To Be Fixed..or not be Fixed....That is the question....
I'm not exactly sure where this thread is, (as to which problems are/aren't solved), so I'm not exactly sure what to suggest.
However, to use a SATA drive as volume storage, just set the BIOS to "Configure SATA as IDE". XP will configure it as a volume automatically. As to the DVD drive I don't know if that will operate as IDE. The PCI to SATA card is a natty issue, since opinions on that type of card are like lightning and never really strike twice in the same place. I've wimped out on the issue, as I don't use RAID, just run as IDE and operate the extra drives as volumes. Every drive I've stuffed in has worked this way. The only problem I had was when I tried to Install Windows with all the drives connected. The BIOS "auto-configured" itself to SATA RAID. I simply disconnected the extra drives, restarted the PC, and plugged the extra drive in after the OS install. Perfect.
If I think I may have something that might be hampering the computer from recognizing the drive, (IE, MBR or bad format, or bad partition) I use a drive scrubbing program to bring the drive back to "out of the box" condition, and start over.
You really needed a suggestion before this, and I would have said; "don't buy a SATA optical drive". A DVD burner can't possibly transfer anywhere near as much information as the SATA interface can transmit. Plus, what do you do with the perfectly good IDE controllers on your mobo?
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