New Dell 3.0 Ghz (HT) won't load new OS 1

[alfie1noakes]

We generally buy all our PC's from Dell.. we just do. We get them with XP Home loaded, and then FDISK them and load Windows 2000 Prof. We have a site license, so its better this way.

Usually, with past Dells, this has never been a problem, and once the first one has been configured, drivers found etc.. its a breeze to do the rest.

But, with this latest batch of Dells, they are not playing ball. I went through the exact same process as usual, FDISK, delete the old partition, and set up a new one, make this active etc..

The next step involves running the Windows 2000 Prof disk, after loading Dells very useful startup disk. 2000 then formats the disk, loads up the OS, and Bobs your uncle.

What now happens, is once the 2000 Prof disk has been inserted, and the drivers have been loaded up the following message appears:

setup did not find any HDD installed on your computer.

make sure any HDD are powered on and properly connected to your
computer, and that any disk related hardware configuration is correct.
This may involve running a manufacturer supplied diagnostics or setup
program

setup cannot continue. to quit setup press f3

Then back to the command prompt. The HD is a SATA, this seems to be the main difference between the latest batch and the old ones we have that worked.

Any clues, as Dell still have not replied to my query after 10 days now, and I have a batch of PC's that are fairly useless to me!!

Many thanks,
Andy

 

[Freestone]

You'll need to provide a Windows 2000 SATA driver diskette to Windows 2000 during the install process. Early in Windows 2000 setup, at the bottom of the screen you'll see a prompt to press F6 to install third-party drivers. Press F6 a few times at this point then wait for the prompt. Insert the diskette when prompted, and then press the appropriate key (I think it's S for specify an additional device). Hopefully the Dell site has this SATA driver or perhaps its supplied on their driver CD, though since the PCs are loaded with XP, I would tend to doubt it.

 

[jrbarnett]

Sounds like you need to produce a custom Win2K CD with the drivers for the SATA HDD controller (or press F6 during setup and put the disk in).

If you don't have floppy drives in this batch, the custom CD is the only way. Look in the Win2K forum (Forum616) for threads about slipstreaming for more information about this.

John

 

[paparazi]

alfie1noakes
I agree, sounds like you have serial ATA (SATA) hard drives fitted to this latest batch of Dells.
This means loading a SATA driver at the beginning of the OS install (Press F6 to load third party drivers)

If you knew what the controller chip was on the motherboard? you may be able to get this direct from the chip manufactures website ie: Silicon image etc
Or if Dell can tell you what board you have, from Dells or the motherboard manufactures website.

Typically you extract the SATA driver onto a floppy disk, and when prompted press F6 with this floppy in the drive.

Your OS should now detect the SATA HDD and allow you to proceed.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[bcastner]

The Dell 8400's (which is what I am assuming we are talking about) do not ship with floppy drives.
The SATA drivers are on the drivers disk that comes with the computer, they are written by Intel.

The only way I know to handle these boxes is to open the case and mount temporarily a spare floppy drive. (The motherboard has a well marked connector to let you do so). Copy the SATA drivers from the drivers CD to floppy, and use F6 at the begining of setup so that Windows can load the SATA drivers.

 

[alfie1noakes]

OK,

Cheers so far guys, I am enlightened!! Slipstreaming is the way, so I am actively pursuing these methods, and currently am looking at Nlite..

I think you all need a pink star! Will let you know if it works, once I've put the disk together..

Tek-tips.. possibly the best forum in the world.

 

[alfie1noakes]

OK,

After many hours of pulling (whats left) of my hair out, I have finally found out the way to do this. Yes you were all correct in that it needed extra drivers etc.. but it also needed the following:

Dimension 8400 systems support RAID 0 by default. In order to boot to non-RAID SATA hard drives, the BIOS settings must be properly configured.


Change the SATA Operation setting in the BIOS from RAID Autodetect / AHCI, the factory default setting, to RAID Autodetect / ATA


I found this on one of Dells knowledge base articles.. with now extra help from their email support.

Once this was done, Win 2000 setup started to play ball.

Cheers to you all for your help..

Andy