Boot Problems With DATA TECH IDE Controller Card on ASUS A7V

[SNGX1275]

Setup before the card that works:
Asus A7V Mobo with BIOS revision 1009
60Gig Deathstar (master) -> 30Gig Deathstar (slave) -> Onboard ATA 100
4x4x24x Mitsumi -> Onboard ATA 100
8x Panasonic DVD (master) -> 50x Aopen (slave) -> traditional onboard IDE slot
now everything works beautifully here with this setup

Now the problems:
I have this used Data Tech PCI IDE Controller card. When I put it in the computer won't boot. Here is more detailed information:
4x4x24 Mitsumi -> Onboard ATA 100
60Gig Deathstar (master) -> 30Gig Deathstar (slave) -> Onboard ATA 100
Now I go into my BIOS -> Advanced (Tab) -> CHIP Config -> Onboard PCI IDE Enable (this is different from my ATA 100 right?) -> it is set to Both (I did not change this originally).
Then I go to my Boot (Tab) in the BIOS and here is the sequence:
Floppy
Other boot device: Onboard ATA 100 BOOT
IDE Hard Drive: Disabled (Only options are disabled and none)
ATAPI CD-ROM: None (Only options are disabled and none)

Results:
Memory check (fine)
Detecting Primary Master: None
Detecting Primary Slave: None
Detecting Secondary Master: None
Detecting Secondary Slave: None
Then the screen where it shows the IRQ stuff I believe
Next it Detects my 2 ATA100 drives (60 and 30gig)
Next the boot menu screen (redhat and XP): I choose XP
Never leaves this screen - whatever the 30 second timer was on when I hit enter is what it stays on - the system appears to be stuck at this state.

What I have tried with the same exact results:
Going into the BIOS -> Advanced (Tab) -> CHIP Config -> Onboard PCI IDE Enable -> it is set to Primary
Going into the BIOS -> Advanced (Tab) -> CHIP Config -> Onboard PCI IDE Enable -> it is set to Secondary
Going into the BIOS -> Advanced (Tab) -> CHIP Config -> Onboard PCI IDE Enable -> it is set to Disabled

Now occationaly when its detecting primary master or secondary master it will freeze when it says press F4 to skip, but that doesn't happen often (2 out of the 8 times I tried and I dont' remember the exact BIOS settings I had when it did it).


Now this card did "work" in my parents HP Pavilion 8275. I bought it when I was at home to put in their computer and I did and it would boot, was detected by WinME but the cd drive that was hooked up to it acted like the power wasn't on, I might have had the ribbon cable plugged in the wrong way..?.. Anyway maybe I'm wrong here but I thought if another system would boot with it in than mine should.

Now when I remove the card it boots up fine.

Anyone see any apparent reasons for the problem I'm having?

One thing I have noticed:
My Mitsumi Burner is NOT detected at any point when the controller card is in.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

NT operating systems require proper settings in boot.ini, it sounds like it doesn't find your files. It's no surprise it works in WinME as it boots up differently. Take a look at BOOT.INI and ARC Path Naming Conventions and Usage:

The following are generic examples of two possible BOOT.INI ARC paths:
multi(X)disk(Y)rdisk(Z)partition(W)\<winnt_dir>

-or-

scsi(X)disk(Y)rdisk(Z)partition(W)\<winnt_dir>

where X, Y, Z, and W are numbers that identify the item to their left.

The MULTI(X) syntax of the ARC path is only used on x86-based computers. In Windows NT version 3.1 this path is only valid for IDE and ESDI drives; in Windows NT version 3.5, 3.51 and
4.0 it is valid for SCSI drives as well.

The MULTI() syntax indicates to Windows NT that it should rely on the computers BIOS to load system files. This means that the operating system will be using interrupt (INT) 13 BIOS calls
to find and load NTOSKRNL.EXE and any other files needed to boot Windows NT.

The X, Y, Z, and W parameters have the following meaning:


X is the ordinal number of the adapter and should always be 0 (see the text below for the reason).

Y is always 0 (zero) if the ARC path starts with MULTI(), because MULTI() invokes the INT 13 call as described above and therefore does not need the DISK() parameter
information.

Z is the ordinal for the disk on the adapter and is usually a number between 0 and 3.

W is the partition number. All partitions receive a number except for type 5 (MS-DOS Extended) and type 0 (unused) partitions, with primary partitions being numbered first
and then logical drives. NOTE: The first valid number for W is 1, as opposed to X, Y, and Z which start at 0 (zero).

Theoretically, this syntax could be used to start Windows NT on any drive in the system. However, this would require that all drives are correctly identified through the standard INT 13
interface; since support for this varies from disk controller to disk controller and most system BIOS only identify a single disk controller through INT 13, in practice it is only safe to use this
syntax to start Windows NT from the first two drives connected to the primary disk controller, or the first four drives in the case of a dual-channel EIDE controller.

In a pure IDE system, the MULTI() syntax will work for up to the four drives maximum on the primary and secondary channels of a dual-channel controller.

In a pure SCSI system, the MULTI() syntax will work for the first two drives on the first SCSI controller (that is, the controller whose BIOS loads first).

In a mixed SCSI and IDE system, the MULTI() syntax will work only for the IDE drives on the first controller.

I don't get it - you're saying that only options for CD-ROM in BIOS are disabled and none??

 

[SNGX1275]

Originally posted by Mictlantecuhtli
NT operating systems require proper settings in boot.ini, it sounds like it doesn't find your files. It's no surprise it works in WinME as it boots up differently. Take a look at BOOT.INI and ARC Path Naming Conventions and Usage:


I don't get it - you're saying that only options for CD-ROM in BIOS are disabled and none??

Thanks for that information - I'll give it a shot sometime today probably.
Yes - when the card is in those are the only options I have. When the card isn't in every cd drive I have is an option.
Now that my card might not completely be dead (since you had an explanation for it booting in ME). Do you know what could cause a drive hooked up to it act like it had no power? Could it be that I just had the ribbon cable in backwards? I didn't have time before I had to come back to school to throughly troubleshoot it. I do not need the card - my parents do - and when it didn't work there (drive acting like no power problem) I just brought it back here to see if I could make it work here.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Originally posted by SNGX1275
Do you know what could cause a drive hooked up to it act like it had no power? Could it be that I just had the ribbon cable in backwards?

Loose power cable, wrong voltage or broken drive. IDE cable backwards hasn't prevented me from ejecting CDs, you could try that.