PDA

View Full Version : XP Can't Find SATA HDD For Install URGENT!!!



The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 08:47 AM
Well here's the story. I have recently made my new PC and my friend offered to buy my old one off me. I bought a new Maxtor 250GB SATA HDD for the build because I was using the original HDD from my old PC. I rebuilt the PC with the new HDD and I go to install XP and it says that Windows can't find a HDD and the installation needs to be canceled.

Here is what I have tried:
Because the HDD from my old PC was IDE I looked through the manual to see if anything needed to be done differently for SATA. I found a few minor BIOS tweaks that had to be preformed (loading of SATA drivers/Raid and changing a few things in the boot que). I did what the manual told me but still no luck. I tried different SATA cables and the only alternate SATA port on the mobo (mobo only has 2 ports). As a last resort I plugged the HDD into my new working PC and formatted the HDD. After the format I tried again and when it didn't work I tried to load the SATA drivers again but still no luck.

Could it be a faulty HDD? I know it's spinning up because I can feel it when I hold it in my hand. Any ideas?

.Maleficus.
09-30-2007, 09:18 AM
Well, to see if it is faulty or not, you could (God I always say this...) download a Linux LiveCD and see if the installer detects it. If it doesn't, then it probably is faulty.

Otherwise, I'm stuck.

The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 09:23 AM
How big is the file? I'm kinda looking for a quick fix at the moment cos my mate was meant to pick it up tomorrow haha, some how I don;t think that is going to happen. It doesn't even list it in the BIOS on my old PC but when I plug it into my new one it shows up and I can access it through "My Computer" so I don't think it is broken. I should have just ordered another IDE HDD and saved myself a lot of trouble :(.

EDIT: +rep for the fast reply

Scotty
09-30-2007, 09:28 AM
700MB .iso file

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

calumc
09-30-2007, 09:28 AM
damnsmalllinux.org
its only 50mb

The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 09:33 AM
Is it really worth me trying? I know the HDD works because I can pick it up on my new machine, just not the old one.

calumc
09-30-2007, 09:34 AM
well if the linux disk cant pick it up then it would be a problem with your mobo

The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 09:41 AM
I really need an IDE HDD to try it with cos I think it may just be the SATA and how I configured it. I tried to boot of the mobo driver disk cos the help service listed that as an option, it read the disk and loaded it and then said that this sort of approach wasn't supported by the mobo and aborted itself.

calumc
09-30-2007, 09:43 AM
id say just chance the damn small linux, presuming you're not on dial-up its only gonna take a few mins and it will rule out a lot of things depending on the result

The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 09:48 AM
Do I just burn it to a disk or what, I don't think I have any, I will check.

calumc
09-30-2007, 09:57 AM
you'll be downloading a .iso and you'll need to burn it

The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 10:01 AM
Well just checked, no disks :(, will have to get some tomorrow and try it then. Any of you guys got any other suggestions I could try?

gntlkilr
09-30-2007, 11:50 AM
Well just checked, no disks :(, will have to get some tomorrow and try it then. Any of you guys got any other suggestions I could try?

What kind of Mobo is it? Does the mobo have two sets of SATA connectors? Cuz if so, one set might be a RAID set which would require a floppy disk with the RAID drivers. At the beginning of the XP install, it says at the bottom "Press F6 now to install SCSI/RAID controller"

Unless you install that driver, you not gonna have a SATA/RAID controller. I know its like that with alot of AMD chipset ASUS boards.

xRyokenx
09-30-2007, 12:44 PM
Along the lines of what gntlkilr just said, what mobo? I had a similar problem a week or so ago, I ended up upgrading my mobo and all due to it. If it happens to be a BIOSTAR board, upgrade. It saw the drive but it wouldn't let it format or anything, it was total bullcrap. I tried it with a couple drives and neither worked, Linux, or either copy I have of XP, Pro or Home.

gntlkilr
09-30-2007, 01:04 PM
Another thing you might try to TRIPLE CHECK that the SATA Controller is enabled. I've made that mistake before. Also, make sure the SATA controller isn't set as a RAID controller if you're not going to use it as a RAID. I usually turn the integrated RAID off and use my adaptec SATAII controller I got on Ebay.

The boy 4rm oz
09-30-2007, 10:33 PM
Sorry I should have posted what type of mobo I was using.
Mobo: Gigabyte K8 Triton (GA-K8VM00M)

The mobo has two on board SATA connectors and I have made sure that in the BIOS SATA is enabled but so is Raid, I will disable Raid and try again.

As for the driver installation I have tried that many times but wasn't sure which one I should have installed.
Here is the list that comes up for me to load the drivers to my floppy disk:
1>Intel IAA_RAID
2>GIGARAID
3>SilBASE
4>SilRAID
5>SCSI
6>Promise 20276 ATA
7>Promise 20276 RAID
8>Promise 20265 ATA
9>Promise 20265 ATA <XP>
A>Promise 20265 RAID
B>Promise 20265 RAID <XP>
C>VIA 8237 Series ATA
0>exit

While reading through the mobo manual to see how to activate SATA drives so they can boot the system it went through how you have to change things in the boot que and all that stuff. No where in the manual did it tell me that I needed to install drivers (I spent 3 hours figuring this out :(). When I found I had to load the drivers it didn't even tell we which ones. At the bottom of the trouble shoot section where it tells you how to activate SATA drives it says you must set "Raid" to Raid or "SATA" to BASE. I thought this referred to the driver loading (number 4 & 5). Because I wasn't using Raid I only loaded the BASE file. Can you guys point me in the right directions with the drivers? Any help will be appreciated.

alexanderH
10-01-2007, 06:08 AM
XP sucks, for this reason. If it is not the NEWEST and most updated CD version of it, t is extremely dfifficult to just put in an SATA and go.
You either need to crate a floppy disk and insert it and press F6 i believe at the beginning of the setup wizard and load the sata drivers from the disk, then you can format/install on your new sata drive. Otherwise you can slipstream your SATA drivers onto a windows xp install cd.

