New Build help please

[agentsmith]

Hi Guys,

 

Im in need of some desperate help here.

 

The scenario:

 

I have just built a PC with the following components:

 

Epia M10000 embedded platform motherboard

1Tb Samsumg Hard Drive(SATA)

2 Channel SATA controller in the single PCI slot on the

DVD Burner drive connecting to IDE port.

256MB RAM

 

Installed the motherboard and all the components in there correct places.

plugged the SATA data cable from the motherboard to the port on the controller. All the installation is correct. There is no OS on the system as its a new build.

 

I booted up the system first time yesterday after I installed it all It goes past the logo screen for the motherboard, it then prompts me to choose boot option, so i choose the 4th option which is "boot according to BIOS settings".

 

The BIOS is set to boot from CD ROM first.

 

It then goes to the BIOS screen for the controller displaying:

 

Initio Sata Controller BIOS version 1***

 

Channel 0: Samsung HDD 953 GB

Channel 1: Not found

 

PnP Bios Installed.

 

It get to here and thats it it does nothing after.

Im trying to install Windows XP on here It doesn't even boot from the CD ROM drive, I can here the CD spin in the drive but however it gets to the above screen and does nothing from there.

 

Can anyone help me in what to do next.

 

Im assuming that I need to install the drivers for the controller card however I cannot do that as I have tried booting from controller card CD that came with it it then still goes back to the above screen and does nothing.

 

PLease help!!!

 

Many Thanks.

[DirtyPolo]

Hey AgentSmith and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help.

 

Have you checked that the RAM is seated properly?

 

Also, have you manually set up the boot sequence in the BIOS to boot from CD?

 

If not, when it is loading, press the Delete key to enter the BIOs and manually check that it boots from CD before anything else.

 

Also check that the CMOS Jumpers are in the right position and clear them.

 

To do this, turn off the system, at the PSU and at the wall,

- Open up the case,

- Find the CMOS Jumpers on the mainboard, located by the BIOS socket, above the PCI slot.

- Move the jumper onto pins 1 and 2, this clears the CMOS, then besure to move it back to pins 2 and 3.

- Start up the system again.

[All this is described on your Mainboards manual, page 25]

[agentsmith]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the reply

 

I have done what you describe to no avail.

 

Just seems to getting stuck at the controller bios screen,

It actually tells me that its found the hard drive, then after it seems to struggle to pick the up CD ROM drive.

 

Cheers

[DirtyPolo]

What do you mean by "struggles to pick up the CD ROM drive" ?

 

Have you checked the connection from your CD ROM to your mainboard?

[Dalo Harkin]

Most controllers require drivers from within windows.

Do you actually have SATA slots on the board?

What OS are you trying to install?

[agentsmith]

I dont have SATA slots on the board hence the need for the controller.

I read somewhere that someone had built a system the way I am doing it.

 

I have built a few systems in the past with no problems, I just had the motherboard lying about so it would of have been a shame to just throw it away and start again.

 

The OS i am trying to install in Windows XP Home for the time being and then Windows Home Server at some point.

 

I have even tried changing the jumper settings on the DVD drive to cable select.

The drive works and the CD spins, but like I said it doesn't get past the BIOS screen.

 

I assume its probably trying to find a way to boot up from the CD drive but doesn't recognise it(clutching at straws here).

 

Cheers for the reply so far.

Maybe Ill get to the bottom of this.

 

Many Thanks

[Dalo Harkin]

So the CDROM is on an IDE yes?

 

Ans the HDD is connected to an add in SATA controller.

 

You can buy an IDE to SATA converter but they are expensive - go and buy a small IDE HDD and install the OS on it - when its installed windows update will get the drivers for the SATA controller, or install with the disk that came with the controller.

