Installing Vista on a Sata hard drive

[xtreemman]

My problem is that I am trying to install vista on a sata hard drive (it is actually a ide hard drive with a sata adapter because my motherboard has only 1 ide connector and that is being used for my dvd drive) vista is not seeing my hard drive during install. I have the install cd that came with my motherboard and I searched for the drivers and put them on a flash drive. When it comes time for me to search for them during the vista install I browse to the folder and open that, then a list shows up that is pretty long. I have tried about 10 or so different ones on the list non have worked, meaning the hard drive has not shown up, most of the inf files are named the same. How do I get vista to see my hard drive?

Thanks for your help.

the system is

AMD A64 x2 (processor)
ECS A740gm-m v1 (mobo)
DDR2 2gb (Ram)
Seagate Barracuda 160gb (hard drive)

[JohnnyMalaria]

You can usually connect two IDE drives to a single IDE port. You just need the correct (and very common) cable.

http://www.short-circuit.com/images/products/cables/ide-cable.jpg

OR

Have you installed a previous version of Windows on the drive or is this the first time you have tried it?

What if you try disconnecting the DVD drive and connecting the hard drive to the one IDE port that you have? Does Vista see it then? If so, can you use the IDE/SATA adapter for the DVD drive?

[xtreemman]

There is no previous version of windows on the hard drive.

Vista does see the the hard drive when its hooked up to the ide cable but it does not see the dvd drive when it is hooked up with the sata adapter.

I guess ill try hooking up the hard drive as master and dvd drive as slave and try loading vista that way.

One more thing if I load vista while the hard drive is connected via that ide cable can I connect it with the sata cable after?

[Bjs]

Motherboard supports 6 sata

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?detailid=864&CategoryID=...ID=123&LanID=0

Sata Setup

Page 29:

32Bit Data Transfer (Enabled)
Use this item to set the onboard SATA-IDE channel to be disabled, IDE, or RAID. (set to IDE)

Page 30:

Set first boot device as cd/dvdrom
2nd as hd

For new setups

Page 32: Important info

Onboard IDE Controller Enabled
SATA Configuration Enabled
Onboard SATA Mode IDE < You must set to IDE

----

Sata/ide converter setup

To use the sata to ide device on IDE channel you must set the sata hd to master / slave / cs (sata's do have jumper settings)
If ide cable has 2 connections (the default supplied cable) ... the end is treated as master, the middle as slave

----

Pc bios must see the unit first or vista will not see it at all

[INFRATOM]

When installing windows if you have an adapter that has its own driver and does not exist in windows installation cd, you have to press F6 right after cd boot then it would ask for a floppy for the driver. You have to create a driver disk first. Then windows installer will see your adapter hence HD. This is the same if you want to install RAID array. If it is a new HD make sure you set the correct pins for sata 150 or sata 300 otherwise it may not see the HD. I just put a computer together and it would not see the driver from USB, I had to install an old floppy! on a new ASUS motherboard.

[xtreemman]

will vista see my hard drive if i connect the hard drive and dvd drive up thru the ide cable to install vista then switch the hard drive back to the sata adapter?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Probably not. The reason you can't install Vista on it in the first place is because the setup program doesn't have the driver to use the drive. If you move a successful installation from the IDE port to the SATA then when the PC boots, it has to be able to find the bootable drive (now the SATA). It will probably fail because there is no driver to get beyond the boot. Also, because the installation was done on the IDE port, it is unlikely the SATA drivers would be on the drive since the installer didn't need them.

Is there any particular reason you can't just keep both the hard drive and the DVD drive on the IDE port as slave and master?

[xtreemman]

well then i guess im stuck running my hard drive off of the ide cable because i have tried loading the drivers from the mobo cd to a flash drive and loading them thru vista when it asks and i have also followed BJs steps and still vista does not see the hard drive or any other drive connected through the sata

[INFRATOM]

If your HD is PATA and you can disconnect the SATA adapter you might as well use it as PATA because there is no point to it. Your answer is yes when you install it and computer boots you can install its driver. The whole point is speed if it is an old drive that the hardware is PATA you are bound to whatever speed it has 100 or 133 at the most and even if you connect it to SATA you would not be able to get speeds of 150 or 300.
As I mentioned before windows will not take the driver from cd or USB even though it sees it, it has to be a floppy and you have to press F6 to ask for the floppy. I just checked your motherboard spec, it does not have a floppy connection you're stuck! well you have to slip stream a windows cd and add your drivers. The specs does not say what kind of RAID chip it has you would have the same problem creating RAID also. Check the motherboard manual see what they suggest.

[xtreemman]

ok thanks i have one more question when i enabled the 32bit data transfer option in the bios, would that cause the system to not see the hard drive if it is connected via the ide cable?

also the reason why i wanted to hook up the old ide hard drive was because the ide cable does not reach from the hard drive to the dvd drive.

[JohnnyMalaria]

No need to set the 32-bit option:

http://hardware.mcse.ms/archive69-2004-8-56588.html

Your need for a longer cable makes sense

You can get longer ones (with a longer stretch between the two drive connectors). e.g., http://www.directron.com/cbl-ide-l.html or you can roll your own: http://www.cablesnmor.com/ide-kit.html

Also, could you put the DVD drive on the SATA and have the hard drive on the IDE?

[xtreemman]

alright thanks a ton for all your help! i didnt even think to look for a longer cable wow i feel like an idot. i got it all working with the ide cable but im gonna get the longer one recommend to make it easier. thanks again.