SATA controller on K7N2G-ILSR "supports IDE"

I have a K7N2G-ILSR with the onboard Promise 20376 Serial ATA controller, which supposedly supports using the IDE3 port as a separate IDE channel to connect hard drives and CDRoms and whatnot. I have not been able to simply get the SATA controller to work with IDE. I have tried connecting a hard drive and optical drives. With the single hard drive, instead of simply booting like it should, it tells me that no array is defined and asks me to create one. Since I have data on the hard drive already and don't want to risk erasing it by "creating an array", I didn't push my luck. With optical drives, it is the same story, except that of course I can't create an array with an optical drive, even if I try (nor does the setup utility let me). I am also thinking about purchasing a SATA adaptor for the hard drive, but am afraid that it is going to ask me to create an array again (again, fear of losing data). So, how do I get the IDE3 port to work as advertised? And how would I get the SATA working in a non-RAID configuration?

They don't advertise that...
On-Board IDE
An IDE controller on the MCP2/MCP2-T chipset provides IDE
HDD/CDROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA133/100/66
operation modes
Can connect up to four IDE devices
Serial ATA Interface (Optional)
Support 2 serial ATA plus 1 ATA133
- RAID O or 1 are supported
- RAID function works w/ATA133+SATA H/D or 2 SATA H/D
• Connect up to 2 Serial ATA devices and 1 ATA133 device
This is from the website, I don't see that they say you can use the SATA as regular IDE drives...they are part of the raid controller period...the misconception comes by thinking it's used like we use a regular IDE but you have to create an array as I said in order to use them...you can select one of the raid drives to use as a boot drive via the BIOS but you have to enable the drive in the raid setup before it's accessible thus creating a seemingly IDE device...I don't have any SATA drives here atm so wasn't able to test this part of the MB yet...and I've beat my board into submission now and have to RMA it from doing so much testing with it...if I do get another one I'll see about getting a SATA drive and see what it does when I load the drivers for the raid in a non-raid setup and post my results...I agree that they don't explain it well either but I've never thought the manuals were written the best for most boards out there since English isn't their first language...something gets lost in the interpretation unfortunately heheheh The raid doesn't support opticals at all so that's not an option here...
Hope that helps...
Cheers!! 8)

Similar Messages

TS100 onboard Sata controller max. harddisk size supported

Dear all,
May anyone tried to use 1.0TB and 1.5TB harddisk connect to onboard Sata controller and recongized by it?
If not, is PCIe Sata controller can used to replace the onboard controller in order to increase the total storage for TS100 from 750GB x 4 (official) to 6TB or 8TB?
Many thanks.
Best Regards,
John Lui

The first thing to do is use smartctl to test the drive. Start with the short test ( smartctl -t short /dev/sdX ), and if it passes run the long test ( ... -t long ... ).

Problems with detecting SATA hdd's with K7N2G-ILSR mainboard

The K7N2G-ILSR has built in Promise PDC20376 Raid Controller, and I have bought a Promise 4-Channels SATA II Controller PCI card.
The problem is if I mount disks to my new SATA PCI controller my mainboard SATA controller hangs...
Is there a way to use booth SATA controllers at the same time ore disable the built in SATA controller?
Got one SATA2 DVD-writer and 3 SATA disks.
regards

There is no option to disable the built-in SATA controller in bios.
Have tried moving the PCI-card to another slot, but don't help.
How my PC boots:
1. nVidia Graphic card bootscreen
2. Normal bootscreen (Memory check, IDE check, ...)
3. Promise 4-Channels SATA II Controller PCI card (finds harddisks if connected.)
4. built in Promise PDC20376 Raid Controller (My computer freeze if harddisks are connected to the above SATA2 controller, but keeps booting if they are connected to this controller istead.)
5. WinXP MCE (if my PC don't freeze on step 4.)
Found some info about modding/adjust the bioses on this page, http://www.dstyles.de/bios/
Mabe there is a solution there, to add more options to the bios or enable disabled options.

