TF8200 A2+, 6 SATA ports only 4 Devices Show in BIOS

[Rickola1977]

Hello all,

I have a question that so far I haven't been able to find the answer to on the net.

I have a Biostar TF8200 A2+ MB, running with Windows Vista Home Premium and 8 GB Ram. The MB has 6 SATA ports on it. I have 3 SATA Hard Drives and 2 SATA DVD-Roms. I just installed the 2nd SATA DVD rom today into the 5th SATA port. The drive was not showing up in Windows under My Computer though it has power. I double checked the cables and everything is connected.

So I went into BIOS and under devices it only shows 4 SATA ports. So basically, I am wondering how to go about resolving this issue? The MB manual has two sentences on SATA ports and that's pretty much it. I don't see a jumper anywhere on the MB that needs to be switched to activate the 5th and 6th SATA ports.

Just looking for any insight on this.

Thanks,

Rickola1977

[winginit]

Hey, Rickola1977.... according to the BIOS manual for that board, it says that SATA 5 & 6 only appear when SATA Mode is set to AHCI (under IDE Configuration).

[uddarts]

i'd look in the main tab under ide config. it may be disabled or raid enabled. you want to have it enabled and ide.

that's my best guess at the moment.



ud

[uddarts]

Hey, Rickola1977.... according to the BIOS manual for that board, it says that SATA 5 & 6 only appear when SATA Mode is set to AHCI (under IDE Configuration).

yeah, see that now. i don't like those kind of surprises.


ud

[winginit]

I hear ya.... why don't they just include the BIOS manual as well....

[Rickola1977]

Thanks for the quick response and the good information. I changed the SATA Mode setting from SATA to AHCI. I sent my pc into a boot cycle were would get to the Vista icon and reboot continuously.

I booted off the Windows DVD and tried running a system repair and it could not repair anything.

In the end I just switched mode back to SATA and I will just yank one of the DVD roms out. Two is enough anyway.

Thanks,

Rickola1977

[uddarts]

n the end I just switched mode back to SATA and I will just yank one of the DVD roms out. Two is enough anyway.

good choice!


HOWTO: enable AHCI mode after installing Windows

that's a whole new can of worms. 12 pages worth!



ud

[brothergc]

what you will need to do is go here and download the achi drivers for your board and OS and try a repair install using the F6 and have the drivers on a floppy. That is how I set up windows xp now for vista it might be different because I have no eperience with that OS .
Here is the link
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/...r.php?S_ID=353

[geekkyyy]

do you have intunes, roxie or nero installed...might be the problem other dvd rom drive not showing up.

also, use the dvd drives on other sata controllers..do a bit of experimenting and see if its possible they show up in device manager using another controller.

disconnect both dvd drives, and attach one, and see if it shows up in device manager, if it does, disconnect it and try the other dvd drive on the same contorller, rule out a bad dvd drive.

make sure you have the latest bios available for your motherboard...bios,s can be a problem at times.