Another, but different SATA Question

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Greetings again,

Is there any difference on how to format/partition a sata drive?

I cant seem to find the info on: my MB is an MSI K8T-Neo (6702) with a VIA chipset. Does this MB natively support sata? Or will I need to use the floppy drivers (F6 during install) to have it recognize?

Thanks all
LG

[Jim44]

Greetings again,

Is there any difference on how to format/partition a sata drive?

I don't think it's any different than an IDE/PATA drive, but then I haven't used a PATA in *years*

I cant seem to find the info on: my MB is an MSI K8T-Neo (6702) with a VIA chipset. Does this MB natively support sata?

The MSI web site indicates it does:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8T_Neo-FIS2R&class=mb

[Lucifers_Ghost]

So, I have an IDE drive as my primary with my OS on it. Can I simply install the Sata on its own controller and boot up? The bios will know its there since its natively supported (by the by, I looked at that MSI page for my board quite a bit and NEVER saw native until just now .. WOW lol) but in windows, it wont be there, correct? Then I go into disk management and format from there, correct?

[Jim44]

Sounds about right.

There isn't a close-up picture of the board; just be sure to use the "SATA" connector for the drive, not the "RAID" connector (if they are separate - they are on my MB and I initially made that mistake ).

[DB83]

Surely 'native support' means an onboard controller rather than requiring an add-on card.

The controller will still need a driver installed from within Windows either by floppy disk or from the mainboard CD (or even a floppy written from an utilty on the CD) before disk manager will recognise the drive and allow you to format it etc.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

And so it begins ....

Well, I did as I said I would do and its notta working. Windows doesnt even see that the Sata is there (in disk management). All that is shown is my primary and my optical.

I tried plugging the drive into both SER1 and SER2 as well as SATA1 and SATA2. Nothing.

I then tried unplugging the primary and using just the SATA. Putting the floppy in the drive, I attempted to install windows. Press F6 during post, it finds the floppy and installs the drivers. When it gets to the next part of looking for a partition to install the OS on, it says there is nothing there (which I expected).

So, what now?

[redwudz]

Two places to look. First in BIOS. You usually get there by clicking the 'Delete' key during the first part of the boot. You should see that information at the bottom the the first boot screen. Usually the first title on the BIOS page will list the drives.

If you see it there, then you might want to look through the other BIOS pages and make sure SATA is enabled. Not SATA RAID, just SATA IDE or whatever they call it. After making any changes, make sure you save them when exiting. If you don't see it there, first see if it has a option to enable or search for it on that first page, if still no, probably a connector or power problem.

Then boot the computer and look in 'Device Manager' to see if it shows. Finally, go the 'Computer Management and partition and format it as needed.

[Krispy Kritter]

SATA will need to be enabled in the BIOS. If the board also supports RAID, then you may also need to disable RAID in order for it to recognize single drives. I've also seen a few boards that only supported RAID on the SATA controller (ie: you can't use single drives). Also, some of the early MB's with SATA support used a jumper on the MB itself to enable/disable the SATA controller. Typically, drivers aren't needed (especially on a board that natively supports SATA) except when implementing RAID. And of course this should all be covered in the user manual.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

And on goes the battle.

Using an IDE drive as my primary boot, I hook up the SATA drive. The settings for SATA are enabled in the BIOS (RAID is disabled .. although I tried it with it enabled as well and it didnt work). When it boots up and go into the bios, my primary hd, floppy, and optical are there. No SATA. Reboot and saving settings to enable SATA. While going through POST, it shows the SATA drive. However, on the next screen (before windows splash), it shows Serial Channel 1: no device. Serial channel 2: no device. Boots into windows no problem. No Sata drive in Disk Management.

As I mentioned, on my mainboard, I have 4 SATA slots: SER1, SER2, SATA1, SATA1. If I plug the drive into either one of SER1 or 2, it shows the drive listed in post (still nothing in serial channel 1 and 2. If I plug the drive into SATA1 or 2, it doesnt even list it in post.

Any thoughts?

[aedipuss]

in your mb bios see if you have 2 sata controllers listed and that both are set to enabled.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

There are two settings (in two different spots) and both are enabled.

I have also tried having only one or the other enabled and that didnt seem to work either.

[poisondeathray]

EDIT: someone already suggested, sorry!

[DB83]

I would suggest that you disable anything in the bios that mentions the word RAID.

A quick look at your manual also suggests to me that the drive must be plugged into SATA socket not Ser socket (that is for raid)

If it just says 'on-board SATA' then just have that enabled - really should be a default anyway. On my board ALL Raid settings default to disabled.

But as I said earlier, for both my boards that have SATA, I still required a driver for Windows to see the drive before I could do anything with it under disk manager.

[aedipuss]

db83 - it depends on the motherboard. i just put xp on one that installed windows on a sata hard drive without any driver install.

i would agree the bios raid setting should be set to off so if the ser ports on that one are for raid only find the bios setting to disable them. there should also be bios settings for first boot device and whether you want a sata drive to be it. if there isn't then you will have to install the separate sata driver with f6 during install.

