New Builder - New Builder Win7 Load Driver for IDE

[Ctowndan]

Hi

I'm a first time builder. The key components are Gigabyte GA-880GM-D2H motherboard, Athlon X2 255, 4GB DDR3 1333 memory, Western Digital Cavier 500MB drive.

Got everything put together, BIOS sees everything. I can boot up installer for Windows 7 32-bit CD and Windows 7 64bit installer from Flash USB drive. In both scenarios, Win 7 Installer shows on DVI connected monitor.

I have had the Onchip SATA controller set for Enabled/IDE as well as disabled - defaults to basic IDE mode.

In all scenarios, when I get to the Windows 7 install to select the drive to install, it does not show anything and says I have to load drivers as "No Drives Were Found".

I looked on the Gigabyte website and did not see any drivers for IDE. (though there were some for RAID which I am not using)

I have tried another drive that I know works - BIOS sees it (both at same time) but Win7 installer does not. I have switched SATA cables with no luck. I have used all the SATA ports (1-4) on the motherboard - no differences.

On one hand, I think I have tried everything but am worried I am overlooking some basic silly thing. not sure if it's a driver issue, motherboard issue, drive issue, cable issue, BIOS setup ...

Can anyone provide some help/guidance for a new builder? My wife is asking me - why didn't you just buy an HP?

Thanks

Dan

 

[o1die]

I would simply enable everything in the bios except raid. If you are using achi mode, you may not notice the ide devices unless you check the control panel. Check your bios for ide and enable it. Also remember that older ide drives have jumpers; be sure the jumper is set for "slave" if you have a sata drive with your windows operating system working with an old ide drive from another system. You may also switch the sata power supply lead and see if that's the issue. They do work loose sometimes. Some boards have the locking sata cables; mine only works with the older sata cables that can come loose. The ide settings can be in the northbridge section if you don't find them in the chipset section.

 

[Ctowndan]

Thanks. I did try ACHI mode in the bios and was able to load the driver, but the SATA drive was still not recognized by windows.

All the components are new, so not trying to reuse old IDE drives.

I will recheck the bios settings, but have tried turning off on-board sat a controller(die mode), setting SATA controller to IDE mode, and setting to AHCI mode.

The bios sees the drive, displays the right model and capacity. Should it show more detail? Just trying to narrow the problem.

I did try two different SATA cables that came with mbod (locking kind) with no difference. Tried another SATA drive and was recognized by bios as above.

I'll check the bios again to see if I missed anything.

Are there other tools or troubleshooting steps to try to narrow scope of problem/assist identifying if a component is bad?

Thanks

Dan

 

[spooky2th]

All the drivers are on the gigabyte drive disk. If you are trying to set up a RAID configuration you need 2 HDs exactly a like, same manufaturer etc. The RAID drivers can be loaded right from the gigabyte disk. Or you can download them from your board's web site at Gigabyte and install them with USB flash drive.

You may have to set up your BIOS so that your comp will boot with a CD first.

Try loading optimized defaults first, then set up whatever else needs setting up.

 

[o1die]

Installing windows 7 from a flash drive can be tricky. You aren't the first to have an issue with a flash drive. Try gigabyte's cd for your board if you haven't already. I also sometimes use the website for the board chipset to get the latest driver, which would be amd's website.

 

[Ctowndan]

Again, thanks for help.

My current status is as follows:
-downloaded bootable diagnostic utility for WD hard drive - passed quicktest. I assume that means that the motherboard, cable, and drive work.
-as i still could not located the right drivers during the windows installation (gigabyte.com, adm.com and the gigabyte CD), i decided to use an old IDE drive to see if I could get that to work. Successfully installed windows 7 home premium 64-bit from the USB drive onto the IDE drive. I reconnected the WD SATA drive and was instantly recognized by Windows, device driver loaded, and available as a secondary drive!

So I tried removed the IDE drive and tried to install windows on the WD SATA drive but was stopped at the same driver issue. (of course driver

So, I still need to find the drivers as I don't want to use the older IDE drive as my primary.

Can I simply look at the driver files detail for the D: (secondary drive) by looking in Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>IDE Controllers>xxx SATA Controller to find the names of the drivers? Is it as easy as copying those to the usb and then install them at the appropriate time?

I will try that tonight but currently at my day job!

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the assistance!

 

[Ctowndan]

Trying to get the specific files from the listing in Device Manager did not work.

Totally stumped and confused. Everything seems to work from a hw perspective but cannot find the right driver (either something is really messed up or I am really confused).

IF nothing else, any suggestions on which components to return/exchange?

