"Lee" said in news:3RH4c.1022$nw1.963@newsfe1-win:
Hi,
Windows Update lists "Silicon Image storage software update released
on September 22 2003." driver update for my recently installed Serial
ATA controller, but everytime I try to install it, it fails to
install correctly and the PC fails to boot...
Any ideas?
Lee
Treat the notification about new drivers at Windows Update with the same
trepidation as receiving e-mails claiming to be from Microsoft with
executable attachments. Don't do it! If you see notice that Windows
Update has detected a new version of a driver then go to the maker's web
site to get THEIR driver for YOUR hardware. The detection in Windows
Update may recommend a driver for hardware you don't have, or recommend
the wrong driver, like for a different model, than the hardware you
actually have.
It can take a long time for a maker to get a defective driver off of
Windows Update. It took over 4 months of Promise, after they decided to
yank a driver that contained evian.sys that was corrupting users' hard
drives, before they could get it off Windows Update. Windows Update is
severely slow in presenting updated drivers. I just got the notice
about the new SiliconImage driver in the last week yet it says it was
"released" back in September 2003. 5 months ago is considered new? It
takes a long time to get the drivers included in Windows Updates. It
takes just as long to get them out if found defective or hazardous.
Go to Silicon Image (
www.siimage.com) and see what THEY say is the most
current driver for the hardware you actually have. Trying to find
drivers is an exercise best loved only by folks that also love hard
crossword puzzles. There is no link to downloads, support, or drivers.
Click in the leftside navigation pane on "Contact Us", then click on
"Product Support".
www.siimage.com has IP address 69.22.180.107 yet
this product support link takes you to
http://12.24.47.40 which doesn't
even have a RNL (reverse name lookup) and is a 12.24.47.xx class C
subnet at AT&T Worldnet. There is a DOWNLOADS node where you can find
the drivers. Apparently the Sil 3112 and 3512 share the same driver.
Be sure to pick the correct driver (i.e., pick the RAID driver for Sil
3112 if your mobo lists RAID support on the SATA ports). The non-RAID
driver might work (if you're not using RAID) but I prefer to keep the
driver most closely matched with the hardware capabilities. Just
because you use the RAID driver doesn't mean you must use RAID. The Sil
3112 RAID driver was released just 4 days ago and that's about when I
noticed Windows Update telling me there was a new version (which it says
is dated back to Sept 2003 which would most closely match it to the
non-RAID driver dated back on Oct 2003). According to the description
of the "new" RAID driver dated 09-Mar-2004, it is now Windows
logo-certified for Windows 2003 Server and an updated version of the
SATARaid Manager is included in the download. If you aren't using
Windows 2003 Server, don't care about logo certification for a driver
that you have been using successfully for many months, and the current
RAID manager has proven sufficient for managing your RAID sets then you
don't need this driver update.
Also, just because there is a newer version does NOT mean it is a better
version. I continue to use the Sil3112 driver that came bundled in the
nVidia unified driver package (I have a mobo with the nVidia nForce
chipset and which uses the Sil3112 for the SATA ports). I also had
flashed by Abit NF7-S v2 BIOS to the latest version but then had to
flash it back to a prior version when I found the latest version could
cause data corruption for SATA drives in a RAID configuration. My hard
drive was on the SATA port but not RAID'ed so the defect would not have
applied to me but there was also no point in going to that latest
version of the BIOS. The prior version (which was still newer than what
came on the mobo) gave me the extra settings in BIOS but without the
potential of the defect in the absolute latest version of the BIOS. For
hardware drivers, unless a new version fixes a problem (and which you
experience or might experience) or provides additional features that you
need or foresee that you will need, just use what is already working.
