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Adaptec RAID driver frustration

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Xymox

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Joined
Apr 26, 2026
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SO I bought a Adaptec AAR-2610SA /DELL5 RD CNTRL off ebay. TONS of them over there. 6 ports and PCI is exactly the right fit for me.

Im running Windows 2000 SP4 ( not server ) on a Pentium III e / 32 bit

PCI socket, not PCI-X

I have a AAR-1410SA that works great. Drivers on first attempt, no issue.

But this AAR-2610SA,,, OMFG... I have spent 2 days downloading and trying drivers. 34 different Adaptec, Dell and even HP.. NOTHING works.

I am starting to think this card MUST be in a specific Dell server. Which would explain why they are all over ebay, no one can make them work.

I have downloaded I think every driver made even remotely close to this model in the years it was made.

I don't suppose anyone has cracked this, or, has determined it cant be used on generic hardware and requires the Dell servers. OR maybe its only Windows 2000 server ?

Thanks in advance :)
 
Some of those RAID controllers won't work in a regular PCI slot, they need to be in a PCI-X slot. I'd recommend putting it in a machine with a PCI-X slot and seeing if it works properly there.

I have a few PCI-X Dell PERC SCSI controllers and they refuse to work in a regular PCI slot.
 
I notice the specs list PCI 2.2 but not 2.1. Could be an issue if your motherboard is only 2.1.
 
PCI 2.2 didn't really change anything, it was more of a cleanup of the 2.1 spec documentation.

There were big changes in PCI 2.3, which is why almost no manufacturer implemented it in consumer devices. The big sticking point was that it eliminated 5 volt keying and 5 volt signalling, making it incompatible with a huge number of extant PCI addon boards.
 
There are 2.2 cards that won't work in 2.1 slots. 3.3V power was optional for PCI 2.1. PCI 2.2 requires 3.3V power, and must be able to supply the full 25W over only the 3.3V rail if necessary.
 
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