Sata2 drive on a Sata1.5 controller.

[Martel]

My niece has my old A7N8X-E Deluxe (has two Sata1 ports), tried to install a WD terrabyte drive. Won't pass the raid controller test. Do Sata 2 drives not work on these old controllers? Thanks in advance for any any responses.

 

[jmdixon85]

There should be a jumper on the drive to restrict it to SATA1 speeds. Check the label on the hard disk for how to set up the jumper. Also make sure the board is using the latest BIOS.

 

[Martel]

I did all the updates for the board when I had it, haven't been any new ones for quite awhile. I looked at the drive and it didn't seem to list any jumper for sata1. I'll check the website. Probably should have done that before posting anyways...

 

[Martel]

Found it on the website. Sorry for asking a question I should have answered myself. But, thanks for the response jmdixon85.

 

[jmdixon85]

Easy to overlook. Been so used to SATA2 for so long I've done the same when installing new HDD's in some old SATA1 boards. Just one of those "Doh!" moments, lol (As Homer Simpson would say)

 

[moz_21]

So did it work? My A7N8X couldn't detect the full capacity of a RAID0 array with 2 1.5TB drives, it only 'found' like 800GB. Maybe 1TB is the limit though.

 

[jmdixon85]

^Could be. Thats why I suggested updating to the latest BIOS. Still may have some HDD limits on old boards tho

 

[moz_21]

^Could be. Thats why I suggested updating to the latest BIOS. Still may have some HDD limits on old boards tho

I'm quite sure that I had the latest bios... Also FYI, some of these newer drives require a drive utility to lock down to 1.5gbits as they lack the jumper.

 

[jmdixon85]

Very true, but I don't believe WD drives require this. I think Hitachi drives might tho.

 

[Martel]

So did it work? My A7N8X couldn't detect the full capacity of a RAID0 array with 2 1.5TB drives, it only 'found' like 800GB. Maybe 1TB is the limit though.

Sorry moz just got out of bed. I will be heading over there in about an hour, let you know what happens then.

 

[Martel]

Nope, even with the jumper the drive is still not recognized. We ordered a cheap PCI controller card for $14.09can from NCIX and it will be in on Wednesday.

Tried using the jumper and also tried both sata ports with no luck. Took the drive to my house to initialize and format, tried again also no luck.

It is possible the sata controller is wonky on the board, who knows. They had a 120Gb (sata1) in there before and it bit the dust. Well, at least it got really bogged down. Going to take that one home and try messing with it on my drive bay.

Sorry I couldn't help you out more moz.

 

[Martel]

Just an update to this, I bought a cheap Sata 1.5 controller and installed it last night, everything is back up and running. So there must have been something wrong with the onboard controller.