5punk

When I built my computer a little while ago, I couldn't install windows onto the sata drive, and so am just using the old IDE one for windows and apps, with the sata one being for other crap instead. However, the sata drive also appears under the "safely remove hardware" button in the taskbar. I'm sure this isn't normal. It shows normally in the hardware manager and BIOS, and I believe is plugged into the number 2 SATA port on the mobo (Asus A8N-E) as it was when I received it.

Whilst everything is working, it annoys me that I couldn't use the sata drive as the primary one, since I am an intelligent, highly evolved human and I'm being defeated by a lump of metal and plastic. Anyone got any ideas?

My limited understanding is that you need to find the SATA drivers for your SATA controller/drive, and then copy them onto a floppy.

You hit F6 when prompted during the install of Windows XP to load any additional SCSI/SATA drivers, and then after a while, it will ask you to hit enter to check the floppy.

You then select the right operating system for the drivers on your floppy, and XP is then able to see the drive in the next screen, in order to install an operating system on it.

Well, that's how SCSI drives work, and I think it's the same for SATA as well.

What Make/Model is your SATA drive, and motherboard???

The motherboard is Asus A8N-E, and the drive is an Excelstor Technology J680S. The BIOS version is 1003.

JFGI doesn't appear to turn up any SATA drivers for this mobo.

Lateralus wrote:However, the sata drive also appears under the "safely remove hardware" button in the taskbar. I'm sure this isn't normal.

that's normal, the SATA standard allows fo hot swapping.


the mobo should be new enough to not need sata drivers.

your bios version is old, the current one is 1011.


my best guess is that there's a uckup in your bio settings re. sata, which'll be fixed with a flash

BIOS flashes intimidate me slighty, because I've never done one. I wouldn't have to do a reformat or anything daft after flashing BIOS would I?

nope, it's all very safe and easy these days.

there should be a windows app on the asus site to do it.

just for future reference: http://support.asus.com/download/downlo ... odel=A8N-E

I think I might have to do a bios update, It's my last resort to try and get USB 2 working on my motherboard

(ASUS P4P800 Deluxe http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l ... odelmenu=1)

Every time I plug in a usb 2 device it says something about better performance for hi-speed usb devices and that there are no hi-speed usb ports on the computer

It's all enabled in the Bios so not sure what to try other than updating the motherboard Bios

it might be that any ports on cables are crappy quality, but the motherboard ones should be fine.


check for jumpers, flash the bios.

Yep. I'm all on SATA and windoze XP and WEY is correct. It's not the mobo and bios at fault (although a bios flash can't hurt), it's windoze itself. My mobo came with a CD with all the drivers on it that you need to coax onto a floppy one way or another and then do the F6 thing on startup. Equally irritating is that Windoze won't recognise large hard disks until it gets to SP2 - you may be able to sort that out using Partition Magic but I've not tried it for fear of losing the original partition with the OS on it

Of course the really smart way is to slipstream the lot (SATA and SP2) onto a CD and do an unattended install. Check here for more info:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm? ... 626&page=7

see also

http://www.nliteos.com/

http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/

look for Bâshrat the Sneaky's driver packs too. they're a godsend.

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:it might be that any ports on cables are crappy quality, but the motherboard ones should be fine.


check for jumpers, flash the bios.

Solved through investigation into the Way Intel USB chipsets report to the hardware manager

The problem wasn't caused by the availability of USB 2.0 ports, but by the way that Intel has designed the USB controller. Basically, my computer has one USB 2.0 controller and three (or five, if you enable all the ports) USB companion controllers that report themselves as USB 1.1 devices. If you plug a USB 2.0 device into any port, the device functions at USB 2.0 speeds; the controller handles the logic internally. USB controllers from different vendors might not report ports in the same way and might not indicate that all the ports are USB 2.0 capable, but each should have the same functionality.

I had to go through each USB port in device manager and try to update the driver as they were all on USB 1 driver (after a Bios update), only the one port that actually says it is USB 2 would allow the update to the USB 2 driver, so now all my ports work at USB2 but only one actually says it is USB 2

mrbobbins wrote:

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:it might be that any ports on cables are crappy quality, but the motherboard ones should be fine.


check for jumpers, flash the bios.

Solved through investigation into the Way Intel USB chipsets report to the hardware manager

The problem wasn't caused by the availability of USB 2.0 ports, but by the way that Intel has designed the USB controller. Basically, my computer has one USB 2.0 controller and three (or five, if you enable all the ports) USB companion controllers that report themselves as USB 1.1 devices. If you plug a USB 2.0 device into any port, the device functions at USB 2.0 speeds; the controller handles the logic internally. USB controllers from different vendors might not report ports in the same way and might not indicate that all the ports are USB 2.0 capable, but each should have the same functionality.

I had to go through each USB port in device manager and try to update the driver as they were all on USB 1 driver (after a Bios update), only the one port that actually says it is USB 2 would allow the update to the USB 2 driver, so now all my ports work at USB2 but only one actually says it is USB 2

Oh yes, that, yes I had to do that nearly every day for several months a few years back when rolling out new compaq PC's at work.

Sorry, wasn't paying enough attention