Trying to force 3 hard drives w/2 O.S. !!! 1

[sykohead]

am i blowing smoke or can this be done? my 1st attempt failed miserably. trying to get 1 drive with win 98se, another with win xp, and the 3rd as storage only (media files). I am setting it up this time as: (#1.)primary ide set as master/standalone with win 98. (#2.)secondary ide set as master/standalone with win xp. (#3.) ide hd for storage is set on an Maxtor ATA 100 adapter card as master/standalone in the primary port. The secondary port of the adapter has DVD set as master & CD-R as slave. if this somehow can work, if someone has a solution, it's worth a pizza or something to me! (there is a reason for this maddening configuration. I just need to get this thing done asap for business apps.) thanks to all......

Added note: I plan to use FAT32 instead of NTFS on the XP disk.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

The partition plan you have is totally feasible, and should work without tweaks.

As far as your added note goes; no problem.

Your first issue is with the hardware. As long as the OSes both recognise the ATA100 card, this will work.

The O/S locations can be resolved by simply installing w98, then installing XP from the CDs, and changing the install paths.

If you need any more detailed advice, please post back! CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[sykohead]

amazing. you mean i could actually get something right with this p.c? Thanx "Citrix", guess by now I should be finished, huh? Wrong. one more snag out of the 13,457 snags with this p.c.! this time my monitor goes blank during install(s)! just for insurance, i posted this problem on a new thread. if you have any suggestions for this one, I'll even throw in a 12 pack of any brew of choice on top of the pizza. i'm serious. this project is going on 3 weeks overdue and i am as desperate as those who are waiting for it! (they compare this to those who lost in the big stock crash last year. god help em all.) see you there.

jefferson

 

[CitrixEngineer]

You haven't got an SBLive! in there, by any chance? CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[sykohead]

So much for a new thread. well, moving right along: >I configured the system as I plotted above/and confirmed by good friend "CITRIX". > I disconnect all cables from CD/DVD's and drives from the Maxtor ATA 100 adaptor. I leave adapter connected to pci slot. >I open the bag on a brand new 60gb western digi & connect to primary/master stand-alone. >I get through fdisk and an unusually long 45 minute format process(thought that strange). >Started full install on 98se. after files needed to run complete setup were copied (the part where the monitor screen goes blank for 3-5 seconds, then back on), my monitor remained blank. ran setup again. same thing. ran once more(after combing the sys setup for possible user error) nada. frustrated (like...now what?!),I tried installing XP on that drive instead. ran XP setup. thought things were going well when I came to the part where XP's setup has an occurance where it to goes blank for a few seconds. Well, my monitor remained a black-out. now it's yesterday's tomorrow at 9:30PM P.S.T. and a day later being a close to 3 (t)weeks over due. this sys is a piece of cr_ _! any suggestions?
note: my "nemesis" (please read 1st post above)
!-Asus P4B266 w/512
!-P4 2.0gb locked (drag!)
!-AGP ATi A.I.W. w/32
!-PCI 1=open/opening used for O.B. SPDIF connects
!-PCI 2=Maxtor ATA 100 2port/4ide capable
!-PCI 3=Linksys ethernet 10/100
!-PCI 4=Creative S.B. Audigy
!-PCI 5= 3³party 3port firewire adapte(o)r
!-PCI 6= 2 port USB 2.0
!-CNR (oh,please!!!)

thanks all...Jefferson

 

[sykohead]

to citrix..no, but an audigy. why?

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I've had the same issue with both an SBLive! and an SBLive! Platinum in a machine with a Highpoint RAID controller. Turns out these gizmos don't want to play ball with each other. Screen goes blank on startup, just like you saw.

The third part (this is a bit of a "hate" triangle) is the Via chipset. If you've got one of those, then you need the latest updates to stop "issues" between the PCI bridge and disk controllers.

What's happening is that the ACPI feature of the motherboard shares resources between the sound card and the disk controller (ouch!). I've read several different "cures" for this, and am going to try them out tonight.

Try some or all of these. Maybe someone else has a definitive fix - but on all the forums I've trawled I've yet to see one. Sorry.

1. Latest drivers for all devices. Or in some cases, older drivers work better for the Via chipset, while using newer drivers for the Sound card and disk controller.

2. Disable 16-bit SB Emulation. You need to do this before the PC reboots after you've installed the driver - so don't let the installer reboot for you.

3. Disable ACPI in the BIOS.

4. Manually assign IRQ 5 in the BIOS to the sound card and let the disk controller have a separate auto-assigned one. Hey, it might then conflict with something else - it knocked my TV card out.

5. Disable DMA on the disk controller. Invariably it uses the same channel(s) the sound card wants.

Like I said. Your first issue is with the hardware :-(

I'm trying exactly the same thing, except with an on-board HPT controller - 3 disks, CD-RW, DVD-RAM and a NIC and a TV card to boot.

At least we know what the root of the problem is - the SB Sound Card/Disk Controller/Via chipset fallout.

Now all we need to do is fix it.

Good Luck! CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk