Sata Hard Drive not recognized

[hi-lum]

Hey, I'm diligently trying to install a SATA hard drive (Western Digital 160GB) with my ASUS K8V SE Deluxe and the damn thing wont recognize it at all. I can only connect it with a SATA cable (no ribbon option, which is what the previous HDD was) and the motherboard has four SATA connections. I've gone into the BIOS menus and it seems to recognize it somewhat but when I try to reinstall windows, it eventually informs me that there is no HDD to detect. WTF?!!!?!?!?!?!

I've built a few custom machines and never once have I come across anything as lame as this.

Please help me before I go completely insane!

Thanks,

Rich

[hughv]

You have to install the SATA drivers, and this is covered in the manual.
Look for "Press F6 to load drivers" line in the XP install sequence. The drivers are on your mobo install CD or at the ASUS site.

[MarioG1953]

Aren't Sata drivers automatically installed?
Pressing F6 is for third party drivers I thought (I've never used it) If you press F6 will you be asked for any disks?

[hughv]

Read the manual so you understand what's happening.. This is standard.
Yes. you'll be asked for disks. I have this board, and it might work better if the mobo disk is in the drive when you install the drivers from the floppy.

[Frank Wallis]

Read the manual so you understand what's happening.. This is standard.
Yes. you'll be asked for disks. I have this board, and it might work better if the mobo disk is in the drive when you install the drivers from the floppy.

During WinXP installation, you press F6 to install the drivers of SCSI Drive not SATA?

Change the data cable and look for the drivers of this SATA in motherboard CD.

[MarioG1953]

Thanks for the reply everyone.
My last machine running XP Home had a mix of IDE and Sata hardware. Everything was IDE except for my second drive which was a Sata drive. I've reformatted and installed the system many times and never pressed the F6 for third party drivers, mainly because I didn't understand it. However, after installation everything including the Sata drive, functioned well. So, I don't understand the comment that Sata drivers MUST be loaded via the F6 key. I'm now running a PCI-e machine with Vista Premium and Sata hardware, are you saying that if I ever have to reinstall the system after format that I must also install Sata drivers via F6?

Regards
Mario

P.S
My second hard drive in my XP machine was used as a Sata Drive although it did also have IDE connections on it.

[TPHTA]

Windows doesn't always have all the drivers for all the different drive controllers, especially newer ones in the install CD. Using F6 lets you load any drive controller driver you need provided your PC has a floppy disk drive.

the previous posters were thinking that you installed the first time to the IDE drive fine. Once Windows was up and running you loaded drivers from the CD or Internet that made your SATA drive work. This time your starting on the SATA drive and windows cannot talk to it.

your comment that the BIOS somewhat recognizes the HD doesn't sound right to me though. Perhaps you need to flash the motherboard BIOS to recognize such a large drive. Did you upgrade the SATA drive too?

[hughv]

This from the CD for My ASUS A8V board:
"New Windows XP Installation
The following details the installation of the SATA150 TX Series drivers while installing Windows XP.
1. Start the installation:
• Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows XP installation diskettes.
• CD-ROM Install: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 when the message “Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver” appears.
2. When the Windows XP Setup window is generated, press S to specify an Additional Device(s).
3. Insert the SATA150 TX Series driver diskette into drive A: and press Enter.
4. Choose WinXP Promise SATA150 TX Series Controller from the list that appears on screen, and then press the Enter.
5. The Windows XP Setup screen will appear again saying “Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices:” The list will include WinXP Promise FastTrak SATA150 TX Series Controller.
NOTE: If there are any additional devices to be installed, specify them now. When all devices are specified, continue to the next step.
6. From the Windows XP Setup screen, press the Enter. Setup will now load all device files and then continue the Windows XP installation.
The numbers may be slightly different, but the procedure is the same.
My board doesn't recognize SATA II, so I had to install the limiting jumper-I'm not sure about yours.

[MarioG1953]

I appreciate the trouble you guys are taking to reply to my posts. However, I am confusing the issue and myself by discussing both my old system and my new system. So let me try to clarify by only discussing my old system first.
1. I bought the system from a reputable computer retailer. The system came with a200gig hard drive (IDE type). (system drive)
2. I bought also from them a 400gig hard drive and requested that it be installed into my system prior to delivery. The connections on the rear of this 400gig hd had

a) Sata Data connection b) Sata power connection

c) IDE Data connection d) IDE power connection

They way they installed the 400 gig hd was this.....
Sata cable connected to the Sata Data connector on the drive and then to the motherboard.

