asus a8n32 si or nvidia sata controller?

[DragonReborn]

hey there...i have one sata drive...should i install it on the SI controller or the nvidia sata controller? one is the red ports and the other black. any real difference?

also, say i install on the si port, do i even need to install the nvidia sata drivers (or vice-a-versa)?

thanks!

 

[keeleysam]

Use the nvidia, it's closer to the processor, and directly on the chipset.

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: DragonReborn
hey there...i have one sata drive...should i install it on the SI controller or the nvidia sata controller? one is the red ports and the other black. any real difference?

also, say i install on the si port, do i even need to install the nvidia sata drivers (or vice-a-versa)?

thanks!

Let say you have an ATI video card.. would you install nvidia drivers?

Anyway, nvidia don't need any driver to work is RAID is not enabled, which is what you'll want because you have only one drive. As for this, there is no nvidia SATA drivers ..only RAID drivers.

 

[Jorakal]

Originally posted by: grooge

Anyway, nvidia don't need any driver to work is RAID is not enabled, which is what you'll want because you have only one drive. As for this, there is no nvidia SATA drivers ..only RAID drivers.

Yes there are nvidia non-raid SATA drivers. The file used is NVATA.SYS. And depending on your operating system and service pack level, you do indeed need them. If for example you have WinXP svc pack 2, then you don't need them, but I do recommend you get ver 6.7 of Nvidia chipset drivers and install them.

As to the original question.. use the Nvidia SATA ports.

 

[DragonReborn]

thanks everybody! nvidia it is. anybody know how to extract the nvida sata drivers so i could integrate them with nLite?

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: DragonReborn
thanks everybody! nvidia it is. anybody know how to extract the nvida sata drivers so i could integrate them with nLite?

You don't need them for the install. And You rather not use them too... They will install infamous nvidia IDE drivers that could mess with your optical devices.

Set connector to SATA(or anything that is NOT RAID and install windows. once everything is running fine and stable, then you may decide if you want them or not.

HINT: On each nforce4 I've setted up, I NEVER choose to install them. This ensure that the well compatible Microsoft drivers is used.

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: Jorakal

Originally posted by: grooge

Anyway, nvidia don't need any driver to work is RAID is not enabled, which is what you'll want because you have only one drive. As for this, there is no nvidia SATA drivers ..only RAID drivers.

Yes there are nvidia non-raid SATA drivers. The file used is NVATA.SYS. And depending on your operating system and service pack level, you do indeed need them. If for example you have WinXP svc pack 2, then you don't need them, but I do recommend you get ver 6.7 of Nvidia chipset drivers and install them.

As to the original question.. use the Nvidia SATA ports.

The nvata.sys is the part that is needed with the RAID driver and simply not needed for use with only SATA/PATA devices.

Since the nvata driver is known to cause problem and corruption with some optical device, I don't really need them to "maybe" cause corruption and problem with my HDD, SATA or PATA one.

JM2C

 

[Jorakal]

Sigh. Grooge please do your research. Start with the INF files found in the \nforcewin2kxp\6.70.... folders. NVRAID.SYS and associated files are used for

MCP04SSS="NVIDIA nForce4 Intel® Edition Serial ATA RAID Controller"
CK804SSS="NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA RAID Controller"
DisplayClassName= "NVIDIA RAID CLASS"
NVRAID_DESC= "NVIDIA nForce(tm) RAID Class Device"
NVRAID_BUS_DESC= "NVIDIA nForce(tm) RAID Class Controller"
nvraidbus.SvcDesc= "NVIDIA nForce(tm) RAID Class Driver"

referenced by nvraid.inf. NVATA.SYS is used for:

MCP04SSS="NVIDIA nForce4 Intel® Edition Serial ATA Controller"
MCP04SSP="NVIDIA nForce4 Intel® Edition Parallel ATA Controller"
CK804SSS="NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller"
CK804SSP="NVIDIA nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller

referenced by NVATA.INF. You can also check them out from device manager if you have them installed.

 

[grooge]

I know that there is drivers.. but they are not necessary at all. They will be installed with the nvidia SW IDE drivers if you select this during chipset install. What I mean is, the SI controller will need drivers for RAID operation as well as SATA operation. Nvidia controller only need drivers if installing with RAID. So, there in so SATA drivers needed for installation. Plain simple Microsoft drivers will do just fine.

The nvata enable advanced feature of the ATA controller that use the PATA interface and the SATA interface. Installing the nvata drivers at install will mess up the startup with some Benq dvd burner that has older firmware. The nvidia SATA drives bring NCQ and maybe other enhencement that the specific interface support.

