Hello! I hope someone can help me on this. I've searched the internet and so far I have found nothing but negatives but I'm SURE there MUST be a way around it. I recently bought  a Mac Pro with 2 internal 300GB 15,000-rpm SAS hard drives (it needed RAID so I could access them) and I want to have a triple booted system (Xp, Vista and Leopard-though I'd be happy just with Leopard and XP if that's the only way).

When I install Bootcamp it asks me to restart the computer (after I put a Windows XP, with service pack 2 installed) and I got nothing but a white screen (I'm using a 24 inch monitor), I bought a 5 meter cord so I can use a CRT monitor to view the info incase it was the monitor which was the problem but it wasn't the problem- it still wouldn't work. I then searched Apple discussion groups (and more Google) and I found that Apple doesn't supply Windows drivers for the RAID and SAS drives (or even the wireless mighty mouse) so it may not work...

I can't believe that. There must be a way. I didn't spend all this money and time just to be stopped by a lack of drivers... I don't mind buying a new copy of Vista (or a 32 or 64 bit copy XP) if it helps... I'll be calling AppleTech tomorrow but (if past experiences have taught me anything) I'm not expecting anything...

Could someone help me? Do I have to buy a "normal" hard drive as a boot disk and shuffle the SAS drives around? I'd really prefer not to as this would waste all that money I spent on SAS drives/RAID card in the first place...

Sorry for the long post but I'm getting frustrated and I hope someone can help me...!!!

Cheers,
Luke

Yes you are correct you'll need to buy a regular disk as your Win boot disk. Not surprising it can't be done with a very complex setup really, bootcamp is only there for simple Win use.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=436257

If you're planning to setup a complex system it's often best to research what you plan to do first as there's often a pikey in there somewhere.
Do you need XP to run at full speed? If not then Parallels or Fusion is what you want.

iTm

Here is a thread on SAS, etc.
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=94679&st=0&#entry724450
Post #12 notes that the Adaptec #### model is seen by Vista Ultimate although not by OS X because the adapter was installed in a Hackintosh.
Don't know if this helps in any way.

Out of curiosity, how do you intend to use this machine? Why SAS drives on a RAID? Which RAID 5, 0, 1 ?

Depending on the type of use, and number of people needing to access the data there might be an alternative way to do what you need with:
- external RAID device for data only, boot partitions on separate disk
- internal RAID for data only, boot partitions on separate disk
- fibre channel connection to a SAN
- NAS appliance with hardware RAID

Good afternoon! Loooooong post following [updated 080501: 4:47am]

Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful answers I called Apple and they stated in no uncertain terms that SATA and SAS drives are incompatible in the same MacPro. On top of that using a RAID ensures that Bootcamp will never work. So I'll have to be happy with emulators. So far the VMWare was the best to have a whole operating system and being able to run everything through that (though it's bad at graphic intensive programs) and CrossOver which is excellent for the one or two applications/games that it has already been configured for (they run at close to native speed through the WINE interface). I haven't tested the OnMac.net product (http://download.onmac.net/) XOM but I don't think I'll bother yet. Parallels is also an option but it looks so ugly (yellow default skin) that I didn't really ive it a decent chance.

Summary: CrossOver for games and intensive programs (some adjusting/tweaking is required), VMWare for a complete OS which does everything (as long as it doesn't test for Active X or specific graphics cards).

In terms of physical "surgery" I could crack open the case and jury rig a SATA drive (http://macenstein.com/default/archives/678) which (according to some sources) will run but I couldn't be bothered and have wasted enough time...

Tim, you're right- I spent most of my time researching monitors (which took weeks incidentally) but I suckered in by the naturally faster speeds of the SAS drives and (when I heard they needed a RAID to work) I simply added a RAID card to the order. Funny because I spent so long researching RAM requirements, CPU power, monitor panels, and how the heck I was going to pay for all of this.... Oh well I guess one can't prepare for everything

I also tried downloading some "streamlined" versions of XP and Vista (which came bundled with RAID drivers and a number of other things) but non of these worked; according to Apple there is NO Windows drivers for the RAID / SAS hard disks but it was worth a try. XOM also needs these streamlined drivers as it acts exactly like Bootcamp but I haven't bothered to give it a go yet- I have to get back to work...

Tim- Yes I want the system running at full speed so I can run Windows based editing programs (and a game or two if I get the time).

Robert- Thanks for the link, it allowed me to barrel through all the info that is out there by giving me a place to start.

Jason- Thanks for your question- I only bought/installed a RAID because I was told that SAS drives don't work without one. Right now I have two internal drives which are just used as that- two internal 300Gb drives. I'll set up a proper RAID once I get the time to research how to handle it effectively but I'll have a RAID 5 setup using all 4 internal SAS 300GB drives and an external RAIS storage (once I get more money).

Jason- I liked your suggestion of an "- internal RAID for data only, boot partitions on separate disk..." this sounds like a good solution for the Mac and Bootcamp as well.

Sorry for the long post... I'll stick to using VMWare and CrossOver as required. If needed I'll get a larger hard drive for my Windows laptop and plug it into the monitor (the backlight has blown and is expensive/time consuming to fix) if I need native Windows.

Is there anything I've forgotten? Another option maybe? Thanks everyone for your help and advice

Cheers!
Luke