Jump to content

Controller Card Not Working Properly!


lapetite66

Recommended Posts

Hi:

My specs are as follows:

OS – XP Professional SP3

Motherboard - MSI P67 B43

Processor - Intel Core Duo i3

RAM – 4GB

The Problem:

I have a Seagate 500GB harddrive that's connected to a Syba PCI Ultra ATA/Serial ATA Combo Controller Card. Actually I have two controller cards but the above mentioned isn't working properly.

The second controller card is by a company called For Best Ports Connection and my DVD-RW is connected to that one and it works fine and yes, I followed the prompts and installed the drivers already.

The controller card that the harddrive(that isn't showing up) is recognized by the computer. The computer tells me that there is a new ATA/SATA connection from Silcon Image and even gave me the number 3249 (haven't a clue what that number means unless it's supposed to represent the driver information. Then the computer said the computer has finished installing the necessary software and you must restart the computer before it will work properly. I restarted the computer and still no third harddrive is viewed.

I know you're probably thinking why haven't I disconnected the DVD-RW from the Controller card that I said is working and connected the harddrive that one. Well, the problem with that one is that a piece broke off from the controller card, you know the slot where you slide the old IDE cable thingy. I have tried to disconnect the cable but it doesn't want to come out and I'm afraid that if I pull too hard that the IDE cable will also end up broken beyond repair.

An Experiment I just tried...

Well, I tried a little something. The IDE cable I have is one that allow you to connect a “Master” and “Slave”. I can see the third hard-drive but now the DVD-RW is missing!!! WTH!? I ended just disconnecting the third hard-drive as the DVD-RW is more important since I can’t make a slipstream disc without much less install the OS or anything else without the use of my DVD-RW drive.

I don’t understand why this is happening before upgrading to the new MSI SATA board that I now have both controller cards worked fine but now only one seems to function correctly. Why is this happening?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


gave me the number 3249 (haven't a clue what that number means)

Device ID and Vendor ID are reported by the device's firmware/ROM and can be read in the device properties in Device Manager.

http://www.pcidatabase.com/search.php?device_search_str=3249&device_search=Search

Have you checked the jumpers on you drives ? Depending on the manufacturer you can have more available settings; master /slave / single/ "cable select". If 80 wire cable used (I suppose you do), always put master device at end of cable ( =2nd connector, usually black) ort set devices to "cable select" and system will see end of cable as master.

Badly jumpered drives will sometime cause boot problem or not appear at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And it usually goes without saying, but since Ponch didn't specifically mention it, don't forget that you can't hook two drives to the same cable if both drives are set as Master. (Or both as Slave). Have you checked whether the drives are showing up correctly in the BIOS? In other words, is this a Windows issue or something more basic? Also, if you have another one laying around, it never hurts to try another cable, they can go bad after multiple connection/disconnect cycles.

Cheers and Regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

??? I'm not completely following you....

You say "Combo" card and indicate ANOTHER ATA connection - You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15). You can't have MORE than two ATA controllers active UNLESS there's a way to reassign the "standard" IRQ's. AFAICT, "Combo" boards are usually to allow ADDING ATA connections to a MoBo that does not have any at all.

If you're talking SATA, then that may be a different story... (dunno for sure)

edit -

Can you be more specific as to WHAT you have connected to WHICH "connections"?

Edited by submix8c
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for responding to my post. :)

Just in case I didn't clarify the situation in my original post the 500GB drive that won't show up using the controller card is an ATA drive. My master drive(500GB)and the other storage drive(1TB) are both SATA drives.

gave me the number 3249 (haven't a clue what that number means)

Device ID and Vendor ID are reported by the device's firmware/ROM and can be read in the device properties in Device Manager.

http://www.pcidatabase.com/search.php?device_search_str=3249&device_search=Search

Have you checked the jumpers on you drives ? Depending on the manufacturer you can have more available settings; master /slave / single/ "cable select". If 80 wire cable used (I suppose you do), always put master device at end of cable ( =2nd connector, usually black) ort set devices to "cable select" and system will see end of cable as master.

Badly jumpered drives will sometime cause boot problem or not appear at all.

Ponch:

I went into device manager and when the drive isn't showing up at all. I've connected and disconnected the controller card numerous times with no change whatsoever. After reconnecting the controller card the PNP thingy on the computer tells me that I have a new device connected but the as I said earlier the drive isn't there. It seems that while the computer can see the controller card the computer isn't seeing the harddrive once I've connected it which was the whole point in the first place. You asked if I check the jumpers on my harddrive. I've haven't. The reason being, that when I had the 500GB HD(the one that won't show up) connected to my old motherboard it was a slave then too as the now defunct/dead 160GB Seagate was the master. The DVD-RW is showing up as a slave which I don't understand since the the second IDE connector is supposed to be the slave and the connection with the blue connection is supposed to the master or so I thought?

