Computer Hardware Help → [hard drive] Cannot get Intel BIOS to see WD SATA Drive

I have seen some similar issues posted, but not this exact one TMK.
My IDE HDD crashed and I wanted to install a SATA to replace it. MOBO is Intel D915GAV, 1 IDE port and 4 SATA ports on the MOBO. Running a P4 with 2 GM RAM (max for board) and Windows XP Pro. At Boot Splash I get a 106 Error. I press F4 and get the setup screen. Under Advanced, I see the SATA Drive on SATA Port 0, but it shows 0 MB. Tthe drive does not appear in the Boot selection menu. This is a WD250GB RE3 drive. I have the latest BIOS for the board and there is no SATA configuration option that the Intel support site refers to. Disconnected the SATA drive and system booted from the XPCD. Installed an old WD2500 IDE drive and installed XP from the CD, no problem. Reconnected the SATA, now I get 108 error. Seems that the BIOS is seeing the drive, but it does not allow it to be accessed. Do I need to refresh the BIOS? Do I need to format the drive somehow? Are there drivers for the MOBO that I need? Thanks

Mainboard specification details are here:

»downloadmirror.intel.com ··· Spec.pdf

Here was my thought process:

1) The mainboard's southbridge (which is what handles SATA) is driven by an Intel ICH6, which is limited to SATA150 speed. I only point this out because the ICH6 is "kinda old" (matter of opinion), and the mainboard is from 2004. It may be possible that the speed negotiation between the ICH6 and the drive is flawed.

The WD2502ABYS (WD 250GB RE3 drive) does have a SATA150-limiting jumper which you can try. It's labelled OPT1, and is done by jumping pins 5 and 6 on the drive:

»wdc.custhelp.com/app/ans ··· 5#jumper

You could try jumping that. I would recommend trying Item #2 below first though.

2) Upon reviewing the drive jumpers, I noticed that there was a PUIS jumper on pins 3 and 4 which was enabled by default. PUIS stands for Power Up In Standby, which means the drive may actually be "sleeping" when its powered on, and the BIOS might not be properly waking it up (yes, IDENTIFY would work on this drive (e.g. to see the drive) but *actual I/O* to the drive (reading bytes, LBA 0, etc.) would fail.

So please try removing the jumper from pins 3 and 4. (You could also use this jumper to jump pins 5 and 6 for Item #1 above)

3) I wasn't sure whether or not the system BIOS could handle drives greater than 137GB when it comes to 48-bit LBA capability. I can't find a definitive answer. That limit is purely a BIOS limitation, so I went to find the latest BIOS and read Intel's BIOS changelog (Release Notes) which are excellent compared to other vendors:

»downloadmirror.intel.com ··· otes.pdf

I can't find anything definitive there either, but I do see that BIOS version 0276 has a change that pertains directly to SATA implementation. Can you please state what your BIOS version is? It should be shown somewhere in the BIOS.

You might try upgrading to the latest BIOS anyway just as a precaution, just to rule that out. But Item #2 has my vote right now as the most likely explanation.

Thanks so much for the quick and detailed reply. I agree the board is old but I only want it for internet access and as a local network backup, hence wanting the additional storage space. I have already removed all the jumpers based on no jumper being the default configuration. The BIOS version is 0482, which according to Intel's download site is the last available. I'm betting on the speed setting being the issue given the age of the board and chipset. I'll let you know if it works. Again, thanks!!

Well, the jumper setting did not work. I am still getting the Error 106 on the splash screen. If that is a WD SMART code it indicates that Track 0 is not being accessed, which would explain the missing data to the BIOS but not the reason why. I should mention that this is not a new drive, but it is guaranteed to be tested and working. Do I need WD diagnostic SW, perhaps?

There is no such thing as a "WD SMART code" (I think you're asking if the code value indicates something from SMART; no it doesn't).

The codes shown are probably BIOS-specific, but simply put I do not know. I cannot find any mention of codes 1xx in the BIOS specification doc I linked earlier. I would recommend you contact Intel and discuss the problem. You might also try another drive (a different type if possible) and see if the same problem happens (thus ruling out it's specific to the WD RE3 drive or not).

I read all other suggestions, and your OP.

If you are wanting to install XP pro, you should have seen a notice during install that said something to the words, "if you need to install third party drivers, please press F-6 now".

That would be your que to install SATA drivers for your MoBo, and should be included on your MoBo driver disk.

You will need to "Make Disk" from that driver CD disk, and copy the SATA driver to a 1.44mb floppy. Insert that floppy when you see the message that instructs you to "press F-6". XP pro should then install to the SATA HDD and be seen in BIOS, as well as Windows.

If you did this already, please disregard this post.
Good luck!
EDIT: This would only apply prior to SP-1, I believe.

Thanks for all the input. I do not see any SATA drivers on the MoBo CD, only LAN and Audio, but I will query Intel on that. Not much left except a bad drive. Like I said, it was a gift so nothing lost.

Is there a setting for 'enhanced' relative to IDE in the bios?
(This enables sata)

Also have you tried the WD diagnostics tool with it in another computer?

If it passes the diagnostics and point 1 is fine in bios, DBan the 'whole' drive before replacing it back into the computer to see if it helps clear the issues you see presently.

Thanks, I appreciate all suggestions as I am a novice wrt SATA. The BIOS IDE is set to Enhanced. I do not have another computer with SATA support. My other machines are Laptops with plenty of HDD capacity and a really, really old PC that still runs Windows ME (yep). It is that machine that I want to replace with the XP machine if I can get the storage space I need. Fortunately this is not a critical situation, I just hate to give in to a piece of hardware

Have you tried the other sata ports?

Also does a boot floppy seek it correctly at all?
Maybe Dban or WD tools will see it - I'm doubting it though due to the bios not reading it correctly (and as IDE is set to enhanced) but it is all you have left to try I believe before committing to looking at another HDD.

Thanks, again, everyone. From other forums it seems this condition dates back as far as 1995 with WD HDD larger than 80GB with Intel D915 chipsets. The Error 106 is, in fact, a SMART code being returned from the drive since SMART is enabled in the BIOS. The error is Track O not accessible, so the BIOS cannot read the drive specs. Can't test the drive in this PC with a bootable diagnostic because the Boot won't proceed past the error, keeps kicking you back into setup. Guess I'll have to get a different drive. This one was free anyway