Silicon Image SATA Controller Problem

[waheed]

I have a ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe motherboard which has 8 SATA ports. 4 ports are NVIDIA Controller (Black) and the other 4 are Silicon Image (Red).



Im trying to connect my maxtor 200GB SATA Hard Drive to the Silicon Image Port and its not recognising it. The same Hard Drive works fine on the NVIDIA Controller but not the Silicon Image. Ive tried all 4 Red ports, no luck.

Ive made sure the Silicon Image drivers are installed correctly and up to date. Ive even checked the BIOS, and the Silicon image Controller is enabled.

Does any one know how I can get it to work on the Silicon Image port?

Thanks.

More Info:

(NVIDIA Controller)
SATA 1: WD Rartor 74GB (OS Drive)
SATA 2: Seagate Barraccuda 160GB
SATA 3: None
SATA 4: None

[redwudz]

I have SI controllers on two of my computers, but no problems with them. Have you tried a different drive on the controller?

I just did a Google search for 'problems with silicon image sata controller' and saw a few links. You might check them out.

[waheed]

Just installed the latest drivers from the Silicon image website. It also installed a SATARAID 5 Manager utility. I connected the 200GB Maxtor and its shown in the utility but not under windows.

I then connected the Seagate 160GB to the SI SATA port and still same problem. Drive does not show up in windows.

I will do a google search for the problems, but in the meantime if someone can provide a solution, it will be much appreciated.

[ROF]

In the BIOS select the Onboard Controller selection(I forget which tab it's on). From there you will see a setting called Silicon Image SATA Controller. It's disabled by default. Enable it, save the BIOS and re-boot.

BTW, very nice board. I had one in my hands a few weeks ago.

OOPS . . . Just saw you already did this.

[Cobra]

You need to tell it to be in "IDE MODE" and not "RAID MODE" (in BIOS). My SI controller gave me this problem. See:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=264825

Hope this helps!

Cobra

[waheed]

Thanks Cobra. Im aware of that thread. Unfortunately, there isn't a option under BIOS to turn from RAID to IDE. However, I have disabled all RAID options and enabled all IDE options. Still no luck. Ive even updated my BIOS to the latest version.

The drive is recognised when I boot the PC (though it states its empty. Under Control Panel, I get this:



which means the drive is there but its just not recognised by windows and wont show under "My Computer".

I think ive exhausted most options.

[ROF]

By chance did you try hot plugging it? That board supports hot plugging of SATA devices. Maybe windows needs to be reminded it's there?

Just a guess on my part.

[waheed]

Ive tried both hot plugging and with restarting windows.

[thevoelk]

I have a Tyan board that's the same type thing. The Silicon IMage controller can only be used as a RAIS-5 controller. So if only one drive connected to it the card can't build the RAID-5 array. Are you sure your board doesn't work in a similar way?

Also, this is a really stupid question but noone has asked or said other wise, have you gone into Disk Management to see if the drive is detected there? If it's a brand new drive, you may have to initialize it first before Windows lets you see it.

[waheed]

Not sure if the controller works the same way. All I know is that its a Silicon Image 3114 Controller.

Ive altready been into Disk management and the drive is not deceted there. Its not a new drive (it has data on it), as ive mentioned, the SATA drive works fine on the Nvidia controller, but not the SI Controller.

Ive tried two different drives (Maxtor and Seagate), both work on Nvidia Controller but not SI Controller.

[redwudz]

I saw this on one site: Define the drive as a single-drive concatenation in the Silicon Image RAID setup utility (hit F4 when prompted during boot).

I looked around the net a little for the SI 3114 but didn't see anything specific to your problems.

[waheed]

I dont have that option. This is what I get:

Sil 3114 SATARAID Bios Version 5.1.39

Copyright (C) 1997-2004 Silicon image, inc

Press (Ctrl + S) or F4 to enter RAID utility

When pressing F4, I am presented with these options, none of which I think is relevant:

Create RAID Set
Delete RAID Set
Rebuild Raid1 Set
Resolve Conflicts
Low Level Format
Logical Drive Info

[redwudz]

I was afraid that wouldn't help, as you would already have found it.

My MB that has the SI chipset is torn apart for repairs, so I can't check what setup it has at present. I may get it up and running tomorrow. I'm guessing there is no help at the SI website, either.

