troubling installing SATA HDD

Hi,

I got a 200gb Western Digital SATA HDD off a friend that he doesn't use anymore and have tried to install onto my computer but i am unable to find it on the desktop. I am not sure if my computer detects the HDD or not.

I intend to use the SATA HDD as additional storage.

I have installed and set it up in BIOS as my motherboard manual tells me to as
so:

on-chip ata(s) operate mode : legacy mode (means i use traditional 14 and 15 IRQs, other setting "Native mode" can use all IRQs)
ATA config: P-ATA only
S-ATA keep enabled : yes
P-ATA channel selection: both
S-ATA port definition: P0-3rd/p1-4th

i have also tried "native mode". Still nothing.

My comp specs are:

Intel P4 3ghz LGA 775
MSI 865pe Neo 3 motherboard
Nvidia 7600gt AGP graphic card
160gb seagate + 250gb western digital HDD (uses IDE cable)
Pioneer DVD ROM
Win xp
450W power supply

My power supply had only 4 cables - 2 plug into 2 ide hdds, 1 for DVD ROM and 1 for Vid card. I bought a power splitter cable so i can connect my SATA HDD.

Any help to get my SATA HDD working would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Hi, SATA hard drives can be a bit of a pain, especially if you are trying to install your operating system onto it as you need to install a special driver at the F6 prompt near the beginning of setup. Having said that you are already up and running so I would ask you to go to Control Panel and click on Administritive Tools. Then click on Computer Management and a window should pop up. In the left hand pane of that window click on Disk Management and then look in the right hand pane to see if your SATA drive is shown. Let me know,

Vinney

 

Hi Vinney,

thanks for the reply.

i forgot to mention that i have tried that and i do not see my SATA drive appearing on Disk Management window.

i am not trying to install a OS on my SATA, just using it for extra storage such as games, movies etc. i have 2 current HDD that are using IDE cables.

Let me know if you can help
Thanks
Lester

 

Hi again, Firstly let me say that my knowledge in this area is limited. You say that you have enabled SATA in the bios? The motherboard will have a SATA controller that needs a driver to make it work. If you have the disc that came with your motherboard then you have the needed driver. Make sure that this driver is installed and then look under disc management as before. Once that controller is working then the Bios should see the drive and you can initialise and format it under disc management. So, to recap, Run the motherboard disc and make sure the driver for the SATA controller is installed, then check back to disc management. I'll keep fingers crossed for you. BTW, why do you want so much storage space? I'd be scared of losing stuff in the event of hardware failure or virus infestation. I hope you got it backed up!

Vinney

 

Hi there i have had many SATA problems i would like to suggest a few things make sure that you have S.M.A.R.T enabled/NO jumper pins on the back of the drive if any present natve mode doent need to be on if it shows and is active in the Bios then it should be ok Is the OS assuming XP installing it upon bootuo eg. bottom right tray as usuall if so it may in disc manager but it might be offline or unreadable if it is then you will need to convert it back from dynamic to basic.
Let me know if it works!
I have 1TB of drives spread over 4x SATA and they were a pain what was wrong with havin IDE drives they were no problem? They always change thing that work!!

 

hi guys thanks for replying.

i have found out from my friend that the SATA HDD is actually SATA 2. and on my m/b box it says only take SATA 0,1. so he says i can somehow change the jumpers to make it SATA 1? or maybe get a latest bios update from the manufacturer website.

biddy - yes i have always had smart enabled. will try without jumpers.

thanks for the help guys