Not so sure

Here I am with a brand new Seagate 320GB SATA drive ready to mount in my system, and I find out XP requires installation of SATA drivers via a floppy.

Who has a floppy drive these days? What is with these people? I guess we can blame Microsquash for it, since Vista can load the drivers from USB or optical discs. Grrrr.....

So, after fretting and searching for about 2 days, I found this:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Insta...F6-47807.shtml

I already knew about this, because I thought I'd slipstream SP2, but I didn't know it would work for these drivers:

http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/

I am going to try this trick, and I'll let you all know how I fare! (If I can figure out which SATA drivers are correct for my chipset - I will never deal with VIA again, their support website is pitiful).

Let the drum roll begin...

Deleted090308

Hi,

Try this to create a slipstreamed XP disc with a SATA controller driver, service packs etc:

Download and run XP-Iso-Builder.

Follow the instructions.
At the step "Controller driver" (6/11) you can add the SATA driver - click Add > find the folder where the SATA driver is located.
The driver has to be unzipped and there has to be a file named txtsetup.oem included.
Next step > click "Start integration".
An ISO file will be created. Burn it with, for example, ImgBurn.

Not so sure

Well, here's the update. I managed to slipstream the VIA SATA drivers, as well as a nice little Windows Update pack (can you imagine having to download and install ALL of the updates since SP 2?) courtesy of http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html and even figured out how to test it all with a virtual machine!

So here I was all excited, and so I opened my case, installed my awesome new Antec Neo HE550 PSU, and my whopping new Seagate 320 GB SATA drive, unhooked my existing PATA drive, booted to BIOS and...

no HDD detected.

Tried hooking PATA back up with the SATA - still not detected by anything. I have no idea how to get my BIOS to see this drive!

HELP?

Thanks!

Deleted090308

Is the SATA controller enabled in BIOS?

What motherboard do you have?

Not so sure

I don't know if the SATA controller is enabled in BIOS - I don't see anything about SATA/RAID in BIOS when I check it.

My system is a Gateway 614 GE; they used MSI mobo (MS-6741) with AMI BIOS. Naturally, this is a proprietary setup and thus neither MSI nor AMI will support it - I have to go through Gateway.

I do have a BIOS update from Gateway but haven't flashed it. I'm rather fearful of doing it, since the quality of Gateway's "tech support" is beyond pitiful, and so who knows what insane BIOS flash they sent me!

How would I enable the SATA/RAID controller in BIOS? As I said, I see nothing about it when I check my BIOS.

Thanks for your help!

Deleted090308

MSI does support the motherboard - You can download the manual here.

In BIOS > Integrated peripherals > Enable Onboard SATA and the SATA-IDE controller.

Reseat the SATA cable at the drive and the motherboard.
Try another power plug.

Not so sure

You're right about the manual for the mobo - interestingly, though, when I read thru the section on integrated peripherals & saw the screenshot of the BIOS, I checked my own handwritten notes on my BIOS settings and the digital photos I took of every BIOS page (I figured I'd be able to read one or the other!), my BIOS does not have the entry for the SATA-IDE controller! (see screenshot)

The BIOS update I got from Gateway says it is version 3.4, dated 12/14/2004; while on the MSI site there is no version 3.4 - however, version 3.6 (dated 12/21/2004) says it will "Update Raid 8237 firmware."

On top of all that, when I used MSI's "Live Update" feature, which supposedly scans your system and tells you what you need to update on your mobo, it tells me I have the latest BIOS installed!

I think this means I should flash my BIOS, and probably use the version I got from Gateway.

Any suggestions? I am afraid to mess things up; everywhere I turn I get these warnings about how flashing your BIOS wrong can completely destroy your computer!

Thanks again - your help is much appreciated!

Attached Images

BIOS no SATA.JPG (225.5 KB, 8 views)

Deleted090308

That's really weird.
Why have they removed the SATA controller from BIOS?
The BIOS screen "should" look like this:
bios.jpg
Did they leave the SATA ports on the board?

I think you should only use BIOS versions from Gateway.
Try talking with Gateway support again.

I'll see if I can find an explanation. Sorry for the vague reply, but I've been very busy.

JohnthePilot

I got my BIOS update from these people. You can at least try their free scan and see if yours if up-to-date.

Not so sure

Hi guys -

John, I tried eSupport for my BIOS update previously, but they referred me back to Gateway, saying it was a proprietary setup & they couldn't provide it.

Nicholas, yes, the SATA ports are there, with my drive cable plugged in to one quite securely!

I flashed my BIOS with the update I got from Gateway, and STILL no SATA controller in BIOS!

I emailed Gateway tech support via their website, specifically asking for a supervisor/manager to contact me; I got a reply from the same tier 1 support guy I've dealt with before, saying "we need some time to research this." In other words, it's a holiday weekend and all managers are on vacation!

Given my prior experience with Gateway tech support, I am not optomistic. I definitely need somebody besides their first line tech folks, because all they have ever done is plug my serial # into their website's search utility & send me links to the updates I've already found myself! When I've done live chat with them, they just keep trying to sell me hardware upgrades, often insisting that this is the "best choice" for my system. One told me I couldn't use a PSU over 350 watts because it would burn up my mobo; another tried to sell me a PCI (not PCI-e) graphics card even though I kept telling him I have an AGP slot. I have never owned anything but Gateway; this is my 3rd or 4th, and will be my LAST. Sad to see how far they've fallen from grace.

Anyway, thanks for all the guidance so far - looks like I'll have to wait until after Christmas to get any kind of answer from Gateway. "Patience, Grasshopper!"

Happy Holidays to you & yours, and I'll keep you posted!

Deleted090308

Hello again.

Try this (if #1 doesn't work - try #2, and so forth)

1. Load setup defaults (or similar) in BIOS.
2. Clear CMOS - then load setup defaults.
3. Flash BIOS with the latest BIOS version from Gateway.
4. See if MSI live update recognizes the board and have a BIOS - but please post back before you use it.

Not so sure

Hi, remember this whole thread? Well, I hate to say it, but after 4 months I am no better off than I was at the last post!

Get this - after trying many times to get an email from a tech support supervisor, I finally resorted to writing an actual letter to customer service at Gateway! And to top it off, they wrote me a letter in return! Hard to believe a company that manufactures computers wouldn't respond to me until I used the US Postal Service - how's that for ironic?

And here's the result of numerous phone calls & emails: nobody at Gateway can figure out how to enable recognition for a SATA drive in my BIOS! Honestly, they had several engineers work on it, and they gave up!

Now it's almost a month since they last contacted me, with our discussion being how they are going to compensate me for the SATA drive I bought. You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to convince them that they were responsible for this - they argued that they never said I could put in a SATA drive, so I sent them a screen shot of the MOBO specs from the Gateway website (which clearly said SATA was supported) and the log of an online chat I had with one of their "tech support" people, who was trying to sell me a SATA drive!

So now I will buy a good old PATA drive and deal with it. And I will NEVER buy a Gateway again!

Thanks to all who tried to help me - apparently I discovered an unsolvable problem!

JohnthePilot

Glad to hear you've finally got some sense out of Gateway. Even if it wasn't what you wanted to hear at least you know it wasn't anything you were doing wrong.