Help needed for new build...

[WJ]

hi,

i have just purchased a new Asus A7N8X-E Del and have built a pc using a
new Seagate Sata hard drive among other things...

Everything seems fine except for;

The manual says sata "hot plug" not supported, what does this mean?

It says i need xp SP1, but i just have xp Pro, will this be ok?

There are two Sata Raid slots [1&2], but i have one drive, do i just use
one slot??

When i turn it on everything seems perfect until my windows xp pro cd tries
to install and it says it cant find a harddrive. Despite my harddrive
appearing in the raid array [<ctrl> + S @ post], do i NEED a second to make
it work?


Any help would be greatly appreciated....

will

 

[Philip Callan]

hi,

i have just purchased a new Asus A7N8X-E Del and have built a pc using a
new Seagate Sata hard drive among other things...

Everything seems fine except for;

The manual says sata "hot plug" not supported, what does this mean?

Hot plug capability is normally reserved for SCSI and such, it means you can
remove a drive
while the machine is powered up, and simply slide another drive/cage
assembly into the computer.

(reduces downtime for servers)

It says i need xp SP1, but i just have xp Pro, will this be ok?

You need XP SP1 probably for SATA support. If you look on your XP CD. look
for 'SP1a' or something
along those lines, if you dont have it, I suggest you either slipstream (add
SP1) to your original by copying it:

http://www.msfn.org/comments.php?catid=1&id=5414

Or you can download service pack 1 from microsoft here:

http://premierdownload.microsoft.com/download/whistler/sp/sp1/wxp/en-us/xpsp1_en_x86.exe

And burn it to a disc, you can install SP1 post-install.

There are two Sata Raid slots [1&2], but i have one drive, do i just use
one slot??

From what I can gather reading the manual on the website, your drive ONLY
supports using the
SATA ports in RAID not as regular drives.

And for RAID, you will require (2) TWO drives of identical capacity
(speed/model is preferable as well)

So you get to sell your single SATA drive, or buy a 2nd like it.

When i turn it on everything seems perfect until my windows xp pro cd tries
to install and it says it cant find a harddrive.

You need to get the drivers off your ASUS CD and put them on a floppy then
press F6 to give XP your
RAID drivers (my CD is sp1a, so i boot off it, and away I go hehehehe)

Despite my harddrive
appearing in the raid array [<ctrl> + S @ post], do i NEED a second to make
it work?

Redundant Array of Independant Drives = RAID, kinda hard to be redundant
with 1

hth
Philip

 

[Ben Pope]

hi,

i have just purchased a new Asus A7N8X-E Del and have built a pc using a
new Seagate Sata hard drive among other things...

Everything seems fine except for;

The manual says sata "hot plug" not supported, what does this mean?

Hot plugging is removing and inserting drives with the machine powered up.
SATA supports it, but the drivers and controllers are not usually fully SATA
compliant. Don't worry about it, just remove drives with the machine off!

It says i need xp SP1, but i just have xp Pro, will this be ok?

Suggest you streamline your installation media, but failing that just update
to SP1 using windows update after you've installed Windows XP. SP1 is
probably just for USB2 support.

There are two Sata Raid slots [1&2], but i have one drive, do i just use
one slot??

Yes. The RAID controller will support non-RAID configurations.

When i turn it on everything seems perfect until my windows xp pro cd
tries to install and it says it cant find a harddrive. Despite my
harddrive appearing in the raid array [<ctrl> + S @ post], do i NEED a
second to make it work?

You shouldn't have a single drive in a RAID Array.

Connected and reported in the SATA BIOS, yes., but not in a RAID Array.

You need to put the SATA Controller drivers on a floppy and hit F6 when XP
Setup starts (it prompts you for 3rd party drivers at the bottom of the
screen right near the beginning of setup.)

Ben

 

[WJ]

Thanks guys,

two things

1. i dont have a legal version of windows and have tried installing an
update from windows update [on another pc i built] but it wont let me due
to this.

2. i have not [as far as im aware!] set it up in a raid array. I didnt go
to install array or whatever it says, i just turned it on and it happens to
display my single sata drive in this part of the bios settings, thsi is
normal right?

I cant find i seperate SATA BIOS, is this <ctrl>+S area the same/right
place? if not, where is the sata bios???

I have downloaded the files i need, may post results of second effort...

thanks again.

 

[Gary Tait]

Thanks guys,

two things

1. i dont have a legal version of windows and have tried installing an
update from windows update [on another pc i built] but it wont let me due
to this.

Go buy a legal install CD then.

2. i have not [as far as im aware!] set it up in a raid array. I didnt go
to install array or whatever it says, i just turned it on and it happens to
display my single sata drive in this part of the bios settings, thsi is
normal right?

I cant find i seperate SATA BIOS, is this <ctrl>+S area the same/right
place? if not, where is the sata bios???

If it is motherboard SATA, the SATA setup should be in with the rest
of the CMOS setup.

 

[Ben Pope]

Thanks guys,

two things

1. i dont have a legal version of windows and have tried installing an
update from windows update [on another pc i built] but it wont let me due
to this.
....

2. i have not [as far as im aware!] set it up in a raid array. I didnt go
to install array or whatever it says, i just turned it on and it happens
to display my single sata drive in this part of the bios settings, thsi is
normal right?
Yes.

I cant find i seperate SATA BIOS, is this <ctrl>+S area the same/right
place? if not, where is the sata bios???

It's a PCI Option ROM in the main BIOS for the board.

Ben