hard drive issues

namelessd · 04-11-2008, 11:09 AM

hey I got a problem. I just bought a western digital caviar 250gb hd and it is sata II, and my motherboard is old and only had ide connectors so i had to buy a converter. on bootup the primary IDE shows the WD 2500aks model number and when I go into the BIOS it shows up with the number of heads and the landing zone, however it says main disk boot error (I have it set to primary) and when I tried to boot windows from CD it says there is no HD installed. I plugged my old IDE hard drive into the secondary IDE slot and pulled up windows from there and in my computer and in comp mgmt it only shows my old HD not the new one. I would suspect that there was a problem with the converter or something but it shows up in the bios and the detected drives at the beginning. any ideas?

Tumbleweed36 · 04-11-2008, 11:22 AM

If you have an older computer that is only Sata1 compliant, you have to set the jumper on the new Sata2 drive so that it is recognized as a Sata1 drive. Have you done this?

namelessd · 04-11-2008, 11:53 AM

honestly i am sata ignorant, but The host port is IDE however there is a possibility that the converter is only sata I. my hard drive does not say anything about the jumpers except that sata does not need jumpers and where to put the jumper for power up in standby mode. where do I put a jumper to make the drive sata I?

namelessd · 04-11-2008, 05:52 PM

actually i went to the wd website and found how to set the jumpers for sata I, but it still didn't work. it still shows up at bootup and in the bios but I still cannot install windows cause it says that there is no HD installed. please help me!!!!!

Tumbleweed36 · 04-11-2008, 06:00 PM

Have you turned off the Raid controller? If not, you should.

Tumbleweed36 · 04-11-2008, 06:04 PM

On second thought, let's go through the process again:

> Have you enabled *** the Sata items in the bios?

> Have you made sure that the Sata drive cables are secure?

> Have you gone in to the Bios setup menu in the BOOT area and set the boot order to:

....CDRom - 1st
....Floppy - 2nd
....Hard Drive - 3rd

> Then, go to the Boot Priority and under that the Hard Drive Priority and set the new Sata Drive as FIRST to boot?

> Have you set Sata as IDE mode?

namelessd · 04-11-2008, 06:04 PM

i am going to sound like a complete idiot but i've always just done ide. how do i turn the raid controller off is it in bios?

Tumbleweed36 · 04-11-2008, 06:11 PM

It will be in the BIOS. Should be in the Advanced area of the Bios....then, in the Onboard Devices Configuration....then (as an example), mine says Silicon Sata Controller for that item. My other computer says Onboard Promise Controller for that item.

Yours might say something else, but can't tell because you didn't list your specs which would help us somewhat. Anyhow, go in there and look. While in there, enable the Sata items, except for the raid controllers. Also, you can check your manual under the Advanced area and it will help to find it.

**Deleted090308** · 04-11-2008, 06:32 PM

Did you look in Disk management?
(Right click "My computer" > choose "Manage" > Disk Management)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

namelessd · 04-12-2008, 01:41 PM

hey sorry it took so long for me to get back but I was working on it again. my motherboard is old and only has IDE ports on it so I am trying to run it with a converter I bought. therefore my bios says nothing about about enabling SATA. I have also tried the disk management but the new HD does not show up in anything except when I first boot it is detected as the primary IDE and when I go into bios it's there with the number of heads and landing zones. I saw some other people with older boards and bios not supporting HD's bigger than 128. my motherboard is a PC chips DDR 266 system board socket A with an athlon 3000+. please let me know if this bios HD size issue is my problem or what?

**Deleted090308** · 04-13-2008, 08:16 AM

A possible 137GB limit can't be the problem here.

What's the exact motherboard model and the brand/model of the adapter?

Look in Device manager (click the View menu >> Show hidden devices) - any yellow or red "marks"?

namelessd · 04-14-2008, 09:23 AM

the only thing that comes up with question marks in device manager is my soundcard since I just reformatted my old hard drive and I cant find the driver for that. my motherboard and processor info is listed in my last post. the converter is a house brand I believe because it has no brand name on it. It's a bi-directional IDE to SATA or SATA to IDE adapter that I got from computernyc.com.It has a 4 pin power connector that converts to the little two pin to power the converter which plugs into the IDE port on the motherboard and then you plug the SATA in on the SATA connector on the converter. One thing I just noticed is that the IDE connector on the converter is 40 pin but that should only affect the speed unless I am mistaken. I have tried the disk management but all that shows up for storage devices is the old Samsung 80GB HDD and my DVD rom's internal memory. This is strange to me because the SATA drive shows up at boot and in the BIOS.

**Deleted090308** · 04-14-2008, 10:44 AM

Is this the adapter? http://www.computernyc.com/seatatoideco.html
If so, it supports SATA I & II.

All IDE connectors are 40-pin - it's the cable that should be 80-wire.

Try with the drive without jumper.

