Installing XP on SATA drive

[Tony.Makhlouf]

I have a Gateway FX7024 (came with Vista), that won't boot anymore
(says cannot find boot device).

Thinking it may the hard drive, I removed it and replaced with a new
WD Caviar 320GB. I am trying to install XP on it, but I get BSOD.
After some web searches, I figured I need the drivers for SATA and I
tried to slip-stream them with nLite and with Driver Packs without
success (still BSOD).
I tried setting the BIOS to legacy IDE instead of SATA , still gets
the same BSOD.

THe computer seems to work as an Ubuntu Linux live CD works fine, and
recognizes the new drive. When I launch the partitioning software in
Ubuntu (GParted) the new drive appears as unallocated with no file
system. I have the option to format it as FAT32 or NTFS, but I am
afraid to do so with a linux tool. Any ideas?

PS: I do not have access to another PC with SATA to see if the drive
is formatted.
PS2: I do not have the Vista recovery CD that should have come with
the PC (bought as open item; Best Buy says Gateway should give it to
me; Gateway says Best Buy should provide it.).
PS3: The PC does not have a floppy drive .

If no solution is forthcoming, Linux here I come...

 

[Paul]

I have a Gateway FX7024 (came with Vista), that won't boot anymore
(says cannot find boot device).

Thinking it may the hard drive, I removed it and replaced with a new
WD Caviar 320GB. I am trying to install XP on it, but I get BSOD.
After some web searches, I figured I need the drivers for SATA and I
tried to slip-stream them with nLite and with Driver Packs without
success (still BSOD).
I tried setting the BIOS to legacy IDE instead of SATA , still gets
the same BSOD.

THe computer seems to work as an Ubuntu Linux live CD works fine, and
recognizes the new drive. When I launch the partitioning software in
Ubuntu (GParted) the new drive appears as unallocated with no file
system. I have the option to format it as FAT32 or NTFS, but I am
afraid to do so with a linux tool. Any ideas?

PS: I do not have access to another PC with SATA to see if the drive
is formatted.
PS2: I do not have the Vista recovery CD that should have come with
the PC (bought as open item; Best Buy says Gateway should give it to
me; Gateway says Best Buy should provide it.).
PS3: The PC does not have a floppy drive .

If no solution is forthcoming, Linux here I come...

http://www.gateway.com/product_spec.php?product_recid=529668019

The motherboard is here. The Southbridge is ICH9, a chip with four
SATA ports. And presumably no options showing in the BIOS for
operating mode (the ports should offer vanilla IDE mode, and that
should be supported by the default Microsoft driver on WinXP SP1
or later).

Intel Schroeder Town G33/ICH9 microatx motherboard.
http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Intel2/4006194R/4006194Rsp2.shtml

The difference between "legacy IDE" versus SATA in this case, is
a matter of where the SATA ports are mapped. The legacy option
makes the disks look to an installer, like they're the old
IDE drives on ribbon cables, complete with interrupts IRQ14
and IRQ15. Older OSes like Win98, will feel right at home with
such a mode. (But other parts of the hardware will be less
forgiving, and I don't want to give the impression you should
try Win98...)

Newer OSes will have drivers for both modes. The Legacy corresponds
to "I/O Mapped", while the SATA option is "PCI address space" mapped. If
you had WinXP, but not with any Service Pack, and you were on a
desert island, you'd be able to switch to Legacy and do some kind
of installation. But if you have at least SP1, that shouldn't
be necessary, and the normal SATA mode should work.

The last time I had trouble, I used "dd" on a Linux LiveCD, to wipe some
number of megabytes at the beginning of the disk drive. That wipes out
partitions and structures at the beginning of the disk. Then I had no
problem installing Windows on the disk. (I also tried DBAN, and for
some reason, still couldn't install Windows after the disk was wiped.
But "dd" did the trick for me. I didn't waste time investigating.)

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=10000 ("sudo" is needed for Knoppix)

You might also write down what the BSOD is, because it might be
giving you a hint.

Paul

 

[Bill in Co.]

http://www.gateway.com/product_spec.php?product_recid=529668019

The motherboard is here. The Southbridge is ICH9, a chip with four
SATA ports. And presumably no options showing in the BIOS for
operating mode (the ports should offer vanilla IDE mode, and that
should be supported by the default Microsoft driver on WinXP SP1
or later).

