) if no drives were present at the boot time and all the drives were hot-inserted after OS is booted. In both cases, the user must create an initial configuration using BIOS Ctrl+M utility.

=======================
Contents in the package
=======================
This package includes subdirectories for each version of Windows* that is supported. Each of these directories contains the files necessary to support installation for that version of the Windows* operating system. 

=========================
Installation Instructions
=========================
This updated driver can be applied using the normal OS installation options.

The following procedure describes how to install Windows 2008r2/2008/7/Vista system onto RAID logical disk:

1. Copy the driver files to a removable media, such as USB flash drive, CD-ROM, or floppy disk
2. Create RAID logical disk(s) using ESRT2 OpROM Config Utility (during POST).
3. Boot Windows 2008r2/2008/7/Vista installation disk. Follow instructions on screen until below step is reached.
4. At "Which type of installation do you want?" screen, select "Custom (advanced)"
5. At "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen, select "Load Driver"
6. Install the removable media with the driver files (extracted in step 1)
7. Select "Browse" and locate the folder with the driver files and then select "OK"
8. Select "Next". There may be a 1-2 minute delay as drivers are loaded.
9. Select "Drive options (advanced)" to customize partitions - if necessary
10. Select "Next" to continue with the installation
11. There are several reboots during installation - ensure that the selected RAID array is the boot device during every reboot.

================

The following procedure describes how to provide the driver during installation of Windows 2003/2000/XP system:

NOTE: You will need a USB floppy drive in order to provide the driver during Windows installation. Some models of floppy drives have known limitations that result in driver installation failures. Intel recommends using USB floppy drives listed on the Tested Hardware and Operating Systems list for the serverboard you are using.

1. Extract package contents to a floppy diskette.
2. Start the Windows 2003/2000/XP installation by booting from the Windows installation CD-ROM.
3. Press <F6> when the screen displays: "Press F6 if you need..." 
Note: You must press <F6> for the system to recognize the new driver.
4. Choose <S> to specify an additional device when the screen displays:
"Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices..."
Note: If this screen is not displayed as the first user input, then pressing <F6> was not seen by the setup program. Reboot the system, and return to step 2.
5. The system prompts for the manufacturer-supplied hardware support disk. Insert the floppy diskette containing the Windows 2003/XP device driver, and press <Enter>.
6. Scroll down the list until the appropriate selection for your system which contains the Intel Embedded Server RAID Technology II and for your operating system displays, then click <OK>.
7. Continue with the normal installation procedure.
   If installation fails after the first reboot, try another model of USB floppy drive from the tested list.

================

Installation of the driver after the operating system is installed:

1. Boot into applicable Windows OS. Click the Windows Start button and select Settings.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Select Adapter.
4. Select the Drivers tab.
5. Scroll down the list until the appropriate selection for your system which contains the Intel(r) Embedded RAID Technology II and for your operating system displays, then click <OK>.
6. Select it, then remove it by clicking the Remove button.
7. Click the Add button.
8. Select the Have Disk button.
9. Insert the diskette into the floppy drive.
10. Select drive letter A: and click on <OK>.
11. Select Intel(r) Embedded RAID Technology II and click OK.
12. After Windows* copies the driver, reset the system.


=============
Fixes/Updates
=============
Version 15.01.2013.0115
1. Several issues resolved, including a Patrol Read issue when global spares were present, some power state functionality (up and down), and issues with some large capacity drives
2. PnP ID's added for several platforms

Version 15.00.1205.2012
1. Several bug fixes, including issues with >2TB drives on both AHCI and SCU controllers
2. PnP ID's added for several platforms
3. Unified code stream to include prior chipset generations
4. WHQL certification across all Windows variants

Version 15.00.0927.2012
1. Issue resolved with PnP ID for S2600CP2 board

Version 15.00.0811.2012
1. Quarterly maintenance release, with several minor issues resolved
2. WHQL completed for all supported Windows releases
3. Support added for new Windows releases (to full package)
4. PnP ID's added for several platforms

Version 15.00.0528.2012
1. Resolved an issue with a large number of events being reported by BMC during rebuild
2. PnP ID's added for several platforms

Version 15.00.0329.2012
1. PnP ID's added for several platforms

Version 15.00.0224.2012
1. Bug fixes - including a hot add situation and several corner case test issues
2. PnP ID's added for several platforms

Version 15.00.0120.2012
1. Bug fixes - primarily for WHQL compliance - first production release for ESRT2 C600 chipset support

Version 15.00.0120.2012
1. baseline for this readme

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.