Badly jumpered drives will sometime cause boot problem or not appear at all.

The ATA drive does show up...after I restart the computer (doesn't show up initially when turning on computer) unfortunately, then the DVD-RW disappears.

I understand the Master/Slave dynamic but not the cable select. Does the cable select allow the drive to choose by itself???

===============================================================================================

And it usually goes without saying, but since Ponch didn't specifically mention it, don't forget that you can't hook two drives to the same cable if both drives are set as Master. (Or both as Slave). Have you checked whether the drives are showing up correctly in the BIOS? In other words, is this a Windows issue or something more basic? Also, if you have another one laying around, it never hurts to try another cable, they can go bad after multiple connection/disconnect cycles.

Cheers and Regards

bphlpt:

You said I can't have two drives hooked to same cable if both drives are set as master/slave. I know that the DVD-RW that I have hooked to the controller now was a slave to my other DVD-RW. So I take it doesn't matter that one is a harddrive and one is a DVD-Rw then? If that's the case that means that I have to change the jumpers on one of them from slave to master. Okay I got it. :yes:

Question: If I change the ATA HD from slave to master will that interfere with my SATA master drive or will it ONLY effect the DVD-RW and harddrive connected to the controller card???

===============================================================================================

??? I'm not completely following you....

You say "Combo" card and indicate ANOTHER ATA connection - You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15). You can't have MORE than two ATA controllers active UNLESS there's a way to reassign the "standard" IRQ's. AFAICT, "Combo" boards are usually to allow ADDING ATA connections to a MoBo that does not have any at all.

If you're talking SATA, then that may be a different story... (dunno for sure)

edit -

Can you be more specific as to WHAT you have connected to WHICH "connections"?

Submix8c:

You said

You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15).

Yes, I know that.

Controller card clarification…

1. Controller Card #1 - has ONLY one IDE connection.

2. Controller Card #2(combo) – Has two IDE connections(blue/master and white/slave) and it also has two SATA connections.

Controller card #1 with ONLY one IDE connection is the one that is working. I have the DVD-RW connected to that. Then, I connected the HD and restarted the computer it would get the screen where it tells what the controller card is connected to and then it would just sit there…never going any further. I then had to restart the machine and then when it loaded I only had a connection to the HD as the DVD-RW was M.I.A.

Thanks to bphlpt I remembered that at one time both the ATA HD and the DVD-RW were both slaves to the others HDs and DVD-RWs and I just plain forgot about changing the jumpers once I got the SATA HDs.

Controller Card #2 (2 IDE/2 SATA connections)is the one that keeping telling me when I disconnect and then reconnect it, that's there's a new piece of hardware has been found but when I connect the harddrive to it, it's NOT showing up. WTH?!

Let me clarify again what the situation is;

Controller card #1(1 IDE connection) is connected to DVD-RW and is visible.

Controller card #2 (2 IDE connections) was ONLY connected to ATA Seagate 500GB harddrive which is NOT showing up at all.

Yes, I now understand that in order for both the DVD-RW and the ATA HD to be visible(ie work) up I have to change one of them to a master while leaving the other a slave. Unfortunately, that doesn't explain what the hell is going on with controller card #2 and why it isn't working. :( As I mentioned before I installed all the necessary drivers as directed but the dang thing still won’t “see” the ATA HD!!! :realmad:

Thanks for all your help I will write back and let you all know how things turn out with jumper solution.

Laters,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand the Master/Slave dynamic but not the cable select. Does the cable select allow the drive to choose by itself???

Correct, easier to setup, but sometimes doesn't work, and some times it´s needed. A lot of brand name manufacturers liked to use CS.

2. Controller Card #2(combo) – Has two IDE connections(blue/master and white/slave) and it also has two SATA connections.

Two IDE/ATA connectors should be named Channel A and Channel B, not master and slave connectors, this is why people get confused ;).

Unfortunately, that doesn't explain what the hell is going on with controller card #2 and why it isn't working. :( As I mentioned before I installed all the necessary drivers as directed but the dang thing still won’t “see” the ATA HD!!! :realmad:

Is this a RAID card? What brand and model is it or is it just a simple VIA chipset card? Does it have any jumper or does it show any own BIOS/Firmware when booting up?

Question: If I change the ATA HD from slave to master will that interfere with my SATA master drive or will it ONLY effect the DVD-RW and harddrive connected to the controller card???

SATA and PATA (read IDE/ATA) have different channels and also communicate different, so it should not be a problem.