Intel Schroeder Town G33/ICH9 microatx motherboard.
http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Intel2/4006194R/4006194Rsp2.shtml

The difference between "legacy IDE" versus SATA in this case, is
a matter of where the SATA ports are mapped. The legacy option
makes the disks look to an installer, like they're the old
IDE drives on ribbon cables, complete with interrupts IRQ14
and IRQ15. Older OSes like Win98, will feel right at home with
such a mode. (But other parts of the hardware will be less
forgiving, and I don't want to give the impression you should
try Win98...)

Newer OSes will have drivers for both modes. The Legacy corresponds
to "I/O Mapped", while the SATA option is "PCI address space" mapped. If
you had WinXP, but not with any Service Pack, and you were on a
desert island, you'd be able to switch to Legacy and do some kind
of installation. But if you have at least SP1, that shouldn't
be necessary, and the normal SATA mode should work.

Wait a minute, Paul. In our other post discussion, haven't we already
established that with just the ICH9 controller, that isn't really possible,
and that ONLY a IDE emulation of SATA is possible? And like in the BIOS
that typically goes with those boards (just having ICH9, and NOT the ICH9R
or the newer series), the only available selection is IDE emulation of SATA?

IOW, not the full blown SATA thing (with hot swapable capability, and all
that), but just the more limited IDE variation of it? So that's not
really the *normal* SATA mode, is it? (Or maybe I'm not understanding
this yet).

 

[Andy]

I have a Gateway FX7024 (came with Vista), that won't boot anymore
(says cannot find boot device).

Thinking it may the hard drive, I removed it and replaced with a new
WD Caviar 320GB. I am trying to install XP on it, but I get BSOD.
After some web searches, I figured I need the drivers for SATA and I
tried to slip-stream them with nLite and with Driver Packs without
success (still BSOD).

The lack of an SATA driver, if needed, won't cause Windows setup to
crash. It would just result in Windows setup not finding any disk to
install to.

I tried setting the BIOS to legacy IDE instead of SATA , still gets
the same BSOD.

It's some kind of hardware problem other than the hard drive itselt.

THe computer seems to work as an Ubuntu Linux live CD works fine, and
recognizes the new drive. When I launch the partitioning software in
Ubuntu (GParted) the new drive appears as unallocated with no file
system. I have the option to format it as FAT32 or NTFS, but I am
afraid to do so with a linux tool. Any ideas?

What are you trying to accomplish? You still won't be able to install
Windows XP, since Windows setup is crashing.

 

[Paul]

Wait a minute, Paul. In our other post discussion, haven't we already
established that with just the ICH9 controller, that isn't really possible,
and that ONLY a IDE emulation of SATA is possible? And like in the BIOS
that typically goes with those boards (just having ICH9, and NOT the ICH9R
or the newer series), the only available selection is IDE emulation of SATA?

IOW, not the full blown SATA thing (with hot swapable capability, and all
that), but just the more limited IDE variation of it? So that's not
really the *normal* SATA mode, is it? (Or maybe I'm not understanding
this yet).

The function in question, controls where the ports show up. Either in
the I/O space or in the PCI space. See PDF page 11 here, for example,
for the properties of each. (BAR means base address register, and
the chip registers are at an offset to the BAR.)

http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/manuals/252671.htm

WinXP SP1 has drivers for both of those BIOS settings, so should
work with either. There would be no need to press F6 during
Windows install, and offer additional drivers.

Paul

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I have a Gateway FX7024 (came with Vista), that won't boot anymore
(says cannot find boot device).

Thinking it may the hard drive, I removed it and replaced with a new
WD Caviar 320GB. I am trying to install XP on it, but I get BSOD.
After some web searches, I figured I need the drivers for SATA and I

If you need SATA drivers and don't have them, you won't get far enough for a
BSOD. Setup will abort saying that you no hard disk is found.

You appear to be looking in the wrong place, it's not likely to be related
to SATA drivers.

HTH
-pk


<snippage>

 

[Tecknomage]

The lack of an SATA driver, if needed, won't cause Windows setup to
crash. It would just result in Windows setup not finding any disk to
install to.


It's some kind of hardware problem other than the hard drive itselt.


What are you trying to accomplish? You still won't be able to install
Windows XP, since Windows setup is crashing.

Take another look in your BIOS Setup. I have seen motherboards that
have more than one setting dealing with SATA drives, in different BIOS
menus. Make sure you have ALL options for SATA set.

As to getting the BSOD, the above comment is correct, BUT I have had
this happen on WinXP installs due to hardware/BIOS problems. One
occasion, WinXP Setup crashed because it found NO hard drives at all
(operator error when installing the HD & not checking BIOS).