SATA problem. HD not detected.

[Guest]

This post is a bit similar to "Subject: XP does not find Hard Drive
8/14/2005 3:27 PM PST". However my problem is different because I have no
RAID configuration on my computer.

I have a Maxtor 150GB HD with a SATA interface. Lately, I have been trying
to reformat my it, but I always come to this one standstill: Windows cannot
find the HD. This happens during the sort of DOS mode part of the install
(you know, its the part that looks like a console program).

First, let me tell you some more information about my system in relation to
the HD. During a boot up, the BIOS does not detect that I have any hard
drives. But, what it does is runs a program (i think its called VIA) after
the BIOS screen that's purpose is to detect SATA HDs and apply any RAID
configuration to them. After that, Windows will run from the SATA HD. So, for
example, if I were to turn off this program, my BIOS would spit back an error
claiming I have no HD.

The strange thing is that this SATA detection program runs before I am
prompted to "Hit any key to boot from CD" from the Windows install disc. So
it would seem that my computer knows about the drive being there. But as I
said, Windows still wont find the HD.

I have downloaded the VIA drivers from my mobo manufacturer that you can put
on a floppy disc to be used for the installation of XP (they are run by
pressing F6 while windows is loading up). Still, no success.

Ive even put the drive in another computer that takes SATA, but that didnt
work either.

Does anyone have any ideas how to solve my problem? I have had this problem
in the past, but I just cant seem to remember how I fixed it.

Might it have something to do with the jumpers on the HD? As it is, there
are no jumpers at all on it, but this should not be a problem because the
drive will boot normally without them.

I also notice in the BIOS an option to set the serial port address. It is
currently set to '3F8/IRQ4'. This information may or may not be pertinent.

I am also dual booting with Linux. I am willing to delete that partition if
necessary (in fact, I want to. I'm having some video problems with it.) So,
LILO also runs during the start up.

Here is the sequence my computer takes to boot:
-mobo logo (with option to enter BIOS)
-VIA SATA Bootrom -loads my HD
-<Prompt to boot from Windows CD if avaliable>
-LILO
-Windows or Linux

Man, I wish SATA was as easy for computers as IDE ='(.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jerry]

Your motherboard manual and/or their tech support people should be able to
provide the info you need.

I have two each SATA hard drives connected and they show up in the BIOS as
Master 3 and Master 4. (They are not in a RAID.) They appear this way
because any drives connected to the IDE connections would show as as Master
1 or Master 2.

After I verify the drives are there I then select the boot order in the BIOS
to select the drive on SATA 1 (Master 3) and things work as they should.

The serial port address you mentioned can be turned off if you are not going
to use the serial port - it has NO effect on the SATA function.

SATA drives have NO jumpers so forget that issue.

I am not familier with dual booting with Linux.

 

[Gerry Hickman]

Hi Tim,

The strange thing is that this SATA detection program runs before I am
prompted to "Hit any key to boot from CD" from the Windows install disc.

It might actually be a BIOS extension running from the ROM chip of your
disk controller. This is very common on SCSI systems.

So
it would seem that my computer knows about the drive being there. But as I
said, Windows still wont find the HD.

The controller and Windows are not the same thing.

I have downloaded the VIA drivers from my mobo manufacturer

Yes, but they don't usually include SATA support...they might, or might not.

that you can put
on a floppy disc to be used for the installation of XP (they are run by
pressing F6 while windows is loading up). Still, no success.

That's usually the way to load a text mode SATA driver so that Windows
can find the drives and continue the install, but I've also seen
"official" driver disks fail to achieve this on VIA systems. Some
motherboards require the drive be connected to a specific channel, and
I've even heard of a case where you MUST have both drives (RAID) before
it will work.

Might it have something to do with the jumpers on the HD?
No.

I also notice in the BIOS an option to set the serial port address. It is
currently set to '3F8/IRQ4'. This information may or may not be pertinent.

No, this is the COM port!

Man, I wish SATA was as easy for computers as IDE ='(.

As I understand it, Intel systems will emulate SATA drives as IDE
drives, and this makes all these problems go away. However, VIA systems
do NOT emulate IDE, so you can't do anything until you've got a valid
SATA driver loaded.

Se if there's any "legacy" emulation options for SATA, or look into the
F6 issue in some detail with other guys who have the same mobo.

 

[Guest]

YES! got it.

I must not have downloaded the right drivers(even thought they came right
from my manufacturers website). I just googled for the the drivers of the VIA
8237 bootrom, and they worked. I did have some trouble with the archive
though. Windows complained that it could not find the textsetup.oem file, so
I had to move some of the files around on the disc. This may or may not be
the case for others (i think it might have just been my fault messing up the
zip extraction). Thanks for your help though guys.

So, hopefully this will pick up some search hits for other people in need,
but if you are looking for the sata drivers for the Asus AV8 Deluxe
motherboard, do not download the driver from asus. Instead google 'VIA 8237'
for the correct files. This is assuming that asus has not changed the AV8's
bootrom from the VIA 8237.

 

[Gerry Hickman]

Hi Tim,

YES! got it.
Cool.

but if you are looking for the sata drivers for the Asus AV8 Deluxe
motherboard, do not download the driver from asus. Instead google 'VIA 8237'
for the correct files.

That's interesting because this is the exact mobo I had the problem with
a few months back trying to use the official floppy disk that came with
the mobo. I guess the board was very new then, and drivers not very stable.