[Billf2099]

A suggestion. See if your SATA HD has a jumper on it, if so, set that jumper to limit the drive to SATA 150 instead of 300. Some MB's have trouble recognizing the fastests SATA HD's. Mines a Seagate and it had the jumper, good thing as my MB is one of those 'gifted' ones.

[Krispy Kritter]

Based on the MB specs ( http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8T_Neo-FSR ), Billf2099 is likely correct. The MB only has a SATA 150 controller.

[budz]

It shouldn't matter 150 or 300. I had a asus amd mobo with only sata 150 and one of my hd's was sata 300 with no problems. I suspect it could be something in the mobo bios. But the OP hasn't responded yet and w/pc components who knows especially if it's a VIA chipset mobo. The OP could see if there are latest drivers for his VIA chipset controller.

[TooLFooL]

budz, it DOES matter!.. and most likely your sata drive already had the jumper installed..

[DB83]

It seems that the VIA chipset on your MB does have a problem with recognising SATA11 drives in a SATA system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

The Promise raid controller may not be such a beast which is why you see the drive in POST when the disk is plugged into SER. Of course since RAID is turned off (and it should be) you will not see the drive on the next screen.

This, of course, assumes you have a SATA11 drive (do not think you have mentioned that) and the chances are if you plug in a SATA drive you will have no probems whatsoever.

Not all SATA11 drives come with the jumper. IIRC my WD 320 gig certainly did not have one.

[budz]

budz, it DOES matter!.. and most likely your sata drive already had the jumper installed..

Ummm....NO! My sata ll hard drive doesn't have a jumper. :P

[halsboss]

my MB has SATA connectors but it fails to recognize the newer SATA disks and DVD drives altogether... needs the latest BIOS. had to swap back to IDE.

[bmiller]

You may have to enable it under disk management, so Windows can see it. I had to do that when i installed two new sata drives. It only saw the c drive at first. Right click my computer-manage and then disk management and see if it recognizes the drive but it is unallocated. You then allocate it as a single drive.

[TooLFooL]

budz, it DOES matter!.. and most likely your sata drive already had the jumper installed..

Ummm....NO! My sata ll hard drive doesn't have a jumper. :P

ok, lemme rephrase: "it DOES matter for some motherboards and chipsets!"

[Billf2099]

budz,
You not having a problem doesn't mean it isn't a problem. Seagate didn't put the jumpers on their drives because there was no problem. Its a well documented problem, count yourself lucky. Well actually, you have a nice MB, so that's your luck right there.

Here is but one of many links discussing this issue.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/hard-drive-support/211064-solved-how-...-sata-1-a.html

Your drive manufacturer can also help. Some drives without jumpers can be changed with utilities from the manufacturer. Again, google is our friend.

[budz]

budz, it DOES matter!.. and most likely your sata drive already had the jumper installed..

Ummm....NO! My sata ll hard drive doesn't have a jumper. :P

ok, lemme rephrase: "it DOES matter for some motherboards and chipsets!"

There you go!

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Based on the MB specs ( http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8T_Neo-FSR ), Billf2099 is likely correct. The MB only has a SATA 150 controller.

Hmm ok. So, does that mean at no point will my board recognize the drive as being a 320gb? Or, will it only recognize it AFTER its formatted and all that? If its the former, I'll just return the drive and get another one. If its the latter, then its no big deal.

On a 2nd note, the drive didnt come with a jumper at all. So, it has 4 jumper slots. Which one would I have to add a jumper to for it to "change" to a SATA 150? Looking down at the drive from the top label side with the connectors at the bottom facing you, would I put the jumper in slot 1,2,3,4.

Thanks guys.
LG

[DB83]

If you check the diagram in the link from a post above, counting from the far right (where the 4 pin power molex would have been) the jumper goes on the third set of pins.

Count from the left where the SATA11 power and cable connectors are, the jumper goes on the 2nd set of pins.

Once an OS recognises the drive, the formating size is automatic. Expect approx 298 gig free after formatting if you allocate the entire drive for one partition.

[Krispy Kritter]

Whether the drive is recognized by the BIOS has nothing to do with partitioning or formatting. As pointed out above in several posts, there are known issues with some SATA controllers.

I would first ensure the MB has the latest BIOS installed. If the HDD has the jumper setting (most drives have the jumper diagram listed on the label) for SATA 150/300 support, then set it for 150.

Aside from that, you will have to replace the MB (if you are wanting to boot from the HDD) or get a SATA addon card.

[TooLFooL]

did you also connect the power cable to the drive?

[Lucifers_Ghost]

So I jumpered the drive and it finally shows up in post. However, not in windows.

The two spots in my BIOS for Sata/raid are set to Sata.
I have tried all 4 connectors on my MB (SER1, SER2, Sata1, Sata2).
The power cable is plugged in.

It shows up when its booting but not in windows disk management.