Hard drive not recognized when installing windows 7 pro

[James_north]

Specs: Gigabyte motherboard Z68XP-UD3 socket 1155
Hdd Seagate 1TB Barracuda Internal Hard Drive - OEM
I am trying to install windows 7 pro but the hard drive is not recognized. I have followed instructions in the manual and connected the hdd to sata3_1. I then set the PCH Sata control mode to AHCI as was suggested by a mod, after this the hard drive does not appear in the bios but still appears as a bootable device after pressing 'f12' and i receive messages before going into bios about AHCI. When trying to install windows 7 pro the hard drive still does not appear and asks me to load drivers. Can anyone help me or does anyone know what to do?
If no one knows how to fix the problem could someone tell if the hard drive if likely to be broken or not?

 

[RealBeast]

Insure that you have the latest bios. Then try using a SATA II port instead, it will make no difference for your performance.

While SATA drives don't show up in the bios the same as old IDE drives did, if you disable the full screen logo in the bios, you should see the drive listed as a SATA device in a list just after the memory check.

 

[bambiboom]

James_north,

I was just beginning to post on this exact subject when I saw your thread.

My situation is that I have a Seagate ST500DM002-1BD14 in a new HP z420. This has Windows 7 Professional 64 on it, bu I want to use EaseUS Todo Workstation to restore a system image with Win 7 Ultimate and a lot of applications for which the original disks are 3,000 miles away.

The problem is that in the Todo Recovery, the Seagate drive is not recognized. I was told to load drivers for it so that Todo would recognize it, and I learned this >

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/188411en

BEGIN> "Seagate does not supply drivers for SATA drives because hard drives themselves do not require specific device drivers. This article explains.

Seagate does not supply drivers for SATA drives because hard drives themselves do not require specific device drivers. Operating systems such as Windows XP/2000 may not automatically recognize the SATA controller in the system. This is especially true if the hardware is newer than the operating system.

The SATA controller will either be embedded on the motherboard or a SATA add-on card. Windows 7 and Vista will usually recognize a SATA motherboard controller. SATA add-on cards will more than likely prompt for a driver. In either case, if the drive is not recognized by the OS Setup software, then you will need to supply a controller device driver.

The SATA controller driver can usually be found on the CD or website of the system, motherboard or SATA controller card manufacturer.

If the SATA controller is recognized during Setup without special drivers, then you can complete the installation. After the initial setup, check for driver updates from the OS or controller manufacturer.

Common Windows scenario:

When performing a new installation of Windows from CD of Windows XP or 2000, you will be prompted to push the F6 key to "install additional controller drivers".

When performing a new installation from DVD of Windows 7 or Vista a box will prompt “Where do you want to install Windows?” If the SATA hard drive is not showing then click the Load Driver option.

The "additional controller driver" is the SATA controller driver. Whether the SATA controller is embedded on the motherboard or is an add-on card, the driver(s) can be found on the CD or website of the manufacturer. If you need more information on installing SATA controller drivers, please consult the manufacturer's setup or installation manual. " < END

In my case, the driver for the z420 is the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise driver for the C600-series (C602) chipset in Windows 7 64-bit, for SAS/SATA. The version used on the z420 is 3.7.3.1002. I have downloaded this from Intel, but the driver is contained in an .EXE installation program. It appears that I can't extract the driver from the application such that it can be recognized by Todo Device Management, which seems to recognize only *.INF files.

So, while, I still haven"t solved this for myself due to the unusual circumstances of trying to work in the WinPE environment, what I've learned suggests >

>> You need to know the chipset for the HD controller. If you have an OEM system or built it, there may be a driver disk for the motherboard or go the appropriate site and download the controller driver. Download the controller driver to a flash drive and then when prompted to load drivers, use BROWSE to the flash drive location and click on the driver.

I'm amazed that this situation exists in this world of of Plug and Play. I haven't had such a difficult time installing something since the horror that was Windows 95! I'm hoping others more expert than I will comment, as I'm amazingly stuck!

Let us know if you get it to work.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[RealBeast]

Bambiboom -- you have a different issue, best to post in a separate thread. Anyway you do need the inf for that chipset to install it at the F6 install driver point -- you need to download the zipped x64 IRSTe that has the inf files available from HERE and the filename you want is RSTe_3.6.0.1093_F6-drivers.zip. This is the prior version, but I didn't see any later F6 package and these should work fine to get you started as long as your chipset is stepping C0 or C1.

I can't help you with the EaseUS software, as I have not used that specific one -- Workstation. If you do have any other questions on it, please use a separate thread. Thanks.

