Can't get SATA drives to work

[dlwdeli]

After installing two new Seagate SATA drives, with both SATA cables and power cables, I can't get the computer to see them, I don't see them in the BIOS, not sure if they will show up before I install the MB Drivers or not. I then made a RAID floppy from the MB CD and started the XP CD, pressing <F6> when prompted, continuing to follow the on screen instructions. XP then tells me that it detects no hard drives. I do feel the drives running and the hard drive light on the front of my case flashes on and off like normal. I did get everything up and running with an old ATA drive but can't get either SATA drive to work.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[mdd1963]

Does your mainboard use an integrated SATA RAID controller?

Are there might be some settings in the BIOS for choosing between non-RAID operation and RAID 0/1 before a single drive will show, or perhaps two of the 4 possible SATA ports are strictly for RAID operation, and there might be two more ports for normal/non- raid operation?

(Can you hear the drives spinning up to 7200 rpms at least, indicating the SATA pwr input cables, not to be confused with the data cables, are fully connected?)

(If the drives do not show as detected in the BIOS, mainboard drivers for the OS will not make any difference, as you have problem at the bios/hardware detection pre-OS level...)

 

[dlwdeli]

Thank you for replying,

My MB, is an "Epox EP 4KVMI"' http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813123254

Has 2 SATA data ports on the board.
In the BIOS utility

"Intergrated Peripherals"
"VIA OnChip IDE Devices"
OnChip SATA Enabled...[.]
Disabled..[ ]

SATA Mode IDE.........[.]
RAID.......[ ]

Tried changing to RAID But didny Seem to help

Iguess I can't tell if the drives are spinning uf to speed, but I am sure they are both hooked up to the power supply.

Thanks Again

 

[g-paw]

Good chance it's a problem with your BIOS settings. I have an ATA, with the OS and programs on it, and 2 SATA for storage. The BIOS settings I have: ATA on Chip Config: Native
ATA Mode: PATA
SATA Keep Enabled: Yes

may or may not need this setting:

PATA Channel Selection: Both

Anyway, suggest you mess with these settings keeping in mind that unless you have a SATA Optical dirve, you'll need some ATA settings in the BIOS to recognize you Optical drive(s)..

 

[linux_0]

If your SATA BIOS doesn't see them during boot then they are either broken, not properly hooked up or there is a compatibility problem.

Can you hear or feel them spin up when you power your system on?

Have you tried different cables?

Did your PSU come with SATA connectors or did you use 4pin Molex 2 SATA PWR adapters?

Are you sure everything is securely plugged in?

Are your drives 7200.8s? A lot of those are bad.

 

[dlwdeli]

Thanks for your response,

I can hear them when the system is powered on, after a couple minutes they even get slightly warm,

I have swaped the cables back and forth a few times between the two drives.

The power supply didn't come with SATA powerc connectors, one drive came with an adpter and I purchased one seperate, the same with the SATA cables.

The're both Seagates one is an SATA II 80G and one is an SATA I 160G.

It seems I would be very unlucky to have purchased two drives that are bad but I guess that would explain my problem.

Icould return one or both but with my luck the problem is somthing else.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[linux_0]

The SATA BIOS comes up during boot and scans for the drives right?

Have you tried JUST the SATA 1 drive or JUST the SATA II drive (with the jumper set to SATA 1 mode)?

 

[g-paw]

Have you tried running the Seagate DiskWizard Starter Edition?

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/drivers/discwiz.html

 

[dlwdeli]

Not sure, if the SATA BIOS comes up during boot and scans, Which jumper settings are you refering to I don't think there are any on the drive?

 

[dlwdeli]

Yes I have tried the Seagate Utility and it dosn't see the drives either.

 

[linux_0]

Is your SATA controller enabled in the BIOS?

The SATA BIOS itself should come up and scan for the drives during boot.

If the SATA BIOS does not come up then there's a problem.

 

[g-paw]

Have you looked at this? Clicking No takes you to the next page.

http://www.seagate.com/support/ts/sata/detect/01_cable.html

 

[dlwdeli]

Is it the OnChip SATA [Enabled]?

Not sure how to see if the SATA BIOS is scanning for the drives, is there a function key to stop the scan to view?

I have looked at Seagates support Site

 

[g-paw]

Other than disabling the Start Up screen and watching as the system boots up, I don't know. While it's pretty fast, you should be able to see it search for drives, it lists what it is looking for.

 

[linux_0]

You can hit the <pause> key on your keyboard.

<pause> pauses the screen and <enter> unpauses it

 

[scorptiger]

I guessing a BIOS misconfiguration. You may have to take the IDE channels out of the mix until you've installed the OS. Get the motherboard manual and go through every screen and setting--slog away--until you've got SATA enabled, IDE disabled, and boot drive order in order. The OS won't see the drives if the BIOS doesn't see them, even though the drives are spinning. Just to cover your elementary bases, disconnect the drive power and data cables and reconnect.

 

[linux_0]

Trying one drive at a time will also help to narrow the problem down.

It is important to eliminate all the different variables / possibilities.



@ OP

Try a GOOD KNOWN working SATA drive if you have one.

If you have another motherboard try the SATA drives on it as well one at a time.