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**parsec** · 10-20-2013, 10:34 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

I'm confused by your description, are you trying to install an OS (XP SP2?), or do you have a boot drive working? If the latter, I'm guessing you have a PATA drive as your OS/boot drive?

From your post, the SATA chipset description that you think matches your VIA 8237 chipset is:

VIA VT6420 SATA RAID and IDE controller supports two configurations:1) Two
SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs, and 2) Four SATA HDDs. The RAID functions are only
supported on SATA HDDs. It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions,
however, are not supported on IDE HDDS.

VIA VT8237 is a south bridge which includes VT6420 SATA controller so this
software package also supports VT8237 SATA controller.

So you can have two SATA HDDs and two IDE HDDs, which I assume you are using at least one IDE HDD connected to the PATA connectors? Or four SATA HDDs, which seems impossible, given your board only has two SATA ports. So the description I copied from your first post does not make sense, IMO.

The one that does match your board's connectors is this:

VIA VT6421 RAID controller supports two SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs.
It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions.

You need to clear up a few things before we can continue.

Also, what are the HDD mode settings available to you in the BIOS? IDE, RAID, SATA+PATA, or something like that?

RAID drivers used on current mother boards do not require the drives used to be in a RAID array, and the specs you posted mention JBOD. Is there a JBOD setting?

**TrevorS** · 10-20-2013, 11:09 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

The quoted lines from the Readme.txt are exactly as presented in the Readme.txt. No, not all described possibilities are applicable to my specific situation. My purpose was to provide the text provided by VIA, not an interpretation of it. It seems to me both the VT6420 and the VT8237 offer a configuration applicable to my situation, the first configuration. I'm not considering the VT6421 to be a factor, especially as the VT8237 apparently doesn't incorporate it.

I currently have three HDD and one DVD drive connected to the two PATA connectors. The primary master PATA HDD has WinXP SP2 installed in the first partition.

What I'm trying to do is add a single SATA hard drive. Specifically an SSD (but have also tried an HDD) and with the possibility of moving WinXP to it. I've yet to find anything in either BIOS 1.30 or 1.60 that allows me to designate the SATA ports as either IDE or RAID (regardless of RAID configuration), and the BIOS IDE section deals only with PATA. Judging by the RAID utility content, that's normally where the various RAID possibilities would be selected, but I've seen no reason to believe it's applicable to non-RAID operation. The only BIOS switch I've found related to SATA is the enabling or disabling of the Raid Utility in the BOOT Menu.

Hopefully this clarifies.

**TrevorS** · 10-23-2013, 10:37 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

I sure would appreciate a little expertise on this. I understood from the Asrock website an Asrock rep visits this forum to help out. Could really use a little of that.

**profJim** · 10-24-2013, 02:24 AM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Welcome to the forum.

Send a private message to ASRock TSD - Emily, include a link to this thread, and ask her to reply in your thread.

It will speed things up if you post your complete hardware details using this procedure:

We need detailed information about ALL OF THE HARDWARE in your system.

We can best help you after you create a detailed hardware list in the System Specs portion of your
forum profile http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile.php?do=editprofile at the bottom of the
profile page or in your forum signature http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile....=editsignature.
Be sure to include brand names and model numbers.

**parsec** · 10-24-2013, 03:25 AM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Originally posted by TrevorS View Post

...

I currently have three HDD and one DVD drive connected to the two PATA connectors. The primary master PATA HDD has WinXP SP2 installed in the first partition.

What I'm trying to do is add a single SATA hard drive...

It just struck me that the issue may be as simple as this. From your first post:

VIA VT6410 IDE RAID is a RAID controller that supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD.
It also supports up to four IDE hard disk drives.

VIA VT6420 SATA RAID and IDE controller supports two configurations:1) Two
SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs, and 2) Four SATA HDDs. The RAID functions are only
supported on SATA HDDs. It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions,
however, are not supported on IDE HDDS.

VIA VT6421 RAID controller supports two SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs.
It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions.

It seems that the maximum number of drives you can use at any one time, in various configurations, is four. You have four drives now, and your DVD drive counts as one drive of course. Some BIOS's will lock out options if another condition is met, in your case you're at the four drive limit on the IDE connections, so anything else is not available.

