bkhong
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Motherboard unable to detect SATA drive
I am trying to install a 250gb Hitachi SATA drive. After installing it, the BIOS can see that SATA drive but when I tried to load windows XP, the computer could not find it. I believe this to be a driver problem. My motherboard is an ASUS A8V Deluxe . The BIOS is 1017 (which is the newest available) 1018 is only a Beta.
First of all I created two diskettes, 378 ATA and 378 Raid. In the BIOS I had the 'Onboard SATA Bootrom - enabled', 'Onboard Promise Controller - enabled' and Operating mode set as Raid Mode'.
When I start the computer, I had it boot up from the CDRom. As soon as it starts to load Windows I pressed F6. In the next screen I installed both the 378 ATA and 378 Raid from those two diskettes. When I tried to load windowsXP it still can't see the drive.
I have downloaded the Hitachi Feature Tool and had the drive set up as SATA 1. There is a choice of either Enable or Disable 'Spread Spectrum Clocking'. As I do not know what it is I had it Disabled.
I have spend over 6 hours on installing the SATA drive with no success. I am now totally lost in knowing what to try next.
Since I tried to install the SATA drive a message keep coming up in the boot up process saying 'No drive attached to Fasttrak controller, The BIOS is not installed'. Is it possible to get rid of that message?
First of all I created two diskettes, 378 ATA and 378 Raid. In the BIOS I had the 'Onboard SATA Bootrom - enabled', 'Onboard Promise Controller - enabled' and Operating mode set as Raid Mode'.
When I start the computer, I had it boot up from the CDRom. As soon as it starts to load Windows I pressed F6. In the next screen I installed both the 378 ATA and 378 Raid from those two diskettes. When I tried to load windowsXP it still can't see the drive.
I have downloaded the Hitachi Feature Tool and had the drive set up as SATA 1. There is a choice of either Enable or Disable 'Spread Spectrum Clocking'. As I do not know what it is I had it Disabled.
I have spend over 6 hours on installing the SATA drive with no success. I am now totally lost in knowing what to try next.
Since I tried to install the SATA drive a message keep coming up in the boot up process saying 'No drive attached to Fasttrak controller, The BIOS is not installed'. Is it possible to get rid of that message?
ASKER
Initially I just installed the 378ATA, when it didn't work I rebooted my computer and just installed the 378Raid and that didn't work either. Then later I read somewhere in experts-exchange that says to install both and I did that as well. I had tried those three ways and non of them worked.
Do I need to enable the Onboard Promise Controller to set up my sata drive?
What I did not mention is I have a 120gb ide drive and the whole system is running on that. It is running low on disk space so I went and got a 250gb sata drive. My intention is to have my os in the sata drive and then use the ide for storage, backup etc.
Do I need to enable the Onboard Promise Controller to set up my sata drive?
What I did not mention is I have a 120gb ide drive and the whole system is running on that. It is running low on disk space so I went and got a 250gb sata drive. My intention is to have my os in the sata drive and then use the ide for storage, backup etc.
ASKER
Another thing I forgot to mention is I tried the above procedure with the IDE connected as well as disconnected. It made no difference.
Thanks for the added info.
I am a little braindead tonight it seems, so disreguard my comment to disable the Promise.
I had to look up the mobo specs, and it has a VIA controller and a Promise controller, both with IDE and SATA channels.
But with you only putting 1 SATA drive on the Promise controller, try changing it from RAID to Non-RAID, and see if it will pick up the drive. RAID needs at least 2 drives on the same channel, to work. I think that might be what is causing the "Fasttrack" error.
I am a little braindead tonight it seems, so disreguard my comment to disable the Promise.
I had to look up the mobo specs, and it has a VIA controller and a Promise controller, both with IDE and SATA channels.
But with you only putting 1 SATA drive on the Promise controller, try changing it from RAID to Non-RAID, and see if it will pick up the drive. RAID needs at least 2 drives on the same channel, to work. I think that might be what is causing the "Fasttrack" error.
ASKER
In the BIOS I did set the operating mode to 'Onboard IDE Operate Mode' rather than 'Raid Mode' and it did not pick up the sata drive. However the Fasttrak error message is gone.
