Installing Second SATA drive in a Dell E510

  • Thread starter Thread starter pjmajer
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pjmajer

Hey guys,

I just bought a second SATA hard from Western Digital (HD 500G|WD 7K
16M SATA2 WD5000KS) and was trying to install it in my E510. However,
the drive isn't getting recognized after I boot up my PC with it in the
second bay (ie, WinXP isn't finding a new device and I don't see a new
drive letter in Explorer for this drive). I have a SATA0 and SATA2
connection on my mobo.
I put my SATA2 HD in the SATA0 connection and booted up the PC with a
Windows Vista Beta 2 disc, and was able to install Vista with no
problem...so it can't be the HD.
If I try to boot up the PC with only 1 of the HD (either one) connected
to the SATA2 slot, I get an error about the disk not being found (is
this because the SATA0 connection has to be made first?).
I'm not sure what I need to do with the BIOS or the jumpers. Dell's
website said that I don't need to mess with the jumpers for two SATA
drives - leaving them as is should be OK. So I'm wondering if a) I
didn't set something up in the BIOS correctly, b) there's a problem
wtih my SATA2 connection on the mobo, or c) Is there a SATA2 cable I
need to connect to the SATA2 connection versus the regular SATA cable
I'm using now?

The first hard drive that I have XP installed on is a 80GB Serial ATA
Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™.

Thanks much.

-Peter
 
Does it show up in Drive Manager? If so, you should be able to assign a
drive letter from there.


I just bought a second SATA hard from Western Digital (HD 500G|WD 7K
16M SATA2 WD5000KS) and was trying to install it in my E510. However,
the drive isn't getting recognized after I boot up my PC with it in the
second bay (ie, WinXP isn't finding a new device and I don't see a new
drive letter in Explorer for this drive). I have a SATA0 and SATA2
connection on my mobo.
I put my SATA2 HD in the SATA0 connection and booted up the PC with a
Windows Vista Beta 2 disc, and was able to install Vista with no
problem...so it can't be the HD.
 
Hey guys,

I just bought a second SATA hard from Western Digital (HD 500G|WD 7K
16M SATA2 WD5000KS) and was trying to install it in my E510. However,
the drive isn't getting recognized after I boot up my PC with it in the
second bay (ie, WinXP isn't finding a new device and I don't see a new
drive letter in Explorer for this drive).

after formatting and partitioning?


I have a SATA0 and SATA2
connection on my mobo.
I put my SATA2 HD in the SATA0 connection and booted up the PC with a
Windows Vista Beta 2 disc, and was able to install Vista with no
problem...so it can't be the HD.
If I try to boot up the PC with only 1 of the HD (either one) connected
to the SATA2 slot, I get an error about the disk not being found (is
this because the SATA0 connection has to be made first?).
I'm not sure what I need to do with the BIOS or the jumpers. Dell's
website said that I don't need to mess with the jumpers for two SATA
drives - leaving them as is should be OK. So I'm wondering if a) I
didn't set something up in the BIOS correctly, b) there's a problem
wtih my SATA2 connection on the mobo, or c) Is there a SATA2 cable I
need to connect to the SATA2 connection versus the regular SATA cable
I'm using now?

The first hard drive that I have XP installed on is a 80GB Serial ATA
Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst CacheT.

Thanks much.

-Peter
 
after formatting and partitioning?

I didn't format it or partition it yet - I wasn't sure how to do that
without being able to see it via XP explorer.
Does it show up in Drive Manager? If so, you should be able to assign a
drive letter from there.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about Computer Management->Disk Management through
control panel? If so, I couldn't even see my new HD listed at all
there.

Peter
 
I didn't format it or partition it yet - I wasn't sure how to do that
without being able to see it via XP explorer.


Are you talking about Computer Management->Disk Management through
control panel? If so, I couldn't even see my new HD listed at all
there.
Click to expand...

ok then lets start at the beginning, Is the drive seen in the POST?(bios
startup screen)
what mother board are you using?
 
Is the drive seen in the POST?(bios startup screen)

I didn't see it last night when I tried to install it but I'll fiddle
around with it more tonight when I get home to see if I can get it to
appear. If it's not showing, is there a way I can get the SATA2
connection active?
what mother board are you using?
Click to expand...

This is a DELL E510 (so they have their own motherboards which they
don't share the name of), but I believe it's a BTX motherboard. I'm
not sure of the specifics but can search for more information.

http://cnet.nytimes.com/Dell_Dimension_E510/4505-3118_7-31555136-2.html
 
I didn't see it last night when I tried to install it but I'll fiddle
around with it more tonight when I get home to see if I can get it to
appear. If it's not showing, is there a way I can get the SATA2
connection active?


This is a DELL E510 (so they have their own motherboards which they
don't share the name of), but I believe it's a BTX motherboard. I'm
not sure of the specifics but can search for more information.

http://cnet.nytimes.com/Dell_Dimension_E510/4505-3118_7-31555136-2.html
Click to expand...



you did tell it in the bios to turn on sata2 right? most of the new dells
have unused sata ports disabled.
 
You need to go into the system bios and scroll down to the 'drives' section.
find the line for the second HD, hit enter, choose 'enable'. exit the bios
saving changes.

By default only the first HD is enabled in the bios.


Hey guys,

I just bought a second SATA hard from Western Digital (HD 500G|WD 7K
16M SATA2 WD5000KS) and was trying to install it in my E510. However,
the drive isn't getting recognized after I boot up my PC with it in the
second bay (ie, WinXP isn't finding a new device and I don't see a new
drive letter in Explorer for this drive). I have a SATA0 and SATA2
connection on my mobo.
I put my SATA2 HD in the SATA0 connection and booted up the PC with a
Windows Vista Beta 2 disc, and was able to install Vista with no
problem...so it can't be the HD.
If I try to boot up the PC with only 1 of the HD (either one) connected
to the SATA2 slot, I get an error about the disk not being found (is
this because the SATA0 connection has to be made first?).
I'm not sure what I need to do with the BIOS or the jumpers. Dell's
website said that I don't need to mess with the jumpers for two SATA
drives - leaving them as is should be OK. So I'm wondering if a) I
didn't set something up in the BIOS correctly, b) there's a problem
wtih my SATA2 connection on the mobo, or c) Is there a SATA2 cable I
need to connect to the SATA2 connection versus the regular SATA cable
I'm using now?

The first hard drive that I have XP installed on is a 80GB Serial ATA
Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst CacheT.

Thanks much.

-Peter
 
HDRDTD said:
You need to go into the system bios and scroll down to the 'drives' section.
find the line for the second HD, hit enter, choose 'enable'. exit the bios
saving changes.

By default only the first HD is enabled in the bios.
Click to expand...


Thanks guys, that did it. I can't believe I was that stupid to
overlook this last night. Perhaps it was because it was getting late
and I was getting very tired.

All's well that ends well.
 
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