K8N-E Delx SATA won't boot, divide overflow problem

[Robert Moore]

If I connect my new WD Raptor 74gig to the SATA port on my K8N-E two
very bad things happen:
-DOS based boot floppy disks (ie Ghost, WD Datalifeguard) cause divide
overflow errors. Same for Windows Ghost when it goes to DOS.
-Raptor won't boot even though BIOS is setup to give it boot priority. I
just get a blinking cursor.

If I remove the drive from the cable, dos floppys boot and function
correctly.

Any ideas?

 

[KLH]

If I connect my new WD Raptor 74gig to the SATA port on my K8N-E two
very bad things happen:
-DOS based boot floppy disks (ie Ghost, WD Datalifeguard) cause divide
overflow errors. Same for Windows Ghost when it goes to DOS.
-Raptor won't boot even though BIOS is setup to give it boot priority. I
just get a blinking cursor.

If I remove the drive from the cable, dos floppys boot and function
correctly.

Any ideas?

Which Sata Port? Nforce or Sil 3114? And how do you have them set in
Bios? Not enough information.

 

[Robert Moore]

Which Sata Port? Nforce or Sil 3114? And how do you have them set in
Bios? Not enough information.

I've tried connecting to both main SATA ports (non-RAID) in center of
MOBO with similar lack of success. I guess those would be the Nforce
ports. Windows DOES recognize Raptor and allows me to partition and
format it and I can transfer the boot partition to it from my current C:
drive (IDE 30gig IBM). However, it won't boot from the Raptor (with IDE
disconnected or connected). Also, as stated above, DOS boot floppies
crash out, often "divide overflow" error.

-Bios is set to SATA under "Chipset." Set as drive #1 and primary boot.
-ATI Radeon All in Wonder 9600xt video
-1 gig Corsair ram

Anything else I've left out?

 

[baskitcaise]

Robert Moore adjusted his/her tin foil beanie and asbestos underwear to
write:

I've tried connecting to both main SATA ports (non-RAID) in center of
MOBO with similar lack of success. I guess those would be the Nforce
ports. Windows DOES recognize Raptor and allows me to partition and
format it and I can transfer the boot partition to it from my current
C: drive (IDE 30gig IBM). However, it won't boot from the Raptor (with
IDE disconnected or connected). Also, as stated above, DOS boot
floppies crash out, often "divide overflow" error.

The divide overflow is an old dos error and is probably because your
machine is much too new, this used to show up with 95 and 98 or even
os/2.

 

[chris]

transfering the boot partition will not set the partition as active. check
the properties to make sure it is. then go to tools, use the format command
and select copy system files only.

 

[P2B]

Robert Moore adjusted his/her tin foil beanie and asbestos underwear to
write:




The divide overflow is an old dos error and is probably because your
machine is much too new, this used to show up with 95 and 98 or even
os/2.

You can often work around this by underclocking - e.g. the DOS driver
for my NIC gets a divide overflow at 133Mhz FSB but works fine at 100Mhz.

P2B

 

[Robert Moore]

You can often work around this by underclocking - e.g. the DOS driver
for my NIC gets a divide overflow at 133Mhz FSB but works fine at 100Mhz.

P2B

I kind of doubt this is the culprit because:
1. GHOST and DataLifeGuard are new programs, new versions.
2. Both programs work perfectly well when the SATA drive is
disconnected, without any need to underclock.

I appreciate the suggestions and will even try the underclocking, but
because the problem only surfaces when the SATA Raptor is connected to
the Nvidia SATA port, I think the problem must have something to do with
the SATA.
RJM

 

[Robert Moore]

transfering the boot partition will not set the partition as active. check
the properties to make sure it is. then go to tools, use the format command
and select copy system files only.

It IS set to "active". Hmmmmmm.....
RJM

 

[Robert Moore]

If I connect my new WD Raptor 74gig to the SATA port on my K8N-E two
very bad things happen:
-DOS based boot floppy disks (ie Ghost, WD Datalifeguard) cause divide
overflow errors. Same for Windows Ghost when it goes to DOS.
-Raptor won't boot even though BIOS is setup to give it boot priority. I
just get a blinking cursor.

If I remove the drive from the cable, dos floppys boot and function
correctly.

Any ideas?

Thanks for all your input, folks. The HD is running now, but only when I
switched it to the Silicon Image controller, got new IDE drivers from
SilImage, and reinstalled Windows. The NVdia port and drivers still are
a no-go, so it's a mixed victory.
RJM

 

[JBM]

Thanks for all your input, folks. The HD is running now, but only when I
switched it to the Silicon Image controller, got new IDE drivers from
SilImage, and reinstalled Windows. The NVdia port and drivers still are a
no-go, so it's a mixed victory.
RJM

I found that in order to get the Nvidia controller to work in non raid mode
you have to enable the onboard sata port then enable the onboard raid.
Then each device will be listed under the raid controller. Set each one
to disabled if you don't want it in a raid array or yes if you do.
I found this out when I wanted to change from using raid to not.
My drives would show in the bios but they didn't show in windows setup
until I did the above.

Jim M