# [SOLVED] Hardware initiate failed



## fired (Nov 28, 2011)

Hi there,

Last week, my desktop hard drive corrupted, so I decide to get a new hard drive for it. I connect the new hard drive to motherboard but when I turn the computer on, bios displayed "hardware initiate failed please check device the bios does not be installed. press g to continue". 

My question is how to make the bios recognized the hard drive so i can install OS on it?

The new hard drive that i bought is WD Caviar Blue 320 gb SATA 3 Gb/s. 
My motherboard is Asus A8V deluxe. 

Thanks.


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## pip22 (Aug 22, 2004)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

If the old drive was the old IDE interface type, you may have to change a setting in the BIOS Setup for SATA recognition: How Do I Get My BIOS to See My SATA Hard Drive? | eHow.com


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

set sata to be seen as ide in the bios


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## fired (Nov 28, 2011)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*



dai said:


> set sata to be seen as ide in the bios


Yeah, I already tried that but it still doesn't work. 

So, I been Google-ing around and found out that my A8V deluxe have VT8237 which apparently does not support SATA over 3 Gb/s. So which mean that I had to find a SATA 1.5 Gb/s. 

But I was wondering if I can still use my old hard drive. Here the stories of what happened to my hard drive:

One day, I open my computer and open the movie that I just copied from my laptop. For some reason that desktop froze saying that explorer.exe error. So, I reboot the desktop and found Data Execution Prevention message pop up saying that it had to close explorer.exe. Unable to fix this, I tried to reinstall Window XP but the disk won't recognized my hard drive. I used Ultimate Boot CD to zero my hard drive but when I boot from XP CD, it still saying an unknown disk







. When I click "enter", this blue screen pop up







. 

My question is will the new hard drive fix this issue and let me install the OS? or something else wrong with the computer? Could ram had cause this?

Anyway, sorry for this lengthy message, thank you for your suggestion.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

try installing with only one stick of ram in


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## paranoider (Sep 27, 2010)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

When you change the SATA controller from SATA mode to IDE mode it should have nothing to do with whether the BIOS can detect the drive, just which mode the SATA controller will run in.
There may have been a problem at one stage with a few models drives not playing well with a particular chipset unless it was running in a particular mode, but I'm fairly sure that was a drive firmware issue and the chances of it happening with a newer drive a pretty slim.

Does the hard drive have a jumper setting to force it to run in 1.5GB mode only? Many do. The problem with some older chipsets is they were manufactured before faster SATA speeds came into existence, so they have no idea how to negotiate connection speed with a faster device. I'm pretty sure the VIA VT8237 chipset is one of those known for not supporting anything but SATA1 speed, but if the drive has a setting to force it to run at that speed it should work fine. You may need to look it up on WD's website if it's not printed on the drive sticker.

Alternatively, if I've got the right MB, it also has a Promise chipset which offers two SATA connectors (they're a different color), and as luck would have it I'm pretty sure the Promise controller plays happily with SATA2 devices.
In fact:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...eagate-barracuda-1-5-tb-wont-work-333432.html

(A google search seemed to indicate some of those MBs have four black SATA connectors while some have two black and two red. If it's the latter, try the red ones, otherwise try the SATA connectors furthest away from the chip with VIA printed on it.)


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## fired (Nov 28, 2011)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*



paranoider said:


> When you change the SATA controller from SATA mode to IDE mode it should have nothing to do with whether the BIOS can detect the drive, just which mode the SATA controller will run in.
> There may have been a problem at one stage with a few models drives not playing well with a particular chipset unless it was running in a particular mode, but I'm fairly sure that was a drive firmware issue and the chances of it happening with a newer drive a pretty slim.
> 
> Does the hard drive have a jumper setting to force it to run in 1.5GB mode only? Many do. The problem with some older chipsets is they were manufactured before faster SATA speeds came into existence, so they have no idea how to negotiate connection speed with a faster device. I'm pretty sure the VIA VT8237 chipset is one of those known for not supporting anything but SATA1 speed, but if the drive has a setting to force it to run at that speed it should work fine. You may need to look it up on WD's website if it's not printed on the drive sticker.
> ...


Ok thank, I will try that out. I just bought Seagate Barracuda 500gb and hope that it will work. I'll let you know that result.


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## fired (Nov 28, 2011)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

Hey paranoider,

So I bought a new Seagate 500 gb hard drive. Then when I set the hard drive, I just jumper to 1.5 Gbit/s and connect the hard drive to Promise Controller. It seem that it recognized the hard drive as SATA378 TX2plus D0. When I insert the Window XP cd, on the drive screeen, it still say the UNKNOWN DISK.

Can you please help me fix this issue so I can install the OS?

Thank


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

your m/b supports sata 2 3g no need to jumper it to sata 1.5g

you set the bios to boot from cd first then boot the computer with the xp disk in the drive

you should come to the screen which says 

press any key to boot from cd


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## fired (Nov 28, 2011)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

Hah, I finally get the thing to work. All I have to do was copy SATA raid control on to floppy disk and install it with the Window CD.

I manage to find the solution to blue screen, it was a faulty ram. Once I replace the memory, everything work fine.

Ok, thank every one for helping me.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Hardware initiate failed*

glad you have it sorted


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