You need to set it to SATA non-raid mode. Or put the IDE drive in
Also, have you looked in the Promise BIOS? Does it give you a key-stroke to use when it starts loading the Promise?
Just about my bedtime. I will check back tomorrow and see how things are going. : )
Also, have you looked in the Promise BIOS? Does it give you a key-stroke to use when it starts loading the Promise?
Just about my bedtime. I will check back tomorrow and see how things are going. : )
Forgot:
Do you have anyway to plug the Hitachi SATA into another system, for testing? It might be flaky.
Do you have anyway to plug the Hitachi SATA into another system, for testing? It might be flaky.
ASKER
I did plug that into another computer and the other computer detected the sata drive and actually loaded WinXp.
While I was looking at the ASUS site,in the FAQ section there is mention of
'Since there are two SATA controllers on A8V Deluxe, please make sure the driver you loaded is the same as the controller your HDD attached. You may get this error if you load VIA driver but connect to Promise controller, or vice versa.'
What does that mean?
While I was looking at the ASUS site,in the FAQ section there is mention of
'Since there are two SATA controllers on A8V Deluxe, please make sure the driver you loaded is the same as the controller your HDD attached. You may get this error if you load VIA driver but connect to Promise controller, or vice versa.'
What does that mean?
ASKER
During bootup, one of the screens said
SATA378 TX2plus(tm) BIOS Version 1.00.0.33
(c) 2002-2005 Promise Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
No Device is found!
BIOS is not installed.
What does the above message mean?
SATA378 TX2plus(tm) BIOS Version 1.00.0.33
(c) 2002-2005 Promise Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
No Device is found!
BIOS is not installed.
What does the above message mean?
>> ...You may get this error if you load VIA driver but connect to Promise controller, or vice versa.' What does that mean?
That means that there are 2 completely seperate hard drive controllers on the mobo. You need to make sure the SATA data cable is plugged into the correct connector on the mobo for the controller you want to use. This info should be in the manual
>> (c) 2002-2005 Promise Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
>> No Device is found!
>> BIOS is not installed.
>> What does the above message mean?
It means that the Promise controller is NOT seeing the hard drive, and so it is not loading the BIOS for it. That way, no resources will be used.
Either the Promise controller or connector is bad, or you are not plugging the hard drive into the correct connector.
Have you been able to get into the Promise bios and see what the settings are?
That means that there are 2 completely seperate hard drive controllers on the mobo. You need to make sure the SATA data cable is plugged into the correct connector on the mobo for the controller you want to use. This info should be in the manual
>> (c) 2002-2005 Promise Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
>> No Device is found!
>> BIOS is not installed.
>> What does the above message mean?
It means that the Promise controller is NOT seeing the hard drive, and so it is not loading the BIOS for it. That way, no resources will be used.
Either the Promise controller or connector is bad, or you are not plugging the hard drive into the correct connector.
Have you been able to get into the Promise bios and see what the settings are?
ASKER
From the manual,there are four places I can plug the sata disk into, SATA1, SATA2, SATA_RAID1 and SATA_RAID2. I have my Hitachi HDD plugged into SATA1.
During boot up, one of the screens say
Press <Tab> Key into User Window!
Serial_Ch0 : HDT722525DLA380
Serial_Ch1 : No Devices
The no. in Serial Ch0 is the model of my HDD.
From this message I would imagine that my sata drive is plugged into the correct connector and the cable is not faulty.
How do I determine if the Promise controller is working properly and how do I get into the Promise BIOS to see what the settings are?
BTW when the above screen comes up during the boot up process, I tried pressing the Tab key. It took me to a different screen but there is nothing I could do there.
During boot up, one of the screens say
Press <Tab> Key into User Window!
Serial_Ch0 : HDT722525DLA380
Serial_Ch1 : No Devices
The no. in Serial Ch0 is the model of my HDD.
From this message I would imagine that my sata drive is plugged into the correct connector and the cable is not faulty.
How do I determine if the Promise controller is working properly and how do I get into the Promise BIOS to see what the settings are?
BTW when the above screen comes up during the boot up process, I tried pressing the Tab key. It took me to a different screen but there is nothing I could do there.
