New SATA Drive Stops Boot

[brad999]

I recently purchased a new 2TB SATA drive to install in an old system. Previously I had two IDE hard drives installed as well as a SATA Blu-ray Burner. I had no problem booting with this configuration but once I plugged in my new SATA HDD my boot is halted when my RAID controller loads at boot. I can't even boot from a CD. It asks if I would like to configure RAID but won't even allow me to enter the configuration. If I disable the SATA controller in BIOS I can boot normally but then I don't have the ability to use the drive in Windows. I have upgraded my BIOS, this did nothing. Why won't my system boot properly?

Motherboard - Jetway A353DMS
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB

 

[tecmo34]

Your issue is the motherboard doesn't support 2TB drives. It doesn't know what to do with that size of drive, so it won't boot. The latest BIOS are from 2006, so I don't see updating helping.

You could try getting an external storage device to install the 2TB drive and see it you can access it through USB. I don't see it ever being a bootable drive... sorry

 

[photonboy]

Another possibility:

Do you have Windows XP as well as the "EARS" model of hard drive?

If so, you need to follow the instructions for how to get this new model of drive functioning.
http://www.wdc.com/global/products/features/?id=7&language=1

To be clear, EARS (Advanced Format) hard drives work by default in Vista/Windows 7 but need to be formatted using the above tool to work in XP.

If this is NOT the problem I will attempt to help further if needed.

 

[brad999]

I am using Windows XP with the "EARS" model. However, I have the jumpers set so that it should work and the boot process stops before getting to starting Windows. I can't even boot to a CD.

 

[photonboy]

You should install the hard drive into another computer and run the WD diagnostics.

*I had to run the WD Diagnostics software as "Administrator" or I got an error.

You should also try to install Windows on a different hard drive (don't Activate Windows).

You could also borrow a copy of Windows 7 long enough to see if it will start installing.

Summary:
- Try the above.
- Contact WD Support.

 

[brad999]

Best answer selected by brad999.

 

[photonboy]

I found no evidence that this motherboard could not handle 2TB drives.

Most likely it is:
a) an incorrect BIOS setting
b) a damaged SATA controller on the motherboard
c) a damaged hard drive

Three options:
1) install the 2TB drive in a different computer
2) install the 2TB drive in a USB case
3) purchase a PCI or PCI-e adapter (might as well get External-SATA as well as internal SATA connectors if you go this way)

The fact that it causes so many glitches seems like a fundamental hardware issue. If the motherboard is incompatible with 2TB drives then I guess that's the issue. If it's not then it's most likely a damaged hard drive.

Please post if the solution is found.

 

[photonboy]

I saw this which indicates early SATA controllers do have issues with later drives. There are some solutions. (Do check that your BIOS is the latest available)

I'm not saying this is your problem.
http://home.icequake.net/~nemesis/blog/index.php/archives/298

 

[photonboy]

This is from a link of the above link:

"No. Incorrect. A drive larger than the limit will not be usable. My motherboard would simply stop booting at the RAID screen where it scanned my SATA ports. There was no way to get around it. And absolutely no way to use the drive. Once I modded the motherboard's BIOS by incorporating the newer firmware for my SI 3112 chip, then the problem vanished. It booted correctly past the place where it used to lock up, and in short everything worked flawlessly after that.

For more details about my personal experience and its resolution (including links to how to mod the BIOS in this way) you can see here:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1491016"

Please note that your issue appears to be an older BIOS (again ensure you have the latest) and that the official BIOS for his motherboard did not have the updated driver support so he apparently added it.

 

[photonboy]

To be clear, the above indicates that USB should be absolutely no problem.

Such as:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=39419&vpn=NST%2D300SU%2DBK&manufacture=Vantec

At that price you could also purchase an addon SATA card which should work fine once the drivers are installed in Windows. Two cool links:

1) Video (explains type of addon SATA cards)
2) $15 SATA card from NCIX http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=33440&vpn=SD-SATA150R&manufacture=Syba

(Note: installing as a non-Windows drive is straightforward, simply insert the card and boot up then install the drivers if needed. You could still use this addon card for installing Windows to an attached hard drive such as your 2TB which isn't working with your onboard SATA controller. It's possible Windows 7 would already contain the drivers, otherwise there's a point in the installation of XP which asks you to have the drivers ready on a Floppy.)