Unable to format with P4S533

[Obelix]

Hi. I am unable to install Windows XP Pro and/or W2K Pro on my setup. Asus P4S533 and Western Digital 80MB 8MB cache hard drive. Both XP and W2K recognize the partition but after formatting, I received an error stating that I have a bad/damaged drive. Weird thing is I was able to format this drive sucessfully on my P4B533-E board. Anyone knows why ? Flashed to BIOS 1009 did not help either. Thanks in advance.

 

[slatr]

This may have nothing to do with your issue, but are you using cable select or do you have the drive set to master?

I had some issues trying to set up my WD 60 gig on this board with the drive set to master and had to change it to cable select.

Memory is a little fuzzy now on what it did exactly, but there was a problem.

 

[DoubleL]

I tried to format a W.D. 60 as a master to and the computer said it didn't have a hard drive but after a few trys I got it to format in a Dragon+ at cable select, The thing went out after a week, So I got another one and tried a Epox 8K9A2+ and it wouldn't format at anthing,Stuck a Maxtor in and everytng is fine, I emailed W.D and still waiting

 

[Tates]

Download Data Lifeguard v.10 from WesternDigital.com

 

[Obelix]

Hi all. I've tried both cable select and master drive only configuration but still have the same problem. I have a spare Promise ATA100 controller and installed it in PCI slot4 but have the very same problem running off the Promise controller. This is a very weird problem. The drive comes with a floppy which has the diagnostic utility and it reported no problem. I even did a low-level format which took more than 8 hours to finish but did not solve the problem. I thought I have a bad drive so took it back to CircuitCity and have it replaced. The 2nd drive has the exact same problem. Any other suggestions? TIA.

 

[DoubleL]

I would try a diff. hard drive, I tried yet another WD SE drive and it was a pain but got it formatted but everytime it formatted I had no IDE's after fromat, Changed drives, Formatted and had IDE's so I don't know what the problem is

 

[Obelix]

Just wonder if anyone out there is using the P4S533 board with Windows XP Pro or Windows 2000 Pro. This board is not listed in the Microsoft Compatibility list for W2K and WXP which may be the answer for the problem I am having. The P4S533-E is listed though.

 

[o1die]

I've had no problems with windows 2k pro. I have an early version of the p4s533 with an IBM 60 gig deskstar. The salesman at Fry's warned me about this drive overheating and failing, but I've had no problems so far.

 

[slatr]

I am running XP Pro on my P4S533. It is actually very stable which makes me think it is the drive/ide cable.

What do you think? What bios you run on your P4S533?

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Sounds to me like bad cabling/ Jumper setting. You running any slave drives on the same cable as the HDD or is it by itself? Is the drive showing up correctly in the BIOS?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I am running a P4S533 with XP Pro with no problem. I can't imagine Asus would be foolish enough to produce a mobo that was not XP-compatible.

 

[Budman]

Try leaving your HD at CS cable select then plug the blue end of your ide cable to mobo & then the black end to your hd.

 

[Obelix]

Hi. Thanks for the replies. I have double-checked the ide cable and the jumper setting. It's a single drive setup so WD recommends to remove the jumper (master only). Drive info does show up in the BIOS correctly. Windows XP Setup sees the drive and I can partition into two but formatting failed. The strangest thing I was able to install Windows Me just fine. I just did it then try to update to Windows XP from there but Windows XP setup tells me that C: drive is corrupted. I've flashed 3 different BIOS's from Asus, 1007, 1008 and 1009. Still have the same error. I don't know what else to try or think that may cause this problem. I have 3 different IDE cables and they did
not make any differences. Any thought? TIA.

 

[Budman]

you didnt specify if you connected the ide cable correctly, for ata 66/100/133 function you MUST connect the BLUE end to the motherboard then the grey goes to slave & the black got to the master device.

 

[Obelix]

Hi Budman. I checked the color coded connector and it did not help. The thing that trouble me is Windows Me is running fine on this setup while W2K and WXP are not. I call Asus tech.support this morning and the technician suspects I may have a bad memory module (?) but I don't have any problem with WinMe ? For those of you who are using this board with XP and/or W2K, is there a driver for the onboard IDE controller ? I just booted up from CD and proceeded with the installation. Thanks.

 

[slatr]

Yes, there is an sis ide driver, but lack of it shouldn't prevent an OS installation. I installed it after Xp Pro was installed.

I am using the sis driver I got from http://download.sis.com/sisdlc/index.jsp

What does datalifeguard say about the drive?

Have you tried another ide cable? Are any pins bent?

 

[Linglan]

don't know if this will help but maybe your CD is bad (well, can't say it is bad... let's just say not compatible )

happen to me once, can't install XP after formatted the HD. Always get the same error as your described. Change to another copy of WinXP CD, installation went fine


Linglan