M2N78-LA (Viola) drivers

[Marvin Moran]

Vista install setup is asking for drivers. At the "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen it gives the message: "No drives were found. Click load driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation." this is for an HP m8530f media center desktop PC the Seagate 750 GB boot drive crashed and is being replaced by a Hitachi 2TB deskstar 7200rpm SATA 3 drive. I've had no luck with any of the drivers I've tried so far. I unzip them and put them on a thumbdrive, but when I browse for them only the folders are visable. The drivers themselves don't show up. Is there an incompatibility between this Motherboard and the new harddrive? Is there a driver that will work?

 

[hang-the-9]

I don't think you mean no "drivers" were found but no "drives", different things.

If you go into the BIOS, does the system see the new drive? You can also try changing the drive mode to IDE from AHCI in the bios.

If the drive is not seen after that also, the motherboard may not be able to see a drive that large. Check vendor support for details as to what it can run.

 

[Marvin Moran]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough in my first post. Yes the message was that Windows doesn't see any drives. However, when I browse for drivers which the system is asking for, (on thumbdrive) the unzipped drivers don't appear. Only the folders appear, but they are empty. The files aren't displayed. Yes the Bios does see the drive, but windows Vista installer does not. IDE emulation is not an option available in the current Bios and updatinmg the Bios isn't possible because no system is installed. The Vender for the mobo is Asus and their website doesn't recognize the name or serial # so I can't get support for it. Maybe there's something I'm missing about the type of driver requested by Vista. None of the drivers I've tried from the HP site are visible to the installer.

 

[hang-the-9]

You need to check for the driver files from HP not Asus. Many times OEM boards will not be listed on the web site of who made it but the company using it. It is probably looking for the chipset drivers for the sata ports, although it may be just having an issue with the hard-drives. Try a smaller sata drive for the setup see if it will work with that. Another option is to try Windows 7, although you'd have to shell out about $100 for the cheapest copy.

 

[Marvin Moran]

You need to check for the driver files from HP not Asus. Many times OEM boards will not be listed on the web site of who made it but the company using it. It is probably looking for the chipset drivers for the sata ports, although it may be just having an issue with the hard-drives. Try a smaller sata drive for the setup see if it will work with that. Another option is to try Windows 7, although you'd have to shell out about $100 for the cheapest copy.

Yes, The The HP drivers section is the first place I checked. Asus was my second attempt. Both the Chipset and Sata controller drivers were tried and were not recognized by Vista Installer. On a whim I tried a Windows 7 disk I have just to test to see if the problem was with the board. Windows 7 installed without a hitch, so it's not the mobo, but I can't leave it in Windows 7 because it's not a legal copy for this computer. I also tried hooking up a smaller older hard drive and had the same problem. So I'm still stumped. Any additional info will be greatly appreciated. Thanx.