Maxtor SATA trouble

[defunct]

the short story:

Bought a Maxtor Diamondmax 9 SATA 120GB 8Mb cashe, it was DOA, just loud clunking when OS was searching on startup, system hung at this point.

Swapped it.

New one seemed better. Windows was on a regular ATA drive and SATA drivers allready installed so used Maxblast software to install and configure.

"Install as boot drive" failed with read write delay errors so i cleaned, defragged and disc checked the old drive. Still didn't work.

"Install as extra storage" DID WORK but wouldn't let me partition the drive.

So I tried to install XP fresh on the SATA and partition in setup. It created the partitions but didn't format them correctly so XP could not install to it.

Now it's up the creek: MaxBlast (installer) won't run in DOS and can't find disk in Windows. PowerMax (diagnostic) the same. Windows detects it as Unknown New Hardware but names it correctly, asking for drivers at startup.

Where did I go wrong? Can I make the disk installable again? or do I need to swap it again and tell Maxtor support my tales of woe about their software?

thanks for your attention...

PS
abit nf7 s2g
2600xp
xp pro sp2
512 3200 ram

[defunct]

update:

drive doesn't show up in BIOS, Windows or Maxblast. But Nvidia RAID software shows it as a raidable "healthy" device!!!

[r8500]

If the format failed, that would explain why it isn't showing up anymore. Once a format has begun, you have to finish it, or it tends to mess things up. I am thinking I would just have Maxtor replace the drive.

[ukulele]

Have you tried to clear the drive with a utility like Zap or Killdisk? Have you tried updating your controller software? Do you have other IDE drives hooked up while you are working on the SATA drive?

With two new drives having troubles like that, I would suspect that the controller or cable is at fault. It could even be a PSU or Ram problem.

[defunct]

Im gonna try killdisknext i think.
I dont have another sata drive to test the sata chip but i do have a serilel adapter which came with the mobo. If i plug the uata drive with windows on it already into the sata port through the serillel adapter will this:

a) work?
b) make things worse?
c) tell me the mobo sata is ok?

[defunct]

killdisk doesn't see it...

[ukulele]

Originally posted by defunct
Im gonna try killdisknext i think.
I dont have another sata drive to test the sata chip but i do have a serilel adapter which came with the mobo. If i plug the uata drive with windows on it already into the sata port through the serillel adapter will this:

a) work?
b) make things worse?
c) tell me the mobo sata is ok?

I have no idea what you are talking about here. Maybe someone else can help you with that.

As for Kill disk not seeing the drive, that's probably just another symptom of the real problem. Have you reinstalled the motherboard drivers? What kind of power supply do you have?

[Shoreguy]

After having just done this, here's what i had to do:

(Assuming you're making your new SATA drive your primary HDD)

1. Update all your drivers
- motherboard chipset
- bios

2. At Maxtor.com, find and download the SATA drivers for your hardrive , and copy them to to a diskette, and label it.

3. At your mobo's chipset website, download the latest drivers for SATA (or RAID). When you expand the download, there should be a subdirectory of DriversDisk, or something like that.....Copy the contents of that directory and subs to a diskette, and label it.

4. Shut down your box, and unplug the power.

5. Unplug any IDE hard drives data and power cables, but leave your CD and FDD data and power cables in place.

6. Plug your SATA drive in, use SATA 0 spot if you can.

7. Start your computer, and go into the BIOS setup:
a. Enable SATA drives
b. Disable (if not automatically done) any IDE drives.
c. Set your CD as primary Boot, and the SATA drive as secondary (if you can).

8. Start your computer with the XP PRO CD in the drive
a. Press any key to boot from CD Drive......PUSH A KEY
b. Press F6 to install 3rd party RAID or other drivers....PRESS F6 (it's a very quick message, watch for it)
c. Press S to load 3rd party drivers.....Put your MoBo's SATA disk in first (refer to step 3), and select the correct option for your MOBO.
d. XP will go back to the prior screen once loaded, remove the floppy and press S again. It will prompt you to put in a diskette into drive A, Put the Maxtor SATA diskette in, and press ENTER. Select the correct option for your drive.

9. Continue (ENTER) with installing XP....you should get standard load messages after that for formatting, etc.

10. Once XP is loaded, and you've updated to the latest revisions, drivers, etc, shut down your computer and remove the power cable.
a. Plug your IDE data and power cables back in
b. go to your boot options and make sure your SATA drive is the 1st boot option, and your former C: isn't on the list.

11. Boot normally....it should.
12. If you've backed up, and moved everything of importance (Internet 'favorites', Mailbox files, etc, you should be good to go to remove/reformat/repartition your old drive.

Hope this helps.