XP/Dell XPS410 won't recognize 2nd internal SATA drive

Help!

I'm attempting to install a 400GB Seagate internal SATA drive into my Dell XPS 400 running XP Media Center. What I did/what I know:

1. Drive spins, so it has power. Switched out power/signal cables with primary HDD and they work properly.

2. BIOS is in SATA auto-detect. Doesn't detect anything.

3. There are slots directly on the motherboard. (No host adapter.)

4. Ran Seagate DiscWizard, entered drive model number, connected, restarted, and nothing happened. The new drive hasn't been recognized by DiscWizard, Windows, BIOS, etc.

I thought SATA was supposed to make this automatic. Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

I have to ask.........before you bought the Seagate internal HDD did you make certain it was compatible with your Dell, rumours abound that Dell switch's the wiring so that you have to buy from Dell or your aftermarket devices will not work.............Not saying this is true, just a rumour.................Oh and Welcome to Major Geeks Beastie

 

No I didn't confirm compatability. I've had several Dells and so have many people I know. I've personally added my own memory, HDD, video, etc. without any problem on past computers.

This is my first upgrade to this XPS 400, and my first experience with SATA. But I'd be surprised if Dell truly switched things up and their vendors let them. Besides, it'd be fairly easy for an investigative IT reporter to confirm--it'd be common knowledge by now. Besides, imagine the damage to Dell if this really got out....

If we work under the assumption that it's not miswired, do you have any suggestions?

Thanks--good to be aboard.

 

I'm having the same difficulty, without the Dell (fully custom computer)
I got my Seagate 400gb SATA HD to be recognized in the bios when I forced it to run in 1.5 Gb/s. Now it shows up in the bios, but the problem is that the computer does not boot whenever the hard drive is plugged in. I can boot in XP whenever the hard drive is disconnected, and if it is connected, the computer screen goes blank JUST before it would normally start to boot in windows, right after the bios is done.
I tried running the Seagate Disk when the SATA was plugged in, but it didnt run. I have the boot order set up with my current boot HD at the top, and the SATA at the bottom.
I'm just not sure what to do, since I have updated my mobo drivers and bios, and tried different master/slave configs with no success.
Any help?
Thanks in advance
-Jason

 

I managed to get my HD recognized always now, but there is one bios setting that is being tricky. It tells the bios to deal with the SATA hard drive as an IDE drive, or a RAID drive. The computer will not boot into any operation system (windows should work) or the CD when I have it set to IDE, but when I set it to RAID, the computer will not boot off of the new Hard drive.

 

I have no dell. I am using an abit motherboard, and an AMD processor.

 

The answer given was not to your Hijack of the thread with a related question Jdban, it was to the original poster's question with regards to a Dell XPS410, please for clarity post a "New Thread" were we can address your particular concerns. Thanks