IDE power connector to the IDE connection on the back of the drive. (They did not use the Sata power connection).

In short it was connected using A&D above. Probably because the power supply didn’t have a Sata power connector.
And now by the way, the 400gig drive has failed some twelve months later. Could it be because of the way it’s been connected?
Up until the drive failed the system had been formatted and OS reinstalled (XP) two or three times. Each time F6 was never used and yet the Sata drive was accessable. I do question though the use of the IDE power connector instead of a Sata power connection.
I’m sorry for being long winded but I’m trying to be as detailed as applicable.

Mario

[Frank Wallis]

This from the CD for My ASUS A8V board:
"New Windows XP Installation
The following details the installation of the SATA150 TX Series drivers while installing Windows XP.
1. Start the installation:
• Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows XP installation diskettes.
• CD-ROM Install: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 when the message “Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver” appears.
2. When the Windows XP Setup window is generated, press S to specify an Additional Device(s).
3. Insert the SATA150 TX Series driver diskette into drive A: and press Enter.
4. Choose WinXP Promise SATA150 TX Series Controller from the list that appears on screen, and then press the Enter.
5. The Windows XP Setup screen will appear again saying “Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices:” The list will include WinXP Promise FastTrak SATA150 TX Series Controller.
NOTE: If there are any additional devices to be installed, specify them now. When all devices are specified, continue to the next step.
6. From the Windows XP Setup screen, press the Enter. Setup will now load all device files and then continue the Windows XP installation.
The numbers may be slightly different, but the procedure is the same.
My board doesn't recognize SATA II, so I had to install the limiting jumper-I'm not sure about yours.

Thanks for this instruction but in line no 3. it says Insert the SATA150 TXSeries Driver Diskette in Drive A. But from where do we get this floppy drive or how do we make such floppy drive?

[hughv]

I appreciate the trouble you guys are taking to reply to my posts. However, I am confusing the issue and myself by discussing both my old system and my new system. So let me try to clarify by only discussing my old system first.
1. I bought the system from a reputable computer retailer. The system came with a200gig hard drive (IDE type). (system drive)
2. I bought also from them a 400gig hard drive and requested that it be installed into my system prior to delivery. The connections on the rear of this 400gig hd had

a) Sata Data connection b) Sata power connection

c) IDE Data connection d) IDE power connection

They way they installed the 400 gig hd was this.....
Sata cable connected to the Sata Data connector on the drive and then to the motherboard.

IDE power connector to the IDE connection on the back of the drive. (They did not use the Sata power connection).

In short it was connected using A&D above. Probably because the power supply didn’t have a Sata power connector.
And now by the way, the 400gig drive has failed some twelve months later. Could it be because of the way it’s been connected?
Up until the drive failed the system had been formatted and OS reinstalled (XP) two or three times. Each time F6 was never used and yet the Sata drive was accessable. I do question though the use of the IDE power connector instead of a Sata power connection.
I’m sorry for being long winded but I’m trying to be as detailed as applicable.

Mario

Mixing the power connections should have no affect. I've done this several times.
This sounds like an ordinary drive failure, although it couldn't hurt to switch the power connection to see if it makes any difference. The drive should still be under warranty.

[hughv]

Thanks for this instruction but in line no 3. it says Insert the SATA150 TXSeries Driver Diskette in Drive A. But from where do we get this floppy drive or how do we make such floppy drive?

You're confusing things by mixing your question with another thread.
Always start your own thread no matter how similar the problems may seem, to avoid confusion.
The drivers are available from the motherboard or computer manufacturer.

[MarioG1953]

Mixing the power connections should have no affect. I've done this several times.
This sounds like an ordinary drive failure, although it couldn't hurt to switch the power connection to see if it makes any difference. The drive should still be under warranty.

It appears I've piggybacked on another thread, apologies for that. I'll ask my next question in a new thread. In the meantime thanks for the reply and I'll check out the warranty on the failed drive.

Mario