Given: Ok, so SATA II is supposed to be backward compatible with SATA I (providing that it will only run at SATA I speeds).

Parts involved: Western Digital 80 GB SATA II HDD; Tyan Trinity S5101 i875p Motherboard with SATA I connection

Problem: They won't work together. The hard drive does not show up in the POST screen, the BIOS, or the Windows installer program.

Question: Is there a jumper setting I need to change? And if so, what is it? I linked to the motherboard's manual, but I could find shit in it.

If you are connecting it to the onboard Promise controler's ports and not the chipset's ports you need to check the Promise's bios config, not the computer's. You would also need to use a floppy to install the driver for the Promise card durring the Windows install. Also in the main bios or the Promise bios there may be a setting to change the card from raid to single drive mode.

To be 100% sure, connect the drive to one of the chipset's ports and see if it works that way. If not you'll have to see which of either the drive or MB has failed.

Posted by Washu If you are connecting it to the onboard Promise controler's ports and not the chipset's ports you need to check the Promise's bios config, not the computer's. You would also need to use a floppy to install the driver for the Promise card durring the Windows install. Also in the main bios or the Promise bios there may be a setting to change the card from raid to single drive mode. To be 100% sure, connect the drive to one of the chipset's ports and see if it works that way. If not you'll have to see which of either the drive or MB has failed.

I don't have the board version with the Promise RAID controller, I have the model with only 2 SATA I ports.

I tried it with another SATA II drive, tried with different cables, and it still does not work. Are there certain jumpers for enabling SATA or for enabling compatibility for SATA I/II

Posted by Sinister Crayon I don't have the board version with the Promise RAID controller, I have the model with only 2 SATA I ports. I tried it with another SATA II drive, tried with different cables, and it still does not work. Are there certain jumpers for enabling SATA or for enabling compatibility for SATA I/II

Is your HD set to SATA1 ? SATA drives have no jumpers, all parameters are set using a DOS interface utility. See what WD has in their support software, or call them. My Hitachi drives have a cool set-up tool for them. SATA1 ports will not see a SATA HD that is set to SATA2. Make sure you have loaded the driver(s) for the WD HD, as it is not a native interface!

Posted by blackhawk Is your HD set to SATA1 ? SATA drives have no jumpers, all parameters are set using a DOS interface utility. See what WD has in their support software, or call them. My Hitachi drives have a cool set-up tool for them. SATA1 ports will not see a SATA HD that is set to SATA2. Make sure you have loaded the driver(s) for the WD HD, as it is not a native interface!

I'll call them tonight, see what I can do.