Sometimes cannot start PC: problem with Hitachi SATA Hard drive and K7N2G-ILSR

I have major problem with my 160Gb SATA Hitachi hard drive and my MSI K7N2G-ILSR motherboard. Sometimes the PC can be started, sometimes it cannot.
After I installed a clean build of Windows XP Pro SP1 onto my new hard drive (as the only hard drive in my PC) and install all the necessary drivers, the system runs smoothly. However, after about 2 to 3 weeks, sometimes when I start the PC, it cannot detect the hard drive and hence it claimes that it cannot find any VMI Pool Data (i.e. no OS detected). What makes it really horrible is that, it is like the lottery everytime when I start the PC. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The highest record was 8 consecutive failures (by resetting or by turning the power off and on again) before I can start the machine properly. Also, the system sometimes just crashes in the middle of operating.
I have already sent the hard drive back to Hitachi. Got the same model of hard drive back as replacement, but the replacement has the same problem, except with the replacement drive the PC can be started eventually after many tries, while with the previous drive it is possible that the PC cannot be started until after a few days later.
Also, it seems that my drive can detect either SATA hard drive or PATA hard drive, but not both. (If I leave my old PATA drive connect in the primary IDE channel, Windows cannot detect the new SATA drive.)
Is my motherboard faulty? Can it only use PATA drive?
My PC's spec is as follows:
AMD Athlon XP 2500+
512Mb PC3200 SDRAM (set to run at 166MHz)
Hitachi 160Gb SATA Hard drive on 1st SATA channel (Model #HDS722516VLSA80)
Sony DVD+-RW drive and Panasonic DVD-ROM drive on secondary IDE channel
Use onboard video (GeForce MX)
US Robotech V92 internal PCI modem
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Player soundcard
Onboard audio disabled
300W PSU
OS is Windows XP Pro SP1 (with all latest security patches up to date)

Quote
Originally posted by Raven_
Quote
Originally posted by boucher91
Along the same lines the sata drives use more power than the pata drives...
sata usually faster spin rate, pata is slower spin rate...
that is not entirly correct.
many harddrives just come with different ways to connect them.
the only sata drives i now that spins faster is western digital raptors 10k rpm.
all other is running at 7200rpm.
older drives run at 5400rpm
Yes to get the full benefit of RAID, the Raptors are the way to go.Anything else, no significant difference.

K7N2G-ILSR (MS6570G) Promise RAID Driver trouble with 1TB SATA-II HDD XP SP2

Hi, I'm having trouble getting XP to recognise my new HDD.
I am using a MSI K7N2G-ILSR. I already have a 40GB IDE drive I use for the OS and apps, and an 80GB drive I use for storage. I recently bought a new 1TB Samsung SATA-II drive to increase the storage.
To begin with I simply plugged it in (port on the mobo marked SER1) and hoped XP would auto detect it. No such luck, so I used a USB to SATA convertor to connect the drive, format it, and check it worked properly. All OK, but still no result from windows when I go to the disk management settings.
So I got out the mobo manual and followed the instructions for installing the Promise 376 SATA RAID drivers. I setup the array in fastbuild (auto setup to a single stripe 1+0 array) and it shows the drive as present and functioning. I put in the XP CD and F6'd the SCSI drivers on as directed by various google searches. That went fine but there is still no detection in XP.
The drive came with jumper pins but no jumpers. I am slightly confused as I have read the jumpers can be used to force 150 speed from the drive, but also that SATA-II is 100% backwards compatible and doesn't need jumpers whether it's host is SATA or SATA-II.
I have read through various threads in this forum and have not been able to find a solution. The drive works fine, the RAID bios seems to work fine, but I can't achieve a detection by XP (with SP2).
Hope somebody can help me master this! If I've forgotten any details just ask.

