Hi,

I have an Asus A8n-SLI Premium mobo. I've always been using sata hdds and have had no problem installing. I recently bought a new Samsung SATA DVD drive but it doesn't work when I try to install XP. Googled around and it says I need to use floppy and install manually. However, I'm pretty sure my mobo supports SATA DVD drives out of the box. Do I just need a bios flash?

You may need to enable the SATA controllers in the BIOS and/or change the boot order. Not sure if there is a special setting for SATA optical drives, have a look.

NEVER flash your bios unless you find specific information in release notes for an update that it will cure a problem you are having.

FYI
The only advantage to having a SATA optical drive is convenience - you can connect them directly to a SATA header without needing to buy and install an IDE to SATA adapter as well. It will not run any faster than an equivalent IDE connected one will, and no current optical drives runs faster than UDMA66 (66mhz; Ultra DMA 4 mode in 2000 or XP).

XP only has built in support for a tiny number of SATA drive controllers. Depending on bios Setup settings, you often have to press F6 at the beginning of Setup and provide a floppy with the drivers for the SATA controllers on it.
(If your mboard did not come with such a floppy, the utility you use to make the floppy is usually on the CD that comes with the mboard).
If you don't do that, Setup often will not find the SATA hard drive(s) connected to the controllers.
Of course, if your only optical (DVD or CD) drive is SATA, Setup can't recognize the SATA optical drive either.

However there is a way around that.

The easiest solution is to connect an IDE optical drive and run Setup from that.
If you don't have an IDE optical drive.....

In almost all computer bioses on mboards that have SATA controllers, you can run SATA controllers, and SATA drives connected to them, in at least two if not three modes - IDE mode (emulates IDE), AHCI mode (a.k.a. SATA mode), and sometimes RAID mode (SATA mode with RAID capability).
If you set the bios settings to run SATA controllers (and drives connected to them) in IDE mode, you don't need to install drivers from a floppy for the hard or optical drive SATA controllers, and your SATA hard drive(s) and optical drive(s) will be recognized by Windows Setup.

Your mboard manual has rather "muddy' information about that.
(All the SATA controllers are Enabled by default.)
It says the SATA controllers are in SATA mode (a.k.a. AHCI mode) by default, but I don't see any place that specifies the mode they are in specifically.

Since the SATA controllers are in SATA mode by default, you probably MUST press F6 at the beginning of Windows Setup and provide a floppy with the SATA controller drivers on it because your SATA hard drive(s) won't be recognized by Setup otherwise, AND Setup can't recognize your SATA DVD drive.

In your bios Setup, go to.....

Advanced - Onboard Devices Configuration -

Try disabling SATA DMA transfers for the controller the SATA DVD drive is connected to - that may make the SATA controller run in IDE mode (default is Enabled).
If you are not sure which one to disable, disable them all.

NVRAID - RAID must be disabled for the SATA header the DVD SATA drive is connected to (default is Disabled).
If you are not sure which one to disable, disable them all.

Save settings, reboot, try running Setup from the SATA DVD drive.

I have the same motherboard. It should have 8 SATA ports. Four of those ports are "native" - they are supported by the NForce Chipset. Any drives attached to these ports will be recognized during the Windows install without any F6 drivers installed.

There are also another 4 SATA ports on teh motherboard. These are supported through a 3rd party controller chip on the motherboard. These do NOT have native support and would need F6 drivers used if you need to use the drives during install.

Of course, OtheHills advice applies as well. But, assuming the SATA ports are enabled, I would suggest you ensure your Optical Drive and the OS drive are both connected to the native ports so you will not need to install F6 drivers during install.

Michael J

If that doesn't help, there is another way to go that should work fine, but I haven't tried it myself.
Go to the Microsoft site, on another computer if you need to, and get the download to make the XP Setup 6 floppy set for XP Pro:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...
Make the 6 floppy set with it.

(XP MCE is XP Pro SP2 with a few features most people don't use left out, plus extra multimedia support and the major Media Center program and related programs - these floppies probably load the same files the first XP MCE CD does at the beginning of Setup when you boot with it.)

I assume you have the OEM two CD XP MCE set.
The first Windows MCE CD must be in your SATA DVD drive.
You must also have a floppy with the drivers for the SATA controller drivers on it. If the mboard didn't come with one, you must make one.

Your Boot settings in your bios Setup must have a floppy drive first in the boot order, a CD drive second, a hard drive third - it's probably that way by default, but if it isn't a bootable floppy will not be recognized, and it cannot be recognized even if a floppy drive is listed if it is listed after a CD drive in the boot order.