I am downloading the manual now, and will read through it in a little bit (6megs on dialup takes awhile). In the mean time:
Unplug the IDE drive with the OS on it.
Go into the motherboard bios and set the Boot Order to CDRom first, then Promise controller second.
Also when the drive shows up in the boot screen, see if it says which controller it is using.
If still no joy, look on the SATA drive, and set the jumpers to make it use SATA I, instead of SATA II.
Also, it might be that the Promise controller is only for running raids, or is not for booting from. There might even be another setting in the mobo bios that needs changing. But I need to read the manual before I can say for sure.
Unplug the IDE drive with the OS on it.
Go into the motherboard bios and set the Boot Order to CDRom first, then Promise controller second.
Also when the drive shows up in the boot screen, see if it says which controller it is using.
If still no joy, look on the SATA drive, and set the jumpers to make it use SATA I, instead of SATA II.
Also, it might be that the Promise controller is only for running raids, or is not for booting from. There might even be another setting in the mobo bios that needs changing. But I need to read the manual before I can say for sure.
ASKER
When booting up, the first screen says
VIA VT8237 South Controller, Rev A2
In the next screen, it says
VIA Technologies, Inc VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility v2.01
It is already set to 150MB/sec, which is the SATA 1 speed
VIA VT8237 South Controller, Rev A2
In the next screen, it says
VIA Technologies, Inc VIA VT8237 Serial ATA RAID BIOS Setting Utility v2.01
It is already set to 150MB/sec, which is the SATA 1 speed
>> It is already set to 150MB/sec, which is the SATA 1 speed
That's the hard drive itself, correct?
This is what I have from the manual, so far:
This motherboard only supports SATA 1 (150), not SATAII.
You need to read sections 5.6.2 for the Promise controller, and section 5.6.3 for the VIA controller.
There is also a Promise RAID Utility on the Setup CD.
From the manual, I don't really see that the Promise is bootable, and the way it is written, I can't tell if the OnBoard Promise Controller > Operating Mode > IDE Mode, is just for the PATA connector, or includes the SATA connectors also.
To get into the Promise Controller BIOS, you need to use the CONTROL-F key combination. TAB gets you into the VIA Controller BIOS.
SATA_RAID1 and SATA_RAID2 look to be for the Promise controller, and SATA1 and SATA2 connectors for the VIA controller.
In the mobo bios:
the OnChip SATA Boot ROM looks to be just for the VIA controller.
look in the BOOT DEVICE PRIORITY to see if it says anything about the drive, when it is hooked to the SATA_RAID1 connector.
You might just have to plug the SATA drive into SATA1, set it as the 2nd Boot device, and see if the Install CD sees it that way. If no joy, use the VIA driver floppy (section 5.7), if it needs them.
That's the hard drive itself, correct?
This is what I have from the manual, so far:
This motherboard only supports SATA 1 (150), not SATAII.
You need to read sections 5.6.2 for the Promise controller, and section 5.6.3 for the VIA controller.
There is also a Promise RAID Utility on the Setup CD.
From the manual, I don't really see that the Promise is bootable, and the way it is written, I can't tell if the OnBoard Promise Controller > Operating Mode > IDE Mode, is just for the PATA connector, or includes the SATA connectors also.
To get into the Promise Controller BIOS, you need to use the CONTROL-F key combination. TAB gets you into the VIA Controller BIOS.
SATA_RAID1 and SATA_RAID2 look to be for the Promise controller, and SATA1 and SATA2 connectors for the VIA controller.
In the mobo bios:
the OnChip SATA Boot ROM looks to be just for the VIA controller.
look in the BOOT DEVICE PRIORITY to see if it says anything about the drive, when it is hooked to the SATA_RAID1 connector.
You might just have to plug the SATA drive into SATA1, set it as the 2nd Boot device, and see if the Install CD sees it that way. If no joy, use the VIA driver floppy (section 5.7), if it needs them.
ASKER
Sorry I had no internet access yesterday.
After seeing what you said I realized that I might have the sata hdd plugged into the incorrect connector. You said 'SATA_RAID1 and SATA_RAID2 look to be for the Promise controller, and SATA1 and SATA2 connectors for the VIA controller' and I had my hdd connected to SATA1 and I installed the promise controller driver at start up. I tried connecting my hdd to SATA_RAID1 and installed the promise controller. Finally my motherboard sees the sata drive and I managed to load WinXP now.