Quote from: blardyblah on 08-November-08, 05:31:23
Cool, thanks. It wouldn't let me install the exe, was I supposed to change to extension to .inf? Anyway, it did let me install the Promise driver from the floppy, and that now shows properly in the device manager.
I will reboot and report back.
"Cool, thanks. It wouldn't let me install the exe, was I supposed to change to extension to .inf?"
No, just run it 1st. Its self extract archive which will expand the drivers to desired location.
"Anyway, it did let me install the Promise driver from the floppy, and that now shows properly in the device manager."
Yes, that's the same drivers.
"I will reboot and report back."
kk

First time install probs with sata raid drive using k7n2g ilsr

hi all!!!
this is the first time i have tried 2 use a sata raid hdd. i dont use a raid drive for my c:, the raid drive is just extra space.
first i formated my pc. i installed the raid drivers, then xp. my pc worked fine. but then after a week it was time 2 try plug the drive in.
when i got my k7n2g ilsr motherboard i di not get a manual. so with the raid drivers installed, i just pluged in the raid drive. the drive seemed fine.... i formatted it and put a couple of games on. but after an hours usage the games would crash (high pitched tone instead of the audio, then full freeze).
i have tried putting these games back on my original drive and they work fine......
anyway....
i wanted 2 know if anyone had any ides what i was doing worng??? are there any settings in the bios that need changing when installing a raid drive????
thanks for any help!!!!!!!

ok still formatting drive..... looking over the files on the msi site for my motherboard it has 2 files available for raid drives:
the 'Promise Serial-ATA RAID Drivers' ( which i have installed)
and the 'Promise Serial-ATA RAID Utility' (which i dont hav installed)
do i need the Promise Serial-ATA RAID utility?? and if so how do i install it?? there are no setup files just dll files like the driver.... is istallation the same as the driver?
again, i thank u for your help!!!!!

K7N2G-ILSR MS-6570 barton 3000 support?

I'm just about to buy a new system with the K7N2G-ILSR, and i'd like to know if it supports the barton 3000.
The specs of the new computer are as follows:
2x samsung 512DDR 2700 Ram
Sapphire Radeon 9800pro
Barton xp3000
Noise Control Copper heaven HS
2x Maxtor 80GB 7200/8096KB Plus 9 - 8MB Cache
NC Enermax 430W Low Noise
NC BigTower Black/Silver w/magic fleece
Plextor PX-W4824TA, 48/24/48 IDE,4mb
Asus DVDx16 / CDx48, E616, IDE100
WinXP home
Any suggestions to changes to the above are appreciatet.
Thanks

According to MSI's CPU support page the K7N2G-ILSR does officially support the XP3000+ Barton with 333Mhz FSB but not 400Mhz FSB. If 400Mhz FSB support is important to you you may want to consider as an alternative the K7N2 Delta-ILSR which should be available shortly (end of the month?). Details here of CPU support:-
K7N2G-ILSR
K7N2 Delta-ILSR

K7N2G-ILSR: How to boot from SATA when a raid card is installed

The situation:
1. I have a separate raid controller (Silicon chip) with 2 drives on raid 0.
2. I have another drive (my boot drive) that I want to place on the onboard Promise SATA raid controller.
The problem:
The bios doesn't include an option to specifically boot from SATA, only SCSI. So when I place my boot drive to the onboard Promise SATA raid controller, the system won't boot because it's looking for system files on the raid 0 drive.
Is there a workaround for this?

Well, all my drives are IDE. I did try the SATA RAID using lumberjacker's bios but it isn't stable.
Aside from 3 IDE drives, I also have 2 atapi drives (cdr-w, dvd).
Here's my current setup:
ide 0 - boot drive (master), DVD (slave)
ide 1 - cdr-w (master)
onboard ide (sata controller) - (vacant)
SATA 1 - (vacant)
SATA 2 - (vacant)
promise raid card (2 ide ports)- 2 hard drives on raid 0 (both as master)
What I really want to do is place my boot drive on the SATA port (using a pata to sata converter), or on the onboard promise parallel port. So that it can have it's own port.

