I don't know what I was thinking when I typed Device manager. I meant to type control panel. However, I see that won't work in WinXP if the device isn't connected. Here is what you can try. Your original post indicates you can boot with the drive connected it just won't install it. Here are instructions for a nForce3 MBoard. The controller will be different but the instructions should work the same.
Power off the system. Connect the hard drives to the SiI 3112
controller. Power up the system.
2. During OS boot up, Windows 2000 will display the
'Found New Hardware Wizard'. Click 'Next'.
3. Select 'Search for a suitable driver for my device
(Recommended)' and Click 'Next'.
4. Under 'Optional search locations' insure that the 'CD-ROM drives' option
is checked.
5. Insert the Driver and Utility CD that comes with the mainboard into your
CD-ROM and press 'Enter'.
6. When the wizard indicates that it has found a driver for the device, click
'Next'.
7. If the 'Digital Signature Not Found' message appears, click 'Yes' to
continue installing the driver.
8. The wizard will now copy the required files to the system and start the
driver. After starting the driver the wizard will display a "completion"
dialog box. Click 'Finish' to exit the wizard.
9. See instructions in section 3 to verify that the controller was installed
correctly.
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3) Verifying controller installation under Windows 2000 and XP.
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Follow the instructions in this section to verify that the controller was
installed correctly.
1. Right click on the 'My Computer' icon, select 'Properties',
left click on the 'Hardware' tab, and then on the 'Device Manager'
button.
2. Double click on 'SCSI and RAID Controllers'. If there are no
yellow exclamation (!) or question (?) markers in front of
'Silicon Image SiI 3112 SATARaid Controller', the driver
has started normally.
3. To view information about the devices attached to the controller, use the SiICfg
Utility and click on the device from the list provided.