strange problem

[marcy]

I have a Dell 8400 that I need to format and reload. It had xp home on it
and I have the xp home cd from dell. My friend wanted xp pro on it and
provided their retail xp pro cd.

I pulled the sata hdd and saved off all the data and did a reformat while in
my computer. I then put in the xp pro cd but when it got ready to install,
I got the message that it couldn't see hdd. After checking connections
twice,
and trying it 4 times, I decided to try the dell cd which worked fine. So I
deleted the partitions (which shouldn't have been there because I did a
reformat
in my computer) and then restarted with the xp pro cd. Once again, it says
it can't see any hdd. ???? So I put the dell cd back in and once again I
can install. So now I am reformatting the hdd (not the quick version but
the
thorough version). After this, I am going to try xp pro again.

But I have never seen this happen. Has anyone else ever seen this?
What does it mean???

 

[marcy]

I just did a slow format and still have the same problem. I really don't
get this.

Help!!

 

[marcy]

The exact message is:

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.
Make sure any hard drivs are powered on and properly connected
to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration
is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic
or setup program.
Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3."

 

[Timothy Drouillard]

Usually it means that the Dell XP CD already had the necessary HD controller
drivers slipstreamed into it from Dell.

The retail XP Pro cd, because it's not a Dell version, does not come with
the HD controller drivers already on the CD.

Go to Dell's web site and download the HD drivers for your system and have
them ready on a floppy or other media.

When you install the retail Xp pro, remember to press F6 during the initial
setup and when asked, insert and load your HD drivers.

 

[Bob Knowlden]

At a guess, the machine's BIOS is set to use AHCI for the SATA drives, which
would require that you install the SATA drivers so that the machine can
detect the HD. You'd need a floppy (an external USB one may be OK) and
commit the F6 driver bit during the XP Pro installation.

I'm not certain, but I believe that if you change the BIOS settings to ATA,
the system will detect the drive without needing the SATA drivers. Some of
the advanced SATA features would be unavailable, but the performance hit
would be minor. (You can always install the drivers afterwards and switch to
AHCI. I've done that.)

HTH.

Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Paul]

The exact message is:

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.
Make sure any hard drivs are powered on and properly connected
to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration
is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic
or setup program.
Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3."

Are you using WinXP original edition, SP1, or SP2 integrated ?

These two articles are designed to confuse the hell out of you,
but the second one notes that WinXP SP1 has support for PCI
Native mode. Intel chipsets, starting with ICH5 Southbridge,
have the ability to make the disk controllers appear in the
"I/O Space" (compatible mode) or in the PCI address space
(enhanced mode). Use SP1 or SP2, if the BIOS has the disks
configured for enhanced mode. (It took me an hour to figure this
out!)

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/serialATA_FAQ.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/Native-modeATA.mspx

Your chipset is 925X and your Southbridge could be ICH6. The
Southbridge has room for six disks. If the BIOS is set to
"Enhanced" mode, as it should be by default, you can use
six storage devices, but for Windows to see them, you'd
want SP1 or later slipstreamed into your WinXP disk.
(Note that BIOS terminologies are not consistent, and since
I don't have a Dell BIOS manual to look at, I cannot guess
what they actually use on the screen.)

If the BIOS has a "Compatible" mode, only four of six disks will
work, where pairs of SATA interfaces are treated like they
were a ribbon cable. Old computers only had two ribbon cables,
used interrupts 14 and 15, and were set up for four storage
devices. Thus, when using an old OS that only has "I/O space"
drivers and not PCI drivers, you flip the chipset to Compatible mode,
select which four of six interfaces to use (as two will be disabled),
then do your install. That is how you'd be able to install Win98SE.

To slipstream a disk, you can try programs like Autostreamer.
Autostreamer takes original WinXP disk + SP1 download and makes
a new .ISO file from it. Then burn a new CD with the ISO, and that
becomes your install disk.

If the WinXP CD you've been given, is already at the SP1 or
SP2 level, it should already have a PCI native driver. In which
case, I'd enter the BIOS and make sure the Southbridge has not
been put in RAID or AHCI mode. That can muck up the works too.

You can also put the Southbridge in RAID mode, press F6 during
the install, and install an Intel RAID driver. If the end user
has a plan, at some time in the future, to experiment with
RAID 0 or RAID 1, that will prepare them for migration.
Installing the non-RAID way, as described in most of this posting,
will prevent an easy transition to RAID later.

Hope that helps, without further confusing matters...
Paul

 

[marcy]

All great posts!!! All great help!!!
And thanks so much for the lessons!
Learning every day.

 

[marcy]

Thanks Bob,
Yours was the simple solution that worked!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[marcy]

At a guess, the machine's BIOS is set to use AHCI for the SATA drives,
which would require that you install the SATA drivers so that the machine
can detect the HD. You'd need a floppy (an external USB one may be OK) and
commit the F6 driver bit during the XP Pro installation.

I'm not certain, but I believe that if you change the BIOS settings to
ATA, the system will detect the drive without needing the SATA drivers.
Some of the advanced SATA features would be unavailable, but the
performance hit would be minor. (You can always install the drivers
afterwards and switch to AHCI. I've done that.)

I cannot get it to work when I switch back to AHCI. I can't find any other
dell
drivers to install.

 

[Ed Medlin]

All great posts!!! All great help!!!
And thanks so much for the lessons!
Learning every day.

You never stop learning, at least I don't. There are a lot of very
knowlegeable folks here that can help a lot. I began working the data
systems field in the early '70s and have seen all the changes come along
over the years. I think my first actual PC build was back in the 486 era
(maybe even a 386......my memory isn't what it should be) and that was a
hoot to get it working. Since the newsgroup here has been around I have
learned a lot from just reading the posts and continue to do so.

Ed

 

[DellCustomerAdvocate]

Hello,

My name is Richard; I work for Dell here in Round Rock, Texas. I rea
your post about needing the SATA driver for a Windows install.

This link will provide you the needed driver for you Dimension 8400 an
includes instruction on how to use it, http://tinyurl.com/yqjl43.

Good luck with your project!

Regards,
Richard B
Dell Online Community Outreach

 

[marcy]

Hello,

My name is Richard; I work for Dell here in Round Rock, Texas. I read
your post about needing the SATA driver for a Windows install.

This link will provide you the needed driver for you Dimension 8400 and
includes instruction on how to use it, http://tinyurl.com/yqjl43.

Good luck with your project!

Regards,
Richard B
Dell Online Community Outreach

Thanks Richard