SATA Help Please - (Complicated)

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J

jonah

Sorry this is a bit involved, its not half as confusing as the real
thing though 8-)

Gigabyte KN8SC-939 MOBO
Athalon 3800 X2 Processor
2 GB RAM
PNY Nvidia 6800GT Graphics
2 x 80Gb Hitachi Deskstar SATA HDDs
Seasonic 500 Watt PSU

Bespoke Case with more than enough cooling (IMO) CPU is nowhere near
temp cutout but then has not actually done any real work yet.

Having severe difficulty with this set up, Installed latest BIOS, All
latest MOBO & VC Drivers I can find and I have been through the BIOS
Settings many times but I am confused, it looks right, but I cannot
tell if it is OK or not because the info I have is very basic and
relates to RAID setup mainly, I don't want a RAID array just a couple
of fast HDDs.

POST is OK, SATA Drives are recognised, XP Installs just fine but for
some reason at some point during the set up I get chkdsk errors on
startup which clear OK but that is later followed by a re-start hang
at the Windows Splash Screen. The hang can only be cleared by a "hard
power reset and a "use last good config". A full power off, power on
reboot works fine so I am a bit puzzled by this.

I am not sure if the chkdsk / reboot problems are related but the one
follows the other after a couple of re-starts, also I am not seeing
the "saving settings" during the re-start power down which I reckon is
significant.

Tried to backtrack out of the problem by undoing my recent steps but
no good. Cannot re-install an image as it is corrupt however a
reformat / re-install followed by installing the same image works no
problem so obviously the image is not corrupt.

Eventually I got fed up and used 2 x IDE Drives instead, the setup
went fine without any problems, which tells me its the MOBO / Drives /
BIOS or all of the above but does not help much to solve the issue.

PC is working very well but I want to use my SATA drives. I have tried
the manufactorers websites for the MOBO and the HDDs FAQs but can find
nothing useful.

Any help - SATA / BIOS related how tos etc whatever would be
appreciated. I have saved up and got the parts for this PC for a long
time now and it is very frustrating not being able to use it.

TIA

Jonah
 
What BIOS is it? Someone might be able to walk you through it better if
they know that.

Maybe this will help:

Q: My motherboard comes with onboard RAID controller. Why can't I
install OS or get into Windows when just install one SATA (IDE) HDD?

A: The SATA (IDE) RAID feature is enabled by BIOS default setting.
Please get into BIOS while BIOS POST, and make sure the RAID feature is
disabled by related BIOS option.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/FAQ_List.aspx?FAQID=4651

BTW I just got two 80GB deskstars working in RAID 0 and it seems to
work great so far.
 
What BIOS is it? Someone might be able to walk you through it better if
they know that.

Maybe this will help:

Q: My motherboard comes with onboard RAID controller. Why can't I
install OS or get into Windows when just install one SATA (IDE) HDD?

A: The SATA (IDE) RAID feature is enabled by BIOS default setting.
Please get into BIOS while BIOS POST, and make sure the RAID feature is
disabled by related BIOS option.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/FAQ_List.aspx?FAQID=4651

BTW I just got two 80GB deskstars working in RAID 0 and it seems to
work great so far.
Click to expand...

Its Award V6 Flash v8 (latest)

Yeah I tried that before, its OK up to a seemingly random point then
all the re-start trouble begins. I am going to try adding the SATA
drives as well as the PATA Drives and enabling RAID 0 as you have done
then see what happens.

What MOBO are you using?

TBO I am a bit pig sick of this SATA stuff it all seems to be very
poorly documented by Gigabyte for my MOBO and lobbed in as an
afterthought, plus the BIOS settings are very obscure. I am drooling
over those FaTility Lanparty MOBOs so I may just bin this one and
upgrade again.

I have other new boards around I will try the drives in a test PC

Jonah
 
Read the owners manual....Otherwise,edit the integrated peripherals,set to
SATA w/o RAID,in boot priority,set to bootable add-in device (enables SATA
controller),plus,press F6 to install SATA controller drivers.You can view
this at:
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-010695.htm
Click to expand...
snip

RTFM eh?

OK Andrew, done that and every bit of info I can find from Gigabyte,
trouble is the documentation is both poorly written and very sparse.

