ATA133 controller problems

[saimike]

i used the text ver of maxblast to create and format a 19.5mb partition to fat32 (graphic ver gave a "drive i/o timeout" for some reason). after this, i can get access the hdd, although maxblast text ver cant see >137gb, but no biggie. i got 1 partition i thought ...

when i tried winxp and win2ksp3 installs, i got the same msg that i reproduced in an earlier post. so does this mean that the overlay mtd isnt working? or is the bf6 holding me back?

 

[saimike]

ie. that is to say, i have a fat32 partition, but win2k/xp install still fails to recognize the drive/partition

 

[saimike]

i just spoke to maxtor support, they were quite patient and asked me to:

1. use http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm to low level format the hdd ...
2. restart the install process with http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/maxblast3.htm

 

[Lorne]

Another thing to take all drives out of the bios of the main controller, There only needed there for boot perposses and windoze will mount them after its up.
Dont turn off the main controllers because you need them to be active for CD access.

 

[saimike]

well, i did a low level format, which took 8h but completed without problems. but maxblast3 crashed when i tried to run it. yet again, winxp installer refused to install on the disk with the error msg i reproduced above. maxtor believes that i shouldnt need to use maxblast3, but the fact that it crashed ...

what do u guys think? is it win2k/xp installer thats screwing up or is it the hdd/ata133 controller? or the mobo?

i'd appreciate any help i can get ... thanks.

 

[Trashman]

I'd try a couple things....first off i see your overclocking, that could be a issue, try without overclocking....thats very wierd that maxblast crashes....seems hardware related there, I'd also remove any pci and isa cards, just leave video and controller card....and even move controller card to different slot. I'd consider flashin BIOS to latest version, unless ya have done already....Flash would be last resort

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: Trashman
I'd try a couple things....first off i see your overclocking, that could be a issue, try without overclocking....thats very wierd that maxblast crashes....seems hardware related there, I'd also remove any pci and isa cards, just leave video and controller card....and even move controller card to different slot. I'd consider flashin BIOS to latest version, unless ya have done already....Flash would be last resort

thanks for the tip trashman, i managed to get maxblast3 to work after doing everything as u suggested (but flash the bios since i already have the newest).

i have the drive partitioned the way i wanted now, and with the drivers from maxtor.com, win install can see the partitions (but not with the default win drivers). however, when i choose the partition to install ...

i still get the error msg i reproduced above!

any ideas? this is really frustrating ...

 

[mechBgon]

Is the drive at the end connector of the cable? That's where you want it, so there isn't any excess unoccupied cable beyond the drive.

 

[saimike]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Is the drive at the end connector of the cable? That's where you want it, so there isn't any excess unoccupied cable beyond the drive.

yes, its the end connector of the cable.

 

[saimike]

here's an update on what happened.

i put a clean win2k sp3 install, drivers, patches etc onto an old 4gb hdd which sits on hde0. i then put the 160gb onto the ata133 card (as usual), boot into the 4gb, and inserted the winxp cdrom. at this point, win2k lets me install winxp onto the 160gb!! and all goes well.

however, the catch is, i have to boot into the 4gb, and do a dual boot: win2k/4gb or winxp/160gb ... if i try to disconnect the 4gb and set my bios to boot to scsi, it tells me that the ntloader is missing and asks me to ctrl-alt-del.

any ideas? can i hack the ntloader into the 160gb? or is that a no-go? thanks again for ur patience and ideas!