SATA-II laptop HDD problem - unable to install windows...

[tmc]

I have a Acer Aspire 5570Z laptop.

I bought a Seagate Momentus 250GB 5400.4 HDD to upgrade.

When I try to install Windows Vista/7, halfway during installation, the process aborts saying "device not found" or something similar - it is as if the HDD doesn't exist anymore. A cold boot (restart) followed by starting windows installation process again, makes windows detect the HDD again, but the process repeats.

I was thinking the HDD is defective, but running Seagate diagnostics (DOS based, in the same laptop) reports no errors. I tested both the short and long test and also wrote zeroes on the entire drive successfully.

Is this a SATA-II drive incompatible with SATA-I hardware issue - my laptop is more than 2 years old, and my guess is that it may not be SATA-II compatible.

Any ideas on how I can find out where the problem is?

Thanks.

edit - I contacted seagate support and this is what they said (not much help):
<quote>
Since the BIOS finds the drive OK and our software does as well and passes the drive, it would not appear as if the problem is with the drive itself. Since the Windows installer utility is having a problem that suggests that the software is not installing the correct sata controller drivers for this system. We would not have those ourselves but the laptop manufacturer should have those. I would consult with Microsoft on how to best install those controllers on a Windows 7 setup.
</quote>

 

[bobross419]

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[bobross419]

I have a Acer Aspire 5570Z laptop.

I bought a Seagate Momentus 250GB 5400.4 HDD to upgrade.

When I try to install Windows Vista/7, halfway during installation, the process aborts saying "device not found" or something similar - it is as if the HDD doesn't exist anymore. A cold boot (restart) followed by starting windows installation process again, makes windows detect the HDD again, but the process repeats.

I was thinking the HDD is defective, but running Seagate diagnostics (DOS based, in the same laptop) reports no errors. I tested both the short and long test and also wrote zeroes on the entire drive successfully.

Is this a SATA-II drive incompatible with SATA-I hardware issue - my laptop is more than 2 years old, and my guess is that it may not be SATA-II compatible.

Any ideas on how I can find out where the problem is?

Thanks.

There should be jumper settings to make the SATA readable as 1.5, it will either be on the label itself or you should be able to find it on Google.

Otherwise, we have similar issues with some Dells at work and it requires that we reset the BIOS to default (even though nothing ever gets changed). Might try that or seeing if there is some kind of AHCI settings in the BIOS that could be causing the problem?

If you've got a desktop I'd say try and see if the drive can be detected from there.

My guess though would be either jumper or BIOS settings.

 

[tmc]

sorry for the lo...ng delay - was busy with other stuff.

btw, this doesn't work on my PS3 either. PS3 also crashes/hangs when it tries to initialize the disk for the first use.

any ideas?

 

[RU482]

n/m