There are no SATA Control drivers to install via F6, only RAID
drivers but you have a point it is possible that the drivers are not
lmentioned in the manual but are on the disk.

The BIOS options are very poorly documented and the translation from
Chinese is terrible.

Your link helped a lot with general explaination of what to look for
so thanks a lot.

Cheers

Jonah
 
Andrew said:
Read the owners manual....Otherwise,edit the integrated
peripherals,set to SATA w/o RAID,in boot priority,set to bootable
add-in device (enables SATA controller),plus,press F6 to install SATA
controller drivers.You can view this at:
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-010695.htm
Click to expand...

Pardon me for interjecting here but I have to question this as I have
installed SATA and RAID well after the OS was loaded and configured and had
been running for 6 months. I followed procedures according to Intel for my
D915PBL board. I have RAID and SATA enabled in BOIS and am only currently
using non RAID setup. Could I possibly be taking a performance hit and not
even know it?

Cliff
 
Pardon me for interjecting here but I have to question this as I have
installed SATA and RAID well after the OS was loaded and configured and had
been running for 6 months. I followed procedures according to Intel for my
D915PBL board. I have RAID and SATA enabled in BOIS and am only currently
using non RAID setup. Could I possibly be taking a performance hit and not
even know it?

Cliff
Click to expand...
snip

Dunno Clif but I am beginning to think I should have got a Intel board

8-)

Jonah
 
jonah said:
snip

Dunno Clif but I am beginning to think I should have got a Intel board

8-)

Jonah
Click to expand...

It's not to late. They are about the cheapest thing you can do to get the
most fun out of. I love Intel with the Desktop Utilities for monitoring and
testing the System. Fan controls are handy too.
 
It's not to late. They are about the cheapest thing you can do to get the
most fun out of. I love Intel with the Desktop Utilities for monitoring and
testing the System. Fan controls are handy too.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know this machine is on a Intel D865G Board & 2.8 P4 processor
but I need to do a serious upgrade so bang for buck wise AMD is the
only way to go. I am doing increasing amounts of video production
these days- boat sales and bike racing DVDs mainly - thats why I
wanted SATA drives as part of the upgrade plan.

I have a mate who is a games freak he has the latest FaTility MOBO and
the silly money top spec AMD FX processor, liquid cooled, 2 x Gainward
7800 PCI Express cards, the whole bit, its amazingly fast and lit up
like a christmas tree on coke. I am probably going to get the credit
card out next week and trade what I have in for the same kit, now I
have played with the best nothing else will do.

Bugger it!

8-)

Jonah
 
jonah said:
Yeah I know this machine is on a Intel D865G Board & 2.8 P4 processor
but I need to do a serious upgrade so bang for buck wise AMD is the
only way to go. I am doing increasing amounts of video production
these days- boat sales and bike racing DVDs mainly - thats why I
wanted SATA drives as part of the upgrade plan.

I have a mate who is a games freak he has the latest FaTility MOBO and
the silly money top spec AMD FX processor, liquid cooled, 2 x Gainward
7800 PCI Express cards, the whole bit, its amazingly fast and lit up
like a christmas tree on coke. I am probably going to get the credit
card out next week and trade what I have in for the same kit, now I
have played with the best nothing else will do.

Bugger it!

8-)

Jonah
Click to expand...

AMD, Intel, it is far more than a processor that makes a good System. I
have no games what so ever and I am running a P4 630 Dual/HT 2 G DDR2 WD
Raptor SATA and Maxtor SATA/IDE with Xtasy X850XT PCI-e on an Intel D915PBL
main board. All just for CAD/Video/Photo. No competition there so my old
System will stay old for awhile longer. I can say that SATA is working fine.
I am not all that impressed by a modest read/write increase. I was hoping
for more but boot time is short.

I have an old relic P4 2.4 on an Intel D845GBV Desktop board that this
System replaced last fall and it is just sitting there as a DVR.

Good old Intel and SATA computability.

Cliff
 
1) validate your ram by running memtest86+ from floppy. even one error is
bad bad bad - correct that issue before procedding.

2) in bios, ensure APIC Mode is "enabled" (this is not ACPI, but APIC;
many amd bios' default this to disabled, for xp you want it enabled. some
bios' don't even list it anymore tho, so if you cant find it after
a careful look then "never mind".)