I can't find a board called "DDR 266" at PC Chips.
Download the " TSFdemo1" file, unpack and run it.

In "Tech Support Forum Hardware Reader" >> click "Copy to clipboard" >> paste the info in your post.

namelessd · 04-14-2008, 11:02 AM

hey thanks for your help here is the info from that program. I don't have any jumpers on the drive though I did try that also, but Im pretty sure SATA drives never use jumpers. here are the specs on my (old) system
OpSys: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - Service Pack 2.0
Motherboard: VT8367-8235 (Version )
CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) (Clock Speed 1347 )
RAM: 511MB
Video: RADEON 8500 / RADEON 8500 LE (Microsoft Corporation)
Sound: VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM)
MODEM: Not Reported
Network: VIA PCI 10/100Mb Fast Ethernet Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Network: 1394 Net Adapter
Drive: SAMSUNG SP0802N (Size ~75 GB)
Optical Drive: SONY DVD RW DW-Q30A
End of report

**Deleted090308** · 04-14-2008, 11:27 AM

Reseat/replace the SATA cable.

See if you can format the drive with a live Linux CD: Parted Magic

namelessd · 04-14-2008, 12:11 PM

I have reattached the SATA cables and it still doesnt work. I cant partition it because the stupid drive does not show up at all except at boot and in BIOS in everything else it is a complete ghost. the fact that it shows up at boot and in BIOS tells me that the converter must be working, but I cannot figure out why the thing does not show up anywhere else in disk management or my computer or when I try to install xp.

**Deleted090308** · 04-14-2008, 12:53 PM

That's what makes me think it's a Windows problem.
I know that I've read something about the drive having to be initialized/formatted first when you use some of those adapters - but I can't find that info again.

So - I think you should try the Linux CD (runs from the disc, doesn't have to be installed).
There are HDD tools included on the disc.

Or - use another computer to format the drive.

Flow · 07-13-2008, 08:28 PM

I had a problem with reading a sata drive before on an IDE controller the simples solution was to disable the SATA setting in CMOS so that the drive can boot up and be formatted with the OS CD. The drive was not detected by the OS CD but was detected by boot utilities. To make the drive run in SATA you could install the driver from the manufacturer than use windows update and point to the driver file then enable SATA mode in CMOS the hardware wizard finds the drive.

04-11-2008, 11:09 AM	#1 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	hard drive issues hey I got a problem. I just bought a western digital caviar 250gb hd and it is sata II, and my motherboard is old and only had ide connectors so i had to buy a converter. on bootup the primary IDE shows the WD 2500aks model number and when I go into the BIOS it shows up with the number of heads and the landing zone, however it says main disk boot error (I have it set to primary) and when I tried to boot windows from CD it says there is no HD installed. I plugged my old IDE hard drive into the secondary IDE slot and pulled up windows from there and in my computer and in comp mgmt it only shows my old HD not the new one. I would suspect that there was a problem with the converter or something but it shows up in the bios and the detected drives at the beginning. any ideas?

04-11-2008, 11:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 14,117 OS: XP Professional	Re: hard drive issues If you have an older computer that is only Sata1 compliant, you have to set the jumper on the new Sata2 drive so that it is recognized as a Sata1 drive. Have you done this? __________________ ----------

04-11-2008, 11:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues honestly i am sata ignorant, but The host port is IDE however there is a possibility that the converter is only sata I. my hard drive does not say anything about the jumpers except that sata does not need jumpers and where to put the jumper for power up in standby mode. where do I put a jumper to make the drive sata I?

04-11-2008, 05:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues actually i went to the wd website and found how to set the jumpers for sata I, but it still didn't work. it still shows up at bootup and in the bios but I still cannot install windows cause it says that there is no HD installed. please help me!!!!!

04-11-2008, 06:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 14,117 OS: XP Professional	Re: hard drive issues Have you turned off the Raid controller? If not, you should. __________________ ----------

04-11-2008, 06:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 14,117 OS: XP Professional	Re: hard drive issues On second thought, let's go through the process again: > Have you enabled *** the Sata items in the bios? > Have you made sure that the Sata drive cables are secure? > Have you gone in to the Bios setup menu in the BOOT area and set the boot order to: ....CDRom - 1st ....Floppy - 2nd ....Hard Drive - 3rd > Then, go to the Boot Priority and under that the Hard Drive Priority and set the new Sata Drive as FIRST to boot? > Have you set Sata as IDE mode? __________________ ---------- Last edited by Tumbleweed36 : 04-11-2008 at 06:13 PM.

04-11-2008, 06:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues i am going to sound like a complete idiot but i've always just done ide. how do i turn the raid controller off is it in bios?

