ASRock X79 mobo needs SATA drivers on a FLOPPY!? Is this a joke?

[mallok]

I just built a new system with an ASRock X79 Extreme6 motherboard. Everything went great until I booted the machine up and my hard drives were no where to be found in the BIOS.

It recognized my SATA dvd drives just fine, but the SATA hard drives aren't there are at all.

I read in the setup manual that "If you want to install Windows on a SATA hard drive you have to make a SATA driver floppy disk"

This has to be a joke, right? I haven't had a floppy drive in a machine for well over five years, and I have never heard of a BIOS that is unable to recognize a SATA hard drive on its own. Does anyone know what the deal is here?

It seems totally backwards to me that I have to install Windows to get my BIOS to recognize a SATA hard drive.

I've tried setting all of the BIOS options to SATA to IDE mode and compatibility mode and still nothing.

Help, please!

Thanks!

 

[nikorr]

U can use USB pen drive as a floppy : )

 

[mallok]

I tried plugging in a USB drive, but the utility seems to not recognize it. I just get the response "ONLY SUPPORT 1.44MB FLOPPY!" and then it asks me to reboot.

 

[nikorr]

U can use only USB2 ports.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

mallok sez... "I read in the setup manual that "If you want to install Windows on a SATA hard drive you have to make a SATA driver floppy disk"
Maybe you can tell us what page that was on. I just looked through all 101 pages of that users manual and didn't find a mention of floppy disk.

 

[jaquith]

Do it my way as posted here (I should probably make a sticky) - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/303873-30-wont-resume-sleep-booted-raid#t2068879

The problem is Window 7 and not anything else, Widows lacks the drivers. Probably not an issue in Windows 8.

Let me know and Good Luck!

 

[mallok]

mallok sez... "I read in the setup manual that "If you want to install Windows on a SATA hard drive you have to make a SATA driver floppy disk"
Maybe you can tell us what page that was on. I just looked through all 101 pages of that users manual and didn't find a mention of floppy disk.

My mistake. It doesn't explicitly tell you you need to use a floppy drive to do it in the manual. But the BIOS does not natively recognize the SATA HDDs. And when you insert the setup disk that comes with the motherboard, it prompts you to make a driver disk to use when installing Windows.

 

[mallok]

Do it my way as posted here (I should probably make a sticky) - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/303873-30-wont-resume-sleep-booted-raid#t2068879

The problem is Window 7 and not anything else, Widows lacks the drivers. Probably not an issue in Windows 8.

Let me know and Good Luck!

First, thanks for the reply!

Secondly, this problem is deeper than Windows, isn't it? My hard drives should show up in the BIOS, regardless of whether or not I have installed Windows. This is the part I don't understand. Why does Windows have anything to do with whether or not my BIOS can see a hard drive device attached via SATA?

 

[mallok]

U can use only USB2 ports.

That doesn't work with the driver creation utility. I just tried it, and it really, really wants a 1.44MB floppy.

 

[nikorr]

One more thing, it should be formatted FAT32.

 

[jaquith]

First, thanks for the reply!

Secondly, this problem is deeper than Windows, isn't it? My hard drives should show up in the BIOS, regardless of whether or not I have installed Windows. This is the part I don't understand. Why does Windows have anything to do with whether or not my BIOS can see a hard drive device attached via SATA?

Not if they're on Marvell and quite often if they're not formatted. Rather than driving yourself crazy, create a Flash Drive installer with the appropriate Intel RST Enterprise (F6) drivers, set the SATA -> RAID and afterwards either leave as-is or back to AHCI. See if the Windows installer 'sees' the HDD/SSD's and if not then worry. I assume that both the SATA and power is connected if for some reason they don't show-up.

 

[mallok]

One more thing, it should be formatted FAT32.

I just did a fresh FAT32 format, and I still got the same response. Have you gotten this to work with this mobo?

 

[mallok]

Not if they're on Marvell and quite often if they're not formatted. Rather than driving yourself crazy, create a Flash Drive installer with the appropriate Intel RST Enterprise (F6) drivers, set the SATA -> RAID and afterwards either leave as-is or back to AHCI. See if the Windows installer 'sees' the HDD/SSD's and if not then worry. I assume that both the SATA and power is connected if for some reason they don't show-up.

