Member Avatar for hideyourface

So I have a main drive which is a SATAA or ATA drive. Im not sure! Im installing a new IDE drive which is just a replacement I got for my old drive that died.
When I attatch my new drive, I get a message on startup to choose the proper boot device and restart. I go to setup, and my main drive (SATAA?) doesn't show up on the boot priority list. When I startup and goto boot priorities without the new drive attatched though, it does show up. So since I cant put my main drive as the first boot up device while the new drive is installed, I cant get into windows and use the new drive since it keeps telling me to choose the proper boot device.

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described a system that boots normally until a replacement IDE disk is attached; correctly flagged jumper/cable possibilities. Below are additional, concrete checks and BIOS/ hardware details not yet covered in the thread.

Many motherboards separate the controller selection from the actual disk order. The disk used for boot is often set inside a "Hard Disk Boot Priority" or "SATA Configuration" submenu rather than the main "Boot Device" line. Also verify that the SATA controller is enabled and the controller mode (AHCI/compatibility) is appropriate for the board; some firmwares hide SATA drives from the primary boot list unless the controller is enabled or set to the expected mode. General BIOS/boot-order guidance is available here: Change boot order in BIOS.

Hardware/power checks that were not yet mentioned: confirm the SATA drive actually spins up when the IDE drive is connected (no spin = not detected). Swap the SATA data cable to another port and move the power connector to a different rail or Molex/SATA lead. Boot the board with only the suspected boot disk attached to confirm it is detected and healthy; avoid allowing an OS installer or Disk Management to "initialize" the drive (that can overwrite partition tables). If the SATA disk is detected alone but disappears only when the other drive is present, isolate the fault by testing the new IDE drive in another machine or testing the SATA drive on a different system.

If all local tests fail, a firmware (BIOS) update or clearing CMOS can resolve odd detection behavior on older boards. If a hardware fault is indicated (drive, cable, or controller), replacement or using the new disk as an external USB device are practical fallbacks. For background on interfaces, see Serial ATA (SATA).

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Member Avatar for JANINE

Check the jumper settings on the new drive and make sure you have set the new rive to be the slave drive.

having two master drives on the same channel will cause conflicts and cause one to cancel the other out.

bear in mind that when installing cd/dvd drives too

Member Avatar for hideyourface

Check the jumper settings on the new drive and make sure you have set the new rive to be the slave drive.

having two master drives on the same channel will cause conflicts and cause one to cancel the other out.

bear in mind that when installing cd/dvd drives too

yeah, I've tried setting it to master as well as slave. Both dont seem to work.

Member Avatar for JANINE

ok, it could be a faulty IDE cable in that case or a faulty controller on the mobo. most likely to be the cable i think.

here's an idea you could try and see if this works.

set both the hard drives to master settings and the cd drives to slaves. then install one master drive and oner cd drive on each cable. we'll get you there eventually somehow.

Member Avatar for hideyourface

well Im not sure which cables to use. The main hard drive isn't using an IDE cable, the one cd drive is on one and the new hard drive is using another that's not being used by anything else.

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