 

[bambiboom]

RealBeast,

Sorry, I didn't intend to hijack the thread by James_north for a different purpose- I thought it possible- a speculation- that the issue of the drive not being recognized in the case of the OP and myself was the same- that the appropriate driver needed to be loaded- not an HD driver but a controller driver for the relevant chipset. If my reply is incorrect / irrelevant, then it may be deleted.

I will start a separate thread- which is why I was here in the first place.

Back to the hijack category, very much appreciate your suggestion re: the Intel Rapid Storage files. I did download the RSTe_3.6.0.1093_F6-drivers.zip but these are *.SYS and I'm not seeing *INF files.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[RealBeast]

RealBeast,

Sorry, I didn't intend to hijack the thread by James_north for a different purpose- I thought it possible- a speculation- that the issue of the drive not being recognized in the case of the OP and myself was the same- that the appropriate driver needed to be loaded- not an HD driver but a controller driver for the relevant chipset. If my reply is incorrect / irrelevant, then it may be deleted.

I will start a separate thread- which is why I was here in the first place.

Back to the hijack category, very much appreciate your suggestion re: the Intel Rapid Storage files. I did download the RSTe_3.6.0.1093_F6-drivers.zip but these are *.SYS and I'm not seeing *INF files.

Cheers,
BambiBoom

No problem, you just both get better answers indivdually. Take a close look through that file I had you download, as there are .inf files in the appropriate folders, you have to dig a bit.

 

[James_north]

RealBeast I managed to install windows 7 pro on a different hard drive that I think i sata I and in the OS I am able to see the hdd, put files on it and runs applications. However the hard drive I have windows installed on is fairly slow, is there any way to move the installation to the new faster sata III hard drive that I spoke about above?
Also what would moving the sata cable to a port II do and how would I make sure that I have the latest bios and if I don't could you show me the file I need? thank you

 

[bambiboom]

RealBeast,

Thanks again. Yes, there are the *.INF files- a big pile. I thought that the files listed in Win Explorer as "setup information" and no extension were *.TXT and not drivers. I'd never dealt with the *INF extension before.

I need to study !

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[RealBeast]

RealBeast I managed to install windows 7 pro on a different hard drive that I think i sata I and in the OS I am able to see the hdd, put files on it and runs applications. However the hard drive I have windows installed on is fairly slow, is there any way to move the installation to the new faster sata III hard drive that I spoke about above?
Also what would moving the sata cable to a port II do and how would I make sure that I have the latest bios and if I don't could you show me the file I need? thank you

It is best to do a clean install. I would insure that your bios is updated to F10, unpartition the HDD that you want to use while the older one is running Windows 7, and then do a clean install with only the new drive attached.

 

[James_north]

Is there an easier way to solve this problem like just buying a new and different hard drive or will this problem persist even then? Because I have just installed the f10 driver and still nothing is working

 

[RealBeast]

Since the HDD showed up as working when you did the other install, I would not buy another. With the updated bios did you try the sata3_1 port again?

Also check in your bios that your boot HDD is being selected as a regular legacy type bios device and not one with UEFI in the device title.

Did you disable the Gigabyte full screen logo so you can see if the drive is listed as a SATA device at boot? (on the advanced bios features page)

edit: also make sure that in the standard cmos page that the channel detections are set to auto.

 

[James_north]

How would I check that the boot HDD is being selected as a regular legacy type bios device and not one with UEFI in the device title?
And also when I change the sata port type from IDE to AHCI under the integrated peripherals the HDD no longer appears in the BIOS under channel 1 master so should I do this?
Finally I get a message at the start of booting that says ... only detect hdd and cdrom etc and then lists the devices - do you know whats this means and the relevance of it ?

 

[RealBeast]

In your advanced bios features, you could just disable EFI CD/DVD Boot Options. Also check to see that your HDD is listed in the HDD boot priority as first, and as the second Boot Device (with the optical drive as the first boot device).

You should be able to use AHCI, and your HDD should show up in the boot up bios window after the memory check, that may be where you see your CDROM and HDD. Does it show up or do you only see your optical drive there? (If not you can use the IDE setting since it is a HDD, but if the HDD shows up leave it on AHCI.)

Also under Integrated Peripherals in the bios disable your GSATA3 Controller since you are not using it (that is the Marvell controller for the two ports GSATA3_6 and 7) and it will speed up your boot process.

And if you haven't yet, download the Intel SATA Preinstall driver from Gigabyte and put it on a USB stick, when the install F6 for drivers option comes up use that, as it sounds like your bios is not detecting the drive properly in AHCI mode.