Computer wont boot after installing an IDE controller

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n0tdan

n0tdan

Member
Aug 29, 2005
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my search results found only pretty much the exact same problem
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Dell E521 and rosewill RC208 IDE controller won't boot

Computer: Dell E521 has only SATA
Wish to install existing DVD-RW (IDE) into computer so bought PCI IDE controller card (rosewill rc208)
Booted windws (XP home) and installed drivers for card no problem

It seems that as soon as the optical drive is connected to the PCI card the system no longer boots.

Went into BIOS and it sees the primary SATA drive just fine

When it boots however it says "No boot device present".

Tried different cables, jumpers etc and no luck.

What next?
---

I am installing this for a friend, so i don't recall the exact specs on the computer, but i'm fairly certain it's the same dell computer mentioned above...

In the bios besides theboot order options, there was one that has only 2 options, boot from SATA devices, and then 2 boot from addon cards... so according to the bios it shouldn't be trying to boot from the addon card...

Product link
Rosewill RC208


Any suggestions? thanks.. (waiting for reply from rosewill tech support too)
 
n0tdan

n0tdan

Member
Aug 29, 2005
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2 total, i 'could' swap it with the 56k modem i guess o.o

Can't try anything yet though.

any other suggestions?
 
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pkme2

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2005
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Maybe the controller is incompatible with that mobo. Check with Dell on compatibility issues.
 
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Squeegemiester

Junior Member
Nov 1, 2006
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Did you use The DELL Driver CD that came with the system? It's all on there. The PCI drivers are on it. I just did a reinstall on an E 310 last week.
 
n0tdan

n0tdan

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Aug 29, 2005
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The card is recognized in windows, the installation of drivers went fine. the problem is that if i try to hook up an IDE cd drive to it, the computer tries to boot from that CD drive, then stops there with an error saying it's not a boot device. It doesn't try to check the SATA drive which it boots from perfectly fine as long as there is no IDE device plugged into the addon card.

(don't see anything about this issue on the dell site)
 
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Seekermeister

Golden Member
Oct 3, 2006
1,971
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I don't know anything about the mobo or the controller, but the first IDE drive is selected to boot from, unless a different option is selected in the bios. You said that the mobo doesn't have IDE, but if that is true, then where do you plug in your optical drives? I'm guessing, but I bet there is an option in the bios to select the boot drive. Of course, it needs to be the SATA.
 
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pkme2

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2005
3,896
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Originally posted by: n0tdan
The card is recognized in windows, the installation of drivers went fine. the problem is that if i try to hook up an IDE cd drive to it, the computer tries to boot from that CD drive, then stops there with an error saying it's not a boot device. It doesn't try to check the SATA drive which it boots from perfectly fine as long as there is no IDE device plugged into the addon card.

(don't see anything about this issue on the dell site)
Click to expand...

Maybe you should check your bios bootup order to see if CD is first or whatever.
Set to boot off harddrive, first. See if that corrects the problem.
 
n0tdan

n0tdan

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Aug 29, 2005
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thanks for the advice so far, but..

In the bios besides theboot order options, there was one that has only 2 options, boot from SATA devices, and then 2 boot from addon cards... so according to the bios it shouldn't be trying to boot from the addon card...
Click to expand...

I've thouroughly checked the bios, and i've gone as far as disabling any cd drive from being a boot device and only allowing the SATA HD to be the boot device.

There were two seperate options for boot order. the first had like items that you can arrange the order and even disable completely from allowing. the second had only 2 options, and i could not make any changes to the order, but it specifically stated 1. SATA boot device, 1. ADDON card boot. (not exact wording, but you get the point).

I'm fairly confident it's not an issue with the bios boot order.
 
A

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
So the SiI0680A is taking precedence over the on-board controller and not allowing to bypass booting from an optical drive when so attached? Tried the card's jumpers or other BIOS configuration? Got the latest version BIOS and drivers? Perhaps the optical drive must be attached to a certain channel. Assigning master/slave relationship and positioning at the appropriate connector on the cable is a given.
 
