XP will not boot off SATA.

Question

I have a Dimension 2350. Bios A 4.3.79. There is a WD IDE drive. Local Disk C:  XP Media Ed. I installed a Seagate 250 SATA, jumpered to <> 1.5G. through a Vantec PCI.  Local Disk D: I finally got a copy of XP Media on to the Seagate, reloaded all the drivers, Office 2003, IE7 etc   When I reboot I can select either OS copy and either copy runs fine.   IF I disconnect the IDE drive, the BIOS will not find the SATA. In the BIOS there is the WD and another hard drive 'Boot Add-in Card' I assume this is the PCI card. And in the boot selection it does show a 'Hard Drive' option.   I can change the priority but the boot, doesn't get past the BIOS screen. Thoughts Please

Bad_Shot · Answer

Pete; I can't tell you the number of times I tried to install XP on the Seagate alone. When it calls for the partition the drive is not there.    Unless I'm totally missing something.   Bad_Shot

PETER345 · Answer

You probably need to load the drivers for the SATA card and press F6 at the start of the Windows install. Did you do that? Peter

PETER345 · Answer

I've had similar problems. The copy never worked correctly and somehow the original drive was still being used. Installing Windows on the new drive was the only way I could find to fix it. Tedious, yes. But it worked.

Peter

Bad_Shot · Answer

Pete; That's an other issue. I have the Seagate connected to a Vantec PCI. I did try F6 and it of course asks for the manufacturers labeled disk to be Floppy A and hit enter when ready. Well the Vantec comes with a CD. I got in touch with Vantec and got a new set of drivers in a zip file. I extracted those to the floppy. Hitting enter causes the drive to seek and up pops the same msg. I thought, I was miss understanding as F6 was pertaining to a RAID or MASS Storage, unless the Seagate SATA is considered RAID or MASS. The Seagate does come up as SCSI in Device Manager.

PETER345 · Answer

I think you use F6 whenever you need drivers for your HD. Personally, I have never needed it, but I understand you need it for any SATA system when using a non-Dell Windows CD.

My 9200 shows the SATA controllers as SCSI in the device manager.

Maybe contact Vantec and see if they can explain why it does not accept the drivers from the floppy (if that is what is happening).

Peter

Bad_Shot · Answer

Pete; I have attempted with 3 different Dell supplied XP cds, all fail. I have even tried WinBuilder and UBCD to build my own XP disk with the SATA drivers. Both programs died with errors, so I gave up that approach. I do have another call into Vantec. IF  I  was getting paid .50/hour I could have bought a new box buy now LOL.

Bad_Shot · Answer

My saga continues; After spending 4 hours this morning, and not knowing what I did, I did manage to get XP to select the Floppy. It loaded the drivers, it find the drive, I was able to partition it and load XP to it. When I reboot off my IDE, the SATA is there with the XP files.   The BIOS still will not see the drive. In selecting the boot drive, HARD DRIVE doesn't even appear as a selection.  And in Hard Drive Priorty all that is there is BOOT ADD-IN Card.   I tried to clear NVRAM, using procedures posted elsewhere here, but never got a 'beep' so I can only assume it doesn't apply to my BIOS.   Suggestions more then welcome.

Bad_Shot · Answer

Pete; I'll call Vantec again and see what they say. IF I boot off the IDE and go to Setup in the hard proirty here is the WD IDE and 'Boot Add-in Card'. It lets me change them.  When I make the Boot Add-in Card first and reboot it can find it.   Is there something I missed while installing XP off the Dell CD where when partitioning and NTFS format that I need to do? Thanks

PETER345 · Answer

Which BIOS are you talking about? The Dell BIOS? I don't think it will ever give you an option to boot from a drive on another controller.

Your new SATA card will need to have a BIOS that can boot. Check with the vendor to see how you boot from the card.

Did you try to "Boot add in card"? This sounds like it is attempting to give boot control to your new SATA controller.

Peter

PETER345 · Answer

At this point I can't really help. You sound very close, but I have never booted off an add-in controller card like you are, so I don't know what it takes to make it work.

Vantec support should be your best option.

Peter

Bad_Shot · Answer

Here;s How I got it to work.   In order to boot off the PCI you need to disable the IDE port. 1st boot hit F2; make sure 1st and 2nd boots have selected hard drives. Save and Exit 2nd boot hit F2; in Hard drive priority swop the IDE and Boot Add-in making the Boot Add-in 1st priority. Save and Exit 3rd boot hit F2 disable all IDE controllers. Save and Exit Reboot and it boots of the Boot Add-in.

Storage, Drives & Media

Was this post helpful?