Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI Adapter Card HELP!!!

Ebay is a good place to look; you don't need a "new" board. BTW, Maxtor doesn't make the card, it just has the real manufacturer slap a Maxtor label on their card, so looking for "brand name" isn't as easy as it seems.

Slim,

That card is made by Promise Technologies. It is the Ultra 133 TX2. It is available at:

http://www.superwarehouse.com/Promise_Ultra_133_TX2_Sto...

You can probably get a better deal from some other vendor, that part is up to you.

HTH.

Promise Technologies cards are a good value too

I've used Promise Ultra 133 TX2 in several machines. I currently have it installed on an Intel D975XBX to give each of my 2 optical drives it's own channel. (The Intel mobo only has one IDE 100 port). It's $31 at Newegg...

OK - I need help on this one....

I've got a new XBX2 board and 2 SATAdrives. Everything boots fine, and system runs great! (C2D e6600)

Then I start to add my old IDE drives, along with the Promise Ultra133TX2 controller. This is where the trouble begins.

I'm just trying to get ONE of the IDE drives to work first. (the on-board IDE controller is handling 2 CD/DVD writers)

If a drive is connected to the Promise controller, the boot sequence hangs immediately after the Promise controller boots and detects the hard drive attached.

If I disconnect the drive, then the boot will complete, but with the message that since there were no drives detected, the promise BIOS wasn't loaded.

I really need/want to get my IDE drives wotking along with the SATA drives.

Any ideas?

Oh - it's WinXP Pro.

Thanks!

The Gunny

I think I cant really help you on that. I just wanna say to the others that I got a deal for $11.95 in eBay for the Maxtor ATA/133 PCI card which I think is a good deal. Included cables, manuals, cd and box.

maybe your boot sequence in the BIOS is looking at the drives on the Promise card first? Or, if the drives were originally set up formatted with a different controller, it's s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y possible that something in the MFT or boot sector on those drives is making the controller act funny.

Maybe try disconnecting optical drives and seeing if the IDE disks will work on the mobo controller, just as a test. You could also use a utility like Acronis to more closely look at how th IDE disks are set up - are they primary partitions from an older PC setup, with an OS installed? It might be creating some conflicts.....

Good idea mdmoy -I'll see what happens with the mb controller.

The drive I'm trying to get to work first was a data only drive in it's prior life - not a boot drive. Would there still be a boot sector conflict? And it was installed in a WinXP system.

I also have Partition Magic, but the problem is that when I have a drive connected to the controller, the boot sequence hangs/stalls right after the controller detect. System doesn't complete the boot, so I can't check it.

The boot completes when the drive is disconnected (controller card still installed) but there's nothing to see then.

Thanks! I'll try the onboard IDE controller....

The Gunny

OK, the drive is detected and fully functional using the on-board IDE controller.

So it's the Promise controller that is the problem.

But I can't use the on-board controller because I've got other devices (DVD writers) that will be connected to it, so I have to solve the Promise issue.  

The controller is good - shouldn't be a problem!

If the Promise Ultra133TX2 is non-functional in Intel XBX boards, what controller are people using in Intel XBX board to expand the IDE connectivity? I can't see that it would only be a problem with the Promise controller.

Is there a config fix for the Promise?

What's next? I can't let 600 Gigs (3 PATA 133 drives) of disk just sit there!  

The Gunny

Why dont you try to get another IDE controller (maxtor one) from eBay for an acceptable price and try with that?

Also, did you try reinstalling the drivers? are you using the last drivers from the manufacturer?

Well, this IS the Maxtor controller.   Made by Promise, but branded by maxtor - it was included with one of the drives when I bought it.

I've got the latest recommended version of the driver/firmware from Maxtor - they tell you to only use their approved version, but I think I'll go to the Promise site and try their BIOS update and latest driver. Nothing to lose.

I was hoping some of the folk who said they had actually done this with promise controllers would offer some tips or insight. Of course, FAQ and the sites don't say anything about conflicts....

Thanks, slim!

The Gunny

No problem. Is just weird that it doesnt work as expected. I think you might want to keep trying or in the lastest just get another adaptor but they are pricey right now.

Weird...

It works!

The Maxtor/Promise card was using the current driver according to Maxtor, and even reloading their driver didn't help.

Then I went to the Promise site and updated the BIOS and got their latest driver.

Now everything is working fine.

Thanks, slim!

The Gunny

So that was it, great!

now if for any case I have problems with my Maxtor adaptor I know who to ask  

Story of my life - always learning things I didn't want to know......  

The Gunny

Gunny,

Just FYI, the Maxtor/Promise Ultra133 controller supports the ATAPI specification, that means, you can connect your CD/DVD drives to it (provided they are PATA of course) and they will work fine.

I have 3 (or 4, not sure anymore) of those controllers in various machines, controlling a mix of CD burners, DVD burners and hard drives, so I can vouch that it works.

HTH

Agreed, 440BX - this will be the third machine this particular has resided in.

That's why I was somewhat dismayed when it didn't [initially] work!

The Gunny

I was taking my old comupter apart and I think I have exactly what you are looking for. If you want you can email me and we can find out. dsantefort@yahoo.com

Dude... this thread is 4 YEARS old...