Great problems with K7N2G-ILSR onboard raid controller

I have really great problems with my s-ata raid controller. First of all i had a 40GB HDD attached to IDE3. Worked really fine.
Later on my system crashed and my raid controller seemed to be dead. (no "no array is defined" no "press crtl-f to enter setup,...).
Then I attached a s-ata drive to the first s-ata interface. Suddenly the raid controller said: "no array is defined, press ctrl-f to enter setup". I entered setup an built an array an restarted my computer. Again: "No array is defined, press crtl-f to enter setup."
Now my raid controller seems to be dead again cause it doesnt say a word again.
Please help me if you can. (Besides i tried to solve the problem with updating my bios. I tried all versions from v1.0 to v1.3 but there was no result.)

I have already tried two different types of Ram. 512 MB DDR 333 (I don't know the timing exactly but it's a CL2.5 Ram) and another one from a different manufacturer. Also DDR 333 CL 2.5. Then I combined both. But the raid controller didn't show any reaction and I can't imagine that the problem is the power supply because everything else works fine. Anyway... I will try to get a new K7NG2-ILSR on guarantee, sell my whole computer and buy the new K7N2-Delta because I have only problems with the K7N2G-ILSR.

K7N2G-ILSR - my experience

Well, after reading through this board's multitude of problems, I think I encountered them all when I went to install my mobo.
Here's my setup & experience:
AMD XP 2600+
MSI K7N2G-ILSR
2x 512MB DDR 400MHZ Infineon 64x64 modules
2x Maxtor 60Y080 80GB SATA 7200RPM drives
Creative SB Audigy Platinum EX
Intel Gigabit Ethernet Card
Logitech USB iTouch Keyboard
Logitech USB Dual Optical 4 Button Mouse
LG DVD ROM
LG DVD-RW/+RW/RAM Drive
420 watt X-PIDER Aspireusa Black case w/purdy lights & clear side
and a whooole lota patience.
First of all, let me explain, I used to do tech support, building computers, troubleshooting bad installs, fixing problems etc, my entire job was finding problems with systems and fixing them for a retail & corporate reseller.
Here's what I did, feel free to drop in suggestions of what I should/shouldn't have done, or what I can still try.
1) I plugged everything in and turned it on. (yeah yeah, I realized the error in my ways real quick)
Result: Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep... (all long beeps, which kept going on for ages, I lost count at 20+ and realized it wasnt an error code)
2) I unplugged everything one part at a time and restarting until I had 3 things plugged into the mobo, the Mobo, the CPU, and the 2 sticks of RAM, so it was one of those 3 things that were causing the problems.
Result was still the same beeping fyi.
3) I tried every option for the memory, alternated each stick in DIMM slot 1,2 and 3. Tried combinations of each module in different slots, until I had exhausted them all.
Result: same beeping.
4) Tried a 256MB Samsung module in slot 1
Result: POST!! YAY!
5) Went into BIOS to see what the settings were, made sure everything was ok and kept going with the install and the Samsung module - I restarted & went to the SATA RAID utility next. - CTRL-F took me to that screen.
Result: Froze on RAID Controller screen.
6) Or so I thought, after an hour or so, trying different things, replaced the USB Logitech Keyboard with a MS Natural PS2 keyboard was the next option.
Result: POST & RAID Setup works now!
7) Followed manual directions at this point (yeah, I wasn't taking any chances after all this crap) Went to verify the drives.
Result: Frozen drive verifaction at 72%
8) Retried verification.
Result: Worked.
9) Formatted Drive.
Result: Worked.
10) Installed OS after loading Raid Drivers.
Result: BSOD half way through Win XP setup. Rebooted to find the Raid Array is offline.
11) Deleted the Raid Array, started from Scratch.
Result: got allll the way to having the OS installed & Ready to go (I almost cried at this point, and hugged my roomie)
12) Installed Service Pack 1.
Result: Worked.
13) Installed Motherboard Drivers (from CD - yeah yeah, I should have downloaded the latest)
Result: BSOD. AGAIN. Restarted to find the Array Offline yet again.
14) Restarted after deleting the Array and setting it up again, thinking I'd have to install the OS all over, and it booted straight into the OS with no issues. ???
15) Left it running for 1/2 hour to see if it was an intermittent problem.
Result: While I was changing a T-Shirt (due to excessive sweat buildup from the stress) it spontaneously BSOD'd and reset - Array was offline again etc.
16) Reset Array & left for the weekend.
Result - Ran aaallll weekend no problem.
17) RMA'd my memory, getting replacements today, and so far the system still works...
so... ? What should I do? I'm scared it'll spontaneously BSOD again and leave me PCless.
Comments/Sympathies/Suggestions welcome. I need consoling *sniff*

