SATA drive on 2-port RAID PCI controller

MrBondMrBond Member
edited August 2006 in Hardware
Hello, everyone!

I am trying to use a 300GB HDD (Maxtor, SATA: 7L300S0) in conjunction with a SiI 3512 2-Port SATA RAID 0/1 PCI Adapter.

The situation is not too complex: I need more storage space. I'm not concerned about using RAID for data tolerance or redundancy.

I purchased the PCI adapter because it was cheap, had the SATA ports I needed, and claims to "act as non-RAID when BIOS configured not configured RAID". Thus far, I'm convinced that claim is accurate.

I'm making the following assumptions and/or have verified the following:
- The PCI adapter and cables work
- The HD is recoverable
- Drivers on both ends are up-to-date
- There are no conflicts with other devices
- The motherboard is compatible with the adapter

So far, I have tried two rather..."antiquated" machines to successfully identify and use the HD. Both have some manner of integrated video, and are running Win2k Pro. The rest of the specs are as follows:

Machine 1:
128 MB SDRAM
Intel Celeron 400 MHz
ASUS AS97127F mobo

Machine 2:
192 MB SDRAM
Pentium III 450 MHz
Unknown mobo

Hardware installation on both machines goes smoothly. Windows detects and installs the correct drivers for the PCI adapter. According to the Device Manager, the HD is also detected, installed, and "working correctly"

This is where it gets strange. Windows does not map the drive to a drive letter. What's more, it does not show up in either Disk Managment or Logical Drives.

However, the first time I installed it on Machine 1, it showed up after I used MaxBlast 4, Maxtor's drive setup utility. Now, after a restart, it didn't show up again. Subsequent uses of MaxBlast on either machine failed to map the drive to a letter.

I also tried using Partition Magic 8.0 to "find" the drive. It doesn't start up, instead producing the error "Init 100: Bad Partition Table". Naturally, I can't use CHKDSK on it, since there's no letter for it. I even tried HDD Regenerator, but it freezes on the first sector. At this point, I'm assuming there are bad sectors on the disk.

There is no data on the HD. I don't mind having to repartition / reformat the drive, but I can't even do that. FDISK (from a Win98 startup disk) can't create a partition, although it recognizes the drive. What's worse, the BIOS on Machine 2 recognizes the drive itself -- the HD has an entry under the hard drive boot sequence.

After the BIOS check on both machines, the PCI adapter BIOS appears, along with a list of devices connected. The HD shows up, with the correct slot and capacity.

Right before Windows starts, an error appears: "Disk I/O error; status = 00000101". I've Googled the code, and it's either the cables or the HD itself. Per above, I'm assuming the cables are good -- I've tried two sets of brand-new cables and the error still appears.

Please, no comments on the SiI adapter! I've read around this forum a few days, and I can safely gauge the level of mistrust towards "cheap" brands. I am a soon-to-be college student, so finances are working against me. The hardware I have is pretty much all I have to work with. If someone can guarantee a workable solution, I may be able to squeeze a few more dollars into this.

I pride myself on being able to handle most technical problems without much issue. Having spent the better part of three days, I am positively at wit's end.

I'm going to try flashing the adapter's BIOS, see if that will help me at least map the HD. If that doesn't work, I'm going to install Ubuntu Linux to try to just read the drive.

If someone could recommend another install route / utility / sledgehammer I could use, I would be most appreciative.

If you need more info, please ask. I couldn't get the mobo info for Machine 2 because its locked down pretty tight at the moment.

Thanks!

Comments

  • MrBondMrBond Member
    edited July 2006
    My apologies for the double post, but the problem has resolved itself in a manner that could be considered the worst-case scenario.

    The drive PHYSICALLY STARTED ON FIRE. My guess is an electrical short, which may also explain why it wasn't working properly to begin with. One of the IC chips has a sizable burn, with the surrounding circuits either melted together or scorched black.

    So. This drive was a Maxtor, supposedly "brand new". Recommendations for a good HD brand?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    I've really been impressed with performance and quiet operation of the latest Hitachi Deskstars and Seagates. Western Digital also continues to be an excellent drive. I used to be a big WD fan, but in the last two years my purchases have included the Seagates and Hitachis. I've had bad luck with Maxtor, but that is just anecdotal evidence from one person - well, two, counting you.
  • MrBondMrBond Member
    edited July 2006
    Okay, I found these two:
    A Hitachi Deskstar, 250 GB SATA II, for $91.
    http://www.buy.com/prod/Hitachi_DeskStar_T7K250_hard_drive_250_GB_SATA_II_0A31636/q/loc/57608/10409084.html

    ...and...

    a Western Digital Caviar SE 16 250GB SATA-300, for $90.
    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2179837&CatId=0

    Both reasonably priced, and within my means. Judging by your post, I'm inclined to go with the Hitachi for the extra buck. (I'm getting two, by the way.) But if you have any other recommendations, please say so. :)

    And thanks for the advice thus far. :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited July 2006
    I would imagine that western digital will be faster considering it's 16MB cache. My experience would point to the Hitachi as being a quieter drive. Both of those are excellent values.

    Someone else might want to explain to us the differences of SATA-II and "SATA-300". Frankly, I hadn't heard of SATA-300.
  • MrBondMrBond Member
    edited August 2006
    I believe they are both the same, touting 3.0 Gb/s transfer rates (which very roughly translates to 300 MB/s, hence the 300).

    I think the first SATA standard clocked in at 1.5 Gb/s, and then SATA-II doubled it to 3.0 Gb/s.

    Anyways, I opted for the WD drive, as I'm concerned more about performance than noise at this point. I'm going to use them for storing my larger files (all my downloads, CD images, backups of movies, etc.), and they will be in a separate machine, so there's a good chance it won't be on all the time.

    Thanks for the input, Leonardo! :)
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited August 2006
    MrBond wrote:
    My apologies for the double post, but the problem has resolved itself in a manner that could be considered the worst-case scenario.

    The drive PHYSICALLY STARTED ON FIRE. My guess is an electrical short, which may also explain why it wasn't working properly to begin with. One of the IC chips has a sizable burn, with the surrounding circuits either melted together or scorched black.

    So. This drive was a Maxtor, supposedly "brand new". Recommendations for a good HD brand?
    Ive had that happen before there rma support thought I was crazy :mad: . (I didn't even get a rma number aparently its not covered under warranty.)
  • MrBondMrBond Member
    edited August 2006
    If I had the warranty info, I would certainly press to issue as much as possible. Unfortunately (and much to my disgust now), I purchased that hard drive from a friend, as is, with no guarantees. Certainly, I threw caution to the wind, and I got burned.

    Life has taught me another cruel, expensive lesson.
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited August 2006
    You can still atempt to get the warranty from maxtor.
  • MrBondMrBond Member
    edited August 2006
    Thanks for the link. I tried going through their online RMA request page, but they need a diagnostic code from PowerMax (the diag utility). Obviously, I can't run it and get that code...

    Tech support is gonna get an earful from me...
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