Motherboard - MSI P67 B43

What is the correct model and what is wrong with the onboard SATA connectors? (I know it has no PATA/IDE/ATA)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15).

Yes, I know that.

But still you're trying to have TWO Primary ATA controllers (one on each card) and one secondary on the 2nd card.

Yes, I now understand that in order for both the DVD-RW and the ATA HD to be visible(ie work) up I have to change one of them to a master while leaving the other a slave.

No, the Master/Slave thing is for 2 devices hooked on a same cable, doesn't apply in your description of the problem.

that doesn't explain what the hell is going on with controller card #2 and why it isn't working.

Read Submix8c's post again, it does explain.

Edited by Ponch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to bphlpt mentioning the master/slave dynamic I have fixed the problem concerning the HD and the DVD-RW.

I changed the DVD-RW jumber setting to master and kept the ATA HD jumper setting as slave and now they are both visible. :thumbup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi puntoMX:

Unfortunately, that doesn't explain what the hell is going on with controller card #2 and why it isn't working. :( As I mentioned before I installed all the necessary drivers as directed but the dang thing still won’t “see” the ATA HD!!! :realmad:

Is this a RAID card? What brand and model is it or is it just a simple VIA chipset card? Does it have any jumper or does it show any own BIOS/Firmware when booting up?

Yes, it's raid card. If by brand you mean whether it's Silicon Image or VIA, it's the former(Silicon Image) and the chipset is Silicon Image.

Yes, it has a jumper but I never used that on my old motherboard and I had both controller cards plugged in. One controller card was for 2 HD's and the other controller card was for my two DVD-RWs.

I'm not sure about the manufacturer, I only know what's on the box which is however since I took it out of the box I can give you there's a barcode stick with the serial or maybe it's the model #SD-SIL680-RAID, and underneath that in smaller print is T9(or S) 04080020306 on one chip it say's "Silicon Image" and the following numbers Sil0680ACL1444E00290412. There's another chip but it has a red dot on it so I can't see what's on it. I tried to get the sticker off but it's a no-go.

Question: If I change the ATA HD from slave to master will that interfere with my SATA master drive or will it ONLY effect the DVD-RW and harddrive connected to the controller card???

SATA and PATA (read IDE/ATA) have different channels and also communicate different, so it should not be a problem.

You're right no problems!

Thanks. :)

Motherboard - MSI P67 B43

What is the correct model and what is wrong with the onboard SATA connectors? (I know it has no PATA/IDE/ATA)

Sorry about the mixup, my motherboard is a MSI P67A-C43(B).

There aren't any problems my motherboard's SATA connectors I only mentioned that Controller Card #2 has two SATA connections as well as the two IDE connections.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Ponch:

You quoted submix8c:

You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15).

Yes, I know that.

But still you're trying to have TWO Primary ATA controllers (one on each card) and one secondary on the 2nd card.

Ponch If you talking about the master/slave issue please read my response again. I've said that I forgot about having to change the jumpers as I say in a earlier post(see below).

Yes, I now understand that in order for both the DVD-RW and the ATA HD to be visible(ie work) up I have to change one of them to a master while leaving the other a slave.

No, the Master/Slave thing is for 2 devices hooked on a same cable, doesn't apply in your description of the problem.

Actually, that is precisely the problem I had with Controller Card#1.

Controller card #1 with ONLY one IDE connection is the one that is working. I have the DVD-RW connected to that.

Then, I connected the HD and restarted the computer it would get the screen where it tells what the controller card is connected to and then it would just sit there…never going any further. I THEN had to restart the machine and then when it loaded I ONLY had a connection to the HD as the DVD-RW was M.I.A.

Let me clarify just in case you're still confused as I know that I sometimes have that effect on people.

1. Controller card#1 has only one(1) IDE connection and was originally ONLY connected to the DVD-RW.

2. While still connected to the DVD-RW I then connected Controller card#1 to my HD but I had forgotten about having to change the jumpers so of course since both the DVD-RW and the HD were slaves both of them wouldn't show up. It was just as bphlpt mentioned you can't have two master/slaves on the same IDE cable.

3. I changed the DVD-RW jumper to master while leaving the HD jumper as a slave and both are visible and working fine.

that doesn't explain what the hell is going on with controller card #2 and why it isn't working.

Read Submix8c's post again, it does explain.

I'm not finding the explaination that you say is there.

My issue as I mentioned before is that Controller Card#2 is recognized by the system but when I connected the harddrive to it, it wasn't showing it in "My Computer".

After I corrected the jumper issue on controller card #1 I was able to see both the DVD-RW and the HD.

Motherboard Differences...

