My SATA on XP install problem (I've read the many posts..)

[DannyLarry]

I'm trying to install XP Pro on my new Asus P4c800-E (with a floppy drive for the F6 scsi/'other' drivers for the install..)

I only have SATA drives, and want to put the OS on the WD 36GB Raptor. The drives are attached to the 1st and 2nd SATA ports on the mobo (the mobo has 2 dedicated RAID plugs, but no RAID here..) The board has AMIbios (which I flashed before installing anything.. maybe that has some sort of negative effect - I can't see why it would..) I have turned on all bios options pertaining to SATA ("IDE Mode=Enhanced", "Promise controller setup as IDE" (not RAID), etc. I can't find anything else to check in the firmware.

Physically the drives have been checked several times, I can hear them spinning and the power and signal cables went in smoothly, keyed-connectors going into their respective ports.

So I DO hit F6 (BTW) to add the 3rd party driver for the Promise SATA controller (which I don't even think I need for non-RAID setup..), which I pulled off the Asus install cd onto a floppy. It seems to find the XP Promise SATA controller software without fail, and I select it and keep going on the install. When I get to the actual SetUp portion of XP, it tells me there are no hard drives installed at all! WHAT DO I DO KNOWLEDGABLE FRIENDS?

I have read many of the posts regarding this fairlyy common issue. What upsets me is that most people seem to have had more of a problem not having a floppy drive to do the F6 thing with. Well, I HAVE the FDD and seem to do the F6 process without a glitch, but then it won't goto the partition screen and let me setup those SATA drive. What could I be doing wrong? I don't think slipstreaming the drivers into my install cd makes sense for this, as F6 works ok. I cannot find any other SATA drivers on the Asus cd, I believe I have the right ones (XP even acts like all is swell..)

Any help would be really appreciated - I'm really tired now... TIA

DL

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[EeyoreX]

Are there two versions of the SATA drivers? A RAID and non-RAID version? If so, ensure you are using the non-RAID version, unless you want RAID. That would be my forst suggestion. Also, some Intel boards don't need to use the floppy... Have you tried without the F6 routine?

\Dan

 

[DannyLarry]

OK...

Here's the scoop (about 7 hours of troubleshooting later...)

After swapping-out the sata cable (power and signal) with known-good items, and trying different sata ports on the mobo (Asus P4C800-ED), I tried to narrow it down further. I tried just the WD 36GB Raptor sata drive by itself (there are 2 sata hdds - a 36GB WD Raptor (10k rpm) for WinXP, and a 160GB Seagate 7200 rpm) Bios suddenly recognizes the WD Raptor by itself! Ahah!

So, long story short, with the 2 sata hdds on the mobo at the same time (separate signal cables (of course) and ports..) NEITHER drive would be recognized by bios, and certainly not by the WinXP setup. When I took the Seagate off the mobo entirely the WD shows right up, and WinXP had no prob formatting it and installing on it.

THUS, bad Seagate 160GB. Luckily, we all know and love Newegg, and with their instant, automated RMA process, That sucker goes away tomorrow. It sucks, but what can you do? It does frustrate me that of the last 4 pc builds I did all but one had some piece of defective gear.. State of the industry, IMHO..

Anyway, it took longer than I liked to find the bad piece this time. "Find the Bad Component", don't you just love that game?


Thanks for reading,

DL

PS Oh, and ultimately I didn't have to use the F6 during setup, that is, indeed, just for the RAID setups. Thanks

 

[WackyDan]

Ah... you never mentioned the Seagate specifically...... Funny how to this day, some drives don't play well together.

 

[Viper96720]

Try adding the seagate on afterwards. I doubt it's bad if you use the promise controller non raid you need the promise ata drivers not the promise raid driver.