SATA and nForce3

[Guest]

Hi,
I'm thinking about buying one of the new 939 socket boards that has the nForce3 chipset. I am planning on only having one hard drive, the WD SATA 74GB one. Now, I know that wiht my other computer I had to do the entire F6 dreaded task crap, but the nForce3 said something about being integrated into the Hardware now. I am NOT planning on installing a Floppy Drive. I HATE floppy drives. Does ANYONE know if you still need to install the damned drivers for the SATA with the nForce3 chipset inorder to get WinXP Pro installed first time? I do not want a Floppy Drive. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Fitz]

The hardware is integrated, the drivers are not....yes, you still have to do
the F6 routine to install them. If you don't want to install a floppy
permanently, grab the one from your old machine, leave the side of the new
computer case open, and connect the floppy long enough to install the SATA,
then disconnect it. Make sure you get a board that will flash the BIOS by a
method other than AWDFlash for future updates.

Fitz

 

[Guest]

What the heck does AWDFlash do, and what is the reason behind making sure I get a BIOS that doesnt use this for future updates? (Any special updates I should be expecting?)

 

[Fitz]

Motherboard BIOS, like drivers or programs, are updated occasionally to fix
bugs, add features or new support, etc. Manufactures don't recommend
"flashing" the BIOS at each update, but rather, only when the update
contains something necessary to your board or system. AWDFlash is the
"engine" that facilitates installing the update, and requires the use of a
floppy. Most new boards have additional methods of updating the BIOS,
including a simple one click download and install from the web.

Fitz

 

[Guest]

A simple reason that one would need to set up specific 'drivers' for the SATA disk usage [BASIC or RAID - at appropriate level], by way of floppy drive is quite simple.

A PC is set up at hardware level. The Operating System must build what is known as the 'Hardware Abstraction Layer' based upon the infrmation it reads from BIOS.

It would be impossible to build all the STA device usages, given that you can configure RAID level / Stiping etc. The Management of this is provided in LARGE files [compared with the available space in BIOS].

 

[Guest]

I appreciate all the help! Now I just have to learn more about RAID arrays. I know a bit about computers, but lacking on some areas. I read up on a forum about "slipstreaming" my drivers into my WinXP Pro installation disks along with making it an Unatended installation. I'm probably going to give that a try and see where it gets me. I'm building a bran new computer, and will only have my laptop handy, so I have no 3.5 Floppy drives around. (doesnt contain one in my laptop.) I apreciate the help again and will deffinatly avoid the BIOS that you're talking about.