# MSI K8T-NEO2-F Not detecting SATA Drives and Hangs at Hardware Config [winxp setup]



## playful_cyanide (Dec 31, 2008)

I have two SATA drives [Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 - 250GB] Connected to the two SATA Ports on the motherboard [MSI K8t Neo2-F]. I also have a DVD drive connected through IDE. I insert a WinXP Media Center 2005 Installation Disc [I have also tried this with a standard WinXP Pro Disc]. 

When I boot from the disc, the computer goes through the pre-installation of WinXP process, then heads over to the main installation. It then states that it cannot detect any hard drives connected and to press [F3] to reboot. I decide to use an IDE Hard Drive instead of the SATA Drives. BTW: I have pressed [F6] at the start to install additional drivers. This has not solved the problem.

After I plug in the IDE Drive and check the BIOS settings, I can see that it detected the drive, so I reboot into the Installation Disc [Standard WinXP]. Now, the screen says the standard "Press any key to boot from disc..." I hit a key, and the screen switches to "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration..." After this, the system just hangs. I have left it for around 30-45 minutes at this stage, and it hasn't budged. The HD is NTFS Formatted, and there is not a lot of other hardware plugged in. 

Everything plugged into the MB is one Standard Audio Card [PCI], one Standard Video Card {Temporarily replaced my Dual-Output Card} [PCI], One Small Case-Fan [Standard Power], One IDE DVD Drive [Standard IDE Power], one Maxtor hard drive [IDE Power] *OR* one SATA Seagate Barracuda 250gb Hard Drive [SATA Power through IDE->SATA Power Converter], and two ram sticks. 

Can anyone see what is going wrong with PC in either of the setups? SATA or IDE?

Thanks,
playful_cyanide


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

There might be an issue right of the top you need to check. First of all, this is a Sata I board and if your drives are newer, they would be Sata II. Therefore, you need to move the default jumper so the drives can be properly used with this motherboard. Give that a go and if that does not help, then post back.


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## playful_cyanide (Dec 31, 2008)

These drives did not come with jumpers, as they were originally on a SATA II board. From what I have read, this board will detect if the send speed is 3 gb/s, and automatically switches it down to 1.5. or it might have been something about the specific drive [Barracuda] controlling the speed. If not, which specific pins would I have to jumper to limit the send to 1.5 gb/s?

Thanks


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

If I am not mistaken with Seagate, the drive will run as Sata II with no jumper, but it does need a jumper to make it Sata I. Might be worth finding a jumper someplace and try setting it to Sata I compliant. If you have your box for those, might check in the box to make sure you didn't miss it in case one was enclosed with the drive when new.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Hold on a minute, I found something and need to tell you before you leave....I will write it in the next few.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Darn, I almost forgot, I put a Seagate 500 gig Sata in for someone today in a new build and just remembered, he didn't take the drive book when he left with his new rig. Here is what the book says (and it would be the same for your drive).

Exactly from the manual:



manual said:


> Older 1.5Gb/sec motherboards and host controllers do not support 3.0Gb/sec transfer rate.....Some listed chipsets)VIA, VT8237, VT8237R,VT6420, VT64211, SIS760, and SIS964 .....and will hang, lock up, or fail to boot.
> 
> Applying a jumper to the outer most pins of the jumper block will force the drive in to the 1.5Gb/sec transfer mode - allowing it to perform on the above mentioned chipsets.


As you hold the drive up, there are 4 pins......the jumper block is placed on the two left pins or like this: []_[] ** Otherwise the ones to the left are connected (sorry for the bad diagram) and the ones on the right stay open with no jumper on them. For the 3.0 transfer rate, there is no jumper.


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## playful_cyanide (Dec 31, 2008)

Thank you for the help, but when I hold up the Seagate Barracuda drive, there are only 4 pins. In fact, this is the one: http://www.productwiki.com/upload/images/seagate_barracuda_7200_11_st3320620as.jpg it is basically the same thing. I will try different jumper settings and get back to you. 

Another example of my drive's pins is http://techgage.com/reviews/seagate/barracuda720010_750gb_es/seagate_750es_04_thumb.jpg


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Hey, I mistyped....*there are 4 pins*....Thanks for getting back on so you could see this. If you put the jumper on there, you should be good to go. BTW, I didn't look up your chipset, but still think this is the issue.


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## playful_cyanide (Dec 31, 2008)

Ok. I'll get back to you on the test. Going to New year's party so, so no update till tomorrow


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

I just looked up your board, *it has a VIA chipset*.

BTW, the wife was hurrying me also to get going, so that is why I made the mistype on the pin numbers (4) trying to type all those numbers of the chipsets.......anyway, now I am waiting on her.....but, need to sign off.


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## playful_cyanide (Dec 31, 2008)

Ok, did the jumper thing. It was actually these pins jumpered:
{POWER}{DATA}{* * [*|*]}
Now, the MotherBoard can detect the Drive, but when I enter XP Setup, It hangs at "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration"
I have left it sitting for around fifteen minutes and it is still hanging at this section. Maybe it is looking through the 250gb hard drive, but I doubt that it would take this long. 

Another thing I tried was to leave the motherboard to boot from Hard Drive, not Disc. I skip the notification to "boot from CD". After this, the screen just stays blank. The monitor is still receiving a signal, because the light is fully on and green. Another detail I noticed was that the Num Lock LED on the keyboard is flashing in both situations, the setup "hang" and the blank startup.

By the way, the SATA hard drive has a pre-existing installation of windows on it, and I am trying to repair it with the Setup CD. 

Finally, I tried both methods with two different WinXP Setup discs, and they both hang at the hardware config.

Any ideas?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Here is a check list for Sata and it is generic. You need to pick and choose what is appropriate for your situation and all do not apply:


In the bios, you should have the Sata set to IDE mode IF you are NOT using Raid, do you?


In the Bios, you should have all the Sata options enabled, do you? 


Have you loaded all your chipset drivers from the motherboard disk?


When you start to load the OS, did you load the Sata drivers at the F6 prompt, you should if you have Windows XP? You don't need them for Vista unless you are doing Raid.


Are you certain you have the Sata hooked to the correct connection on the motherboard?


If not using RAID, are you certain you have Raid turned off in the bios?


Do you have the Bios set to boot as follows:


CDRom - 1st
Floppy - 2nd (if you have one)
Hard Drive - 3rd​

Do you have the Hard Drive Priority in the Boot area set with the Sata listed FIRST?


Have you tried the Disk Manufacturer’s Hard Drive Utility to see if it recognizes the drive? 


Is your motherboard Sata II compliant or Sata I compliant. Some Sata drives have a jumper that you need to set if your Sata drive is Sata II and your motherboard is Sata I. Give that a look and see! (BTW: Hitachi drives use a software patch to do this instead of jumpers.

Post back with questions/issues/concerns.


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## playful_cyanide (Dec 31, 2008)

Hey,

I've decided to move the SATA Drive back to the original mother board. [ASUS P5BW-LA] This motherboard has full SATA support, as it used to be able to boot the disk. 
I will post a new thread about the new issue.
Thank you for your support anyways.

-Artur


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