Guest wsxedcrfv Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Back around 2004 or 2005, I was messing around with a couple of GA-8KNXP motherboards. I installed XP on one of them (but used IDE, not SATA drives) and I was messing around with win-98 and SATA drives on the other one. It was frustrating because of transient operational or stability issues I was seeing. I'm very sure that the ICH5R came to have a reputation for being buggy or faulty with regard to the SATA/Raid component. I don't know if it was the drivers, or the hardware - but I'd bet on the hardware (ie - the chip itself).Don't put too much faith into getting reliable or stable performance out of SATA drives attached to your ICH5R motherboard. And I personally wouldn't use them in RAID mode. When a raid array goes south, you're going to be in a world of hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwig Von Cookie Koopa Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 VIA VT8235 board with IDE to SATA adapter, Hataichi 500GB. It worked for the time I was using it, However I am assuming the data rate is slower, now but it seems fine so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKl Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Hi guys, didn't wanted to start a new thread so - don't laugh - but I purchased RLoew's great SATA patch just a few days ago and it works great and one of the first things I wanted to do was backing up this win98SE installation onto another SATA.But as soon as I attach the second SATA-HDD the system won't boot. BIOS tests are done but then there is only a black screen with a blinking cursor.After removing the second drive the system boots normally again. The mobo is a jumperfree Asus P4P800-X and I tried several settings in BIOS and different cables, etc. ! Nothing worked.Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Maybe it's trying to boot to the "new" SATA (no BOOT code, so blinks and does nothing). Check your SATA connectors and/or BIOS Boot Sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 If it's an AMI BIOS, you better check boot sequence twice - AMI is the most stupid BIOS logic I've ever encountered, which killed me many hours and brain cells.Alternatively check with Mr. Loew for more advices. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rloew Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 (edited) If it's an AMI BIOS, you better check boot sequence twice - AMI is the most stupid BIOS logic I've ever encountered, which killed me many hours and brain cells.Alternatively check with Mr. Loew for more advices.No doubt about that. I have been testing a number of Intel Branded Motherboards with AMI BIOSes. Some of the BIOSes do a CHS Geometry test on each Drive. If the Drive does not show 255 Head Geometry, weirdness ensues. Either the Drive is switched to CHS Mode, limiting it to 32GB, or the BIOS crashes and you never even get to the initial Logo screen. A blank cursor after the BIOS Screen suggests the former. If fixing the Boot Sequence doesn't work, then you will have to erase the Drive and repartition the Drive in another Computer. This problem is NOT limited to SATA. Edited October 31, 2015 by rloew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKl Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Thanks for the help guys but this time it was 'only' a dying sata !! It was there one time yesterday evening but now the drive makes only clicking noises. Weird though that S.M.A.R.T. never gave any alarm. Regarding the AMI Bios issue. I checked for updates for this mobo and as I wanted to update it I noticed that the floppy drive, although passing BIOS test, is just not working. I tried a different floppy drive as well. Same result.What a strange machine. Can I update a BIOS using an USB stick ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Check/replace the floppy cable, it may be defective or it may pertain to an OEM machine that has the floppy connector mirrored or otherwise nonstandard.Alternatively, make sure the cable is connected properly and you're using the 'A' end (the one with six twisted wires) in case the cable has twin floppy capability.Also double-check that the floppy controller is enabled in BIOS. Certain newer machines can update BIOS from USB but the function must be available in current BIOS. Read the manual for your board version/revision and BIOS version. Enable legacy USB option, if available. The stick should be formatted as FAT32 unless otherwise stated in the manual. Regardless of the BIOS update, AMI remains the worst among all, maybe even worse than certain old Phoenix. It changes boot sequence on the fly after (non-)detecting boot devices so with a flaky HDD drive you may well experience random lockups or boot from a different drive than expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougB Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 In addition to what Drugwash said.... This might seem kinda like a "duhhh" suggestion, but it's bitten me in the past. We've gotten so used to hard drives, flash drives, etc that we don't remember... diskette drives need to be cleaned! Every once in awhile. Especially after periods of disuse, dust will make it's way through the (unsealed) door and settle on the heads and mechanics. But over time, crud will just normally build up on the heads because of use (a contact medium). Holding the door open, blow out the dust with compressed air, and then clean the heads with a fluid-based (not dry) diskette-cleaner kit. (They're cheap... if you can still find 'em!) There are also a couple of freeware diskette-cleaning utilities around that run the heads all around the cleaning diskette (better than just doing a DIR A:). The other thing i can suggest is to physically re-seat the connector plugs on each end of the cable (drive and board). Good luck.... - Doug B. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Thanks for the addition, Doug! Indeed, many times we do forget to clean the floppy heads. I still have a very old floppy cleaner kit which is nothing but a modified floppy disk with a paper disk inside that has to be moisted with isopropyl alcohol before usage. When such kit is not available, the (handy) user can open up the floppy drive and gently wipe the heads with a piece of paper dipped in isopropyl alcohol, which should be available at the electronic parts shops (such as RadioShack, presumably). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Your manual doesn't say so, but you can boot to a USB. Read this -http://www.abxzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48502Seems your BIOS needs (as previous posters stated the oddities) -1 - Put the Stick in (AFTER prepared - see above posters)2 - Power Up3 - Change BIOS Boot Order (apparently the F8 Boot Pop-Up menu won't show it)4 - Boot and update via AFUDOS program (follow instructions)5 - Usually the PC Reboots afterwardsNotice that using an AUTOEXEC.BAT to call AFUDOS isn't a wise idea (some manufacturers have that silly stuff pre-made). Enter the commands manually. That way you get the opportunity to back up first. READ your Manual to see "how it's done" (Floppy).6 - Pray HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Certain BIOS update utilities do have command line switches that allow saving current BIOS before updating. Indeed manufacturers provide autoexec files but those can easily be modified to add the save option. Of course, manual operation can be performed just as well. The most important thing is to pay extreme attention to the motherboard version/revision number and any other important details when downloading BIOS update, otherwise flashing the wrong file can brick the board. I did that to one of my best boards (different BIOS image for different RTC chip, got it wrong) so I've learned it the hard way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneCrusader Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) One can also simply place the BIOS update files on the hard drive and boot 9x to DOS to run them by pressing F8 at startup and choosing "Command Prompt only" - this is much safer than using a floppy or USB drive IMO... Edited November 4, 2015 by LoneCrusader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Yes, that is possible too but something from my hazy memory says it's not always recommended - maybe because the HDD controller may be disabled during the update and certain pending operations may fail. Of course, it totally depends on BIOS type and version and may also be a thing of the past, but it's still a risk. I've done BIOS upgrades from HDD in the past as well as from floppy - can't do it now for a 64bit AMD Gigabyte board since it won't acknowledge the USB stick, HDD is NTFS with an NT-based 64bit OS and there is no floppy drive on that machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKl Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Thanks again for all the helpful posts !!!I will see if I try to update the BIOS again or just leave it that way because the mobo seem to work otherwise fine. Oh by the way, I have found a nice offer for sata-ssd's on the German Ebay. Now with Rloew's patch installed I can use sata-ssd's without further problems, can't I ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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