Promise IDE controller issue

[gwa000]

i have a new system i just built with a Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4 motherboard using a SATA drive (ACHI mode) as the boot [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]device[/COLOR][/COLOR]. from my old system i ripped out an old Promise IDE Ultra66 controller hoping to use an old hard drive as secondary storage.

i installed the card into a PCI slot but when i boot into Windows 7 (64-bit) the system just hangs at "Loading Operating System". the cables are installed correctly and the drive is jumpered as 'Single".

a friend of mine also tried this with a Promise IDE controller (not sure of the model) along with a Gigabye [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue ! important]motherboard[/COLOR][/COLOR] (not sure of the model) with exactly the same results.

is there any way to get the Gigabyte board or Windows 7 to recognize this IDE controller so that it can be used?

thanks!

[Conners]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Methinks you'll need a driver for your promise IDE controller for win 7 64 bit.

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Methinks you'll need a driver for your promise IDE controller for win 7 64 bit.

i actually did load a driver, well sort of.

i came across a post somewhere else that if you download the latest driver for the Ultra133 TX2 card that it supports the Ultra66 card. inside the txtsetup.oem file you can see an entry for other Promise cards of the Ultra series for both 32 and 64 bit. however, the entries state that it is for Vista. now my impression is that the kernel driver model for Windows 7 is basically just like Vista so i gave it a whirl and tried it, however it did not seem to work.

i think that you are right in that it is a driver issue however i was hoping that the Vista one would work.

[Conners]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

If it were me I'd forget the promise card and just use a IDE HD to SATA adaptor.

[profJim]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

With your Promise card physically installed, have you tried booting to windows Safe mode with Network support.
If safe mode boots OK, see if you can download the drivers using windows update.

[Chike]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Is the card listed in post screen?
Vendor id 105a

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

If it were me I'd forget the promise card and just use a IDE HD to SATA adaptor.

i just looked at some at newegg. i guess if i'm going to have to spend some dollars i'd rather look into a card that specifically states support for windows 7 64-bit since i could hook up 2 IDE drives to it, although the cost for two adapters is about the cost for one PCI card. not sure how eagerly i want to pursue this since i do have several external USB drives that i can use for back-ups. what's worrisome when buying something like this is whether or not it will work which seems to be the case on some of the newegg reviews for both the adapters and cards.

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

With your Promise card physically installed, have you tried booting to windows Safe mode with Network support.
If safe mode boots OK, see if you can download the drivers using windows update.

i did not try this but when i get a chance i could give it a shot.

i'm guessing that this card as an onboard BIOS. anyone know if there is a keypress to hit while booting to see if there is a configuration screen for changing some sort of option?

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Is the card listed in post screen?
Vendor id 105a

the post screen id turned off by default. i can hit a key while booting to see if anything shows up when i get a chance to put the card into the new system.

i'll have to look at my old system (XP) where the card is now. i know that there are messages displayed showing the 4 IDE channels and the ID of the drive connected on that system. i'll also have to look to see if there is a key to hit to get into the built-in BIOS (i'm assuming that there is one).

[Conners]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Might try this...I found it on MS technet. May or may not do the trick. But this would only work if the device is detected in the bios and in the device manager.

by jove, I think I got it!

I seem to have updated the driver successfully for my WIN 7 64 OS. I downloaded the ULTRA133 TX2 WINDOWS 2.1.0.3 LOGO DRIVER packet to my desktop. I opened it up. I went to the AMD64 folder inside that. Inside are 3 files: ultra.sys, ultra.inf, and ultra.cat. Just create a folder on your desktop. Copy and paste those three files into it. Open DEVICE MANAGER. Left click the device to update the driver for. Use the BROWSE FOR DRIVER option. Direct the updater to the folder that you created on your desktop and VIOLA!

The issue seems to be that the driver updater doesn't know which files it needs, or where to get them, unless you follow those easy steps first.

No charge. Kudos are welcome.

- bajafreak

[Chike]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

The list of devices is the last post screen where it says "Updating DMI pool". You can disable the logo screen in Advanced CMOS Features, and press the pause key to freeze the screen.