Boot your computer with the first floppy in the XP Pro Setup set. Press F6 near the beginning of loading the files from the first floppy and have the floppy ready with the drivers for the SATA controllers on it, and insert it later when Setup says it can't identify your SCSI controller(s). If more than one listing is then listed for you to choose from, try choosing the RAID one (it also supports non-RAID use).
By the time Setup has loaded all the files from the floppies, Setup should recognize both the SATA DVD drive and any SATA drives you have connected.
Continue, from that first screen you see after the contents of the 6 floppies have been loaded, on to the regular Setup, and it should work fine, having recognized the SATA DVD drive by then.
If it doesn't, start from the beginning again, booting with the first floppy in the set, and choose a different SATA controller listing for the SATA controller than you did before.

This applies no matter which way you get XP MCE Setup to run:

Later in MCE Setup, you will be asked to insert another CD. Ignore what it says is the name of the CD, and insert the second MCE CD. After a lot of files have been loaded from the second CD, Setup will ask you to insert a CD again. Ignore what it says is the name of the CD, and insert the first MCE CD.
(Both of the names of the CDs it asks you for are incorrect - that was an oversight when the first MCE version came out and it has never been corrected since).

After Setup is finished, install the drivers for the mboard from the CD that came with the mboard. You MUST load at least the main chipset drivers from the CD so that Windows has all the proper drivers for and information about your mboard hardware.
If you DON'T do that, at the very least, your USB 2.0 will not be detected, and in most cases your optical drives will not be recobnized properly as DVD or burner drives.
......

The other SATA controller chipset, the one not built into the main chipset, is Silicon Image. You don't need to load those using F6 at the beginning of Setup unless the SATA DVD drive is connected to a SATA header connected to that chipset - probably SATA 5 to 8 on the mboard. If you do have the DVD drive connected to one of those, load the RAID driver version(it also supports non-RAID SATA use; choosing any Slicon Image AHCI or SATA driver version listed will result in that controller NOT being recognized).

Also, if you have loaded drivers for the main chipset SATA controllers and you also want to load them for the Silicon Image controller chipset, after the first drivers have been loaded, Setup asks if you want to add more SCSI drivers - answer what ever signifies yes, and choose the Silicon Image RAID drivers.

Or just connect both the DVD and HD to the native SATA ports and install normally.

I have the same Mobo with SATA DVD & SATA HD. I was able to install normally without jumping through any hoops.

Michael J

If you were fiddling with bios Setup settings and you're not sure if they are now correct, load bios defaults in the bios Setup, then if what Michael J is saying is correct, the SATA DVD drive should be detected fine if it is connected to one of the "native" SATA headers, probably SATA 1 to 4 on the mboard.
Your Boot settings in your bios Setup must have a floppy drive first (if you have one connected) in the boot order, a CD drive second, a hard drive third - it's probably that way by default.

Some drive controllers cannot recognize drives that use the ATAPI standard, and therefore cannot recognize optical drives connected to them. All main chipset IDE and SATA controllers that I know of recognize drives using the ATAPI standard, and I know for certain Silicon Image PATA (IDE) chipset controllers do too, but I don't know if Silicon Image SATA chipset controllers do.
You could check that out on the Silicon Image web site for the chipset model on this mboard, or just not use a SATA header connected to that controller for the SATA DVD drive.

Damn, this is the best post I've ever had. Lots of info. But yes, I believe the RED sata ports are native and the BLACK ones are non-native. I've only been using the RED ones and I've never had any problems recognizing the Sata HDD's. They installed fine using IDE cd/dvd drives. I uninstalled all my ide opticals and bought one sata dvd for convenience of wiring. But when I try to install XP, it says please insert correct boot disk. When there is only one drive available[the dvd sata] Perhaps It is in my bios settings somewhere and Ive overlooked. Cause I did think it strange that my Sata HDD's recognized without a hitch.

Look at 2-10 of your manual for explanation of how to setup the drives in the BIOS. Note: SATA 1&2 are boot ports, SATA 3&4 are for data storage (non-bootable).

Are you sure the power connection and the data cable connection to the SATA DVD drive is okay? The SATA power cable and data cable is supposed to latch into the socket on the drive - it should not come out easily by merely brushing against the cable - it's common for whatever latches it in to get broken off. If either cable comes out of it's socket easily, tape it in place, or use another cable that does latch.
That drive should eject or retract it's tray no problem when the computer is on.

It doesn't say in the manual which SATA headers are red or black, and I haven't found a picture of your mboard on the Asus North America (USA) site.

SATA 1 to 4 are the four closest to the mboard edge, and are probably the "native" ones, whatever color they are.
Don't connect the SATA DVD drive to any of the other headers for the time being.

"But when I try to install XP, it says please insert correct boot disk."

It's not finding a bootable CD in the SATA DVD drive or any other bootable drive.

Load bios defaults if you haven't already done so.

Make sure your BOOT settings are correct.
Your Boot settings in your bios Setup must have a floppy drive first (if you have one connected) in the boot order, a CD drive second, a hard drive third - it's probably that way by default.
In your case - removable, then CDROM, then Hard Disk.

If you have more than one hard drive, while you're there, look at the Hard Disk Drives list and make sure the one you want to boot Windows from is listed first.

