Bootable SATA Controller Card?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Turco
  • Start date Start date
Is there such a beast? If so, I need a PCI version.
Click to expand...

Lots of them, starting at about $8 for 2-port cards on Ebay,
delivered, or $15-$30 for identical name brand models. The
most common by far are based on chips made by Silicon Image
(SiL3512, SiL3112) or VIA (VT6421A), and they can boot all
hard disks up to 2TB in size and also SATA CD and DVD drives
(probably Blu Ray, too, but I didn't try it).

Be sure any VIA-based card has the VT6421A chip, not the
older VT6421L or VT6421 chip, which contain a design flaw
that prevents them from recognizing drives that support
maximum transfer rates of 300 megabytes/second or faster,
that is, all hard drives in production for the last several
years. Most such drives can be made compatible with a
jumper or configuration utility to limit them to 150 MB/s,
but I don't think that's possible with newer drives that
support SATA III and maximum 600 MB/s speed.

The VIA-based cards also include a PATA IDE port, which
works great with hard disks but not so well with optical
drives. When I tried that port, roughly half the optical
drives wouldn't work, and none allowed booting, but that's
common with PCI cards and PATA optical drives, regardless
of chip brand.

Promise used to be the most recommended PCI disk controller
card, but their TX-150 cards (and knockoffs) don't recognize
hard disks bigger than 1TB, and support of optical drives is
awful (probably because Promise says such drives aren't
supported).

There are SATA-PATA adapter cards, but compatibility varies.
One of the few that works with both types of drives is based on
a JMicron chip and is sold by Meritline for $5, delivered,
sometimes $3:

http://www.meritline.com/ide-to-sata-or-sata-to-ide-adapter---p-36542.aspx

The connectors are poorly marked, and the big 40-pin connector
is easy to plug in wrong (off by a couple of pins, even backwards),
but it seems to work with every drive. The bad customer reviews
are probably based mostly on the old version, which used a
completely different chip (Sun Plus).
 
Nothing new, but if I remember correctly I could
boot of Promise 100TX2 / 133TX2 cards. But that
was Linux. Windows seems to have its usual hysteric
reaction to hardware a bit older.

If speed is not an issue, an USB-to-ATA adapter
may also work for some BIOSes.

Arno

John Turco said:
Is there such a beast? If so, I need a PCI version.
Click to expand...
 
Lots of them, starting at about $8 for 2-port cards on Ebay,
delivered, or $15-$30 for identical name brand models. The
most common by far are based on chips made by Silicon Image
(SiL3512, SiL3112) or VIA (VT6421A), and they can boot all
hard disks up to 2TB in size and also SATA CD and DVD drives
(probably Blu Ray, too, but I didn't try it).

Be sure any VIA-based card has the VT6421A chip, not the
older VT6421L or VT6421 chip, which contain a design flaw
that prevents them from recognizing drives that support
maximum transfer rates of 300 megabytes/second or faster,
that is, all hard drives in production for the last several
years. Most such drives can be made compatible with a
jumper or configuration utility to limit them to 150 MB/s,
but I don't think that's possible with newer drives that
support SATA III and maximum 600 MB/s speed.

The VIA-based cards also include a PATA IDE port, which
works great with hard disks but not so well with optical
drives. When I tried that port, roughly half the optical
drives wouldn't work, and none allowed booting, but that's
common with PCI cards and PATA optical drives, regardless
of chip brand.

Promise used to be the most recommended PCI disk controller
card, but their TX-150 cards (and knockoffs) don't recognize
hard disks bigger than 1TB, and support of optical drives is
awful (probably because Promise says such drives aren't
supported).
Click to expand...

Would you happen to know of any specific models, regardless
of brand?
There are SATA-PATA adapter cards, but compatibility varies.
One of the few that works with both types of drives is based on
a JMicron chip and is sold by Meritline for $5, delivered,
sometimes $3:

http://www.meritline.com/ide-to-sata-or-sata-to-ide-adapter---p-36542.aspx

The connectors are poorly marked, and the big 40-pin connector
is easy to plug in wrong (off by a couple of pins, even backwards),
but it seems to work with every drive. The bad customer reviews
are probably based mostly on the old version, which used a
completely different chip (Sun Plus).
Click to expand...

I own several Syba "SD-ADA50016" (SATA to IDE, IDE to SATA)
bi-directional adapters. They're more expensive (and have
plastic housings) than the ones you've linked to, above.

(The SD-ADA50016's main drawback is its exceedingly lousy
"Molex" power connectors, by the way.)

John
 
Nothing new, but if I remember correctly I could
boot of Promise 100TX2 / 133TX2 cards. But that
was Linux. Windows seems to have its usual hysteric
reaction to hardware a bit older.
Click to expand...

I'll be using Windows XP "Home" (with SP3).
If speed is not an issue, an USB-to-ATA adapter
may also work for some BIOSes.

Arno
Click to expand...

My Syba "SD-ADA50016" (SATA to IDE, IDE to SATA)
bi-directional adapters, should be okay.

John
 
Would you happen to know of any specific models, regardless
of brand?
Click to expand...