18) Replaced the memory - memory worked.
19) Wiped the drive clean - resinstalled the OS.
20) Upgraded the BIOS on the Motherboard & RAID Controller
21) Updated the Drivers for the Motherboard, Video Card and Sound Card - unplugged all other peripherals.
22) BSOD On installing the Motherboard drivers.
23) BSOD On running any 3d/Sound programs
24) Live updated kept BSODing every time I tried to load it.
25) Wiped the drive clean again, reseated all cards, tried one memory stick.
26) Reinstalled the OS - Froze half-way through intall - restarted, reformatted, reinstalled.
27) Immediately after install worked, I updated the Drivers for the motherboard - BSOD again.
28) Installed all other required drivers (LiveUpdate for motherboard - Video, Sound) I thought maybe it was a problem with an outdated peripheral driver.
29) played with all BIOS settings again with the RAM Latency, clock speeds etc. BSOD every 4-6 minutes no matter what I tried.
30) Tried pulling out the sound card and using the onboard, re-enabling it in the bios. Same problem - BSOD every few minutes.
31) Tried switching up the 9800Pro with an older Nvidia GeForce 3 - Same problem - BSOD every few minutes, the only things I have not replaced or unplugged are the Motherboard & CPU.
32) Lost patience with said motherboard - pulled it out of the case & packaged it up to send back.
X(

Audio problem? with K7N2G-ILSR board

I have recently built the following machine :
Motherboard : MSI K7N2G-ILSR
Processor : AMD 2200
Memory : Kingston 2 x 512MB
Hard Drive : WD 80GB
OS : Windows 2000 SP 3
The problem is if the on-board audio is enabled, the system either blue screens with a STOP error where it can't find the audio system file ( which exists ) or if it does boot into Windows, explorer.exe will crash. I have to go into Task Manager to start explorer.exe in order to see my desktop.
If I disable the on-board audio, no problem what so ever, but of course this is not a solution I want to live with.
I have tried to troubleshoot this myself : taken out a stick of memory, switched memory, updated the drivers to the latest, etc.
Also another thing to note, when I finally don't blue screen, the Windows 2000 System event log will have 10-15 of the following error messages, "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk0\DR0".
I have told all of this to the MSI Support and they think it is either memory or a bad board not the drivers. I have also burned in my system and no problems were discovered.
Any help?
Thanks,
Wayne

Yes, I have tried with SP2. Currently I am using SP3, though. I am also using Bios 1.3
Here are my IRQ assignments.
IRQ Number   Device
1   Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
3   Communications Port (COM2)
4   Communications Port (COM1)
5   NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management
6   Standard floppy disk controller
8   System CMOS/real time clock
9   Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
12   PS/2 Compatible Mouse
13   Numeric data processor
14   Primary IDE Channel
15   Secondary IDE Channel
16   NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU
20   Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
20   Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
20   Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
20   NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) MCP Audio Processing Unit
(Dolby(R) Digital)
20   NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Codec Interface
20   OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
I have disabled the Raid in the device manager, otherwise that came up IRQ 11.
I guess I spoke too early about not crashing, this morning it took about 6 reboots in order to finally get to a login this morning. I would get a STOP error about not finding the audio driver.