These HDDs were transferred from an old build of mine. They are all formatted and they all work. It's just crazy to me that the hardware and BIOS don't work together out of the box. I really can't wrap my mind around why the SATA controller would not be able to natively recognize an HDD... aren't the protocols for this stuff standardized? In my last build these SATA drives just worked.

I will give your solution with the Intel RST Enterprise drivers a shot, though. If it works then great, but I just don't get it.

EDIT: One more thing... One of these SATA drives has data on it that I do not want to lose. Should I back this data up to an external drive before I move ahead with your solution? It seems like I will lose all the data on these drives, correct?

 

[jaquith]

Most folks do NOT properly install their OS, and IF those OLD HDD's were connected while a primary (SSD/HDD) was being installed then their MBR or GPT is corrupted.

No the X79 has it's own/new and modified version of MBR/GPT; BootX is added. Further, if these OLD HDD's are going to be used as 'DATA' drives then disconnect them until the 'Primary' SSD/HDD has its old partitions deleted and is (re)formatted.

Take 5 seconds and read 'FIX' #'s 1~6. I can assure you if the drives are good that following what I posted they'll work.

BACKUP ALL DATA!!! It's best to have the drives formatted and cleaned. The OLD HDD if being used as a boot drive then MUST be reformatted and its' partitions deleted.

 

[mallok]

Most folks do NOT properly install their OS, and IF those OLD HDD's were connected while a primary (SSD/HDD) was being installed then their MBR or GPT is corrupted.

No the X79 has it's own/new and modified version of MBR/GPT; BootX is added. Further, if these OLD HDD's are going to be used as 'DATA' drives then disconnect them until the 'Primary' SSD/HDD has its old partitions deleted and is (re)formatted.

Take 5 seconds and read 'FIX' #'s 1~6. I can assure you if the drives are good that following what I posted they'll work.

BACKUP ALL DATA!!! It's best to have the drives formatted and cleaned. The OLD HDD if being used as a boot drive then MUST be reformatted and its' partitions deleted.

Do I need to create a USB Win7 boot drive? I have a Win7 OEM DVD. Does that do MBR by default?

I have tried setting my SATA configuration to RAID and installing the linked RAID driver at the Win7 install screen. The RAID driver installs but Windows is still unable to detect the drive (neither the setup screen nor diskpart see it)

I have disconnected all the HDDs with the exception of 1 (SSD), connected to an Intel SATA2 port (not Marvell, which I'm not sure I even have on this board). Is it possible I need to flash the firmware on my SSD? Could I try a standard, non SSD SATA HDD in place of this SSD to test if it's the SSD firmware that's the problem?

Thanks!

 

[jaquith]

Every single X79 install I did was from a Flash Drive and using the Intel RST Enterprise drivers. Again, if you read then I don't recommend using both the DVD and Flash Drive; I have seen instances where doing so required the folks to leave in the Flash Drive otherwise they get errors and boot failures.

Don't 'rethink' what I posted.

Sure, it's possible that both your SSD and HDD require updated Firmware. It's best to do that on another PC with both the SSD and HDD's not as boot drives and if the other PC is running in AHCI mode in most cases for the Firmware to install or properly install.

If your SSD is a SATA3 type then use the Intel SATA3 port. Marvell in (many) cases is not for booting and instead for data-only. ASUS using them differently and of SSD Caching for the HDD (boot) + SSD (cache) which I really don't recommend.

AGAIN, the SSD/HDD or whatever WILL NOT show-up UNTIL THE PROPER Intel RST Enterprise SATA DRIVER IS LOADED!!! Once driver is loaded then like magic it'll (SSD) show-up, but not until. If you boot the Flash Drive, F8, then as soon as you see Install Windows at the bottom as I recall there should be something Load Drivers...

In that link, there's a very nice and needed video to watch 'How to make a MBR OS Flash Drive' and then you'll need to also add the Intel RST Drivers in a folder i.e. 'RAID' call it anything -- BUT the drivers must be UNZIPPED FIRST!!! I'd also add the Chipset and NIC drivers in another folder. Use only the latest drivers and NOT from the ASRock CD/DVD.

 

[jaquith]

Another CYOA, creating a Bootable Flash Drive installer, as in the video, wipes clean i.e. bye-bye all of the Flash Drives data. So if needed Backup that data!!!

 

[mallok]

AGAIN, the SSD/HDD or whatever WILL NOT show-up UNTIL THE PROPER Intel RST Enterprise SATA DRIVER IS LOADED!!! Once driver is loaded then like magic it'll (SSD) show-up, but not until. If you boot the Flash Drive, F8, then as soon as you see Install Windows at the bottom as I recall there should be something Load Drivers...