NewEgg has a Syba SD-SATA150R, based on the Silicon Image SiL3512
chip, for $13, delivered (the model SYBA SD-SATA-1E1I is identical,
except for being $1 less and having an eSATA connector but only 1 internal SATA connector):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124006

NewEgg also has a Rosewill RC-215, based on the VIA VT6421A:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132012

I'm pretty sure it's functionally identical to my generic VIA
because I'm using its ver. 5.xx BIOS in my card. It's very hard
to find VIA BIOSes, but VIA does provide drivers.
 
NewEgg has a Syba SD-SATA150R, based on the Silicon Image SiL3512
chip, for $13, delivered (the model SYBA SD-SATA-1E1I is identical,
except for being $1 less and having an eSATA connector but only 1
internal SATA connector):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124006

NewEgg also has a Rosewill RC-215, based on the VIA VT6421A:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132012

I'm pretty sure it's functionally identical to my generic VIA
because I'm using its ver. 5.xx BIOS in my card. It's very hard
to find VIA BIOSes, but VIA does provide drivers.
Click to expand...


Thanks, that's good information...Usenet ain't quite dead, yet! I
just won an eBay auction ($3.99 USD + $3.00 shipping), for a used
Syba SD-SATA150R.

I've already downloaded the drivers, and I hope everything works
out right.

John
 
These were the first thing I saw while searching Ebay:

http://tinyurl.com/braw5zx
http://tinyurl.com/cemtov3

Both of the above seem to be PCIe. But this one is even PCI-X, which
should be compatible with regular old PCI:

http://tinyurl.com/cht7jwj

Yousuf Khan
Click to expand...



Those are on eBay's Canadian site, but I'm in the USA. Besides,
the prices are far above my budget, with the shipping charges
somewhat exorbitant.

In a previous reply in this subject thread, I'd written:

"I just won an eBay auction ($3.99 USD + $3.00 shipping), for
a used Syba SD-SATA150R."

Thanks, anyway!

John
 
Thanks, that's good information...Usenet ain't quite dead, yet! I
just won an eBay auction ($3.99 USD + $3.00 shipping), for a used
Syba SD-SATA150R.

I've already downloaded the drivers, and I hope everything works
out right.

John
Click to expand...


Yesterday (Thursday, 3-7-13), I assembled a Pentium III PC
and today (Friday, 3-8-13), I installed "Windows XP Home"
(with "Service Pack 3").

Although, for some odd reason, my system disk is "J:" (a
Seagate 500GB), and my storage drive is "C:" (Samsung 500GB);
they're both internal.

That must be a result of using the SD-SATA150R, I suppose.
Does anybody see any issues due to this unusual assignment
of drive letters?

John
 
Yesterday (Thursday, 3-7-13), I assembled a Pentium III PC
and today (Friday, 3-8-13), I installed "Windows XP Home"
(with "Service Pack 3").

Although, for some odd reason, my system disk is "J:" (a
Seagate 500GB), and my storage drive is "C:" (Samsung 500GB);
they're both internal.

That must be a result of using the SD-SATA150R, I suppose.
Does anybody see any issues due to this unusual assignment
of drive letters?

John
Click to expand...

Personally I would have loaded up windows with only a single drive in
the computer.

You may run into strife when other installer programmes try to find C:
which is not the system drive.

But having said that when you make a dual boot system there are two
partitions called drives C: D:
 
Personally I would have loaded up windows with only a single drive in
the computer.

You may run into strife when other installer programmes try to find C:
which is not the system drive.

But having said that when you make a dual boot system there are two
partitions called drives C: D:
Click to expand...


Thanks. After a while, Windows refused to load (something about a
corrupted file), and I was forced to reinstall it; hence, I detached
the Samsung. Everything went well, and the Seagate became the "C:"
system disk.

Unfortunately, when I hooked up the Samsung again, the Windows problem
resurfaced. Disconnecting the Samsung was the cure, so I must assume
it's defective.

Otherwise, the computer runs fine.

John
 
Thanks. After a while, Windows refused to load (something about a
corrupted file), and I was forced to reinstall it; hence, I detached
the Samsung. Everything went well, and the Seagate became the "C:"
system disk.

Unfortunately, when I hooked up the Samsung again, the Windows problem
resurfaced. Disconnecting the Samsung was the cure, so I must assume
it's defective.

Otherwise, the computer runs fine.

John
Click to expand...


Update (Saturday, March 23, 2013):

I replaced the Samsung 500GB SATA drive, with a Western Digital
500GB equivalent. My PC recognized the WD, but, Windows didn't.

Thus, I tried different things, to no avail. Eventually, Windows
wouldn't even load and so, I had to detach the WD.

Truly baffling...

John
 
John Turco said:
Update (Saturday, March 23, 2013):

I replaced the Samsung 500GB SATA drive, with a Western Digital
500GB equivalent. My PC recognized the WD, but, Windows didn't.
Click to expand...

That's normally just not formatting and partitioning the drive.
 
That's normally just not formatting and partitioning the drive.
Click to expand...


How do I format and partition the Western Digital, if Windows
XP doesn't assign it a drive letter?

John
 
John Turco said:
How do I format and partition the Western Digital, if Windows
XP doesn't assign it a drive letter?
Click to expand...

It doesn't get a letter until it has been partitioned and formatted (in
that order). This is basic stuff, John.

Start => Run => Diskmgmt.msc

Might want to write a signature to the disk. Accept.

Right-click the drive, Create Partition, OK your way through.

Once formatting starts it will assign a drive letter which you can use
in the normal way.
 
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