3) even if you don't set up a raid, you probably need to install the sata
chip's drivers at XP Setup time, via the F6 prompt. For nForce 4, you
need to select TWO drivers, one after then other, before proceeding - read
the MB docs, or go to the nForce site. VIA and Promise have a single
driver. [This often hangs peple up, they think its only needed for raid.]

Your friend with the fatality system should be able to help. Good luck,
that's a good system, you'll get it working w/o regrets.
 
snip

AMD, Intel, it is far more than a processor that makes a good System. I
have no games what so ever and I am running a P4 630 Dual/HT 2 G DDR2 WD
Raptor SATA and Maxtor SATA/IDE with Xtasy X850XT PCI-e on an Intel D915PBL
main board. All just for CAD/Video/Photo. No competition there so my old
System will stay old for awhile longer. I can say that SATA is working fine.
I am not all that impressed by a modest read/write increase. I was hoping
for more but boot time is short.

I have an old relic P4 2.4 on an Intel D845GBV Desktop board that this
System replaced last fall and it is just sitting there as a DVR.

Good old Intel and SATA computability.

Cliff
Click to expand...
Cliff I mean I am changing the entire system for a duplicate of my
mates games system, I will trade what I have in and credit card the
rest. Most importantly I know his system runs without problems on the
SATA Drives he has installed and it is lightning fast also I can get
direct help in setting it up should I need to.

Only problem is thinking up a good stroy to run past the wife re why I
need to spend several K on PC bits. Mind you she can get through that
kind of cash on a couple of outfits with shoes and handbags so you
would be forgiven for thinking it should be no problem.

I wish!

Jonah
 
1) validate your ram by running memtest86+ from floppy. even one error is
bad bad bad - correct that issue before procedding.

2) in bios, ensure APIC Mode is "enabled" (this is not ACPI, but APIC;
many amd bios' default this to disabled, for xp you want it enabled. some
bios' don't even list it anymore tho, so if you cant find it after
a careful look then "never mind".)

3) even if you don't set up a raid, you probably need to install the sata
chip's drivers at XP Setup time, via the F6 prompt. For nForce 4, you
need to select TWO drivers, one after then other, before proceeding - read
the MB docs, or go to the nForce site. VIA and Promise have a single
driver. [This often hangs peple up, they think its only needed for raid.]

Your friend with the fatality system should be able to help. Good luck,
that's a good system, you'll get it working w/o regrets.
Click to expand...

Hey Frodo thanks a lot man, thats the kind of info I need, I did not
realise I need drivers on F6 when I am not using raid. This was not
made clear in the documentation, I just checked it again it is in fact
not mentioned at all. I did google extensively and found several
posters with eerily similar issues but no solutions. I will have a
look at the Nforce site I only tried the Gigabyte site initially. I
will have another go at it tomorrow with the SATA drives.

Meanwhile I am trading the kit in on Monday for the same spec as my
mates so I will be back in a couple of weeks when I am stuck

Thanks for the help

Jonah
 
jonah said:
Cliff I mean I am changing the entire system for a duplicate of my
mates games system, I will trade what I have in and credit card the
rest. Most importantly I know his system runs without problems on the
SATA Drives he has installed and it is lightning fast also I can get
direct help in setting it up should I need to.

Only problem is thinking up a good stroy to run past the wife re why I
need to spend several K on PC bits. Mind you she can get through that
kind of cash on a couple of outfits with shoes and handbags so you
would be forgiven for thinking it should be no problem.

I wish!

Jonah
Click to expand...

Good luck and keep us posted.

Cliff
 
Ordered Parts - Credit Card now seriously pissed off.

Still need a story
Any ideas????
8-)
Jonah
Click to expand...
You needed to buy a small low-cost part, but unfortunately
you then discovered that you HAD to buy matching accessories to go
with that new bit because all your old parts clashed.
Maybe, wrong colour parts?

Ivy
 
You needed to buy a small low-cost part, but unfortunately
you then discovered that you HAD to buy matching accessories to go
with that new bit because all your old parts clashed.
Maybe, wrong colour parts?

Ivy
Click to expand...

Brilliant - thanks Ivy - she can't even begin to argue with that one.

Jonah
 
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