It might be impossible to answer this question but I will try it
anyway.

I have a system with the following configuration:

MSI MS-845E MAX Socket 478, P4 2,2GHz
FastTrak 100 (IDE RAID) controller
2 times IBM IC 35L120AVV (120,0GB / 7200rpm)
I use striping to create a fast 240GB C: parition.
The system is running Windows XP HOME.

The problem I have is that if I run checkdisk or norton disk doctor,
at some point the computer freezes. Or to be more precise the harddisk
no longer responds (e.g. the mouse and keyboard leds still work). If I
run other tools doing a surface scan the same happens. The location on
disk causing the problem seems to be the same every time.

It is as if accessing some specific location on the harddisk freezes
the system. What I find most strange about this is that no error is
reported whatsoever. S.M.A.R.T. claims the drives are fine and neither
the FastTrak BIOS nor Windows XP ever report any errors. At some point
Windows just stops responding.

I have the newest versions of all BIOSes, drivers etc. 

I would like to understand what can be the cause of this problem,
preferable a similar case somewhere, so I know wether to replace the
controller, the hard drives or just everything. Or if some software
solution (marking the sectors bad with a better tool than norton or
checkdisk) might temporarely stop the problem allowing me to use
norton ghost to transfer the content of the drive.

Dear Nicodevries,

You probably need to use the utility provided by your disk
manufacturer to test the disks properly.  It looks as though the
producty you need is the Drive Fitness Test at

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Download this (or find the similar correct product for your drives)
and create a diskette.  Boot your system from this diskette and follow
the instructions.  (Beware: the test program willl not damage your
data, but some low-level tests will; make sure you understand which is
which!)  This will tell you whether there is a hardware problem with
your drives.

I trust this helps.

Carnegie

carnegie-ga, thank you for your sugestion.

IBM indeed has a DFT utility, I already looked into that.
Unfortunately the FastTrak controller virtualizes the harddisk. Also
the IDM DFT test seems to be destructive by default.

you could always try connecting the drive to your onboard ide
controller to run the surface scan. since they are only 120 gig, most
newish onboard controllers should work fine with the drives.

I wonder if it is a DMA/ATA mode problem.

BTW, you could have a better chance on www.experts-exchange.com, which
has many tech-savvy experts.  Good luck solving your problem.