SATA drives

[Guest]

Has anyone experienced any problems installing >250GB SATA hard drives.
The sata card drivers are installed ok, XP sees the 300GB drive and installs
ok.
On reboot after installation it loses the hard drive. Check in bios and it
has disappeared. Reboot again check that the SATA bios see the drive (which
it does and is registered as the bootable device). This happens
intermittently.

Any ideas to try?
I am checking for PC bios updates as we speak.

 

[R. McCarty]

I use SATA in my main computer & have never had any type of
intermittent connection. SATA cables are generally not very limber
and the connectors don't have any "locking" facility. I would guess
that you may have a loose connection. You might want to double
check your BIOS settings related to the controller/detection of the
drives.

 

[Bob Harris]

I agreee with the previous reply, SATA connections are not as mechanically
ecure as the old IDE connections. However, a little electrical tape can fix
that.

As for other possibilities, besides the BIOS, you need to be running XP with
at least SP-1 (preferrably SP-2) for large disks.

 

[Guest]

I have checked all the connections. Its seems to be a bios issue I think.

thanks for the reply

 

[Guest]

Is one of the Drives an IDE drive? if so be sure the Jumper is set for
MASTER.
I also had a brief problem when I installed all SATA drives, The FOUR
receptacles were color coded and I plugged them in and one sequence has
worked flawlessly for several months now. I think it the Black and the
Yellow. (I am at Work)
Make sure youhave a firm connection as well. Western Digitial sells a
cable and drive that lock into place and the others seem to just slide on and
the cable is rather stiff so when you bend it to tuck it in the case, it
pulls out slightly. Tape into the drive and becareful when tucking in the
cable.

 

[Jonny]

Not always a loose connection problem. Here's a WD SATA cable.
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/wdsc50rcw.asp

 

[R. McCarty]

That's fine for a WD Drive - but it's a proprietary arrangement
and not an industry standard. The cable wouldn't work for my
setup with Hitachi SATA drives. To me, SATA connectors are
just too easy to pull away or shift with movement of the cable.