Author Topic: <insert blood curdling wail> (Read 1548 times)

Simaril · « **Reply #15 on:** November 17, 2007, 07:09:50 PM »

Have a second connect on MoBo, an EIDE -- but never can get anything to be noticed there, at least havent been able to so far

NHawk · « **Reply #16 on:** November 19, 2007, 06:43:20 AM »

Looking at the manual for both your MOBO and the new drive there are only a couple of things to check. But I think you did this already....

According to your MOBO manual, make sure your SATA drive is plugged into the SATA1 connector on the MOBO.

Make sure both of your ATA drives are set on cable select and connected to the PRI_IDE connector on your MOBO. Put the HD on the last connector on the cable (farthest from MOBO), the DVD on the second (closest to MOBO).

Here's the part I don't think you did....

Now go into BIOS...this is where I think you're being prompted for "insert appropriate boot media". Go to BOOT on the top menu. Select Boot Device Priority on the lower left. Make your first boot device the DVD drive, your second device your SATA drive and disable or remove all others from the list. Under Hard Disk Drives, make sure only your SATA drive is listed as a boot device (or at the very least, make sure it's first in the list). Save your configuration and reboot.

If that doesn't work, one thing I don't think you tried is just attaching the new HD without the DVD. I understand it's your only removable media, but it might help narrow things down a bit more.

Simaril · « **Reply #17 on:** November 19, 2007, 06:49:50 AM »

Thanks NHawk!

I'll go back and double check those connections...and I'm really optimistic about that BIOS adjustment. It really makes sense that the problem could be coming from there.

NHawk · « **Reply #18 on:** November 19, 2007, 07:05:21 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Simaril
Thanks NHawk!

I'll go back and double check those connections...and I'm really optimistic about that BIOS adjustment. It really makes sense that the problem could be coming from there.

Let us know if it works. You have a real head banger here and after reading this thread a hundred times, that's the only thing I can think of that hasn't been tried.

If you get it to boot and the drive still isn't recognized by XP, try Settings, Control Panel, Add Hardware, and scan for new hardware.

Getback · « **Reply #19 on:** November 21, 2007, 05:06:38 PM »

I think everything I was going to say has been said. Currently I'm putting together a new pc and one of the things the manual said is the Raid is disabled by default. I know you are in the BIOS so maybe take a glimpse at that.
Another thought is do you have a mb manual? If not most mb sites have the manuals.

That's all I know. (I think)

Simaril · « **Reply #20 on:** November 21, 2007, 08:29:21 PM »

Well....

Sorry to say, no joy. I made sure I set things up exactly as you suggested, NHawk, but it didn't work. I was able to get the system to boot fine, and I'm leaving the BIOS changes in place just on general principles.

With the connections and setup as you described, the DVD did not show up, and the new IDE drive did not show up either. I was able to operate the original SATA (and thus the computer) fine, however. On Computer Management/disk management, only the SATA showed up.

I did come across some settings in the BIOS that sounded like they might affect things, but I did not change them. I will report that the "Onboard IDE Operation Mode" is set to "Enhanced" as it should be for non-legacy OS. On the same screen, the "Enhanced Mode Support" is set on "S-ATA and P-ATA" to allow "serial ATA and Parallel ATA or both" to run as "native"

For now, I've physically removed the new drive from the box, and the system is running fine. (I have the DVD on the master end of the ribbon)

I am considering setting up an exorcism, but was wondering if you'd recommend the ceremony for the main box, the new drive or both?

OOZ662 · « **Reply #21 on:** November 22, 2007, 12:11:44 AM »

Ever figured it might just be a dead drive that's causing a fault in the wire that then doesn't allow the DVD to communicate?

NHawk · « **Reply #22 on:** November 22, 2007, 06:47:54 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Simaril
I am considering setting up an exorcism, but was wondering if you'd recommend the ceremony for the main box, the new drive or both?

Well, you do have a poltergeist that's for sure. And if you were 100 miles closer I'd consider doing the exorcism myself.

Assuming the drives and cable are good, one other possibilty exists. The cable and jumper combinations...

Option A) If you're using a 40 conducter IDE cable, the drive jumpers should be set on master/slave.

On the slower, older 40-wire ATA cables, the Master device, usually a CD-ROM or CD-ROM recorder/burner still goes on the END, but you need to set the jumpers as Slave.

Did you ever buy a new CDROM or CDROM burner, open it up and see that the jumper was already on the Slave position? It's that way for a reason. This is true even if you don't have a hard drive in the Master position.

The Master for 40-wire cables goes on the the Middle connector. Most HD manufacturers say the user should set the drive using the Master and Slave jumpers on the hard drive, placing the Master in the middle and the Slave on the end.

