As side note, you don't need the initrd and bootloader append line if you compile ataraid and pdcraid modules statically into kernel. RAID array is automatically detected during boot.
I did not find this to be the case, for some unknown reason. When I compiled the modules statically, the RAID array was not detected at all during boot. It was only after I compiled them as modules and created an initrd that the array was detected and worked successfully.
