Just bought a Maxtor 200Gb ATA and Sis 3112 based S-ATA controller, as add on storage.

Am adding into an ABIT KX7-333 rig (no raid) running XP Pro with existing IDE boot drive (IDE primary) and DVD and CD devices (IDE secondary channel).

First drive turned up duff - heads slapping with only power applied. RMAed and next drive is fully recognised, as is controller.

When I try to format (in Disk Management or from a DOS boot) I get an error that the 'format failed'. Have also tried using Maxtors low level format utility... It passes no prob., but I still cannot get it to take the NTFS format (quick or regular).

However, just tried the drive and controller in a Compaq rig and it works fine... So guess this must be a BIOS/Mobo issue - but none of the BIOS options seem particularly useful... Have tried disabling the 2nd IDE channel but no difference...

Have also applied latest 3112 S-ATA drivers and BIOS... no change.

Anyone got an idea how to progress?