I think I've mentioned that the new motherboard DOESN'T have ATA connections and that's why I was using the controller card to begin with because both my HD and the DVD-RW are both ATA.

I used both cards in the old motherboard because I didn't have enough PCI slots. Two HD's were connected to one controller #1 and the two DVD-RW's were connected to controller card#2 both had the master/slave setup.

Since the controller card #2 isn't showing up I have just decided to remove it. I will just have to try the card at a later date.

Thanks for all your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To clarify -

Two cards, one having a single IDE connector (allowing two devices - Master+Slave using IRQ#14-Primary) and a second have two IDE connectors (allowing four devices - Master+Slave using IRQ#14-Primary and Master+Slave using IRQ#15-Secondary).

Chose the one that has the MOST connectors and remove the other OR disable the IDE (via perhaps a Jumper?) on the one with the SINGLE Connector, thus eliminating the IRQ#14-Primary "conflict".

(the thread is now a bit convoluted, but please understand the difference between the CONTROLLER Primary/Secondary and the DEVICE Master/Slave relationship)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To clarify -

Two cards, one having a single IDE connector (allowing two devices - Master+Slave using IRQ#14-Primary) and a second have two IDE connectors (allowing four devices - Master+Slave using IRQ#14-Primary and Master+Slave using IRQ#15-Secondary).

Chose the one that has the MOST connectors and remove the other OR disable the IDE (via perhaps a Jumper?) on the one with the SINGLE Connector, thus eliminating the IRQ#14-Primary "conflict".

(the thread is now a bit convoluted, but please understand the difference between the CONTROLLER Primary/Secondary and the DEVICE Master/Slave relationship)

Submix8c:

I understand the master/slave dynamic just forgot about the jumpers. I'm guessing that Primary/Secondary refer to the same thing just using different terms.

As I said in my last post I've already decided to remove controller card#2.

Thanks for your help. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To clarify -

Two cards, one having a single IDE connector (allowing two devices - Master+Slave using IRQ#14-Primary) and a second have two IDE connectors (allowing four devices - Master+Slave using IRQ#14-Primary and Master+Slave using IRQ#15-Secondary).

Hardware IRQs, but Windows Vista and Seven use virtual IRQs as well. You can have more devices of the same type on the same IRQ. But you are right, better have them on separated IRQs. Sure I see he has XP ;).

---

I think all is working but the drives might need activation in "Administrator tools -> Hardware administration" (I'm using Spanish OSes for the last 8 years so I forgot how it would be in English...). I wonder if they are seen under System properties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand the master/slave dynamic just forgot about the jumpers. I'm guessing that Primary/Secondary refer to the same thing just using different terms.

That's where you're wrong guessing when we tell you 10 times, the terms are different because the concepts are. Read this again :angel

You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15).

now you have (or had)

2 cards

1 controller on 1st card

2 controllers on 2nd card

total: 3 controllers, this is more than "one plus one", thus one too much.

On two controllers, you can have potentially four master/slave devices, 2 masters and 2 slaves.

Having just two, the choice is yours to have 2 devices on the 1st card keeping 1 controller or have 2 devices on the 2nd card, keeping 2 controllers and a free IDE connector (that can support a cable for potentially 2 more devices).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand the master/slave dynamic just forgot about the jumpers. I'm guessing that Primary/Secondary refer to the same thing just using different terms.

That's where you're wrong guessing when we tell you 10 times, the terms are different because the concepts are. Read this again :angel

You DO realize you can't have more than TWO (AFAIK) ATA devices on ONE Primary ATA Controller (IRQ#14) and TWO ATA devices on ONE Secondary Controller (IRQ#15).

Ponch:

As you can tell I am not Einstein. :no:

Seriously, if I was a genius at computer stuff do you really think I would waste yours or anybody else's time as well as my own by posting the question I did? :no:

now you have (or had)

2 cards

1 controller on 1st card

2 controllers on 2nd card

total: 3 controllers, this is more than "one plus one", thus one too much.

On two controllers, you can have potentially four master/slave devices, 2 masters and 2 slaves.

Having just two, the choice is yours to have 2 devices on the 1st card keeping 1 controller or have 2 devices on the 2nd card, keeping 2 controllers and a free IDE connector (that can support a cable for potentially 2 more devices).

Okay....no need to beat me over the head. :(

However, the problem as I stated previously is that the 2nd card isn't/wasn't working although I followed all directions and installed all necessary drivers. It was if the card wasn't connected at all and by extension neither was the HD.

I have disconnected the Controller card #2 and have connected both the DVD-RW and the ATA HD master/slave to Controller #1 and as I mentioned in a previous post everything is working and viewable in "My Computer".

Thanks for all your help. :)

Edited by lapetite66
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...