P4C800 - installing SATA hard drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter GLeger
  • Start date Start date
G

GLeger

I'm new to the SATA hard drives, and was wondering if I can add the SATA
drive to the computer while keeping the existing UATA drive(s).
I actually have 2 uata drives now, but I would like to add a 3rd by using
the SATA cable.

Can this be done? Or do I have to take out one of the uata drives?

Also, any special instructions on using SATA drives because this is the
first one I've used.

thanks
Gary
 
"GLeger" said:
I'm new to the SATA hard drives, and was wondering if I can add the SATA
drive to the computer while keeping the existing UATA drive(s).
I actually have 2 uata drives now, but I would like to add a 3rd by using
the SATA cable.

Can this be done? Or do I have to take out one of the uata drives?

Also, any special instructions on using SATA drives because this is the
first one I've used.

thanks
Gary
Click to expand...

It depends on the OS. Win2K and WinXP support six drives off the
Southbridge. If you are using Win98SE, the answer is only four of
six drives can be used.

Think of the two SATA interfaces, as being equal to one IDE cable
with a master and a slave on it. When you are in Win98SE, you can
use any two of three "IDE cables" worth of drives. This is due to
the clever emulation trick that Intel is using. When the BIOS is set
to "Compatible" mode for the Southbridge, the SATA drives are made to
look like an I/O mapped IDE cable. There are only standard IRQs for
two IDE cables, and thus the two "cable" limit in Win98SE.

If you select "Enhanced" mode in the BIOS, that is suitable for
Win2K and WinXP. I think that is the default BIOS setting. That
allows all three IDE "cables worth" of drives, to be used at the
same time. In this case, the Southbridge maps the drives to the
PCI bus, instead of the traditional I/O space.

This is all explained in yout manual, usually in two different
sections of the manual.

There is some boring reference material here:
http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/manuals/25267102.pdf

Paul
 
Paul said:
It depends on the OS. Win2K and WinXP support six drives off the
Southbridge. If you are using Win98SE, the answer is only four of
six drives can be used.

Think of the two SATA interfaces, as being equal to one IDE cable
with a master and a slave on it. When you are in Win98SE, you can
use any two of three "IDE cables" worth of drives. This is due to
the clever emulation trick that Intel is using. When the BIOS is set
to "Compatible" mode for the Southbridge, the SATA drives are made to
look like an I/O mapped IDE cable. There are only standard IRQs for
two IDE cables, and thus the two "cable" limit in Win98SE.

If you select "Enhanced" mode in the BIOS, that is suitable for
Win2K and WinXP. I think that is the default BIOS setting. That
allows all three IDE "cables worth" of drives, to be used at the
same time. In this case, the Southbridge maps the drives to the
PCI bus, instead of the traditional I/O space.

This is all explained in yout manual, usually in two different
sections of the manual.

There is some boring reference material here:
http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/manuals/25267102.pdf

Paul
Click to expand...



Thanks for the reply Paul!

I will be adding the SATA drive, and will put WinXP on it, and use the
existing drives as just extra space.
I think that I will need to add some drivers! I'm saying this because I've
had this motherboard for a while, and when
it's booting, I remember seeing something about sata drivers missing, but
never paid it any attention because
I knew that I didn't have any SATA drives connected. I would imagine this
file is on the drivers disc that came
with the mobo?

Oh well, I hope it works out.

thanks
Gary
 
I'm new to the SATA hard drives, and was wondering if I can add the SATA
I will be adding the SATA drive, and will put WinXP on it, and use the
existing drives as just extra space.
I think that I will need to add some drivers! I'm saying this because
I've had this motherboard for a while, and when
it's booting, I remember seeing something about sata drivers missing, but
never paid it any attention because
I knew that I didn't have any SATA drives connected. I would imagine this
file is on the drivers disc that came
with the mobo?
Click to expand...

Yes, you may to copy the SATA drivers off your motherboard
CD. Press the F6 key during the Windows XP install process
and then the 'S' key to install the driver. Also, it's recommended
to remove your other hard drives so you don't accidentally
delete something, etc. You can re-connect once everything
is working and installed on the SATA drive.
 
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