Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo not recognizing SATA hard drive

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Hi. I know there has been some discussion about this before, but I think I'm in some kind of in-between status with this installation:

My motherboard is an Asus A7N8X Deluxe.
I already have 3 IDE HDD's hooked up and 2
IDE CD/DVD drives (w/no issues).

I am now trying to add a Samsung 1 TB SATA
(the jumper is correctly set on mobo), but the boot
sequence stops at this line:

Sil 3112A SATA RAID Controller Bios Version 4.1.50
Copyright (c)1997-2002 Silicon Image, Inc.
Primary Channel: Samsung HD103SJ
Secondary Channel: Drive Not Found


I cannot see the Samsung 1 TB SATA drive in
my Bios. My OS (XP) is installed on another drive (IDE drive) and operates fine when the SATA 1TB drive is unhooked.

What should I do next?

Thanks.
LouLoomis
 
Yes, it's there (of course). But what I am I looking for? A SATA driver? A bios update? Something else?

Remember, my pc can "see" the drive a bit based on my initial post, but it can't boot up all the way to Windows.

Thanks.
LouLoomis
 
I would make sure the SATA ports are enabled in the BIOS first and then install the SATA/RAID driver. If the SATA hard drive is new, go to Disk Management and format the drive once it is recognized there.
 
Try limiting the SATA drive to SATA I speed rather than SATA II - the A7N8X is quite old and may have compatibility issues with trying to run at the faster speed.

Also check the board for bad capacitors, they're a common point of failure on that one.
 
Hi. I did that....and now it works with the PCI slot card I have. Still, it will not work using the SATA slots that are on the mobo itself. Unfortunately, I need to actually plug the drive into one of the slots on the mobo.

Is this something I need to update the bios to enable or is there a way to only update the SATA driver on the mobo?

Thanks again.
LouLoomis
 
A BIOS update may include an update to the SATA BIOS.
I believe that is an nForce 3 based board?
 
Hi. I'm a bit paranoid about updating the bios since if I make a mistake, my system is a brick, right?

It's an nForce2 based system (not nForce3).

Thanks.
LouLoomis
 
If it goes wrong, yes, you have a paperweight unless that board has any recovery devices. My advise would be to NOT use a floppy!

Is your BIOS chip in a socket or soldered onto the board? You always have the option of putting another chip in if it's socketed.
 
Hi. Thanks for the advice. I don't know if my bios chip is socketed or if its on the board.

Isn't the only way to update the bios with a floppy?

Thanks.
LouLoomis
 
hi. i have one of those. i've read a bit about that, but i'm pretty sure this particular board will not let you boot from a usb drive (of any kind).

Thanks again.
LouLoomis
 
Hi did you sort this out? I just got a HD103SJ 1GB F3 on my A7N8X-D (1007 BIOS) - Similar to your probs except on boot my mobo recognises as samsung... then the system stops.
I thought there would be a jumper to select 1.5GB instead of 3.0GB on the back of the drive however it looks like this has to be selected via software which is kind of ironic. There are jumpers although there is no mention as to what they do!

Only option then is to re-flash the mobo bios with an updated SATA controller which I believe works but you may have to build the BIOS and if you get anything wrong your mobo will be little more than a frisby...

Anyway let me know how you got on will you?
 
ASUS A7N8X-E 2 TB HDD; not recognized

hi. i have one of those. i've read a bit about that, but i'm pretty sure this particular board will not let you boot from a usb drive (of any kind).

Thanks again.
LouLoomis

Hi,
I see it has been a wile since your post. I have the same board & it stops at the same boot sequence as yours when I connect a second SATA harddrive of 2 TB size. I believe BIOS needs to be updated as my PC has no problem detecting & fully booting up with the current 500GB SATA HDD.
If have resolved your issue; could you please share the solution by emailing me directly or posting here.

Thanks a lot,
 
Hi,
I see it has been a wile since your post. I have the same board & it stops at the same boot sequence as yours when I connect a second SATA harddrive of 2 TB size. I believe BIOS needs to be updated as my PC has no problem detecting & fully booting up with the current 500GB SATA HDD.
If have resolved your issue; could you please share the solution by emailing me directly or posting here.

Thanks a lot,

I think your best bet with this mobo is to get a PCI sata card. I have got the computer running with the latest sata bios drivers, I believe earlier ones (x54??) are best but they are not compatible with any bios afik and the latest ones (x84) cause data errors although it does work.
I think Asus new all this as there were later SIL drivers available when the last bios was released but I think there must be a hardware issue.

BTW my original mobo bricked after a few months of running but this was resolved by purchasing another mobo and hot-swapping the bios...
Never bothered getting USB to boot not sure if you can but you will need a floppy for sata drivers.
 
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