 

[spooky2th]

Are you seeing the option to load drivers? Select the drive above that option and windows should load on the drive. Or format the drive first.

 

[Ctowndan]

When I get to that screen in the win7 install, there are no drives to select. It tells me to load drivers so they can be accessed. I've tried every driver I can find (from both gigabyte as Mobo vendor and AMD as chipset vendor, using both CD and off website - none of them work. I was able to load the ACHI driver after chaning the bios to use ACHI mode on the SATA controller, but no drives showed up after loading the driver (and rebooting several times.)

The drive is formatted as I was able to use it as a secondary drive on this same system - used an old IDE as the boot drive. That's what really has me bothered/stumped - why would it be recognized when used as a secondary drive but not when trying to use as boot drive. Used same SATA cable and mobo connector, so I don't think it's a hw problem.

When I used the IDE drive, it already had Win XP installed on it and simply loaded Win7.

I'm willing to admit that there may be user error, but I am researching the various resources will no luck.

 

[o1die]

At this point, I would clone your ide drive to the new sata drive using maxblast 5.0, a free download. Download off seagate's website and install it on your ide hardrive. You'll have to reboot after installation. Then plug in your sata drive while windows is running. It will detect the new device. Then use the maxblast clone option to make a drive to drive copy ide to sata. reboot. Maxblast will start cloning the drive after windows starts loading. Then it will instruct you to press any key to shut off your system. Then you can change the ide drive jumper to "slave" or secondary mode. Then you should be able to boot with the sata and ide drives both connected.

 

[Ctowndan]

cool. I'll try and let you know.

 

[spooky2th]

I would try loading windows with the 2 drives in and recognized and windows loaded onto the IDE drive. You should be given a choice as to which drive you want to load windows. Choose SATA drive.

 

[spooky2th]

Have you set optimized defaults in the BIOS? This should automatically set the board up to load windows on a SATA.

 

[Ctowndan]

Not sure what optimized means!

I have set the BIOS in various modes - SATA Controller off for native IDE, SATA Controller On in Default IDE Mode, and SATA On in ACHI mode. No luck in any of those settings.

Is this what you were referring to? If not, can you provide some more guidance as I have looked through the various menus / manual and did not see anything else that I thought was relevant.

 

[Ctowndan]

BTW, during boot up, the BIOS sees the drive and provides some stats. Scrolls by to fast to read all of it but it's see it.

 

[Ctowndan]

Missed the question about reinstalling windows with both drives installed.

When I tried to run the installer from USB flash drive, only gave me the c: drive as the install option. Even though D: works perfectly fine (tested by backing up c: to d

 

[o1die]

Whatever you do, get rid of the usb flash drive now. You don't need it anymore. It may be the source of your boot problems with the sata drive. Maxblast is a no brainer, and will take you about 30 minutes to complete the cloning process. Good luck.

 

[Ctowndan]

Installed Maxblaster, but Maxblaster only showed one drive C:.

At the exact same time, I had the Win7 Computer window open and showed both the C: drive as well as the D: drive - which is the SATA drive!

I think I've gotten to the point where I need to start replacing components. Do I start with the drive or motherboard?

 

[o1die]

Tried it with the usb flash unplugged? If your ide windows installation is good, maxblast should find the sata drive if it's plugged in with the power supply and sata cables. All the bad sata drives I've used made a clicking noise when failing. Usually the arm is broken or the head is making contact with the disk. Any noise from the sata drive?

 

[Ctowndan]

First time I did it I had the flash drive plugged in. Maxbast saw two drives whereas windows saw 3. Rebooted after removing flash, with maxblaser showing 1 drive whole windows showed 2.

No noise from SATA drive.

stumped and frustrated-- but very appreciative of the help.

I still can return mono and drive. Any suggestions on which one (or both) to start with.

 

[o1die]

Could be a bad sata drive, but hard to say. Never had to load any ide drivers for windows xp or 7. If the sata were prepped (formated) than windows should find it. Let a friend test the sata on his board if possible. If not, start by sending it in. Never had a board fail to find a drive in the bios if it's connected properly.

 

[spooky2th]

In the BIOS, load optimized defaults, save and exit and reboot and try to load windows to your SATA HD. You should see "Load Optimized Defaults" in the main menu of the BIOS. You should always load optimized defaults first, then set up anything else in the BIOS that needs setting up. After you load optimized defaults, your sata HD should be able to load your windows OS. Good luck!

 

[Ctowndan]

Returned mobo and hard drive to local Fry's and replaced with MSI and seagate. Plugged everything in and worked.

I have no idea what I could have done differently, so I will assume something was wrong with one of them.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions. I really appreciate the support.

Dan