Bobby said:
There wasn't.The upgrade went perfectly (according to the upgrade program
which even verifies the BIOS installation).
Because I thought something weird might have happened during the upgrade.
But I did reload the original BIOS and I am still having problems. So that
didn't fix it.
Not likely to fix anything going back to the previous version if the
original flash to the new version went well (and you mentioned the upgrade
verified the installation). It's clear that the BIOS version has nothing to
do with this and had the question been asked before you attempted to flash
it in the first place I would have advised against it.
The original mobo would have detected the SATA drive if I had configured
the BIOS correctly.
That's what I suspected. So have you read the manual or had someone explain
it to you? That would go a long way towards you understanding things better.
No I don't know how to create this. I do know how to get the machine to
boot from a floppy. But the machine appears to be fine in DOS mode (I was
messing around with the recovery console for 10 minutes and the machine
was OK).
OK, no need to do the DOS boot test then but in future its just the same as
formatting a floppy disk but there's a "tickbox option" in XP which reads
"create an MS-DOS startup disk" this will copy across the required files.
Note: I would advise against using one of these disks for BIOS flashing
though because it loads various extras unlike (for example) a Windows 98
boot disk.
Given that the machine is stable in a non-windows environment your challenge
will be to find exactly which part of the Windows XP installation on the
fresh SATA disk causes instability. Perhaps the point at which it
spontaneously reboots will give you a clue.
I have now. I did this first thing this evening. It made no difference.
OK fair enough - at least that's ruled out as a possible cause now. After
all the settings were erased using this process do you know what to set them
to (or what each one is all about? If, like most people, some of them have
you baffled then there's this excellent reference here which explains BIOS
options:
http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=1
It was a new (home made) build about three months ago. And it worked
*perfectly* until I messed about with my new SATA drive.
Ok that would imply that all of the hardware is up to the task then. In
terms of "messing about" with hardware, I advise you to read up on what it
is that you intend to do *before* you do it, you could also attend some
computer hardware courses. That way your actions will be informed and you
wont end up wasting your time (so much) not to mention reducing the chances
of damaging anything e.g. Anti static precautions and the golden rule of
checking all peripherals are disconnected from the motherboard (particularly
USB devices) before flashing BIOS's etc.
Since you've mentioned the system was working perfectly before the new drive
came along and the PSU is still nearly new, its unlikely to be a
contributing factor, although I must say I've never seen a "no-name" PSU
(and I used to work as a computer tech), its just that some are more
reputable and reliable than others.
I can't do a clean install on either HD (SATA or PATA drives) without the
thing resetting.
At what point does it reset and does it consistently occur at exactly the
same spot irrespective of how long the machine has been running? Have you
reviewed what the manual contains about Windows installation. Finally, have
you got hold of newer SATA controller drivers from the Asus website for your
motherboard?
That would be a few things I'd try, along with checking ALL the BIOS
settings (according to that reference website I posted a link to above).
After that, if there's no developments, I suggest you take it to a computer
shop for attention. Am I right that you can no longer even install XP on the
original IDE HDD while the SATA one is out of the machine/unplugged fully
(even after rechecking the BIOS settings) without it rebooting?
Paul