04-11-2008, 06:11 PM	#8 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 14,117 OS: XP Professional	Re: hard drive issues It will be in the BIOS. Should be in the Advanced area of the Bios....then, in the Onboard Devices Configuration....then (as an example), mine says Silicon Sata Controller for that item. My other computer says Onboard Promise Controller for that item. Yours might say something else, but can't tell because you didn't list your specs which would help us somewhat. Anyhow, go in there and look. While in there, enable the Sata items, except for the raid controllers. Also, you can check your manual under the Advanced area and it will help to find it. __________________ ----------

04-11-2008, 06:32 PM	#9 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,281 OS: Xp	Re: hard drive issues Did you look in Disk management? (Right click "My computer" > choose "Manage" > Disk Management) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

04-12-2008, 01:41 PM	#10 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues hey sorry it took so long for me to get back but I was working on it again. my motherboard is old and only has IDE ports on it so I am trying to run it with a converter I bought. therefore my bios says nothing about about enabling SATA. I have also tried the disk management but the new HD does not show up in anything except when I first boot it is detected as the primary IDE and when I go into bios it's there with the number of heads and landing zones. I saw some other people with older boards and bios not supporting HD's bigger than 128. my motherboard is a PC chips DDR 266 system board socket A with an athlon 3000+. please let me know if this bios HD size issue is my problem or what?

04-13-2008, 08:16 AM	#11 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,281 OS: Xp	Re: hard drive issues A possible 137GB limit can't be the problem here. What's the exact motherboard model and the brand/model of the adapter? Look in Device manager (click the View menu >> Show hidden devices) - any yellow or red "marks"?

04-14-2008, 09:23 AM	#12 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues the only thing that comes up with question marks in device manager is my soundcard since I just reformatted my old hard drive and I cant find the driver for that. my motherboard and processor info is listed in my last post. the converter is a house brand I believe because it has no brand name on it. It's a bi-directional IDE to SATA or SATA to IDE adapter that I got from computernyc.com.It has a 4 pin power connector that converts to the little two pin to power the converter which plugs into the IDE port on the motherboard and then you plug the SATA in on the SATA connector on the converter. One thing I just noticed is that the IDE connector on the converter is 40 pin but that should only affect the speed unless I am mistaken. I have tried the disk management but all that shows up for storage devices is the old Samsung 80GB HDD and my DVD rom's internal memory. This is strange to me because the SATA drive shows up at boot and in the BIOS.

04-14-2008, 10:44 AM	#13 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,281 OS: Xp	Re: hard drive issues Is this the adapter? http://www.computernyc.com/seatatoideco.html If so, it supports SATA I & II. All IDE connectors are 40-pin - it's the cable that should be 80-wire. Try with the drive without jumper. I can't find a board called "DDR 266" at PC Chips. Download the " TSFdemo1" file, unpack and run it. In "Tech Support Forum Hardware Reader" >> click "Copy to clipboard" >> paste the info in your post.

04-14-2008, 11:02 AM	#14 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues hey thanks for your help here is the info from that program. I don't have any jumpers on the drive though I did try that also, but Im pretty sure SATA drives never use jumpers. here are the specs on my (old) system OpSys: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - Service Pack 2.0 Motherboard: VT8367-8235 (Version ) CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) (Clock Speed 1347 ) RAM: 511MB Video: RADEON 8500 / RADEON 8500 LE (Microsoft Corporation) Sound: VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller (WDM) MODEM: Not Reported Network: VIA PCI 10/100Mb Fast Ethernet Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport Network: 1394 Net Adapter Drive: SAMSUNG SP0802N (Size ~75 GB) Optical Drive: SONY DVD RW DW-Q30A End of report

04-14-2008, 11:27 AM	#15 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,281 OS: Xp	Re: hard drive issues Reseat/replace the SATA cable. See if you can format the drive with a live Linux CD: Parted Magic

04-14-2008, 12:11 PM	#16 (permalink)
namelessd Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 13 OS: win XP home	Re: hard drive issues I have reattached the SATA cables and it still doesnt work. I cant partition it because the stupid drive does not show up at all except at boot and in BIOS in everything else it is a complete ghost. the fact that it shows up at boot and in BIOS tells me that the converter must be working, but I cannot figure out why the thing does not show up anywhere else in disk management or my computer or when I try to install xp.

04-14-2008, 12:53 PM	#17 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,281 OS: Xp	Re: hard drive issues That's what makes me think it's a Windows problem. I know that I've read something about the drive having to be initialized/formatted first when you use some of those adapters - but I can't find that info again. So - I think you should try the Linux CD (runs from the disc, doesn't have to be installed). There are HDD tools included on the disc. Or - use another computer to format the drive.

07-13-2008, 08:28 PM	#18 (permalink)
Flow Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Re: hard drive issues I had a problem with reading a sata drive before on an IDE controller the simples solution was to disable the SATA setting in CMOS so that the drive can boot up and be formatted with the OS CD. The drive was not detected by the OS CD but was detected by boot utilities. To make the drive run in SATA you could install the driver from the manufacturer than use windows update and point to the driver file then enable SATA mode in CMOS the hardware wizard finds the drive.