(SATA) Windows does not find my hard drive.

[Sandy]

Every time i try to install windows on to my new serial
ATA hard drive it says it cant find any hard drives
installed but i heard that serial ATA hard drives just
need putting in and windows installed on them but it just
wont work. Please tell me what is wrong.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Single SATA win-xp pro installation step by step
http://www.tek-tips.com/gfaqs.cfm/lev2/67/lev3/70/pid/779/fid/4641

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

----------------------------------------------------------------------


| Every time i try to install windows on to my new serial
| ATA hard drive it says it cant find any hard drives
| installed but i heard that serial ATA hard drives just
| need putting in and windows installed on them but it just
| wont work. Please tell me what is wrong.

 

[*Vanguard*]

Sandy said in news:[email protected]:

Every time i try to install windows on to my new serial
ATA hard drive it says it cant find any hard drives
installed but i heard that serial ATA hard drives just
need putting in and windows installed on them but it just
wont work. Please tell me what is wrong.

See that prompt at the start of the install saying to hit F6 to install
mass storage (don't remember if it says SCSI)? Because mass storage
devices that provide their own separate BIOS from the motherboard's are
handled like SCSI devices (because SCSI host controllers also have their
own BIOS), you need to hit F6 to have the install pause later to install
the driver to support the controller for that mass storage device (i.e.,
hard drive). You have to hit F6 if you use a SCSI controller card, and
IDE controller card, or for the onboard SATA controller. So have a
floppy ready with the SATA drivers on it, start the install, hit F6 when
prompted, wait awhile for the first part of the install to run, and
later you'll get prompted to insert the floppy with the drivers on it.

 

[Bob Harris]

First, many SATA controllers are also RAID controllers. If your is one of
those, then you probably need to create a RAID arrary before attempting to
install XP. The motherboard manual should say something about this. If you
have a single SATA hard drive, it may automatically make an array of one
disk, or you may need to use some custom setup option ot force this to
happen.

Second, XP does not yet have native support for SATA, so it ain't plug&play.
You need to hit F6 during the installation of XP and feed the XP installer a
floppy with SATA drivers on it. It must be a floppy. If the drivers came
on a CD, you must copy them to a floppy. Be sure to copy everything in te
SATA driver directory. I found that a file called "oemsetup.txt" was
absolutely essential when loading XP. (I have an ASUS P4S8X motherboard.)

In fact, instead of copying from the CD, first check to verify that you have
the latest drivers. Also, check whether you have the latest motherboard
BIOS.

If the XP installation keeps balking, try using a disk preparation
CD/floppy, such as nearly always comes with new hard drives. Can the disk
preparation tools see the SATA drive? If it cannot, check connection and
the RAID array thing I mentioned above. If it can see the disk, then the XP
installer should also be able to see it, if you provide the latest drivers.

 

[Paul]

Well no SATA is native to 2000 and XP.

2000 and XP can support upto 6 SATA's

98/Me/NT 4 are not. BUT they'll still work
if you set this up in the BIOS. 98 and under support
upto 4 SATA's.

If the BIOS supports the SATA (builtin) and you only
have 1 SATA, leave RAID alone. You don't
need it. If you want to clean install on a SATA
set the XP CD as the bootdisk save the settings in
BIOS and it'll format the SATA, then install XP
onto it. F6 doesn't work on 1 SATA hdd. The drivers
are only really needed for RAID 0 or 1 / other.

If you want to format a SATA as a slave, (if you already use an IDE for XP).
Connect the SATA up, then boot XP. Then go to Control Panel,
Admin/Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management. Find the SATA, and you
should be able to format it, within Windows.

 

[Pete Baker]

You seem a little confused Paul..

The advice posted by Bob Harris is quite right.

Some SATA controllers can utilize standard IDE drivers (for example, but not
exclusively, the Intel ICH5 and ICHR5 fully integrated in the south
bridge) - these examples are what Bob is referring to as 'native'. If the
mainboard has these chipsets no introduction of third-party drivers are
needed by the F6 method.

Some manufacturers, one example being Asus, in certain circumstances, can
require the setting up of a RAID array on a single SATA drive before
installation of XP - I believe Bob is speaking about his own experience, and
the advice given to him from Asus, here.

As for your comment "F6 doesn't work on 1 SATA hdd. The drivers are only
really needed for RAID 0 or 1 / other" - simply not true unless the SATA
controller can utilize standard IDE drivers as described above. And I'm
speaking from my own experience on this point - that's why Silicon Image
produce 2 drivers for their controllers, SATALink for Non-RAID SATA drives
and SATARaid for a RAID array.

A third-party driver will still need to be provided for a slave drive if
'native' support for SATA (see above) has not been implemented by the
mainboard manufacturer.

Hope that helps to clear up your confusion.
Pete

 

[Carl]

Hi all
I have a DFI board with sata , raid built in , but only use SATA as single
drives. I have 2 SATA hard drives.
One for windows XP PRO and one for storage , with no operating system.
No extra drivers are needed, i just load windows like i did with IDE hard
drives.
Had a slight problem getting the BIOS set right so it would read the SATA
drives, have to make the access mode is set right.

 

[Carl]

Hi Sandy
Go into your BIOS and make sure that the BIOS is set to read SATA and IDE,
not just IDE.
I have a INTEL and a DFI board and i have to set them to the enhanced mode
so it reads both the SATA and IDE drives.
Hope this helps ya out.