The floppy method is Basic, and easy. You copy the sata driver folder from your mobo cd and put it onto a floppy. Easy as Pie. A quick google will show you any more detail you may want to know.

Slipstreaming: well there is a bounty of resources on that.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
http://www.ozzu.com/ftopic28824.html
http://weblogs.asp.net/jkey/archive/2005/08/28/423901.aspx

Hope that helps!

alexanderH
10-01-2007, 06:13 AM
Sorry I should have posted what type of mobo I was using.
Mobo: Gigabyte K8 Triton (GA-K8VM00M)

The mobo has two on board SATA connectors and I have made sure that in the BIOS SATA is enabled but so is Raid, I will disable Raid and try again.

As for the driver installation I have tried that many times but wasn't sure which one I should have installed.
Here is the list that comes up for me to load the drivers to my floppy disk:
1>Intel IAA_RAID
2>GIGARAID
3>SilBASE
4>SilRAID
5>SCSI
6>Promise 20276 ATA
7>Promise 20276 RAID
8>Promise 20265 ATA
9>Promise 20265 ATA <XP>
A>Promise 20265 RAID
B>Promise 20265 RAID <XP>
C>VIA 8237 Series ATA
0>exit

While reading through the mobo manual to see how to activate SATA drives so they can boot the system it went through how you have to change things in the boot que and all that stuff. No where in the manual did it tell me that I needed to install drivers (I spent 3 hours figuring this out :(). When I found I had to load the drivers it didn't even tell we which ones. At the bottom of the trouble shoot section where it tells you how to activate SATA drives it says you must set "Raid" to Raid or "SATA" to BASE. I thought this referred to the driver loading (number 4 & 5). Because I wasn't using Raid I only loaded the BASE file. Can you guys point me in the right directions with the drivers? Any help will be appreciated.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=1782
That page has your drivers under the "SATA RAID" Heading.
You will notice that there are drivers for each OS. Make sure you get them for XP and there are drivers for nForce chipsets and silicon chipsets. Make sure you get the correct ones.

Goodluck!

The boy 4rm oz
10-01-2007, 08:35 AM
Thanks so much for your help, I will go have a look now.

The boy 4rm oz
10-01-2007, 08:56 AM
Well I tried the way you suggested. I got the drivers that I THINK I needed (NVIDIA nForce3 250 / Ultra Driver and Silicon Image 3112 / 3512 SATA Driver) Windows boots and when I go to access the floppy it says text something.oem could not be found. Any ideas?

gntlkilr
10-01-2007, 11:23 AM
Well I tried the way you suggested. I got the drivers that I THINK I needed (NVIDIA nForce3 250 / Ultra Driver and Silicon Image 3112 / 3512 SATA Driver) Windows boots and when I go to access the floppy it says text something.oem could not be found. Any ideas?

Have you looked at the disk and seen if that file is actually on there? Cuz if so, then that seems like a driver incompatibility issue.

EDIT:
the link you need is "http://china.giga-byte.com/FileList/Driver/motherboard_driver_raid_via_8237_bootdisk_2kxp.exe"

Run that file, it will extract all the files you need for the floppy. If anything , extract directly ONTO the disk. That way, no middleman. Use that as your driver disk

alexanderH
10-01-2007, 12:41 PM
Well I tried the way you suggested. I got the drivers that I THINK I needed (NVIDIA nForce3 250 / Ultra Driver and Silicon Image 3112 / 3512 SATA Driver) Windows boots and when I go to access the floppy it says text something.oem could not be found. Any ideas?

Do you have the cd that came with the motherboard? Because it should have a folder called SATA or something along those lines. when you open the folder you'll see several .oem files. these and the folders need to go on the root directory of your floppy for windows to read them. I hope that makes some sense. When I get home i'll check out your drivers and see that everything is there and where you might be lead astray. cheers.

The boy 4rm oz
10-01-2007, 01:20 PM
I have the original mobo disk and yes it has all those files on it, just doesn't seem to work. I will try again tomorrow, I'm tired and going to bed.

Bopher
10-01-2007, 04:12 PM
If you have a Thumb Drive and the Mobo supports it you could install and run from there. i did that but Linux makes me scared and I ran back to Windows. Maybe another day. For now its running my portable firefox for work.

Imper
10-01-2007, 05:31 PM
actually most mobos had a software to make the disk,also it point you where are the files to do the disk manually,the thinh is to use a sata HDD as root you need to make a disk,and remember to select the right operative sistem,i meam use either 64 bits or 32 driver for xp

Good Luck,i had a few fights also with the diskettes,the die too fast,and i never had or use them ><

The boy 4rm oz
10-04-2007, 08:37 AM
Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up taking the SATA drive back and getting an IDE version. The HDD that was in this machine before was an IDE drive so it should work, haven't tested it yet.

alexanderH
10-04-2007, 04:23 PM
Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up taking the SATA drive back and getting an IDE version. The HDD that was in this machine before was an IDE drive so it should work, haven't tested it yet.

haha when all else fails, go for good ol trusty eh?
IDE will work as soon as you plug it in, so long as your drive aint busted itself.

The boy 4rm oz
10-04-2007, 10:41 PM
Well it worked in my external enclosure so fingers crossed lol.