Some probs with K7N2G-ILSR

Have purchased the K7N2G-ILSR. I'm very satisfied, but I have troubles installing everything.
Configuration:
AMD ATHLON XP 2800+ BARTON BOX
DDR 256MB PC-333 Marke PC2700
SATA SAMSUNG 80GB SP0812C 8MB
TEAC 48/16 DV-516E BULK TRAY
LITE-ON 52/32/52 LTR52326 IDE SMART
* The K7N2G-ILSR does not recognize my processor (AMD Athlon XP 2800+ BARTON 333FSB)properly. This processor should work at 2083Mhz, I cannot get it higher than 1250Mhz (Can only select 166Mhz fsb). Do I have to upgrade my bios? I have one DDR module installed, 333Mhz PC2700.
* After I install windows XP (during installation Windows warns me I do not use Windows XP certified drivers for the promise raid. But I use the disk provided by my motherboard) everything is okay. After that I install the promise raid drivers and the vga drivers from the cd. All goes well. Then I install the nforce chipset drivers and everything gets messed up. The computer crashes during installing the sound system. Seems like a serious crash. When I restart I cannot acces my dvd drive or my cdr drive. My SATA harddisk seems to be okay. Is this a common problem?
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks you!

Wonkanoby thank you fopr your quick reply. I'll try setting ddr/fsb ratio 1.1 I believe I already set the fsb to 166.
I'm sorry I'm at work now, I can't look for my psu max amps now. I believe I bought a 350W power supply. That's all I know for now.
During installation of Windows XP I needed to install third party RAID drivers. I used the disk that came with the motherboard. After windows copied the files to my harddisk, the system reboots and installs my hardware. Then I get the message that the drivers are not signed by microsoft. I assume those are the drivers for my raid controller, since I only put in the windows CD and the MSI floppydisk.
After I click yes, everything installs as it should. Thats it for the windows xp installation. System boots, but needs drivers for VGA, sound, etc...
I install the vga drivers, the raid drivers, everything is okay.
But then I install the nvidia chipset drivers, which probably include the nvidia ide driver too. The system hangs while or after installing the sound dirvers.
As for the IDE drivers: I already tried to rollback the drivers, but windows says there is no previous driver.

K7N2G-ILSR raid boot problem

Hi,
I have an msi K7N2G-ILSR mobo and am having boot problems on the raid system.
Everything worked fine (raid 0 set up sata) and would boot fine, the bios had to be set up to look for other boot devices in order for the system to boot with raid drives.
Problem occurred when I added an ide card to give me 2 more ide channels. Still fine if I only connect cd roms to new card but as soon as I connect a hard drive it appears the msi board stops looking for the raid drives as a boot device, because I get the message NIVIDIA Boot Agen PXE-2.0(build 082 v1.82)
Copyright......................(info)
Copyright......................(info)
CLIENT MAC ADDR 00 10 DC E1 4C AD GUID:
FFFFFFFFFF..-FFF..-FFFFFF... etc.
PXE-53: No boot filename received.
PXE-MOF: Exiting NVIDIA Boot Agent
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER
It seams there needs to be a bios update as when you scroll through boot options (first, second & third) in advanced setup there is no choice for raid. Therefore the only way to boot from raid is to choose “look for other boot devices” and that is OK until you add a second ide card with hard drive on.
I have version 1.6 bios (latest on msi`s site)
Any idears on how to get round this ?

Hi Raven,
For your info windows xp will support any number of ide channels (upto the number of spare pci slots you have).
I have another computer that has 2 extra ide cards in and has 2 dvd`s (on seprate channels) & 6 hard drives as well as raid hard drive set up. Windows is not confused and supports all devices and has done for the last few months ! This mobo has boot from raid in its bios so has no problems on boot up. The reason I need so many ide channels is simply I do video work and need loads of storage space so until I can buy 800gb hard drives for a reasnable price I am stuck with having to buy 200gb drives.
As I said it looks like either a bios update from msi or I`m going to have to buy a new mobo.
Regards.

