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Can't install Windows XP & boot from Sata Drive

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by trish44

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I just installed a new Seagate Sata hard drive in my computer. I already had one as extra storage, but I want to use this new one as my main drive to boot from. I have my operating system on my old IDE drive that is small & in the process of trying to copy over my drive contents from the old one to the new I found out my drive is dying & has a bad sector, so I can't just copy it with Seagate utilities. I have tried all kinds of different things to try to just install Windows XP on my new drive & it won't install. I have tried unplugging all other drives, just leaving Sata drives plugged in, leaving an IDE drive plugged in, nothing works. When I put in the Windows XP CD & start up the computer it asks if I want to boot from CD. I push enter & it goes into the setup as it should. It starts going through the setup & then gets to the point where it checks hardware & then wants to restart. It goes ahead & restarts & then instead of continuing setup like it says it's supposed to it just either gives me an error loading operating system message or if I push enter again it starts all over again. I never get past this point. It doesn't matter how I set up the drives to boot in the bios, it just goes through this circle over & over again. I have an ASUS A8N-SLI motherboard. I'm at a loss as to what to do different. How do I get this drive to install Win XP & boot correctly? Can anyone give me ideas on how to get past this problem? I don't know how much longer the hard drive I've been using is going to hang on, so I need to get the new one into use. Ideas?

12 replies

by maniacman

The problem with XP is that it lacks builtin drivers for SATA drives, as SATA drives were introduced after the public release of Windows XP. You'll need to download the Windows XP drivers for your SATA drive and copy them to a floppy disk and during install press the F6 key when prompted and insert the floppy disk with the SATA drivers (be vigilant as it goes by quick).

by trish44

I did make the floppy from my MB CD for the driver files. I tried to press F6 when prompted, but it wouldn't work. I left the floppy in the drive & resarted the computer & the screen came up to install these additional drivers. I chose the one listed for XP & it appeared to load it. However, nothing changed with the installation. I'm still stuck with being unable to continue the installation. I tried it the 2nd time with the same results. I'm really frustrated!

by maniacman

Also, take a look at the contents of the floppy disk and ensure that the drive is indeed there and that there is some king of inf file in there with the driver. I've honestly never seen such difficulties with a motherboard and I think the next best step is to contact the motherboard manufacturer. Also, are you running the latest BIOS code for the motherboard?

by trish44

The CD ROM is listed as first boot device. Also the floppy disk has the files that it's supposed to have. I have not updated the motherboard bios since installing it since I have had no reason to do so. I have been reading online that others are having these issues with this motherboard, but have found no solution.

by maniacman

Bummer..I hope you can return it and get your money back.

by trish44

I have been using this motherboard for at least a year now with IDE drives & even a SATA drive as extra storage. The problem has come in when I need to use the SATA drives to boot from. Here is where the glitch lies. So, no I don't think at this point I can return the MB.

by trish44

Has anyone heard of the program NLite? I've been reading some about it & think I may give it a try. It's supposed to be a workaround with the F6 & Sata drivers problem.

by seanferd

Forgive the terseness of this post. Just trying to throw out some ideas.

SATA drive you are installing to must be boot (HD) drive in BIOS. In BIOS, SATA Master with no IDE Master might be a good idea. Check RAID and IDE advanced settings. Must be formatted with the active (boot) partition attribute set. Can you Fdisk it before installing XP? Might help. Leave the old IDE drive(s) unplugged.

Keep trying the F6? Are you sure the SATA drivers are on this floppy? Make a floppy with only the appropriate driver on it. Download one from the drive, controller, or mobo manufacturer's site, it may need a very particular driver. Check also for a bios update for this board. Exact mobo version (so you also have the controller type and version) may be important. Different controllers have different quirks/ features. Is the drive set for SATA or SATA II? Does this make a difference to the mobo chipset in your current config?

Have you changed anything else concurrent with this problem? Memory, graphics, etc.

N-Lite: If you want to mod a setup disk, there are some other programs that can do this also. Bart's PE is one, I believe.
Have a look at this? http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/000867.html Check in the comments, too.
You may try this, if you want to go the CD burning route. Make sure to substitute the mentioned driver(s) with the one you need. You won't need other software this way.

by seanferd

Pardon the large mess. (Even edited for formatting, sorry.)

http://support.asus.com/download/download_item.aspx?product=1&model=A8N-SLI%20Deluxe
or whatever is current or more specifically applies to your exact version of the board.

http://support.asus.com/default.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us All A8N-SLI related

http://support.asus.com/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&product=1 update BIOS

Make sure all settings are correct for your new boot drive again.

