can't install sata hard drive

[jamintyala]

my computers motherboard has the sata conectors on it but it wont read them and then i went and bought a sata controller it says it is installed corectly but still no hard drive
what do i do

[willcomp]

How about telling us what motherboard and SATA controller you have. What hard disk(s) you have and what you have tried.

Also, are you trying to install Windows and, if so, which version (XP, Vista)?

I'm very proficient with PCs but not too good at reading minds :)

[jamintyala]

i have A7V8X-LA (Kelut) motherboard that came with my HP pavilion A510N i recently purchased a deskstar 160G hard drive which i guess is made by hitachi. i also purchased a sata controller card for and it stil will not show up. i talked to hp for hours and it is not showing up in my bios. i want to have this as my secondary drive to an IDE 20G drive i have

[willcomp]

Let's try to get drive working with motherboard SATA controllers. Remove add-in controller and connect drive to a motherboard SATA connector.

Ensure data and power cables are fuly seated. Boot PC. Enter BIOS Setup and look for any SATA related entries (I assume HP tech walked you through this). Post back what BIOS settings are available. I couldn't find BIOS setup info on HP web site. Should be in one of the manuals but isn't.

[bobbyraw]

and to add when you get in the bios let us know if the drive is detected.

[jamintyala]

im sorry to sound stupid but where would it show up in the bios if it is in the first page where the other drives are listed it does not show up i ahve tried without the card already and still the same stuff shows up my IDE hard drive and my two cd drives and my floppy and my IDE bus is set to both like they told me to set it to

[willcomp]

Look in BIOS for any settings related to SATA. I'm not referring to drive table on first BIOS page but rather one where SATA is enabled and/or mode set. It would be helpful if we had BIOS Setup layout from HP, but we don't. What are BIOS page headings in your BIOS?

With card installed and drive connected to it, drive will not show up in BIOS. The SATA controller card BIOS will configure the drive and pass information to Windows. What SATA controller do you have?

Just to be sure -- is there an SATA power connector attacched to drive? It's over twice as wide as signal cable connector.

[jamintyala]

i found what my bios looks like and where it says there is sata support in the pictures there is nothing in my BIOS. the hard drive i currently have in is not the one that came with my hp so i think i may have lost the drivers when the first hard drive went out but i dont know here is the website with the pictures

[jamintyala]

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07110&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=405460&dlc=en&lang=en#N755
sorry forgot to add it

[jamintyala]

also the new drive is powered by a regular power connector not a sata power connector

[willcomp]

You need to install drivers for VIA 8237 southbridge (SATA controller).
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1180&SubCatID=143

Also install chipset drivers if you haven't already done so.
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070

Although BIOS setup info is generic, it's much better than nothing. I didn't even find that and I'm very familar with HP's web site.

Any other little tidbits of major importance you've neglected to pass on?

[jamintyala]

i just downloaded and installed both of those and still i have nothing. and sorry i was not withholding i went and looked it up after your last post. is there anything else you can recomend there is still nothing showing up in my BIOS

[jamintyala]

i also have the contorller card which is a creative I/O pci serial ata host control card

[willcomp]

I'm beginning to wonder if you have a faulty hard disk. Is the disk spinning up? You can listen or place your finger tips on top of drive to feel vibrations from motor.

With those drivers installed and drive properly connected, it should be recognized by BIOS and by XP.

Try installing controller card and connecting drive to card. There should be a key to press during bootup to access controller BIOS. You also may get a message that controller BIOS was not installed since no drives were detected.

Do you have a model number for controller card?

[willcomp]

I can't find any mention of an SATA controller card on the Creative web site. Are you sure Creative is the manufacturer?

[jamintyala]

i believe it is a faulty drive i am sending it back nothing is working thank you so much for your help

[thunder2020]

I can't find any mention of an SATA controller card on the Creative web site. Are you sure Creative is the manufacturer?

"Creative I/O" is not the same company as "Creative Labs" (which makes sound-related equipment).

[hughv]

The power connector shouldn't matter.
Are you saying that the SATA options in Figure 3 /Advanced don't show in your BIOS?
Some SATA mobo connectors are known for failing-try another connector or another cable.

[rexmo]

the card is NOT manufactured by creative labs (R) it is manufactured by a chinese co. called "creative i/o" There is probably a trademark infringement here as often happens with chinese companies. If anyone has the driver disk or can find a copy of the drivers I desperately need them too. Can't seem to find 'em anywhere!

[rexmo]

the card I have is :
SATA Controller Card Creative I/O
sy-via-150

s/n:080124gs0120091

the 150 does not supposedly support RAID but uses the RAID driver the 150r is the true RAID.

I still am in desperate need of the drivers! PLEASE can anyone copy their install disk? My disk got broken :(

[willcomp]

Can you read controller chip information? Manufacturer and model.

Most inexpensive cards use SiI chips. Generic drivers are available on SiI website and elsewhere.

[rexmo]

ok, sorry it took so long but here's the chip info:

VIA
VT6421A
0748CD TAIWAN
21A0029881

Any URL's would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks a lot!! ;-)