I'm not certain about this, but it does add up...

**odiebugs** · 10-24-2013, 04:21 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

@ parsec

Why anyone is running XP sp2 in the first place is ridiculous. SP3 is free, even though XP is a dead toy and soon will be dangerous.

Then you have someone sticking a SSD on a dinosaur board with no AHCI, you can't even update firmware without it, worthless to add a SSD on this thing.

**parsec** · 10-24-2013, 11:33 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Well... Uhm... wait, I know...

Because it is there (the SSD that is)

Because, "... the best way to bring life back to an old PC is to add a SSD" (quoting thousands of articles about SSDs)

Because some people cannot afford to buy a new mobo, CPU, etc.

Because some people just don't want to buy a new mobo, CPU, etc.

Because that person's PC is a reliable old friend.

Because worthless is in the eye of the beholder.

Because, since when is all human behavior logical?

**TrevorS** · 10-25-2013, 06:57 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Originally posted by profJim View Post

Welcome to the forum.

Send a private message to ASRock TSD - Emily, include a link to this thread, and ask her to reply in your thread.

It will speed things up if you post your complete hardware details using this procedure:

We need detailed information about ALL OF THE HARDWARE in your system.

We can best help you after you create a detailed hardware list in the System Specs portion of your
forum profile http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile.php?do=editprofile at the bottom of the
profile page or in your forum signature http://forums.tweaktown.com/profile....=editsignature.
Be sure to include brand names and model numbers.

Done, thanks :)!

Originally posted by parsec View Post

It just struck me that the issue may be as simple as this. From your first post:

VIA VT6410 IDE RAID is a RAID controller that supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD.
It also supports up to four IDE hard disk drives.

VIA VT6420 SATA RAID and IDE controller supports two configurations:1) Two
SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs, and 2) Four SATA HDDs. The RAID functions are only
supported on SATA HDDs. It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions,
however, are not supported on IDE HDDS.

VIA VT6421 RAID controller supports two SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs.
It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions.

It seems that the maximum number of drives you can use at any one time, in various configurations, is four. You have four drives now, and your DVD drive counts as one drive of course. Some BIOS's will lock out options if another condition is met, in your case you're at the four drive limit on the IDE connections, so anything else is not available.

I'm not certain about this, but it does add up...

Given I can successfully install a SATA DVD player, I doubt the controller does count CD/DVD drives as IDE HDD. Still, I can try disconnecting the secondary ATA port and see if it makes any difference. Thanks for the further thoughts :)!

Originally posted by odiebugs View Post

@ parsec

Why anyone is running XP sp2 in the first place is ridiculous. SP3 is free, even though XP is a dead toy and soon will be dangerous.

Then you have someone sticking a SSD on a dinosaur board with no AHCI, you can't even update firmware without it, worthless to add a SSD on this thing.

Is this nonsense supposed to be in some fashion helpful? If so, I'm afraid you missed.

Originally posted by parsec View Post

Well... Uhm... wait, I know...

Because it is there (the SSD that is)

Because, "... the best way to bring life back to an old PC is to add a SSD" (quoting thousands of articles about SSDs)

Because some people cannot afford to buy a new mobo, CPU, etc.

Because some people just don't want to buy a new mobo, CPU, etc.

Because that person's PC is a reliable old friend.

Because worthless is in the eye of the beholder.

Because, since when is all human behavior logical?

Thanks for your assist :)! FWIW -- judging by the severe instability it introduces, SP3 is incompatible with my board at least given my heavy internet usage -- tried it three times and backed it out three times (including the MS "FIX"). SP2 works flawlessly and I've no issues with viruses despite this PC being on the internet 24/7, I've good aftermarket protection. As for the SSD, I've a specific reason for having a faster drive installed for certain operations. In short, my choices are entirely logical and it matters little to me whether that arrogant character comprehends.

Thanks -- Trevor

**TrevorS** · 11-03-2013, 04:56 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Originally posted by parsec View Post

It just struck me that the issue may be as simple as this. From your first post:

VIA VT6410 IDE RAID is a RAID controller that supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD.
It also supports up to four IDE hard disk drives.