Option B) If you're using an 80 conducter cable, the drive jumpers should be set on cable select.

The Master drive goes on the end of the cable (farthest from MOBO). You could try flipping positions of the HD and DVD here.

EDIT: Just for the heck of it, try the new HD in your son's computer and see if it works there.

Simaril · « **Reply #23 on:** November 22, 2007, 12:01:43 PM »

OK, the ...ummm....legacy connector I'm using is one I pulled from a spares box. It's a 40 wire connector, and is has been the one working as I've gone through the debug. When I returned the previous drive (WHY didn't I get a SATA the second time????) I also got this cable. I tried using it once, on the first install, and nothing showed up at all. At the time I just figured I bought the wrong cable, but would it worth be trying again now?

Incidentally Ooz, I thought the same thing. I now wonder if I there was anything wrong with the first drive at all, but that's water under the bridge.

NHawk · « **Reply #24 on:** November 22, 2007, 02:39:58 PM »

I think we all may be confused on what has and hasn't been tried so here are the combinations. They should all be done on the PRI_IDE connector on the MOBO....

First, before you try anything else you say the DVD is functional now so leave it as is. Connect the new HD to the EIDE connector (all drives made today are EIDE) using the 80 wire cable you bought with the HD jumper set on Cable Select. Then proceed to the note below...

NOTE: In EVERY case, boot, go into bios and set the Boot HD and boot drive order. Every time you move a drive that will change automatically in bios and may not be correct. I still think this may be what caused the original problem. And by removing and adding the drive things just got confused from there.

If using the EIDE connector doesn't work then....

1) On the 40 wire cable, set the DVD to Slave and place it on the connector farthest away from the MOBO. Set the HD to Master and place it on the connector closest to the MOBO. (see note above)

2) Swap jumpers on the drives, but not positions on the 40 wire cable. (see note above)

3) From the starting point (1) swap positions but not jumpers on the 40 wire cable. (see note above)

One of the above SHOULD work. If not proceed...

4) Use the 80 wire cable and set both drives to cable select. Put the DVD on the connector farthest from the MOBO and the HD on the connector closet to the MOBO. (see note above)

5) Swap positions on the 80 wire cable without changing jumpers. (see note above)

6) This is going out on a limb, but set one drive to Master and one to Slave on the 80 wire cable. (see note above)

8) Swap jumpers on the drives without changing positions on the 80 wire cable. (see note above)

7) Swap drive positions while connected to the 80 wire cable without changing jumpers. (see note above)

Beyond that, I have a sledge hammer if you want to use it.

NHawk · « **Reply #25 on:** November 23, 2007, 05:55:59 AM »

One other thing. When you use the EIDE connector, you're using the same raid controller chip as your SATA drives. So, the chip may report the drive as being SCSI so as not to conflict with the SATA raid controller.

Getback · « **Reply #26 on:** November 23, 2007, 07:32:50 AM »

This all seems like too much work. Have you tried switching cables and be sure there in all the way.
My 2 cents.

NHawk · « **Reply #27 on:** November 23, 2007, 07:36:20 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Getback
This all seems like too much work. Have you tried switching cables and be sure there in all the way.
My 2 cents.

It really does doesn't it?

He tried cables way back in the beginning. But, he didn't check his boot order in Bios (ASUS is notorious for auto changing bios). Because of the prompt for bootable media, I think all of the problems stem from that.

Getback · « **Reply #28 on:** November 23, 2007, 07:55:58 AM »

LOL Yep. You guys know more than I do though. Sad to say I was basing my last post on my own experience. I couldn't get the new comp to recognize the cdroms and I tried about everything I could think of, selecting Cable Select, Master-slave, etc. Then I thought lets use the old cable. However, when I pulled it out of the cdroms it litterly fell off the main board. doh!!. So I plugged in the old cable and walaa it worked. My mb came with explicit instructions on setting up the SATA and Raid. I only have one drive I'm using as of right now. So I haven't had to deal with the issue Simaril is having.

My daddy always said keep it simple. 90% of the time he was right.

This is how I see it. It either has to be the bios or the connection.

My old comp simply had the hd in SATA1 & SATA2. There were no master/slave jumpers on the hds.

Simaril · « **Reply #29 on:** November 23, 2007, 12:15:46 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by NHawk
One other thing. When you use the EIDE connector, you're using the same raid controller chip as your SATA drives. So, the chip may report the drive as being SCSI so as not to conflict with the SATA raid controller.

That happened when I first did the build, took me a week or so to find the other IDE connector. (Yeah, I know, START with the manual, don't use it as a last resort....but what can I say).

Will the drive operate properly as a SCSI, or do I need to go somewhere to re-educate it?

Excellent thought, getback, but I've tried 2 different 40 wire cables and connected/disconnected more times than I want to count.