I bought my 8790 without an operating system and the intention to run it with a pair of 60GB 7200s in a RAID 0 configuration. At the time, the hint about needing the external drive for a RAID was not on the web site. I thought I could live without it, so I skipped it.
Once the unit arrived (the second time, the first had a dead CD Drive) I tried in vain to find a way around using the floppy. I tried to build a slipstream version from the many threads, but alas, it still wouldn't see the RAID as a hard drive.
I bought a Sony USB drive on-line and waited for it to arrive by 2nd day air. I put it on and got the drivers loaded so that the Windows XP Pro install could format the drive. The installation then proceeded until it reached a point where it wanted to load the "Promise Fast Trak Family Driver Diskette from Drive A". I hit enter and nothing happened. No lights, no nothing. The system no longer knew it had an A Drive. I tried many different options without success. Finally one of my son's friends found a thread with a similar problem. This fellow had purchased a cheapie USB Floppy at CompUSA and was faced with the same dead end. He was fortunate enough to have access to a different USB Floppy (an IBM) and was able to load WinXP successfully. I went out and talked my local CompUSA into allowing me to try a load using a TDK USB Floppy that they use in their service department. It worked like a champ. I subsequently bought one just like it.
The moral of the story is this. Whether or not you think you might be interested in RAID, buy the 8790 with the Floppy Drive from Sager. It is much cheaper ($17 vs $50) and is said to be totally compatible. I would have saved myself tons of aggrivation had I not excluded the Floppy when I configured the system.
Now that its loaded, my son (a serious gamer) loves the beast. It screams!!! As for the fan noise, I don't think its an issue. Compared with the desktop sitting next to it, it is very quite. No issues with the sound system and the mini-sub sounds much better than expected. GO SAGER!!!
Once the unit arrived (the second time, the first had a dead CD Drive) I tried in vain to find a way around using the floppy. I tried to build a slipstream version from the many threads, but alas, it still wouldn't see the RAID as a hard drive.
I bought a Sony USB drive on-line and waited for it to arrive by 2nd day air. I put it on and got the drivers loaded so that the Windows XP Pro install could format the drive. The installation then proceeded until it reached a point where it wanted to load the "Promise Fast Trak Family Driver Diskette from Drive A". I hit enter and nothing happened. No lights, no nothing. The system no longer knew it had an A Drive. I tried many different options without success. Finally one of my son's friends found a thread with a similar problem. This fellow had purchased a cheapie USB Floppy at CompUSA and was faced with the same dead end. He was fortunate enough to have access to a different USB Floppy (an IBM) and was able to load WinXP successfully. I went out and talked my local CompUSA into allowing me to try a load using a TDK USB Floppy that they use in their service department. It worked like a champ. I subsequently bought one just like it.
The moral of the story is this. Whether or not you think you might be interested in RAID, buy the 8790 with the Floppy Drive from Sager. It is much cheaper ($17 vs $50) and is said to be totally compatible. I would have saved myself tons of aggrivation had I not excluded the Floppy when I configured the system.
Now that its loaded, my son (a serious gamer) loves the beast. It screams!!! As for the fan noise, I don't think its an issue. Compared with the desktop sitting next to it, it is very quite. No issues with the sound system and the mini-sub sounds much better than expected. GO SAGER!!!
