SATA controller card issue

[mc866]

This is for my WHS build. I ran out of SATA ports on my mobo so I added an old Buslink 2 port PCI SATA card so I can add more drives. The issue I'm having though is that it won't boot past the RAID config screen, which seems to appear before the BIOS loads, if I have a drive connected. The message says to press F4 for options but I've done that and it doesn't take me anywhere. If I unplug the drive it boots right up. Keep in mind I added this card after I've already had WHS installed, when I get into the OS it automatically installed the correct driver for the card and recognizes the drive just fine. I just can't reboot the system now remotely because I have to physically unplug the drive so the system will boot which defeats the whole purpose of having a headless WHS install.

Any ideas guys?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Try changing what device the system is booting off of, both on the controller config and the motherboard BIOS. My guess is that the mobo is trying to boot off of the card that you added in.

 

[mc866]

Hmm I'll have to give that a try, though I haven't been able to access the controller config, I hit F4 but it's to no avail, the screen just sits there.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

But your motherboard BIOS should hit before the RAID firmware does. Go there, and under boot options, see what's set to boot first.

 

[mc866]

Actually the issue I have been having is that if I have the drive plugged in and I restart the boot screen will hang at the raid config which appears before the bios, or to be more specific I get the POST screen and press DEL to go to BIOS options but rather than going directly into the BIOS it goes to the RAID config screen, which I thought was odd, but I'll be sure to double check the first boot device menu. I just can't figure out why it won't allow me to even get to the BIOS with the drive plugged in.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: mc866
... but rather than going directly into the BIOS it goes to the RAID config screen, which I thought was odd, but I'll be sure to double check the first boot device menu. I just can't figure out why it won't allow me to even get to the BIOS with the drive plugged in.

When you boot, the PC's BIOS will ALWAYS let the other cards with BIOS extensions (like a RAID card) run first before entering the PC BIOS' setup. Otherwise, the PC's BIOS won't know about the RAID card and what's attached to it and you won't be able to configure the BIOS' boot options.

Offhand, you might just need a different SATA controller card. The one you have may not be compatible with your PC's BIOS. I've had that happen with Dell servers, which often have compatibility problems with third-party RAID cards.