Help With SATA

i_am_jim · 09-06-2008, 07:51 PM

I just installed a new motherboard. To my dismay, current motherboards only come with one IDE (PATA) port, and I currently have 4 IDE drives. I'm converting my backup drive to USB using a external enclosure -- that takes care of one. My DVD burner is a little long in the tooth so I'm considering buying a new SATA version.

My previous motherboard supported SATA and I tried once to get one working and gave up -- it screwed up everything and the system thought it was a SCSI.

The motherboard manual devotes between one sentence and one paragraph to every other feature of the board. But, it devotes 10 pages to SATA. Gosh, I don't want to spend two days becoming a master of these drives, I just want to install one. But, they must be a nightmare to install and get working if it takes that much explanation.

I want to keep my two IDE drives as prime and secondary for now. Is there a link/webpage somewhere that explains two hundred words or less what I have to do to connect one SATA drive without messing up the other drives?

Thanks.

Tumbleweed36 · 09-07-2008, 06:11 AM

First of all, if you wish to have more IDE drives than the slots on your computer support, you can buy an aftermarket PCI card that will support a number of IDE drives. They are fairly reasonable in price.

Using Sata is not as hard as one would think, so when you get all set up with what you want to do, then post it here (with system specs) and someone will be glad to guide you through the process.

If you do not plan on putting your OS on the Sata (I thought that is what you meant), then simply enable Sata in the Bios, set it up as IDE, and hook it up. You can then partition and format it much as you would the older IDE drives.

On the converse, if you plan on adding an OS on it, you also do it just like IDE drives, except you will need to load Sata drivers at the F6 prompt when you install the OS. Let us know what you want to do and we will try to get you going.

i_am_jim · 09-07-2008, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed36

If you do not plan on putting your OS on the Sata (I thought that is what you meant), then simply enable Sata in the Bios, set it up as IDE, and hook it up. You can then partition and format it much as you would the older IDE drives.

The first thing I intend to add is a DVD burner. If I set it up as IDE will it will look and act like it's on an IDE port?

Tumbleweed36 · 09-07-2008, 09:11 AM

There should not be an issue with that.

09-06-2008, 07:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
i_am_jim Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 6 OS: XP Pro	Help With SATA I just installed a new motherboard. To my dismay, current motherboards only come with one IDE (PATA) port, and I currently have 4 IDE drives. I'm converting my backup drive to USB using a external enclosure -- that takes care of one. My DVD burner is a little long in the tooth so I'm considering buying a new SATA version. My previous motherboard supported SATA and I tried once to get one working and gave up -- it screwed up everything and the system thought it was a SCSI. The motherboard manual devotes between one sentence and one paragraph to every other feature of the board. But, it devotes 10 pages to SATA. Gosh, I don't want to spend two days becoming a master of these drives, I just want to install one. But, they must be a nightmare to install and get working if it takes that much explanation. I want to keep my two IDE drives as prime and secondary for now. Is there a link/webpage somewhere that explains two hundred words or less what I have to do to connect one SATA drive without messing up the other drives? Thanks.

09-07-2008, 06:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,650 OS: XP Professional	Re: Help With SATA First of all, if you wish to have more IDE drives than the slots on your computer support, you can buy an aftermarket PCI card that will support a number of IDE drives. They are fairly reasonable in price. Using Sata is not as hard as one would think, so when you get all set up with what you want to do, then post it here (with system specs) and someone will be glad to guide you through the process. If you do not plan on putting your OS on the Sata (I thought that is what you meant), then simply enable Sata in the Bios, set it up as IDE, and hook it up. You can then partition and format it much as you would the older IDE drives. On the converse, if you plan on adding an OS on it, you also do it just like IDE drives, except you will need to load Sata drivers at the F6 prompt when you install the OS. Let us know what you want to do and we will try to get you going. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

09-07-2008, 09:11 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,650 OS: XP Professional	Re: Help With SATA There should not be an issue with that. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.