HD recognized in RAID port but not SATA port.

I posted this in another topic with someone who had a similar problem but now my problem seems to have gotten more complicated.

My harddrive broke (Western Digital Caviar Serial ATA Hard Drive WD1200), and I replaced it with a similar one (Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD). Both are SATA 150 and the jumper settings are on default.

I tried to install Windows XP Pro on the new hd and Windows installation wouldn't recognize the hd. I did hit F6 and I'm using the same drivers as I did on the first hard drive, with the new hd plugged into the same port. Windows still doesn't recognize it.

So I plugged in an old IDE harddrive just to get the computer up and running and try and figure this thing out.

When I plug the new hd into the RAID port (i have 2 sata ports and 2 raid ports), RAID Bios would recognize it but still not Windows. I messed around with different settings in the RAID setup and still no luck.

With the IDE hd drive plugged in and the new SATA hd plugged into the RAID port, I followed the advice given to someone else and went to
"diskmgmt.msc" in Windows. The new hd works perfect now in Windows. This rules out the hd being broken. And I know the RAID port works now as well.

So I decided to tinker with it to see just how "fixed" it is. The harddrive is recognized in windows only when plugged in the raid port. When plugged in the sata port it is not recognized by windows or my bios or the raid bios.

I want to run everything off of the one new sata harddrive and I'm confused as hell now. My best guess is that the driver I have somehow doesn't work for this newer hd, but I don't see why that would be the case since the driver should be the same regardless of the harddrive, as long as the harddrive is compatible, which this one is.

If i plug the broken sata harddrive in the sata port, my computer will recognize it but the hd just freezes, which leads me to believe the sata port works as well. The only conclusion I've come to is that I have the wrong driver or the SATA port is broken in spite of my "evidence" to the contrary.

Anyone have an idea? Thanks in advance.

EDIT -

Here is my system setup in case it is at all relevant:

AMD Athlon 64 3200
Asus K8V Deluxe SE mobo
Asus Geforce FX 5700
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
Linksys wifi card
Liteon dvd-rw ldw-851S
512 mb ddr ram pc3200
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD - the new hd

Does the XP install disk let you install to the drive when it's connected to the RAID port? Maybe do that, then try switching it over to the non-RAID port?

Your hard drive could be bad or you may have your bios configured incorrectly. Have you tried updating and resetting your BIOS?

If you try this and its still acting the same then I would guess that your hard drive is bad. Also, can you tell us about your PSU?

Even if I don't get it to work, you're the man for giving an informative reply!

This is what I had originally tried to do and what I still want to do:
I know for a fact that my old/broken hd was on the VIA controller. So, I plugged my new hd into the exact same port and used the exact some driver (the same floppy even) during Windows installation. That is what boggles me. I'm still willing to allow that I'm making some sort of error but I really don't know how, at least in this particular scenario/setup.

This is what I'm doing now:
The new hd is using the promise controller. Windows xp recognizes it only after having gone to disk management. Raid is enabled in bios and the fastbuild utility recognizes the hd (only when plugged into this set of ports, not when plugged into the set of ports I originally used, which I'm guessing are the via controller ports). Windows installation does not recognize the hd when plugged in but I suspect that is because I didn't put the promise controller driver onto a floppy. You've at least made me aware that I would need different drivers for that (something I've guessed all along).

So I guess the question now is: is there any significant difference between using the via controller instead of the promise controller and vice versa? As I stated, I had originally been using the via controller and am now using an IDE hd and the new sata hd on the promiser port. The only thing I want to be able to do is load windows directly onto the hd and use only that hd. I promised to give this IDE one to someone and besides that, I don't want that sort of setup.

If theres no significant difference, I'm more than willing to try and find the correct promise driver (I'll try both) and use the hd that way.

Either way, I'd wanna know why a similar hd on the same port with the same driver would not work.

I'm pretty sure the HD is fine. It works when plugged into a different port.

If PSU means power supply unit, I bought a more powerful one than the one I had originally hd. I think it is 550 watts.

Frustrating that it's not recognized by the Via controller.

Let's back up a second. The Via header is the one with the connectors one on top of the other. The Promise header is the one with the connectors side by side (below the Via header). For either one, you need the drivers for that header. If you only want a single drive, Raid must be deselected in bios and IDE selected. If you want to use the Via controller, the Promise controller must be disabled in bios (you don't need to disable the via controller if you're using promise).

If you were hooked up to the promise controller, and could get into the fastbuild utility, then you must have had the promise controller enabled. You don't want the raid setup but fastbuild gives you all the options. When you load the drivers in windows, just select the SATA driver and not the SATA/RAID set (I know it sounds dumb, but I made, and clearly labeled, 2 separate floppies so I woulnd't confuse myself). Since you had the drive recognized in disk management with the promise controller, it must have been working at one time. You need to initialize the drive in disk management by formatting it. Format is the first step then mark as active it it isn't allready.

Sounds like you're almost there. If you feel that you're at a place where it's not working and you need to start all over again, I highly recommend that you go back to the IDE drive and print out the via and promise pages of the manual before you start again. Might as well make fresh driver floppies to rule that out as a failure path.

Hope it works for you this time. Oh - one more little tip - during this frustrating process, you may want to keep things such as chain saws, power drills, and firearms safety locked up and out of your reach Believe me - I know!

That is what I had been using originally. That's what I have the drivers for. I didn't think to get the drivers for the promise controller until I read your post, but I don't want to use that controller anyway.

THAT MAY BE IT! While using my old HD, I flashed to the newer bios. Before flashing I had promise disabled. After flashing it was enabled again. The old hd still worked but I guess since it had already been setup it didn't cause a problem. But as far as I can tell, that seems to be the only difference between when setting up the old hd from the new. How it hurts me to find this information out just before I have to go to a family Christmas get-together.

Yes, that is when booting from the IDE drive. I did, however, take the IDE out when trying to fresh install windows. I've been plugging and unplugging so much that I just took my tower out and it's in the middle of the floor in my room laying there exposed like Britney's chocha, the poor thing. Soon it will go back into it's resting place, snug in my desk.

I appreciate the tip however it may be too late as I've done some unintended reorganzation of many small to moderate size objects around my room. My girlfriend has also received a few spontaneous wrestling moves in the past few weeks as well.