Help! New Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H not seeing IDE HDD

Jed Shields · 12 Jun 2008 at 17:41

Hi guys,

just bought a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H for my wifes ageing PC and it's not seeing the IDE HDD when I try installing Vista Ultimate 32bit version. I've got an IDE DVD-RW as well so I've bought an IDE to SATA convertor since the Mobo only has one IDE port.

I connected the IDE to SATA convertor to the HDD first then powered up. I get the following message:

"SATA is found running in IDE mode!"

It then asks if I want to set SATA to AHCI mode. I've tried both modes but when I get into the Vista install screen there are no drives for me to choose to install to.

I've also tried swapping the IDE to SATA convertor to the DVD-RW drive and connecting the HDD directly to the IDE connector on the mobo. I still get the "SATA is found running in IDE mode!" message and again, the HDD is not found in Vista.

Any ideas???

Cheers,

Jed.

BUFF · 12 Jun 2008 at 20:45

Jed Shields said:
I've got an IDE DVD-RW as well so I've bought an IDE to SATA convertor since the Mobo only has one IDE port.

1 IDE port supports 2 devices (I as Master & 1 as Slave).

Jed Shields · 12 Jun 2008 at 20:54

Jed Shields · 12 Jun 2008 at 21:00

Right tried that and now getting another problem - it can't get past the "Verifying DMI Pool Data " bit in the bootup sequence. It says there's no bootbale partition in table. I've tried it with 2 IDE hard drives.

Jed Shields · 12 Jun 2008 at 21:52

Okay, sorted that problem out - I changed the boot sequence and it works. Now I'm stuck in the Vista installation bit - I get to the part where I need to select a hard drive to install to and there's nothing in the list :/

Jed Shields · 13 Jun 2008 at 12:47

Anyone?

I'll test if it's an OS issue by trying XP when I get home. I'll also try using a spare SATA HDD to see if it's the IDE HDDs as well.

Any other suggestions?

Jed Shields · 13 Jun 2008 at 16:38

Okay ... I'm now trying XP and have connected the IDE Hard Drive to the IDE socket. I try formatting the drive and Setup says it is unable to format it, the drive may be damaged. Make sure the disk is on and properly connected to your computer.

I get this message from both IDE hard drives (Samsung 160Gb). I refuse to believe that both disks are faulty as they were working perfectly before I put in the new motherboard.

Any help appreciated ...

Darkman · 13 Jun 2008 at 18:54

Have you set one drive up as Master and the other one as Slave?

Jed Shields · 13 Jun 2008 at 21:50

I'm only trying one drive at a time and bios is picking it up as ide01 master.

I tried a SATA disk and it works fine, the drive appears in the Vista list. The problem appears to be with the IDE hard drives, as the IDE dvd-rw is also fine.