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Thread ID: 48776 2004-09-01 00:14:00 SATA Hard Disks antmannz (28) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
267667 2004-09-01 00:14:00 Has anyone here had problems with SATA disks falling off XP??

In the last 2 weeks I've had 2 users with Biostar mobos and Seagate SATA's completely lose the SATA drivers.

Chkdsk will not run: "File system cannot be enumerated."
Fixmbr will not run: "No boot volume located."

When trying to reinstall XP (using F6 and the correct SATA drivers), the drive takes forever to be scanned (appox. 30 minutes), then the install falls over stating that
1.) The install cannot be performed on the partiton; and
2.) the volume is unable to be repartitioned (after existing partitions have been deleted).

Any suggestions, aside from boat anchor usage, would be most welcome.
antmannz (28)
267668 2004-09-01 00:20:00 Nope, I haven't had any trouble with my Seagate SATA drives and XP. Are you running a RAID setup? I'm running a Gigabyte board so maybe it's a biostar board BIOS problem have you checked for an update? Sb0h (3744)
267669 2004-09-01 00:24:00 Are they using 1 or 2 SATA hdd's in their computers?? You DON'T need the drivers (by pressing F6) when installing XP, if you have 1 SATA.

XP, will happily install on 1 SATA.

I use 1 120 GB Sata here as the master boot hdd. And are their SATA's onboard? (I take it they are). Or PCI cards?

It might be a setting in the BIOS thats wrong. If the SATA is onboard.
Spacemannz (808)
267670 2004-09-01 02:08:00 One disk and ummm ..... yes, I do need the drivers (by pressing F6). Doesn't find the HD without it.

Yes, onboard - BIOS set to SCSI.

I'm thinking it's possibly a mobo issue.

I just don't really believe too much in coincidences, particularly in the pc world and 2 in 2 weeks is a little too much for me.
With both being on dial-up, with approx. the same internet usage and auto-windows-update turned on, I had wondered if there was an update which may have caused the havoc. Of course, without being able to boot I guess I'll never know.
antmannz (28)
267671 2004-09-01 02:18:00 I take it the power connector is connected? The cable that connects to the mobo doesnt supply the power just the data.

That maybe another reason why it cant find it, since therres no power going to it.
Spacemannz (808)
267672 2004-09-01 03:12:00 . . . "BIOS set to SCSI" . Are there other allowable settings? SATA are ATA , not SCSI, though I suppose the driver might make them emulate SCSI . Just a thought . :-)

I remember when the only way to get MS to boot a SCSI drive was to set the IDE ports to "None"; even if there were IDE drives present; the SCSI BIOS extensions didn't override the IDE .
Graham L (2)
267673 2004-09-01 03:22:00 Unless the BIOS specifically allows you to boot from SATA you have to tell it to boot to SCSI, booting to SCSI mearly tells the BIOS to boot to a third party drive controller. Pete O'Neil (250)
267674 2004-09-01 03:24:00 Yes, the power cable is connected.

I wouldn't be able to view the partition status otherwise.
antmannz (28)
267675 2004-09-01 03:26:00 I think the driver emulates SCSI.
There are no other drives in the machine other than the CD and floppy.

I've set the boot process to CD then SCSI as first and second respectively with all others disabled.
antmannz (28)
267676 2004-09-01 03:30:00 Another thing they can try is update to the latest BIOS. If they havent yet Spacemannz (808)
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