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

The list of devices is the last post screen where it says "Updating DMI pool". You can disable the logo screen in Advanced CMOS Features, and press the pause key to freeze the screen.

thanks, i'll try this to see what is displayed when i get a chance to swap the card.

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Might try this...I found it on MS technet. May or may not do the trick. But this would only work if the device is detected in the bios and in the device manager.

i posted previously that i actually tried this and it was the same version as what you listed in the quote. somebody else in the thread that was quoted mentioned that they could not get it to work on a intel MB with an I5 setup. now i'm not sure by an intel MB they mean actually intel or intel compatible. and i'm assuming that the I5 setup means an I5 processor. but i am only guessing. and i do have an i5 processor although i can't believe that that would factor into it.

here is the thread that was quoted:

Promise Ultra 133 TX2 - Win7 Compat Center says it's compatible, but no drivers work!

when i get a chance i'm going to have to try this driver again. i think i remember (i really should take notes) seeing the card listed in device manager but it might have been before i actually hooked up a drive (or at least jumpered correctly). i know that when i thought i had everything correctly configured that the system would boot and just hang at "Loading Operating System".

as i said before, i'll have to try this again (along with a few of the other suggestions previously posted) and take notes!

[Conners]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Your system full specs might help resolve this problem your having.

Methinks if you have the HDD hooked up to the IDE card it may be seeing the cards bios and screwing things up.

But just for fun let's do some basic stuff.

1) Are you able to boot into Win 7 with the HD disconnected from the Promise controller?

2) If yes does the card have have a GUI you can access? I doubt it.

3) If you are able to boot into Win 7 you'll need to do two things. Do all of this with the HDD disconnected from the card
a) Find and install the latest bios for this card.
b) Install the drivers
c) shutdown, hook up HDD and reboot.

hope this helps if not i'm out of sugestions...

I still don't get why a person would want to use such an old technology on a bad arse board. SATA HDD are so cheap these days. But that's just me.

[gwa000]

Re: Promise IDE controller issue

Your system full specs might help resolve this problem your having.

Methinks if you have the HDD hooked up to the IDE card it may be seeing the cards bios and screwing things up.

But just for fun let's do some basic stuff.

1) Are you able to boot into Win 7 with the HD disconnected from the Promise controller?

2) If yes does the card have have a GUI you can access? I doubt it.

3) If you are able to boot into Win 7 you'll need to do two things. Do all of this with the HDD disconnected from the card
a) Find and install the latest bios for this card.
b) Install the drivers
c) shutdown, hook up HDD and reboot.

hope this helps if not i'm out of sugestions...

I still don't get why a person would want to use such an old technology on a bad arse board. SATA HDD are so cheap these days. But that's just me.

i've been in contact with a friend of mine who also has a Promise IDE controller card although his version is the Ultra 100 TX2 while mine is the Ultra 66. he never had luck in getting his to work and i mentioned the post i made along with some of the recommendations.

he did try some of the suggestions and still could not get the card to work. since his card is actually a later version than my card i doubt that i would have any luck either. here is the contents of the note that he sent me.

"I tried the Promise card again, this time not plugging any drive into it.
It stated that it wasn't installing the Promise BIOS because there were
no drives attached. This time, I was able to boot into Windows. I
installed the 133TX2 driver, which it accepted and then called the 100TX2.
However, the card won't start (error code 10). In doing a Google search,
this is a common problem. A few people have said that the driver works,
but most people find that the driver installs, but the board won't work
(error 10). I tried it in XP, Vista x64, and Win7 x64. Board worked fine
(no errors in Dev Mgr) in XP, but had error 10 in both Vista & Win7."

when i was doing my attempts i remember that i was able to get into windows with the IDE controller card installed and saw it in Device Manager. i think i was able to get into windows because either the cable was not seated fully in the card or the drive or i had the drive jumpered wrong. in any case when i installed the driver i remember getting the error code 10.

so, i'm going to cut my losses (time-wise) and call it quits for getting this card to work in Windows 7, 64-bit.

i want to thank everyone who provided comments and suggestions.

guess i'll have to look on newegg for a card that does work in windows 7, 64-bit and hope that it works. i have a few small IDE drivers that are just sitting around and a few drive bays just waiting to be filled. :>) :>)