Sata Drivers

That motherboard uses the Intel 915 chipset ... which does not require SATA drivers.

So if that is the fact, than when installing XP, it shows no Hard drives installed at all.  I have did my homework and to no avail.  Thanks for the response, but how in fact is it possible to make XP ..system recognize the installed SATA hard drives...

It's possible that Sony had multiple versions of that motherboard ... but the one I found showed a 915 chipset.   Boot into the BIOS Setup and see if your SATA ports are enabled ... and if the BIOS "sees" the SATA drives.   If you have multiple options for the SATA port configuration, post them here.

THere is no option at all for SATA Report in the BIOS on this motherboard

What does the BIOS show for the hard drives?  [capacity; make; model; etc.]

The BIOS does not show any hard drives at all..just the CD Roms

Recheck your connections then ... unplug both the power and the data cables for the drives and reseat them.   Also, if the drives you bought have both SATA and legacy power connectors, try using the legacy (molex) connections.   ... if the drives aren't seen in the BIOS, this is NOT a driver issue !!

yeah i was checking that....hardware regardless of type should be seen in the bios..if all the connections are right ..regardless of drivers..that is pretty much for the gui translations of windows and user interface...

im showing it when i boot up and hit the pause break button as my third and forth slave..will switch it back to sata 0 and sata 1 and see what happens

It sounds like you once had a RAID configuration before the crash.  If this is so then you will need to install the RAID drives again on new hard drives for the motherboard to recognize them.  After reading this discussion:
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t273880.html
I found that you might need to just buy a SATA controller card.  I use one for my ASUS P5GV-MX and it works great after I installed the PCI controller card's software.  When I went to install XP it identified the drivers right away.

IF you are in the US you can easily get the card here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124006

Otherwise:
http://www.amazon.com/PROMISE-2PORT-SATA-RAID-FASTTRAKTX2200/dp/B00067ARXW/sr=8-1/qid=1159783172/ref=sr_1_1/102-2443061-0121768?ie=UTF8&s=pc

I hope this was helpful!

-thephalanx

This applies to some asus mobo's.  Go under IDE configuration.  Make sure the operation mode is set to enhanced.  Then make sure enhanced mode support on is set to "S-ATA".   Other boards may also have a listing in the bios for SATA and next to it the option is set to RAID.  Change the value from RAID to IDE to use with a single drive.  

After the initial bios post do see some sort of a secondary post screen that flies by fast and could say something about RAID.  If so and you see nothing in the bios, press the f? key it tells you to press to configure.  Sometimes you need to tell it in here that your just using a single drive and not raid.  Also, this post screen should indicate the brand of controller asus has put in the system and could help to identify which driver to use.  Also, you may have to configure the hard drive in the controller setup screen in order for the RAID controller to tell windows what you have.

-TAG

okay here we go..lets try this again...seeing that i took all the recommendations to work and tried it..to no avail still.   Its doesnt require any additional cards to make this work at all..so its not a hardware issue.  Nor do i need to purchase any additional software nor hardware.. it was in reference to intially, the software (bios) not appropriately recognizing the SATA drive upon boot up in the bios options. Apparently the motherboard SONY VAIO used for this model of systems PCV-A21L is ASUS but ASUS does not support this motherboard.  It has indeed, well maybe not indeed but tested as a Intel Chipset 915p.  If anyone has any experience regarding this model of Sony and has time tested and relevant information for me to effectively use.  I would greatly appreciate this..close this thread and award you 500 points and recommend you..Im a certified Systems Technican and Administrator as well and this seemingly minute problem is disturbing me.  Thanks seeking assistance immediately.  

It sounds like your ready to pull your hair out.  Time is money in my world and a SATA Controller card only cost $20 some bucks.  Doesn't sound worth the headache to me.  Sony Vaio's is mainly a home consumer product and I doubt many of us come across them very often, especially your exact model.  I would just bite the bullet and get a controller card and go on with life.

clos_4,

I believe we all have had to work on problems like these in finding drivers that apparently don't exist anymore.  There are ways to compensate though :).

Windows doesn't release a whole new operating system to compensate for the one that had all the other errors.  We're lucky to have those annoying popups called updates.

For your situation we have available SATA controller cards to bypass problems on motherboards that cannot detect SATA hard drives.

I do not have expierence with that Chipset, but instead of "pulling your hair out" the easiest way would probably be to get a controller card in that dang Sony Vaio, breathe a sigh of contented relief, and move on :o).

I hope tomorrow is better for everyone.

Cheers!

Or as a last ditch effort, give a shot here to see if you find them?
http://members.driverguide.com/index.php

I've noted this several times ... but just to re-emphasize it:  this system does NOT NEED DRIVERS for SATA drives.   The Intel 915 chipset has native SATA support.   ... and the issue he's having is NOT an XP install issue ==> the system is not detecting the drives at all (in the BIOS).

This has to be one of a few issues:  (a) bad SATA cables (unlikely, since neither drive is seen);  (b)  a wrong setting in the BIOS [SATA port not enabled;  wrong mode (RAID, IDE, etc.)]  (I would think this is VERY likely => although clos 4 has looked for the settings and says there aren't any (I'd look again VERY CAREFULLY); (c)  a very-unlikely simultaneous failure of the drives (as I just said, very unlikely);  (d)  inadequate power for the drives (also seems unlikely => but easy to test by just trying one drive and unplugging all unnecessary devices ... e.g. CDROM, DVD, floppy, etc.);  or (e) a failure of the SATA ports on the motherboard (possible, but relatively rare => an add-in card would, of course, resolve this).

That is a very good point.  Why did it crash in the first place?  everything garycase has asked/said above ;o)

Why did it crash in the first place..virus ..several virus caused by a client of mines using Kaaza and bearshare open sharing sources for downloading..that is the only problem that existed, formatted hard drives and this is where i am not....i will get a controller card, only if today presents me with no solutions...  I will analyze area of this motherboard and isolate each peripheral and see what happens from there.  Your help is greatly appreciated but to this point no avail...The Sata drivers can be seen when placed in sata 02 and 03 but not in sata 00 and sata 01 on the motherboard itself...

I'd settle with fixing the problem easiest in implementing a SATA controller.  As stated before.

I agree with garycase's statement, but the author said he was going to try a RAID controller at which I suggested as well.