Your other alternative is to buy an external case for the HDD that supports USB, but there is still no guarantee it will work on your MOBO

[Tootech]

When you are using a PCI SATA card, you will need the SATA drivers for that card - so for example I use a Silicon Image Si3512 card and the drivers can be found on the Silicon Image website, and are called SATA Windows Base drivers - not RAID drivers.

 

You will need a floppy drive and disk to install then. Press F6 when the blue Windows screen appears as you are running the install.

 

I assume its probably trying to find a way to boot up from the CD drive but doesn't recognise it(clutching at straws here).

 

Do you have a copy of the Windows CD, or is it an original?

 

Copied CD's often won't boot, even the slightest scratch will cause problems. Also, an old CD/DVD drive may simply be faulty.

[Dalo Harkin]

You will need a floppy drive and disk to install then. Press F6 when the blue Windows screen appears as you are running the install.

 

You can also use a USB stick for this

[agentsmith]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the tips.

I found a old IDE hard drive, so i took the controller card out and put in the IDE hard drive.

and this installed the OS on.

 

I then shut down the computer and unplugged it to install the card in and rebooted and guess what?

 

It still gets stuck at the contoller bios screen. I just dont understand why.

 

So anyone know how to get round this. I have narrowed the problem down to the controller card as without it it boots up fine.

 

Thanks

[Dalo Harkin]

The only thing I can think of is that you bought a controller that does not support JBOD and just RAID

[Tootech]

I guess the SATA card really doesn't like your board - sometimes it's the end of the line I'm afraid.

 

The curious thing is that a PCI SATA card can only transfer data at a max of 133MB /s due to restrictions on the PCI bus.

 

Your board has an IDE controller that is UDMA 66/100/133 compliant. I'd bet that a good IDE UDMA 5 hard drive will be almost as fast as a SATA on a PCI bus, especially considering your PC is not built as a performance unit.

 

I'd be thinking about grabbing a big IDE drive and installing that as you know it all works ok.

 

Maybe put your SATA drive in a USB 2.0 or Firewire caddy?

[Dalo Harkin]

I guess the SATA card really doesn't like your board - sometimes it's the end of the line I'm afraid.

 

The curious thing is that a PCI SATA card can only transfer data at a max of 133MB /s due to restrictions on the PCI bus.

 

Your board has an IDE controller that is UDMA 66/100/133 compliant. I'd bet that a good IDE UDMA 5 hard drive will be almost as fast as a SATA on a PCI bus, especially considering your PC is not built as a performance unit.

 

I'd be thinking about grabbing a big IDE drive and installing that as you know it all works ok.

 

Maybe put your SATA drive in a USB 2.0 or Firewire caddy?

 

Or just buy a controller card that supports JBOD

[Tootech]

Or just buy a controller card that supports JBOD

 

We are not 100% sure that the current card is RAID or JBOD only. It may simply be that the board does not support the SATA PCI type cards.

 

All things considered we should go with a practical fix that we know will work.

[agentsmith]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the replies here.

 

I have contacted technical support for the card manufacturers, I am awaiting a reply back from there.

If not i'll just cut the card loose and just a buy a couple of IDE HDDs and use the 1TB HDD in a caddy as mentioned.

 

However I will keep you updated when I get a reply back from TS.

 

Many Thanks again.

[agentsmith]

Guys,

 

Figured this out finally.

 

After talking to a so called techie at the place where I got the controller card from he suggested that I talked to Samsung and get the drivers for the HDD.

 

He was talking right out of his backside because it was causing issues whether the HDD was plugged into the card or not.

So today I copied over the driver files from the driver CD for the card, took the card out of the system, booted up using the Windows CD, pressed F6 on the setup screen installed the drivers for the card, switched the system off, inserted the card, rebooted and hey presto the card is alive, so after much sweating and sighing I managed to resolve my own problem.

 

Many Thanks to the above people for the various suggestions.

 

Cheers

[Dalo Harkin]

This is normally only done on a new build and you are lucky you didn't end up with a corrupt OS.

 

Glad its all sorted :)