[Scenic Edition X102 (P4)] - Replacing IDE HDD with SATA HDD

[Dumpy]

Hi,

I’m looking to increase the storage capacity of my Scenic Edition X102 with the following spec –

Mobo: D2140-A22
Bios: Phoenix v5.00 rev1.12.2140.03
CPU: Pentium 4 - 2.8GHz
RAM: 2Gb
Chipset: SiS 661FX
Southbridge: Sis 964

I’m hoping somebody may be able to advise on whether what I am trying to do is possible or not!

I am trying to replace the original IDE HDD with a SATA drive - Samsung HD153WI 1.5TB 32MB SATA II - (Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD153WI ... b_title_ce) as the bootable medium. As the mobo has no SATA ports and only one available IDE port, I bought an IDE / SATA converter (Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00279MSBG) to connect the drive to the primary IDE port. It supposedly supports SATA I and II and the good reviews that it had received gave me the impression that this would work.

On bootup the HDD is seen in the bios and on trying to load an OS (have tried using both XP & Win 7), the drive was initially seen but I was unable to partition or format the drive – the only choice I was given was to “load drivers”. Now the drive is not being seen at all when loading OS. I have since partitioned & formatted the drive in a mate’s PC, but it is still not being seen when back in this machine and attempting to install an OS.

According to the Fujitsu site, I have the latest bios version and I’ve tried loading RAID/SATA drivers from the original Fujitsu Utilities disk – but simply get a message saying it cannot find SiS Raid Controller.

I have also tried forcing the drive into SATA I mode (1,5Gbps) by jumpering the drive pins, as per Samsung FAQs, since the instructions received with the converter seemed to imply SATA I only was supported.

After unsuccessfully searching for any helpful info, driver updates, patches etc that may assist for some weeks now I am reluctantly beginning to suspect that this PC just doesn’t have the capability to be able to use this drive in the way I was hoping.

So my query is – am I right in thinking that this appears to be impossible or is there something simple I’m missing that might sort this out??

If the above isn’t possible, as a “Plan B” I’m considering using a PCI SATA card and connecting the drive through it as a storage medium only as I believe it’s not possible to connect a bootable drive via a PCI card. I would then have the OS on the original IDE drive. Before I rush out and buy a PCI SATA card, would this setup be likely to work?

Apologies for the lengthy post but I have tried to give as much info as possible.

Any input on this would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

[Dumpy]

Hi People,

No helpful replies as yet!

Am I the only one who - rightly or wrongly - has tried to connect a SATA drive to this PC??

Really would appreciate any honest input even if only to advise I'm completely wasting my time trying to boot from the new drive.

How about my Plan B suggestion??

Go on - somebody give me an idea ... it'll give me something to tinker around with after Christmas dinner!


Cheers & a Merry Chrimbo to you all

[sabrex]

Ok its bi directional 1 or the other not both at the same time. These devices are renowned to be not that great from bad supplied sata to bad power cables.

2.00 Xmas prezzy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Port-Expansion-VIA-VT6421a-chipset/dp/B000S87GG0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1293108206&sr=1-1

[Dumpy]

Cheers for replying Sabrex.

I am only trying to use it one way tho' - "allowing sata drive to be used on ide board" as shown in your pic. I have read bad reviews on other sata/ide converters but this one pulled quite a few good ones which is why I went with it. In all honesty it seems to be functioning correctly - its led shows it's being powered and the sata drive shows up correctly (as primary ide) in the bios. This is why I'm wondering if it's simply a case of missing drivers or similar?

Thanks for the pci card link, but had already spotted that one on amazon - reviews aren't great and a couple advise of issues with sata2...so will prob give that one a miss. Have spotted another one which looks a better bet - http://www.amazon.co.uk/SATA-PCI-int-po ... pd_cp_ce_3 - At £8.29 all in, still cheap enough for Santa to throw my way!

However, still got this gut feeling that I should be able to get this sata drive up and running as the primary OS drive somehow!

Has anybody else tried installing a sata drive in this fashion - successfully or otherwise??

Cheers