I've got an MSI 845PEMax/2 board - Intel ICH4 chipsets. I'm having weird IDE problems such as the BIOS not seeing the hard disks - two Maxtor DiamondMax 9 80GB's. Or it sees them but instead of a boatloader I get a screenful of "99 99 99 99 99".

Normally opening the case, detaching the IDE cable and shoving it back on fixes it. I've tried new cables, etc, and all seems OK for a while.

When I can actually get into an OS, theres no data corruption issues, but sometimes the disks heads park and hence the machine crashs.

In addition, the secondary channel is now having issues - sometimes I have to detach one of my optical drives or BeOS refuses to boot.

I've not got a heat issue in the machines - the disks aren't directly on top of each other, and I've got a case fan in addition to the Intel stock cooling and my PSU fan. My PSU is more than powerful enough for the machine

Is it a possibility that my IDE controller is buggered? I'm running the latest MSI issued BIOS.

Have you got Intel Ide Accelerator software and is it the latest version?

Of course not - I don't use Windows.

of course I didn,t know you don't run windows.I asked because I was plagued with similar symptoms on one of my machines and the solution involved Intel accelerator and their chipset software.
Good luck with your issues.

I thought the mention of BeOS in my post, and the fact that all my issues are before the OS's IDE drivers load might have indicated that IATA wasn't going to help...

You did state that 'sometimes 'your able to get to Your OS .This is similar to what I experienced.I do not know how BeOS reacts to Intel chipset drivers etc.
The point is I thought an out dated or conflicted driver may be affecting you.

See if you can switch off S.M.A.R.T. for HDs in your BIOS.
Is not always THAT smart.

Drivers are OS dependent. Even if I had XP installed with the latest IATA it wouldn't matter to BeOS.

RBS - I think it is already disabled, I'll have to check. It did save my data once by telling me when my old Omnibook was about to ice its harddisk though...

I see your point .Forgive my ignorance over BeOS.Are there drive diagnostics you can run?

I suppose I could shove the disks in my Windows desktop (a long neglected 1Ghz PIII Dell that sits buried under a pile of clothes) and do a surface level scandisk. Would be a bad idea to scan over a potentially bad controller as it could throw results.

Quote MYOB

"..When I can actually get into an OS, theres no data corruption issues, but sometimes the disks heads park and hence the machine crashs..."

You do not mention any odd noises,grinding(I know not always) which often occurs with HDD failures,and I am going to assume both drives not failing at the same time.I would lean towards Controller issues.I mentioned testing the drives as to rule them out definitively.The controller fix is most likely more expensive and time consuming job.
I prefer the path of least resistence whenever possible.
Good Luck

Now that BeOS can do more than 1GB of RAM and can go to more than 2Ghz (both were system limitations until recently patched), I'll probably get a new motherboard, faster RAM and a decent CPU.

Both disks are indentical apart from batch number. Bought 5 months apart, one in Dublin, on from Stockholm. Could both be failing, but I doubt it myself

I would grieve your loss but ,you did not lose Data and the thought of a new buid would excite me.
You lucky devil!

€60 motherboard. Got a good year out of it, can probably sell it to someone stupid now

Finding a board that'll take my DDR-1600 and 1.7Ghz celly whilst I decide what faster RAM and CPU to get might be a bit hard though, so its probably a replacement of all three. Need to find something with normal IDE and AGP4x though...

MYOB Quote;
"Now that BeOS can do more than 1GB of RAM and can go to more than 2Ghz (both were system limitations until recently patched), I'll probably get a new motherboard, faster RAM and a decent CPU. "
What is the present top end equipment you can use now?
Do you have to buy new ,or do you ever Ebay type shop?
Edited
P.S. I just saw your new post I can follow there.
Have Fun.

present top?

I never trust second hand computer gear unless its full systems - s/h components are usually DOA

BeOS can now handle any amount of RAM and CPU you throw at it. It'll only use part of the RAM though, but it won't crap out anymore.

When I get some time I am going to read some about BeOS.