Using a SATA drive to install windows

G

Golden_Salmon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
275
I had another post about this, but my problem has changed.

I have an asus A8V delux motherboard and I'm trying to use a 250gig SATA drive with it. the drive is the only hard drive on the system. I extracted the data from the CD to the floppy containing the drivers for the drive. Then, when I booted the system, I hit F6, selected the Windows XP drivers for the motherboad, it seems to accept them, I hit continue, but it wouldn't let me install it because it doesn't find the hard drive.

This is my first time ever using a SATA drive, so it may be something extremely basic. The bios recognizes it in either SATA slot I stick it in (during boot it says SATA 0(or 1): XXXXXXXXXX ) (Xs are w/e it says about the device).
 
can you identify the the SATA chipset on your motherboard?

ex. is it VIA? is it silicon image? is it Hightech Point? is it SIS? is it Intel? is it ALi?

if you can locate which company the chipset is from then go to their website and download a driver for the controller. they usually consist of

1. separate folder for floppy installation(these folders are usually told in readme.txt and normally does not exceed 1mb)
2. utility app(after windows installation is done which does not fit nor needed for initial windows installation)

also are you sure that your sata controllers are enabled in your bios? some motherboards have more than 1 sata controller on the motherboard and has separate options in bios.
ex: intel ich5r sata(not sure if i got the model name right) + silicon image sata.

how many sata connectors are there?
if you have 2 connectors then you have one sata controller. if you have 4 then you are likely to have 2 controllers(possibly diff company).

if all else fails

do you see the sata bios screen after the intial POST?
can you enter the sata bios?(usually TAB or some Fx or ctrl+x)
 
go back to your original post and hit the austrailia site again and dow load and install the sata raid drivers also,, I'd bet your problem will be solved
 
It definitely sounds like your choosing the wrong drivers in the list that pops up after hitting F6. I suggested scrolling down and selecting the right ones based on what controller your using. I didn't get a response from you in the last thread, so I'm posting this again. Your BIOS sees it, so that eliminates a BIOS config or a dead drive.
 
I can enter the SATA bios, it says:
Serial_Ch0 Master HDS35........ <blank for Array name> SATA 232.88 Hdd

I tried the Windows XP drivers it had listed and the Windows NT. I will go bring up the list again and write the options I get after hitting F6.

woah....in the process of getting here I got a wierd screen 'Windows coudl not determine what type of computer you have' it gave me two options, something then i468 or whatnot and the other option was 'other'

Now I am in the SATA driver menu, options are:
Win2003 Promise SATA378 (tm) controller
WinXP Promise SATA378 (tm) controller
Win2000 Promise SATA378 (tm) controller
WinNT Promise SATA378 (tm) controller

I have tried XP and NT.
*note this is the first time ever getting that weird could not determine computer type*

edit: after I went though installing when I got that odd error, it gave me the blue screen. I tried again after that, didn't get the error again and back to the good ol' 'setup did not find any hard disk drivesrs installed in your computer.
 
since you've installed the sata ones and the bios recognises it, the only thing left is its not the driver you installed... read my post above... install the raid drivers ( yes I know you only have 1 drive) do it anyways and then see if it works... you've got nothing to lose but about 3 extra key strokes
 
Are you sure you don't have this configured as a RAID array, despite being a single drive? Your POST mentioning array name is making me wonder.
 
djnes said:
Are you sure you don't have this configured as a RAID array, despite being a single drive? Your POST mentioning array name is making me wonder.
Click to expand...
nah.

Even if he had, these problems shouldnt come up. Try copying the drivers again. Maybe your diskette or the floppy drive is faulty...
 
I've tried two different floppies and formatted them both many times, I'm gonna go for the raid thing.
 
PROBLEM FIXED: by only installing the raid controller drivers, I was able to use it to install the OS. Big thank you out to hulkster joe and everyone else
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top