Compaq Presario v6346ea: Which type of SATA controller?

I've recently bought an Intel X25-M/G2 Solid State Drive and was expecting read speeds of 200 MB/s on my Compaq Presario v6346ea notebook. Instead of that the maximum speed I get from CrystalDiskMark is 135 MB/s.
Now I'm suspecting the SATA controller of my notebook to not being able to handle the speeds of this Solid State Drive.
I've looked on HP's website to find out which type of SATA controller is used in my Compaq Presario v6346ea but can't find find any clear info on that subject.
From what I read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA there are 3 types:
SATA Revision 1.0 (SATA 1.5Gb/s, max 150 MB/s throughput minus overhead.)
SATA Revision 2.0 (SATA 3Gb/s, max 300 MB/s minus overhead.)
SATA Revision 3.0 (SATA 6Gb/s, max 600 MB/s and up minus overhead)
Does anybody know which type of SATA controller is used in this Compaq Presario v6346ea notebook?

Thank you for the additional info. I ran SISoft Snadra and found some interesting stuff. For instance, it IDed the chipset as a mcp78s not a mcp77. It also indicates that it can use DDR3 memory. I'm not sure if that's accurate, as it conflicts with specs I've read elsewhere. If true, I wish I'd known that when I upgraded my RAM to 8GB. :-p Anyway, I've tried to determine the SATA revision, but I'm not sure if I'm going about it the right way. I went to "Storage Devices" and clicked the only available button: "Physical Disks , Storage adapters and devices". From there I can choose my internal hard drive from a menu, and it shows the maximum SATA mode as G2 / SATA300. But I'm not sure if this is in reference to the controller or the drive. I know that the drive is a SATA-II, so it would show that if it's displaying the drive's capabilities. It certainly tells me everything else I'd ever want to know about the drive. When I switch to my external USB HDD, it shows the maximum SATA as G3 / SATA600. For the DVD drive it shows G1 / SATA150. So I kind of think it's showing me the maximum capabilities of the drives, not the controllers. Is there some other way to check the maximum SATA capabilities of the hard drive controller? Sorry. I'm not too familiar with SISoft Sandra, and it's not really obvious to me. And given what it's turned up about the chipset and the memory support, I want to be sure here. Thanks.

BIOS failure at startup K7N2G-ILSR

I have just put together a new machine with a K7N2G-ILSR motherboard, an Athlon 2500+ processor, and an IDE disc, not much more than that. At startup, I get the first MSI screen, but when the BIOS screen is then shown, it disappears after about half a second. Instead I get a new screen "Scanning IDE drives", which after about a second gives the message: "No drive attached to Fast Trak controller, The BIOS is not installed".
I cleared the CMOS, and then I actually got the BIOS screen (because it said CMOD CRC error), but the next time I restarted the machine I was back with the same problem as before.
It is possible to enter BIOS setup if I press delete at exactly the right time when the BIOS screen flicker, but I have not find any configuration that would help. Further, after I cleared the CMOS, now my processor is not recognized in detail, it just says AMD Athlon. Before I did that, it actually said Athlon 2500+, how do I make it identify it exectly?
I would really appreciate any advice.
Thanks!

Well, the manual does not say a word about the "fast trak controller" is, and it is not clear what kind of drives that are referred to in that error message. Is this only about Serial ATA drives, or what?
What I have now figured out is that the POST screen (where it is said that DEL will take you to bios) will never appear if the full start MSI screen is enabled, which it is by default. The manual does not say a single word about this, but it refers to the POST screen as the first screen, where one can invoke the bios setup.

SATA controller on K7N2G-ILSR "supports IDE"

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