XP isn't seeing my new 500gb SATA drive

[JPP]

All,

I've installed a new 500gb drive in my PC (it's not a new C: drive -
just needed more space) and XP is giving me fits. Here's what I've
done:
1. Configured my BIOS; the new drive was detected after I rebooted as
the right type / size / SATA location.
2. Ran the configuration boot CD provided in the box with the drive.
The program (which runs in DOS, by the way) detected the drive, and I
formatted / partitioned it.
3. Ran XP, opened Disk Management, and the new hardware isn't there.
It's also not present in Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager. I
didn't get a "New Hardware Detected" dialog when XP booted either.

Any ideas? Why would my BIOS and DOS config tools pick it up, but XP
SP 2 wouldn't?

Thanks for your time!

JPP

 

[null2006]

I suggest going to the drive manufacturer's web site and checking for
solutions there. Call or email them if necessary.

 

[Anna]

All,

I've installed a new 500gb drive in my PC (it's not a new C: drive -
just needed more space) and XP is giving me fits. Here's what I've
done:
1. Configured my BIOS; the new drive was detected after I rebooted as
the right type / size / SATA location.
2. Ran the configuration boot CD provided in the box with the drive.
The program (which runs in DOS, by the way) detected the drive, and I
formatted / partitioned it.
3. Ran XP, opened Disk Management, and the new hardware isn't there.
It's also not present in Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager. I
didn't get a "New Hardware Detected" dialog when XP booted either.

Any ideas? Why would my BIOS and DOS config tools pick it up, but XP
SP 2 wouldn't?

Thanks for your time!

JPP

JPP:
When you say you "configured my BIOS" when you installed your SATA HDD,
exactly what do you mean? Ordinarily no manual "configuration" of the BIOS
is necessary; recognition by the motherboard's BIOS of the HDD should be
automatic except in a very few cases.

Anyway, you go on to say the HDD was detected after you rebooted. Detected
by whom? The motherboard's BIOS? Is that what you're referring to when you
say the HDD was detected?

The fact that your motherboard's BIOS detects the SATA HDD does not
necessarily mean that the XP operating system will. The likelihood is that
the OS doesn't detect your SATA HDD because you need to install a SATA
controller driver; presumably this was furnished with your motherboard's
installation CD and is usually available on a floppy disk or can be created
from the motherboard's installation CD. So check your motherboard's User
Manual for information re this issue to determine if this is indeed the
case. You might also want to access your motherboard's site to determine if
any BIOS updates are available that would be relevant to this issue.

With some motherboards the SATA controller driver is, in effect, built-in.
But for others the situation is as I've described in the preceding
paragraph.

As an aside -- In my opinion, except in a very, very few circumstances, it
is best to always use XP's Disk Management utility to partition & format
one's HDD rather than a third-party utility even if that utility was
provided by the manufacturer of the HDD. I don't think that's at the root of
your problem here but I thought I'd mention it. But I might also mention
that since you partitioned/formatted your SATA HDD through DOS, you've
apparently formatted that drive with a FAT32 file system. In general it's
best to use the NTFS file system in an XP environment (which would be the
case had you formatted it through the XP DM utility) but since you will be
using the HDD as a secondary HDD it shouldn't have any material or
significant effect on its performance.
Anna

 

[JPP]

Anna,

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I'll comment below:

When you say you "configured my BIOS" when you installed your SATA HDD,
exactly what do you mean? Ordinarily no manual "configuration" of the BIOS
is necessary; recognition by the motherboard's BIOS of the HDD should be
automatic except in a very few cases.

I had to go into my BIOS and enable the SATA-2 port on my motherboard
(SATA-0 is the already installed 160gb Seagate that's working perfectly
but is filling up). Once I enabled the port and rebooted, the drive
appeared. That's my first clue that all the cabling was good to the
new HD. By the way, I'm not sure if it matters, but SATA-0 and -2 are
the primary master and slave devices; -1 and -3 are secondary master
and slave. Right now, -1 is my DVD player and it's listed as a P-ATA
device in my BIOS (-3 is not used). I bumped into my IT guy in the
hallway yesterday, gave him the elevator speech about my problem, and
he mumbled something about potential problems occurring when S-ATA and
P-ATA devices were mixed. Anyone know if that is true?

Anyway, you go on to say the HDD was detected after you rebooted. Detected
by whom? The motherboard's BIOS? Is that what you're referring to when you
say the HDD was detected?

Yes - the BIOS detected it.

The fact that your motherboard's BIOS detects the SATA HDD does not
necessarily mean that the XP operating system will. The likelihood is that
the OS doesn't detect your SATA HDD because you need to install a SATA
controller driver; presumably this was furnished with your motherboard's
installation CD and is usually available on a floppy disk or can be created
from the motherboard's installation CD. So check your motherboard's User
Manual for information re this issue to determine if this is indeed the
case. You might also want to access your motherboard's site to determine if
any BIOS updates are available that would be relevant to this issue.