VIA VT6420 SATA RAID and IDE controller supports two configurations:1) Two
SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs, and 2) Four SATA HDDs. The RAID functions are only
supported on SATA HDDs. It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions,
however, are not supported on IDE HDDS.

VIA VT6421 RAID controller supports two SATA HDDs + Two IDE HDDs.
It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and JBOD, these functions.

It seems that the maximum number of drives you can use at any one time, in various configurations, is four. You have four drives now, and your DVD drive counts as one drive of course. Some BIOS's will lock out options if another condition is met, in your case you're at the four drive limit on the IDE connections, so anything else is not available.

I'm not certain about this, but it does add up...

Just disconnected the secondary PATA cable and the only difference is I no longer have those two drives. I tried the .104 SATA driver and then the .300 (still installed) and they behave exactly the same as before disconnecting the PATA port. I tried the SATA SSD and HDD separately and finally simultaneously (total of four hard drives, no CD/DVD) -- again, absolutely no change in behavior.

So, that's an interesting observation that there's likely a hard max of four hard drives (not including CD/DVD, three HDD and two DVD works), but I still don't know why the SATA ports aren't recognizing either my WD3200KS HDD or my SanDisk SDSSDP-064G-G25 SSD. Still haven't heard from the Asrock person, sure wish they'd lend a hand!

PS. Just sent a second PM to "ASRock TSD - Emily"

**profJim** · 11-03-2013, 05:19 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

I just sent a PM to ASRock TSD - Emily (with a cc to TrevorS) just in case she didn't receive the original PM.
Patience, she hasn't let me down yet.

**TrevorS** · 11-03-2013, 05:29 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Thanks -- I just sent a retry myself so hope she doesn't feel inundated :)!

**TrevorS** · 11-06-2013, 03:25 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Hello Emily,

Yes, I saw that technique for installing an OS on a SATA drive, but that isn't the problem I'm having. What I'm currently trying to do is successfully install a SATA drive so my existing OS on the Primary PATA port can access it.

**odiebugs** · 11-06-2013, 04:27 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

Originally posted by TrevorS View Post

Hello Emily,

Yes, I saw that technique for installing an OS on a SATA drive, but that isn't the problem I'm having. What I'm currently trying to do is successfully install a SATA drive so my existing OS on the Primary PATA port can access it.

Have you tried to run the SETUP APP inside the combo DL from the DL page ?

Can you see the devise ID of the sata ports in devise MGR, what about after running the setup ?

There is a devise 1106 VIA, that has a VIA AHCI Controller - 6287, but the ID is 6287.

You can see if the controller will pickup the 6287 driver, which does correspond to the 8251 and not the 8237, but some series can use a 82 line of that series.

All the drivers in the DL from asrock are 3429, 3149,3164. But all state raid.

The VRAID 550b version DL has the AHCI.

Because your not installing OS to the sata, you should be able to install driver in windows, no reason for pre-install. Any driver even if a floppy setup, the drivers can be used in windows.

Also after running SETUP, and the drive is plugged in, just check ADMIN tools, disk MGT, see if the drive is listed and needs to be activated. The drive will not show in BIOS or MY computer until activated.

**TrevorS** · 11-06-2013, 07:12 PM

Re: Can't get K7VT6 SATA ports to support non-RAID HDD/SSD

I've used the Asrock supplied setup utility (CDROM that came with the board), the downloaded 300b package utility and also Device Manager with both automatic and manual selection of the downloaded files. The driver installation always goes fine, and the resulting driver behavior is always the same! Both the CDROM supplied drivers and the Asrock download are the same 300b package. The Readme.txt I quoted in post 1 is from that package. Changing the K7VT6 Boot FLASH from 1.30 to 1.60 made no difference.

I've also tried "ComboRAID" driver package version 430g setup with and without the 5.20 RAID configuration utility -- no change. However, it's Readme.html webpage doesn't include the 6420 dual IDE and dual SATA configuration described in the 300b Readme.txt, so VIA dropped that support? Or did it never work? In any case, I'm staying with 300b since it at least acknowledges the configuration. (Am thinking the .104 drivers are specific to the parallel ports, despite them being in the SATA package.)

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