Not likely to help, but maybe....

Connect the SATA DVD drive to the lowest numbered SATA header you can - e.g if the hard drive you want to boot with is on SATA 1, connect it to SATA 2 even if you have other SATA hard drives.

Update:
OtheHill found
"Note: SATA 1&2 are boot ports, SATA 3&4 are for data storage (non-bootable)."

So connecting the SATA DVD to either SATA 1 or 2 shoud allow the bootable CD to be recognized!

thanks guys! awesome!

damn still not working. i have my sata dvd on port2 and sata hdd on port1, still says 'Please insert correct disc'

Are you getting the message on your screen to hit any key to boot from CD? If not you may not have the boot order set corectly. Or your copy of WinXP is not bootable.

Is the bios seeing the SATA DVD drive?
If it is you should see it's model number on the first screen as you boot.

Is there an operating system on the SATA hard drive?

Do you have the boot order in the bios correct?
Floppy drive or removable first (if you have a floppy drive), CD drive second, hard drive third?
(CD drive first, floppy drive or removable second will NOT allow a bootable floppy to be recognized!)
If that's how it is set, make sure any non-bootable floppy in the floppy drive is removed or ejected when you boot.

If you have more than one hard drive, there may be a list of hard drives there - the drive you want to boot should be listed first.

Ok, Problem solved!

Me and my friend were trying to figure out wth was going on. Basically it's like this.

He pointed out a discrepancy in the Bios Boot Priority that I have always known about. I disregarded it because I thought it to be irrelevant. The choices were basically, cdrom and hdd. I figured cdrom meant the dvd drive. It DID not. It was referring to my old IDE SONY CD drive. The DVD drive wasn't even available as an option. So I went and pulled the plug on my Sony and disabled all IDE ports. Voila, everything works fine. So I'm guessing IDE has priority over all opticals? I wish I had tried this out in the beginning, all this arose from me being a lazy ass and not playing around with the old IDE cd optical. In the process I also learned that the Bios likes to screw with me when it comes to rearranging sata ports but that's another story.

Thanks guys!

All that is reason enough for me to stay away from SATA optical drives for as long as possible.

Thats good to hear, and thanks for posting that solution.

I've only fiddled with maybe five mboards that have both IDE and SATA drive controllers built in, only three systems that had both IDE and SATA hard drives, and I've never had both an IDE and a SATA optical drive connected.

"...Bios Boot Priority....The DVD drive wasn't even available as an option."

Is it now? If so what label does it give it, and does it do that in the same place in the Setup pages?

Yes. Under Boot Priority it lists:

HDD
CDROM
USB blah blah
Legacy Lan? blah blah

So even if you have a Sata optical, it will be overrided by any IDE optical.

Also, when I powered down to switch my SATA HDD and opticals around, It switched the priority orders in BIOS. In my case, my SATA Optical was in port2, SATA HDD1 was in port one, and SATA HDD2 in port3. When I finally got optical drive to boot from CDs, I was happy and reset boot order to HDD first. But it kept looking for boot disk. The problem was that the BIOS saw HDD1 in port1, HDD2 in port2 BUT THE BIOS listed HDD2 first for some reason and thats why it couldn't find an OS and proceeded to try to boot SATA optical.

So yea, when playing around, make sure BIOS is set right... I figured SATA was cable select and would be rather intelligent. Instead it was a dumb child.

So that's sounds like no change in what you see.

In the bioses of more recent mboards, say no more than about 5 years old, you can usually set the boot order priority like so, such that it has at least these listed:
floppy drive or removable first, CD drive second, hard drive third.
If you can do that, that works for most people for any situation and you don't need to change it.
(In older bioses you may not be able to list all three at once, or the drives are assigned letters according to how they are connected and jumpered)
If it says removable, more recent mboards can also boot from a flash drive that has been made bootable by sme of the data on it.

Listing removable or floppy drive after a CD drive will not allow a bootable floppy to be recognized on any computer I have tried it on.
I think that's because a virtual A (the logical drive letter normally used by floppy drive) is loaded when you boot from a bootable CD, and even if you don't boot from one, and it isn't unloaded until the bios attempts to boot a hard drive.
E.g. when you boot from a 98SE Windows CD, you get the same A: prompt as you do when you boot from a 98SE Startup Disk floppy.

If you have more than one hard drive, if the drives are not lsted by drive letters according to how they connect to the computer, there is often a list of them (their model numbers) on more recent mboards in the bios Setup as well, and if so you have to make sure the one you want to boot an operating system from is listed first. I have found in several more recent bioses that if the first hard drive listed isn't bootable the bios doesn't automatically keep going down the list and try the other drives listed - if the first one listed isn't bootable,you get the no operating system found or similar error.
....

There is no cable select or master or slave for jumpering of, or a default state, for SATA drives, but often which SATA header for a controller you connect them to determines whether the bios sees them as master or slave or bootable or non-bootable (for data storage only).