I've searched the MoBo manufacturer's website for SATA controller
drivers, but there were none to be found. I did assume, however, that
since the already-installed Seagate SATA HD was working I wouldn't need
to do anything else to get a 2nd drive working (i.e. an SATA controller
driver was already present on the motherboard). I'll look again, and
see about new BIOS' when I'm poking around.

As an aside -- In my opinion, except in a very, very few circumstances, it
is best to always use XP's Disk Management utility to partition & format
one's HDD rather than a third-party utility even if that utility was
provided by the manufacturer of the HDD. I don't think that's at the root of
your problem here but I thought I'd mention it. But I might also mention
that since you partitioned/formatted your SATA HDD through DOS, you've
apparently formatted that drive with a FAT32 file system. In general it's
best to use the NTFS file system in an XP environment (which would be the
case had you formatted it through the XP DM utility) but since you will be
using the HDD as a secondary HDD it shouldn't have any material or
significant effect on its performance.

I agree - XP's Disk Management is the way to go, and once I get the
drive to come up in the OS I'll let XP set it up for me. By the way -
the DOS program that comes with the HD lets the user choose between
FAT, FAT32 and NTFS (I chose NTFS last night).

Take care all!

JPP

 

[Anna]

Anna,

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me. I'll comment below:


I had to go into my BIOS and enable the SATA-2 port on my motherboard
(SATA-0 is the already installed 160gb Seagate that's working perfectly
but is filling up). Once I enabled the port and rebooted, the drive
appeared. That's my first clue that all the cabling was good to the
new HD. By the way, I'm not sure if it matters, but SATA-0 and -2 are
the primary master and slave devices; -1 and -3 are secondary master
and slave. Right now, -1 is my DVD player and it's listed as a P-ATA
device in my BIOS (-3 is not used). I bumped into my IT guy in the
hallway yesterday, gave him the elevator speech about my problem, and
he mumbled something about potential problems occurring when S-ATA and
P-ATA devices were mixed. Anyone know if that is true?


Yes - the BIOS detected it.


I've searched the MoBo manufacturer's website for SATA controller
drivers, but there were none to be found. I did assume, however, that
since the already-installed Seagate SATA HD was working I wouldn't need
to do anything else to get a 2nd drive working (i.e. an SATA controller
driver was already present on the motherboard). I'll look again, and
see about new BIOS' when I'm poking around.


I agree - XP's Disk Management is the way to go, and once I get the
drive to come up in the OS I'll let XP set it up for me. By the way -
the DOS program that comes with the HD lets the user choose between
FAT, FAT32 and NTFS (I chose NTFS last night).

Take care all!

JPP

JPP:
Since you already had installed a SATA HDD prior to installing the new SATA
HDD and the older SATA HDD was functioning without problems, you're right --
this should not be a SATA controller driver issue that prevents recognition
of the drive by the OS.

Are you certain you've correctly connected & configured the drive? It's
signal cable is securely connected at both the drive and motherboard end?
Tried using a different signal cable? Try a reconnection, including the
power cable.

I don't think you mentioned the make of your new SATA HDD. Is it also a
Seagate? Seagate's SATA-II drives (I'm assuming yours is SATA-II) have a
jumper to limit operation from the default 3 Gb/sec to 1.5 Gb/sec. It's
usually unnecessary to set that jumper limitation but it may be worth a try.

Also, check out the drive with a diagnostic from the manufacturer of the
disk.
Anna

 

[frodo]

If I read correctly, you had to enable a secondary controller on the Mobo
to activate that SATA interface. You now need to install a driver for
that interface into XP for it to see the interface. The Mobo maker should
have included that driver on a floppy/CD, or it should be available on
their web site. SATA support is NOT built-in to XP [except in some rare
cases where the sata is actually emulated thru the default ide interfaces
- some intel chipsets offer this mode of operation]. Note the required
driver might be labeled as a RAID driver, even if you do not set it up as
a RAID array; you still need the driver (VIA chips are this way).

Once you've got the driver working the drive should show up in Disk
Management, and you can partition, format, and assign a drvie letter to
it. Then it's usable in XP...

 

[DL]

You might want to check your mobo manual to check that the sata2 port doesnt
use a different driver to the sata1 port. Some do, and hence require you to
install a second stata controler driver

 

[Andy]

All,

I've installed a new 500gb drive in my PC (it's not a new C: drive -
just needed more space) and XP is giving me fits. Here's what I've
done:
1. Configured my BIOS; the new drive was detected after I rebooted as
the right type / size / SATA location.
2. Ran the configuration boot CD provided in the box with the drive.
The program (which runs in DOS, by the way) detected the drive, and I
formatted / partitioned it.
3. Ran XP, opened Disk Management, and the new hardware isn't there.
It's also not present in Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager. I
didn't get a "New Hardware Detected" dialog when XP booted either.

Any ideas? Why would my BIOS and DOS config tools pick it up, but XP
SP 2 wouldn't?

The short answer is DOS accesses the drive via BIOS function
interrupts, while XP uses its own Windows driver.

What motherboard do you have? You're more likely to get specific
rather than general answers if you provide more details on the
hardware.