annoyedThe old IDE drive is incompatible with the working drive from the old RAID array to the extent that they can't be on the same controller, which means I can't copy the data from the old RAID drive to the new RAID array by putting it into one of my existing carriers, although I might be able to put it on the old RAID channel which I've reconfigured as IDE, except it won't know that the new SATA RAID array exists if it gets control of the boot cycle which it probably will.
Fine. I went back on line and ordered a four-port internal SATA controller -- otherwise identical to the one that I have -- and a bracket that will let me bring two of the SATA ports (2 and 3) out the back as eSATA ports so I can connect the external RAID array that I have, while using ports 0 and 1 to create -- I hope! -- a bootable array that doesn't rely on the presence of an old IDE drive so it can be found. In the meantime, if I go down to Fry's tomorrow, it looks like I can pick up a eSATA/SATA cable so that I can plug one of the drives into the external port and reestablish the array and start this all over again.
Actually, I probably don't need to start all over again, except that XP has gotten it into its head that there's a printer attached to my system and it keeps trying to install it on every reboot. There is no such printer and I can't find any way to disabuse it of the notion that the printer is there.
So I'll just start over.
Tomorrow. Or, at least, later today after I've had some sleep.