Resolved Wd 1.5t green hdd not working on my pc

To add some further thoughts, in my experience using SATA drives on older motherboards like the 7 series, some will not recognize SATA 2 drives unless you reset the drive to 1.5 with a little Jumper there is a provision on most SATA 2 drives for that.
Also I do not use F6 to load Raid drivers unless I do want to use Raid, but you do not want this.
Once you have loaded the Raid drivers and the BIOS is detecting your SATA drive it will request that you setup a Raid configuration but as you do not want this you have to use JBOT (just a bunch of disks) before you can use the drive.

 

Hi, HELP! HELP!! Am pulling my hair out here.
Got myself a PCI SERIAL ATA HOST CONTROLLER CARD, installed it with latest BIOS and drivers. Booted up pressed F6 to load sil 3114 drivers then system proceeds loading the rest of its drivers. it then comes to blue screen with SETUP IS STARTING WINDOWS and just freezes there. I have tried loading the drivers with and without RAID but still the same. Tried redoing the partition of the drive to 500GB, still no difference. HDD is still not shown in BIOS. I thought with the new controller card it would be straight forward and that my problems would be solved. This is not the case. AM TOTALLY AT A LOSS!!!

 

Did you get instructions with the card?

Something you need to do is set the card as a boot device in the BIOS. It may be described as a SCSI controller.

What is the make and model of the card?

You probably won't see the HDD in the BIOS. The BIOS will only the (SATA) controller.

If you got a CD with the card, it probably has a manual or instructions on that.

Don't panic, see what information you can find.

Matt

 

Thanks Matt, Have already set first boot as SCSI, nothing else that I can see in BIOS that can be changed. Bios for this board are very poor. Does not show controller in Bios. Have read a number of articles about disabling stuff in card Bios, how do you access card bios as I have not found anyway of reading them as text.
No manual on disc, just supplied with a quick install sheet very basic.

Forgot to say, when system stops at blue setup screen the HDD light which is now connected to the controller card stays on (busy mode)

NeilMac........

 

Neil, you haven't mentioned the make and model of SATA card.

Can you run Windows on the old HDD and see if you can get the new HDD recognised? Look in Device Manager for the SATA controller and if it SEEMS to be operating. Look in Disk Management.

You appear to want to reprogram the SATA controller's BIOS (controllers don't have a BIOS, it's called firmware). Why do you suspect the hardware is not working and you need manipulate it? I have never "manipulated" a BIOS or firmware.

Did you find exactly the right "firmware upgrade" for the model you are using? If you use the wrong upgrade, the hardware might not work any more or not work correctly. Upgrading a BIOS is to be taken seriously, have you read the instructions for running a BIOS upgrade?

Sorry Neil, I wouldn't do that, I couldn't think of a faster way to "break" the new hardware.

My suggestion is to find why out why Windows or the Windows installation CD cannot recognise the controller, after the controller is recognised (and it's drivers are installed), you should be able to do the installation or set the drive as additional storage space.

If you have tried "manipulating" the hardware, I probably can't help you. I would return it for a refund before expecting that I needed to "bend it to my will ".

Have you found any instructions? On the CD, at the manufacturer's website, etc.

Matt

 

Ok Matt, Thanks for all your help, I'll try to explain things.
Controller card is Silicon Image 3114 Sata 4 port Raid, Drivers at the moment are Vers. 1.3.11.0 Date 10/4/2008 (Sata driver only, no Raid ) I have my old IDE drive plugged in and I can see controller card in device manager and is working. The reason I call it BIOS and not Firmware is, if I load drivers with Raid I get extra option in properties of card, "Bios Upgrade" I down loaded latest from Sil web site and did upgrade no problem, then did same with latest drivers.
Now if I connect the Sata HDD to the controller card while am still operating from old HDD I cannot see the Sata drive anywhere and System even freezes, only way out is to press reset. Hope this is of some help.

NeilMac..............

 

Sorry forgot to say, There are no instructions on the CD, Just a two page leaflet with basic instructions which I have followed to the letter. When trying to do fresh install to Sata HDD system still freezes at blue screen (SETUP IS STARTING WINDOWS)
I have done a health check on the HDD and Passes no problem.

NeilMac...........

 

Ok! Got some progress. With my system running on old IDE drive I updated the IDE ATA/ATAPI controller drivers in device management. Now with the Sata HDD connected to the controller card I can see the drive with all the 4 partitions. I can see primary set as MRB. Also system is not hung up with both drives connected. That was the good news, I still cannot detect the drive when attempting a fresh install onto Sata HDD. Humm!

NeilMac...........

 

Here is controller's webpage:
http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=28
User Guide:
http://www.siliconimage.com/support/searchresults.aspx?pid=28&cat=27
FAQs:
http://www.siliconimage.com/support/faq.aspx

 

Thanks Matt, Already have all that. Did you read post #28. Still not finding drive on fresh install.

NeilMac......

 

I did it a long time ago and remember similar sorts of setup problems. I think I remember something about using JBOD and found some websearch information to back it up. So use the SiI3114 BIOS utility to reverse out any RAID settings and make it JBOD.

Unfortunately Silicon Image's user information is quite technical, which it doesn't need to be for this situation, and they don't seem to have forums, so you will need to read it carefully. You might find better information at outside websites
http://au.search.yahoo.com/search;_...3114++install+windows&fr2=sb-top&fr=sfp&rd=r1

Did you say your motherboard was a 2004 model? If I get 6 years from a motherboard I am very pleased. If I was unable to install Windows on the drive, but could still use it as storage space, I would use it that way until I got my next motherboard. In fact, that was (sort of) my plan when used mine, but it lasted for several years.

You have four partitions, keep the first partition free for installing Windows, then use the other three as would when Windows is installed on it. I move my My Documents folder to another drive or copy it as a backup, install programs on other drives, etc. In fact, I run Vista very successfully on a 50GB partition. Running Windows on one HDD and your programs/data on another should be very fast.

You should be able to find a very good compromise, rather than banging your head on BIOSes. Think about your next motherboard and how to make the transition simple and easy.

Matt

 

Hi, First of all thanks to every one who replied, especially Matt who held in there.
Got this HDD going in the end maybe not the correct way, but it's working.
As I did not want to clone my original HDD to the SATA HDD due to errors and possible Viruses, I pulled out an old 40GB ide drive connected it to my system on it's own, partitioned and formated it. Then installed Win XP Pro SP3, some system drivers and most important, drivers for the Sata controller card. Tested that I had a basic running operating system
Then set this drive as slave, reconnected my original ide drive as Master and also connected the Sata HDD. With cloning software (APRICORN EZ GIG II) I cloned the basic setup from the 40GB HDD to the SATA HDD. Removed all drives but the Sata HDD and powered up, Hey Presto!! the system booted up to operating system as fresh install. Now all I have to do is add updates, various drivers and other stuff, but I have an operating SATA drive
I hope this may help others with similar problems.

NeilMac..................

 

You're welcome Neil. Good work!