Trouble with SATA hd

[imported_Sarge]

I am assembling a new machine (specs below) and I'm having problems when installing Win XP. I'm being told...

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer."

I have never used or even seen an SATA hd before this, but I'm pretty sure I'm doing the right thing. I used my other machine and I used the manufacture's disk to create a floppy disk with the SATA drivers on it, but I still have this problem. I have no clue what to do.

Please help.

AMD 3400+
ASUS K8V Deluxe
Nvidia 5950
3 x 512 ddr 3200 Corsair
450w Thermaltake PSU

 

[mechBgon]

The K8V Deluxe has four SATA ports. Two are on the VIA controller, two are on the Promise controller. The VIA controller's SATA ports are the upper pair, marked SATA1 and SATA2, while the Promise controller's SATA ports are close to the bottom of the board and are marked PRI_SATA and SEC_SATA.

Which port is your drive's cable plugged into, for starters?

 

[imported_Sarge]

The upper SATA1 port.

 

[mechBgon]

I thought I'd mention this before going on with the SATA issue: you are probably going to want to use only two of your three memory modules, because installing three memory modules will result in the memory running at PC1600 speed, which is half the speed it's rated for. With two modules, the memory controller is able to run them at full PC3200 speed.

Now for the SATA thing. When the system POSTs, if you press the Del key to enter the BIOS, it should first go and initialize the VIA and Promise controllers so it will know what drives are connected to them, and then it goes into the grey BIOS menu screen afterwards.

When it does go into the BIOS, if you go to the Boot menu and then the Boot Device Priority sub-menu, is your SATA drive listed? If not, go to page 5-19 of your manual and follow the procedure shown there for getting the VIA SATA controller to be "aware" of the hard drive. The VIA SATA controller has its own BIOS, which is entered by pressing the Tab key as they describe in the manual. After doing that, go back to the motherboard's own BIOS > Boot > Boot Device Priority and see if it now knows about the SATA hard drive.

Once the motherboard has realized that the hard drive is there, and is set up with it as one of the boot devices in the Boot Device Priority menu, go ahead and put your driver floppy into the floppy drive, start Windows Setup from CD-ROM, press the F6 key, etc, and see if Windows Setup now sees the hard drive. Good luck!

 

[imported_Sarge]

I have read some of the issues with this mobo and I currently only have 1 x 512 ddr stick installed in the center bay. I had problems even getting the machine up and running with all 3 x 512 sticks installed, so that was one hurdle I crossed, but now this is another.

As for my BIOS, this is what is listed in my Boot DevicePriority screen..

1st Boot Device [PM-Sony CD-RW CRX3]
2nd Boot Device [VIA VT6420 1st HDD]
3rd Boot Device [1st FLOPPY DRIVE]

I have the Samsung SP1614C hdd.

 

[mechBgon]

That's a good sign, it looks like the VIA controller is reporting the SATA drive to the motherboard, AND you already have your boot device priority all set up So I was wondering if maybe you grabbed the incorrect Makedisk.exe from your mobo's driver CD? There are three Makedisk.exe's on the motherboard's CD-ROM: one for the VIA controller, one for the Promise controller in RAID mode, and one for the Promise controller in non-RAID mode. Can you double-check that and/or make the VIA driver floppy again, using the Makedisk.exe that is in the VIA folder?

 

[imported_Sarge]

Here's the paths to the "MakeDisk" exe's that I see...

E:\Drivers\VIARAID\6420RAID\DriverDisk

E:\Drivers\Promise\378ATA

E:\Drivers\Promise\378RAID

I just reformatted my floppy disk and I am using the first "MakeDisk" for the 6420 path.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Sarge
Here's the paths to the "MakeDisk" exe's that I see...

E:\Drivers\VIARAID\6420RAID\DriverDisk

E:\Drivers\Promise\378ATA

E:\Drivers\Promise\378RAID

I just reformatted my floppy disk and I am using the first "MakeDisk" for the 6420 path.</P>

Ok, that's the right one then... hmm, how about try those steps they show on page 5-19 and following pages, then. Maybe you need to define the drive as an array in there, besides the other steps.

You're pressing the F6 key right at that first blue screen of Windows Setup when it prompts you to, right?

 

[imported_Sarge]

I wasn't using the correct "MakeDisk" exe it seems. I'm currently waiting to see if Windows will continue to install.

More to follow....

 

[imported_Sarge]

Windows XP is formatting and preparing for install. Looks like we might have a winner!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Sarge
Windows XP is formatting and preparing for install.  Looks like we might have a winner!

Sweet Regarding the RAM issue you were running into, try kicking the memory voltage up to 2.7 volts and I bet you'll get two modules online. I've been leaving the middle RAM slot vacant on mine, so you might try that too. Good luck and enjoy your new rig

 

[imported_Sarge]

Win XP installation is underway!

Well, this mobo sure is holding up to it's reputation and with me, being the novice builder, I'm sure feeling it's wrath. I feel pretty confident that I can continue on with the rest.

Thanks for the help and quick responses mechBgon!