So, I tried that... and nothing. The driver installs fine but still no drive.

Again, I want to be sure you understand that the drives don't even show up in the BIOS itself. My SATA dvd drives show in the BIOS but my SATA hdds do not show. I can't help but think there is something else wrong here. I'll keep trying though.

 

[jaquith]

Make sure to choose Custom/Advanced:

Then click on Add Drivers:

Assuming in the BIOS SATA is set to RAID then load this driver:
'Flash Drive':\...RSTe_V3002003_XPWin7\RSTe_V3002003_XPWin 7\Driver\Disk\64bit\iaStorA.inf
'Flash Drive':\...RSTe_3.0.0.3020_F6-Drivers\RSTe_f6_iaStorA_64\iaStorA.inf

Another screen will appear confirming the 'Intel C600 RAID...' otherwise if you loaded the wrong driver i.e. AHCI and the SATA is RAID sure nothing will appear. Both the BIOS and DRIVER must match-up.

 

[jaquith]

If the newest Intel RST on Intel's sites failes then use the ASRock's {588.71KB SATA RAID Driver (For system to read from floppy diskette during Windows installation)} listed here - http://www.asrock.com/mb/download.asp?Model=X79%20Extreme6&o=All

There's also a Installation Guide:

SATA RAID Driver Installation Guide
SATA RAID Driver is for users who plan to install Windows OS on SATA / SATAII HDDs with RAID functions. To use RAID functions, you need to make a SATA RAID Driver floppy diskette before you install the operation system, such as Windows XP. If you do not plan to use RAID functions, it is not necessary to make a SATA RAID Driver floppy diskette. Please follow below steps for the usage of SATA RAID Driver:

Copy the SATA RAID Driver from our website to your SATA HDDs. Unzip it, and copy all the files and folders to an empty diskette.
Make sure that the “SATA Operation Mode” option in BIOS setup is set to RAID mode.
Install Windows OS to your system. At the beginning of Windows setup, please press F6 and insert the SATA RAID Driver floppy diskette you just made. Then you are allowed to select the required driver to install after your system reading the SATA RAID Driver floppy diskette.
After Windows OS installation, use the RAID tool in our support CD to configure RAID arrays under BIOS or Windows environment.
For the details of RAID operation procedures, please refer to our user manual in the support CD or quick installation guide for further information.

 

[mallok]

I just want to thank you again for your help and patience.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what I've been doing and it's not working at all. I can select the driver manually and it will install, but the hdd just does not show up. This is quite frustrating. Maybe I'll try looking for updated mobo firmware or something.

 

[jaquith]

BIOS version 1.20 just came out today. So IMO update your BIOS. Use ASRock's Instant Flash - http://www.asrock.com/feature/InstantFlash/index.asp

'Listed BIOS fixes', in my experience there always more that are 'unlisted':
1. Update CPU code.
2. Modify USB keyboard/Mouse can't work after resume from S3.

 

[KadoshJul]

I had the same problem with an old ASUS MoBo in the past. It has sata but it cant recognize large drives. My guess is you are putting in a really large sata drive? If the drive is smaller it will work. If you get a floppy drive and follow the instructions you can get a larger drive to work.

 

[mallok]

BIOS version 1.20 just came out today. So IMO update your BIOS. Use ASRock's Instant Flash - http://www.asrock.com/feature/InstantFlash/index.asp

'Listed BIOS fixes', in my experience there always more that are 'unlisted':
1. Update CPU code.
2. Modify USB keyboard/Mouse can't work after resume from S3.

So, I finally figured out the problem, and I feel really stupid for not double checking this. The hard drive is actually fried, which is why it's not being detected. I knew something was weird about the BIOS not recognizing the drive. It had nothing to do with drivers... just a fried hard drive and my stupidity!

After installing brand new hard drives, the BIOS detects them without a problem (and without installing Windows). After that, I installed Windows and everything works fine (I didn't need to install SATA drivers either).

Even though it wasn't the solution to my problem, I chose your most recent post as the best answer to acknowledge your help and to close off the thread.

Again, thanks for your help!

 

[mallok]

Best answer selected by mallok.
n
nPlease note that the best answer was not actually the solution to my problem. Read my post above for an explanation.