Worst case is there is a problem with your SI chipset.

[waheed]

Worst case is there is a problem with your SI chipset.

I hope not, because I bought this MB in December 2004 are the warranty has already ran out

[thevoelk]

According to Asus's site, here's what you do:

1)Make sure the drive is in SATA Mode in BIOS of the card.

2) Update the RAID Card driver, select "I will choose the driver".

3)Select "Have Disk" and browse to [cd_drive]\Drivers\Sil3114\SATA_RAID_Driver\ and point the wizard to the SI3114r.inf file.

The pdf is here:
http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/Sil3114.pdf

It's on page 19. Without having your computer in front of me, I would say that Windows is looking for a RAID set on that controller, not just a single disk. And I do realize you said you don't have the option in the BIOS, I'm just saying what the manual says.

Maybe a BIOS upgrade for the card? Hope this helps.

[waheed]

thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, there is mno option in BIOS to set drive as SATA mode or IDE mode. The only option relating to SI is to either enable or disable the SI Controller. This is with the latest BIOS version (1016)

I guess thats where the problem lies. The second problem is i dont have a SI3114r.inf file on the installation CD, but I do have a SI3114r5,inf file but thats not done me any good.

Ive read through the PDF and (on page 19) there is no "PCI Mass Storage Contoller" or "PCI Raid Contoller" under SCSI and RAID Controller. This is all that appears:



so I guess there is a problem there too.

Im assuming that the SI contoller is looking a RAID setup, where it should actually be looking for a single SATA drive. Ive also disbled any RAID options within the BIOS, but it still doesn't solve my problem.

[thevoelk]

Try this driver (you want the Windows 32-bit IDE Driver):
http://www.siliconimage.com/support/supportsearchresults.aspx?pid=28&cid=3&ctid=2&osid=4&

SiliconImage's site says it's the IDE driver for accessing non-RAID hard drives. My guess, without looking into it further, is that since Windows has installed a software RAID driver, it's looking for more than one disk, or it's detecting a degraded array which may prevent you from accessing it.

[waheed]

Already tried that. Its shown as "Silicon image Sil3114 SATALink Controller" under Device Manager.

I get a yellow exclamation mark under when the IDE driver is installed. I keep updating the driver and rebooting but cant get the exclamation mark to disappear.

Under properies, I get:

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

[Morse2]

Hi Waheed;

Sorry I can't offer any advice, other than to try a WD or Seagate (borrow one from a friend if you have to - maybe the controller just dislikes Maxtor?) to see if it'll work at all - it looks like you're "doing the right things" and the board is being obstinate. Maybe you've got a bad board?

Please post any solution you find - I've considered upgrading my media server to that board due to Asus' reputation and the board's (on paper at least) connectivity. I'm currently using an ECS KN1 (which also has great connectivity) in my media server (maxxed out at 11 HDD's for 3.5TB) but am a little spooked due to concern over OST caps in the voltage regulator section.

Good luck and all the best!
Morse

[waheed]

As my first post mentions, I already own three SATA drives, a WD, Seagate and MAxtor. Not tried the WD (becuase its my OS drive) but have tried the Seagate on the SI controller and exactly the same problem. Thanks for the advice anyway.

This problem is driving me nuts, Ive paid for 8 SATA ports but can only use 4 ports.

[Morse2]

Oops, sorry Waheed!

Should have read your initial post closer.

All the best,
Morse

[waheed]

Ive still not found a solution yet. Ive sent an email to Asus Technical Support. Just waiting to hear back from them. Soon as I get a reply, will post back here.

[free is better]

you were on the right track when you pressed F4. the drivers are installed for the controller but you must create the array. once inside your selection you can choose how the disk(s) will be configured. the system will build the array and give it a letter. documentation is usually provided with the board explaining the choices and step by step instructions. i have a board with the Promise controller and it came with excellent documentation, maybe yours did too.

[waheed]

Problem Solved.

thanks for all the suggestions guys. "free is better" pointed me in the right direction. Unfortunately, the motherboard manual was not clear on how to set up the Silicon Image SATA. When I pressed F4, I selected create RAID set, and select the JBOD option and added the drive in question. The drive now works on SI Controller and is recognised under windows.

Thanks again everyone.