"Under bios it is very probable that you'll find three options for the SATA controller: Compatible (witch will work flawlessly [no F6] but you won't have hotplugh and NCQ), AHCI (you'll need a floppy or a windows XP installation CD with drivers included) and RAID (The same as AHCI but with the RAID software/firmware loaded)"

"Some boards are picky on which sata connector the boot drive is plugged into though,usually its #1."
quoted from http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/241072-31-sata-install-question

"tbrunt3

SATA controller driver

Your Motherboard or SATA controller card requires a driver to work properly. If you did not get a Floppy Disk with the SATA driver included with your Motherboard you will have to make one. The SATA drivers can be located on the installation CD that came with your Motherboard or preferably, download the latest SATA controller drivers from the manufacturers site. Once you have located the drivers copy them to a formatted floppy disk. Make sure they are in the root directory i.e. not contained within any folders.

BIOS settings

When you turn on the PC hit the Delete key when prompted and you will enter the BIOS (Basic Input Output System). Here you set the first boot device to be the CDROM drive, the option is usually found under the Advanced Options section but this depends on your BIOS and you may have to look around for it. Once you have done this save and exit.

Installing the SATA controller driver

Once you have set the PC to boot from the CD make sure the XP CD is in the CD drive and start the installation as per usual. Within the first minute or so of the installation Windows will prompt you to press F6 to install RAID or SCSI drivers, do this. Windows will continue to install then ask you to locate the driver. now with the floppy disk created earlier in drive A: select the driver and hit Enter.

With the SATA drivers installed you can now continue the Windows installation as usual.

BIOS settings revisited

Once Windows has finished installing you will need to make sure the PC is set to boot from the SATA drive. To do this make the first boot device SATA if the option is available. If not you have two options: HD0 - If there are no IDE HDs present, or SCSI if you do plan on running an IDE HD as a secondary device."
quoted from http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-20564-Problems-installing-xp-on-SATA-drive.html

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=98&type=expert&pid=17
Asus also included a unique feature for a motherboard package: an external SATA hard drive kit that allows you to connect a regular internal SATA hard drive to your system without opening your case up. By putting a molex power connector and SATA connectors on a back panel for you case, you can take advantage of the hot swappable SATA hard drives to make your own external drives (yes, the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe supports SATA hot swapping).

>
How does eight SATA channels and two IDE channels sound? That should satiate just about anyone with a fetish for large hard drives. Only users upgrading from lots of IDE drives will have to look for new SATA hard drives. The NVIDIA SATA controller also supports the new SATA 3.0Gb/s standard, so when those drives become available you'll be ready. RAID support is very nice: NVIDIA's controller supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD that can span across both the SATA and PATA channels; the Silicon Image contoller supports RAID 0, 1, 10 and RAID 5. Did I mention the external SATA power and cable connectors Asus includes to allow for you to hot swap SATA drives without opening your case?

>
With the first board of its kind, not mention getting one of the first boards sent over from Taiwan, there are bound to be a few issues to be dealt with. Our's included an imcompatibility with ATI graphics cards and some stubborn SATA controllers. With our initial BIOS's, the A8N-SLI didn't allow a copy of Windows to be installed when using an ATI GPU - we were consistently greeted with a frozen screen at the "Setup is starting Windows..." during setup. I was not the only the editor to have this issue, so I knew the cards weren't the problem. The other issue was raised while using new BIOS' to try to fix the ATI issue -- our SATA drives were intermittently being detected, making testing quite a hassle. It seems to be mainly a BIOS issue, and I am sure it can be resolved as our reference board from NVIDIA didn't have these issues.

>
I am happy to report that by working with Asus' US and Taiwan branches well into the night last night, I was able to have them produce a BIOS that fixes both the ATI card and the SATA drive problems. The last beta BIOS they got for me at after 2AM was able to install Windows with my various ATI cards and my SATA drives were working once again. That means that any boards that will eventually reach the retail channel in the next two weeks will have these fixes that we worked on already installed, and we can be reasonably assured that the kinks have been worked out for a solid BIOS.

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/38623/ FAQ Newer stuff is much futher down, if you want to wade through this past the sticky note on top.

by seanferd

I don't know if it will help, but it will let you slipstream (add stuff to) the install cd. This may let you proceed with installation at the "install drivers" point. Also, you should download and add any update for the SATA chipset drivers for your motherboard.

What I would suggest first, is to go into BIOS setup and make sure taht your system is set to boot from the SATA drive before the IDE drive. Also, leave the IDE drive disconnected.

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