What is the difference between Promise Controller and VIA Controller?
The next problem now is after I had the operating OS installed, I reconnected my original IDE HDD. Now my computer cannot see the IDE drive. What Have I done wrong now?
After seeing what you said I realized that I might have the sata hdd plugged into the incorrect connector. You said 'SATA_RAID1 and SATA_RAID2 look to be for the Promise controller, and SATA1 and SATA2 connectors for the VIA controller' and I had my hdd connected to SATA1 and I installed the promise controller driver at start up. I tried connecting my hdd to SATA_RAID1 and installed the promise controller. Finally my motherboard sees the sata drive and I managed to load WinXP now.
What is the difference between Promise Controller and VIA Controller?
The next problem now is after I had the operating OS installed, I reconnected my original IDE HDD. Now my computer cannot see the IDE drive. What Have I done wrong now?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
For no reason, my motherboard suddenly sees the IDE drive. Finally I think I have got everything working.
Do I still need to try to disable the VIA controller? If I do where do I disable it?
Thanks for your help and your patience.
Do I still need to try to disable the VIA controller? If I do where do I disable it?
Thanks for your help and your patience.
No sweat. I learned some new things myself. : )
>> ...still need to try to disable the VIA controller?
No, if you disable the VIA controller, your IDE, CD, (and DVD?) drives will disappear. The VIA runs the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors, as well as SATA1 and SATA2.
If you want to, you might try disabling the Onboard SATA BootRom entry, and see if it stops the Promise controller. From the way the manual is written, I can't tell if it is just for the VIA SATA, or for both of them.
If the SATA hard drive still boots, you can leave it off, to free up some resources, and let the system boot faster since it won't spend time looking for bootable drives on the VIA.
>> ...still need to try to disable the VIA controller?
No, if you disable the VIA controller, your IDE, CD, (and DVD?) drives will disappear. The VIA runs the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors, as well as SATA1 and SATA2.
If you want to, you might try disabling the Onboard SATA BootRom entry, and see if it stops the Promise controller. From the way the manual is written, I can't tell if it is just for the VIA SATA, or for both of them.
If the SATA hard drive still boots, you can leave it off, to free up some resources, and let the system boot faster since it won't spend time looking for bootable drives on the VIA.
ASKER
Just one thing for interest. As I said earlier I was using the ide before I install this new sata drive. This would mean that I can boot from either drive by changing the boot sequence from the BIOS. What I found is if I were to boot from the sata, I can see both drives. However if I were to boot from the ide I cannot see the sata either from Windows Explorer or from computer management.
Is this normal?
Is this normal?
It shouldn't be.
Are the Promise drivers installed on the IDE OS?
Are the Promise drivers installed on the IDE OS?
ASKER
How do I install the Promise Driver on the IDE OS?
Hmmmmm...
First check Device Manager (Control Panel > System > Device Manager), and see if the Promise contoller is listed either as a addon controller or under the System devices heading. If no, try putting the CD in, and run the Promise installer (section 5.2 in the manual).
First check Device Manager (Control Panel > System > Device Manager), and see if the Promise contoller is listed either as a addon controller or under the System devices heading. If no, try putting the CD in, and run the Promise installer (section 5.2 in the manual).
ASKER
Followed your instruction and did what the manual said in section 5.2 and installed the Promise driver.
Now I can see both hdd irrespective of which disk I boot from.
Thanks again for your help and everything is working perfectly now.
Now I can see both hdd irrespective of which disk I boot from.
Thanks again for your help and everything is working perfectly now.
Excellent news! Enjoy. : )
Try running just one of the 378 disk, instead of both.
>> 'No drive attached to Fasttrak controller.... Is it possible to get rid of that message?
Disable the Onboard Promise controller
>> Enable or Disable 'Spread Spectrum Clocking'. As I do not know what it is I had it Disabled.
Disabled is OK. What it does is "spread" the magnetic signals out, if you are getting alot of interference. Sometimes helps if you are heavily OC'ing that bus, and are getting errors.