add-in ATA/133 controller not seeing HD

[lament]

hey all,

i've exhausted all of my options here so I turn to the experts.

using Windows XP Pro, and I have a SIIG Ultra ATA/133 PCI Bus Master host controller (model
SC-PE4B12), and it's not recognizing that there's anything connected to it.

It won't let me hit F3 to setup either (on POST, the card's BIOS shows nothing connected to any of the 4 channels). I've tried with both F LOCK on and off.

HD is set as master (also set it as slave with no luck).

Tried 2 different IDE cables (both new) without luck.

I have SIIG's drivers installed properly.

Thought it might be the HD, so I set it up on its own IDE cable and it's recognized fine.

I have an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe and even tried setting it up on the onboard Promise RAID controller (setting it to IDE in the BIOS), with no luck.

Is there something in the BIOS I need to be setting that I'm overlooking that I haven't turned on?

I got the card from a friend and it was working fine in that system.

Thanks for any help.

 

[mechBgon]

If it happens to be a Western Digital hard drive, use the Single Drive jumper setting and not Master or Slave. Single Drive is when the jumper pins have no jumper on at all, so it's easily done 🙂

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

well... sometimes hard drives need to be set as cable select... some think "master" is there are two drives and if there aren't, it wont see it

it's worth a try at least 🙂

EDIT: too slow plus i think mech is right on the no jumper vs. cable select.

 

[lament]

no it's a Samsung. I set it to CS, no luck.

I switched to the Secondary cable, CS - no luck. Secondary as Master - no luck.

the fact that I can't even get into the card's BIOS by hitting F3 (it says "Press F3 to setup..") as it's searching for drives leads me to believe it's something in the Asus BIOS.

any other suggestions?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

So the drive isn't being recognised by your controller card OR the onboard RAID controller, but it works fine for just standard IDE connection on the MB?

I wish I had more experience with this... I've only used standard onboard and then a promise ATA 133 controller and it's worked fine so I didn't have to fiddle with it.

 

[lament]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
So the drive isn't being recognised by your controller card OR the onboard RAID controller, but it works fine for just standard IDE connection on the MB?

exactly.

drive is humming.. i can feel it. i've tried a couple molex connectors.

i'm pulling my hair out. it's got to be something in the BIOS. i'm going to take a look again.

thanks for trying to help guys..

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

have you tried a different drive in the controller card? if you have one lying around it might be worth a shot.

 

[lament]

i could try that, but i know the drive i want to use works fine because i isolated it.

probed around the BIOS again. still nothing.

have i stumped anandtech? 🙂

i wish i had the manual. i need to get it from my friend who had this working.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: lament


i wish i had the manual. i need to get it from my friend who had this working.

Actually.... the page you linked to in your first post.... if you hit drivers, there's some installation instructions. I didn't look through them, but maybe the answer lies there?

 

[lament]

I found the problem - both of the molex connectors I was using weren't drawing power from the PSU.

so yoyo thank you for having me try the other HD, because it was then that I realized that it wasn't powering up. the vibration I was feeling in there was from the other 2 HDs in the cage.

dang that was a rookie move on my part. 🙂 thanks again!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

super 🙂

glad we could help and enjoy the new controller card