SATA with IDE

[[A]MD]

Is there a way to use my primary SATA drive for my OS and have two other IDE drives for just random junk? I was told that when you have IDE and SATA drives in the PC the computer will automatically force boot from the IDE drive...is that true?

 

[tim_m]

i think it really depends on the bios, see what kind of boot settings it has

 

[[A]MD]

it's an shuttle AN50R

 

[SpaceMonkeyAndy]

what SATA modes do you have in the bios? do you have one that is something along the lines of combined? there should be a mode that just adds the SATA channels to the available IDE channels. use this and set the boot order to launch off the HD that is on the SATA.

 

[[A]MD]

Originally posted by SpaceMonkeyAndy
what SATA modes do you have in the bios? do you have one that is something along the lines of combined? there should be a mode that just adds the SATA channels to the available IDE channels. use this and set the boot order to launch off the HD that is on the SATA.

not sure what you mean...I don't really see any SATA specific options anywhere in the bios...

 

[dewhite]

OK I went and read the manual for the AN50R - Looks like there are 2 things you can try. First set the "First Boot Device" to SCSI and see if it attempts to boot from the SATA controller Primary. Some BIOS's treat the SATA controller in the same way they would a SCSI controller. Beyond trying that, you might set first, second, and third boot devices each to disabled and then enable the "boot other device" option to enabled. This should make the BIOS fail all other options, then attempt anything it finds on the SATA controller. If that doesn't work - email shuttle, that's what they are there for, right?

 

[onetrueday]

as long as the 'boot other device' option is enabled, you shouldnt have a problem. If you cant select your sata as the primary boot drive, this might slow you down. However, i dont see a motherboard that has sata not looking there for a boot drive.

There is another problem.

When you install your OS to the sata drive, make sure the ata drives are UNPLUGGED. There is a serious problem with my scsi cheetah when I install winxp that might also show up with your sata drive. If the other drives are plugged in, it might force them as C: and D:. By unplugging them until you've applied all updates and a couple of reboots, you'll ensure that your sata drive stays as C: This might not be a problem, but I'd hate to see you have to run through an entire reinstall.