So, to put it simple, the nvata drivers is not only for the SATA interface, but for the ATA controller that has a ssp(sub-system parallel(IIRC..no sure on that thou)) and a SSS(sub-system serial)

Then, there is no specific SATA drivers, but rather an ATA(IDE) enhenced driver(swdriver)

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I've read that somewhere..

 

[Jorakal]

They are not necessary depending on your operating system and service pack level. WinXp with svc pack 2 will work without them for example. As to them working fine, well.. they will work, but remember you would be using the generic Microsoft drivers, not the optimized Nvidia drivers. My suggestion is to always use the current Nvidia disk controller drivers, while disabling the firewall functions during the driver install. If you happen to have a cd/dvd writer that has issues, then deinstall them. My Hitachi 160gb sata 2 hard drive and NEC dvd burner work great.

 

[DragonReborn]

thanks for all the help guys..really appreciate the info.

Jorakal: just to make sure I understand, which .inf file exactly do i need for nLite for the nvidia sata drivers? shouldn't it should be just one .inf file? just the nvraid.inf?

thanks!

 

[Jorakal]

Hmm. You lost me there Dragon. What do you mean when you sday Nlite? An Nlite piece of hardware? An optical drive maybe?

 

[grooge]

Originally posted by: DragonReborn
thanks for all the help guys..really appreciate the info.

Jorakal: just to make sure I understand, which .inf file exactly do i need for nLite for the nvidia sata drivers? shouldn't it should be just one .inf file? just the nvraid.inf?

thanks!

You cannot simply use the .inf to only install the SATA drivers parts. You install the whole ATA package. And since you have benq drivers, just go ahead with standard microsoft drivers during install, then try the "optimized"(I still have to figure out what is optimized in there and thre is no real advantage to use them) if you want the useless NCQ thing or other obscur feature and are plenty sure that your burner's firmware is compatible with the nvidia drivers. And since you don't use RAID, why would you want a RAID drivers???

No, since you seem to lack some knowledge about nforce4 IDE controller, I suggest you to start simple the easy way. Start with the MS drivers, everything will work perfectly the first time.

Then try the nvidia drivers. If your system fail to boot, after that, unplug the Benq, and boot. Roll back to MS drivers for the ATA interface, leaving the SATA one with nvidia drivers if you want.

Or alternatively, you would check to make sure that your benq has the right firmware first ...

I know it.. I used benq with nforce3 and 4, and you need the right firmware to use them with nvidia drivers.

But.. why make it simple when it can be made complicated.. just go ahead, press f6, install RAID and mass storage drivers, install windows, ..

Not

 

[DragonReborn]

oh so sorry! =) nLite is a cool program i use to make an unattended windows cd and roll hotfixes/drivers (a windows development tool). you can check it out here: www.nliteos.com

 

[Jorakal]

Oh now I gotcha. Now that I'm looking at the diskette, it's interesting to note that these are the files from the Nvidia legacy folder. Hmm. I had to use these with my Win2k install to be able to format my 160gb drive. So it used the legacy drivers during the base install. It then used the generic Windows drivers until I manually installed the Nvidia 6.7 drivers. Then it installed the sata drivers which I use now.

I haven't created a bootable cd-rom with current drivers myself, so not sure what to tell you. I don't have any experience with nlite. Hopefully some day I'll make the time.

Since I have installed 6.7, I have all the files on my C drive. Legacy drivers/files are in:

nvidia\nforcewin2kxp\6.70\ide\winXX\legacy folder.

The SATA drivers/files are in:

nvidia\nforcewin2kxp\6.70\ide\winXX\sata_ide folder.

Raid drivers/files are in:

nvidia\nforcewin2kxp\6.70\ide\winXX\sataraid folder.

 

[grooge]

legacy drivers are sometime needed with OS that don't support bigger than 137gigs HDD. Win2k before SP4(IIRC) and WinXP before SP1(IIRC).

You did it the correct way. And the legacy could had been skipped if your Win2K would have been up to date. There is a registry hack to support large driveif the SP is not available or cannot be installed for some reason.

Compatibility problem with nvidia ide drivers are real. They don't like many optical devices. And can cause data corruption. That's why, when they are not required, you don't install them until you are sure your computer is stable. it is easier to fix something that got messed up when the previous setup was stable.

 

[SkyBum]

Hmmmmm......after reading through this thread I think it may explain why my Plextor PX 716SA SATA DVD drive is not able to playback any DVD content while it can read CD just fine. Could it be that driver installed on my A8N32-SLI?

Anyone here care to help me work this issue? you can read a full description of the problem and rig specs in this thread..

 

[sygyzy]

Are you limited to the nVidia SATA controller? Can you ever (would it be wise to) use the other ones?