4-7
Chapter 4: MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility
This section explains the two methods of initializing a virtual drive with the MegaRAID
BIOS CU.
If the FAST INIT property is enabled, fast initialization is used. In fast initialization, the
MegaRAID BIOS CU quickly writes zeroes to the first and last 8 Mbyte regions of the
new virtual drive.
If the FAST INIT property is not enabled, the MegaRAID BIOS CU performs a complete
initialization on the virtual drive. This may take a long time if the physical disk drives are
large.
First Initialization Method
Follow these steps to initialize a virtual drive using the INITIALIZE menu.
1. On the MANAGEMENT menu, select INITIALIZE.
2. Use the SPACEBAR to highlight the virtual drive to initialize.
The virtual drive name is highlighted in yellow. To deselect it, highlight the virtual
drive and press the SPACEBAR again.
3. Press F10.
4. Select YES at the prompt and press ENTER to begin the initialization.
A graph shows the progress of the initialization until it is complete.
5. After the initialization is complete, press ESC to return to previous menus.
If you press ESC while initialization is in progress, the following options appear:
•Stop: (Available only if AutoResume is enabled on the adapter: MANAGEMENT
menu J OBJECTS J ADAPTER J AUTORESUME.) The initialization is stopped,
and the CU stores the percentage of the initialization already completed. If
AutoResume is enabled, and if Fast Init is not enabled, the initialization
resumes where it left off when you restart it, instead of starting over from zero
percent.
•Continue: The initialization continues normally.
•Abort: The initialization is completely aborted. If you restart initialization, it
begins at zero percent.
Second Initialization Method
Follow these steps to initialize a virtual drive using the OBJECTS menu.
1. From the MANAGEMENT menu, select OBJECTS J VIRTUAL DRIVE, as shown in
Figure4-3.
The VIRTUAL DRIVES LIST screen appears (Figure4-3).