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Slowlearner

Senior member
Mar 20, 2000
873
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With Dell machines, you will find more practical advice at the dell forums:

http://forums.us.dell.com/

here is what one user said:

I had this problem when i first got my Dimension 9200. It seems that the makers of these adaptor cards fail to mention that you actually need an onboard IDE host controller (which the 9200 MB does not have)in the first place to make this thing work. I had a couple of tech guru's have a look at my system and we could not figure anything out. I finally caved in and ordered the DVD burner from Dell, i ordered this over the Plextor SATA burner that i found on some websites. I wasted so much money before that i did not want to get the Plextor drive and find out that it was not compatible. I have had the Dell DVD burner for over a month and have been burning non stop without a hitch. I use Sony DVD-R disc and burnt close to 250 dvd and cds without getting any coasters. My suggestions is don't waste any more money on trying to hook up any IDE drives, get yourself the SATA drives and you will avoid all the headaches"

No one seems to have found a workable solution.

Newegg does have sata burners but bays in the E521 may be half height - so check first
 
n0tdan

n0tdan

Member
Aug 29, 2005
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This is the official response from Rosewill -_-


please refer to the feature of RC-208

You can select booting from HD connecting to motherboard or RC-208 (if
you want to install a new system from HD connecting to RC-208, you need
a floppy drive to process the installation). Two specific LED ports for
indicating HD activity
Click to expand...

Now, i don't have access to the actual adapter card atm, but according to The manual, "HDD Activity LED" ... may be some sort of jumper pins? I could swear the first thing i looked for after the problem booting was whether or not there were any sort of jumper pins to set, and i am fairly certain there were no "LED"'s anywhere on the card...

---

thanks for checking out the dell forums, i'm not looking forward to having bad news for this person >< i told them it would be a simple matter of this card to add in their old dvd drive not forseeing this problem... maybe these miracle jumper pins will end up being the solution.....

 
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Slowlearner

Senior member
Mar 20, 2000
873
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I looked at the better pictures at Newegg and I dont see any LEDs. What is labelled as HD Activity LEDs may not be jumpers at all but typical connectors to the case LEDs, as you have on mbs.
 
pcgeek11

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
22,418
5,019
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Originally posted by: Slowlearner
I looked at the better pictures at Newegg and I dont see any LEDs. What is labelled as HD Activity LEDs may not be jumpers at all but typical connectors to the case LEDs, as you have on mbs.
Click to expand...


Bingo... That is exactly what the " HD Activity LED " pins are. Lots of the old HD had these connections to hook up the case LED directly to the hard disk.

pcgeek
 
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Slammy1

Platinum Member
Apr 8, 2003
2,112
0
76
I bought a Promise IDE controller for a friend with an older system (a P3BF, my old board) and it gave a very similar response. It was set up as an SCSI system back in the day, but the drives started to die off and I wanted to simplify his machine to the cheaper IDE drives at that time. I thought it'd be a quick upgrade, went through every possible config and all I could figure was that when I installed anything to the secondary channel of the controller card or as master on IDE1 or IDE2 it would try to boot from it. I have it set up with opticals as slaves on the two channels and the single drive on the controller, I'll be curious to see if you can find a resolution. Seems specific to the MoBo.
 
n0tdan

n0tdan

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Aug 29, 2005
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I havn't gotten a chance to look at it again, but thanks for all the input. I'm thinking i'll have to go with the sata - ide converter or have him buy the sata optical >< we'll see
 
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vrpnj

Junior Member
Nov 4, 2006
1
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The rosewill ide controller is 5V PCI (you can tell by the gaps placement on card), the dell e521 only works with 3v pci cards (PCI 2.3 standard). I also recently bought this pc from dell and looking into installing my old dvd-rw drive (IDE), I am thinking of buying the SYBA SD-ATA133I PCI IDE Ultra Controller Card from newegg. Or will look for better controller card.
 
n0tdan

n0tdan

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Aug 29, 2005
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looks like the addon card is going back to newegg >< ...

no resolution...
 
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