IDE CD ROM devices not detected on boot from Asus P8Z68-V _Pro/Gen3

[Tom McCreadie]

With a recent pc rebuild based on the Asus P8Z68-V _Pro/Gen3 mobo / i7 2600K /
16GB Corsair ram, I preferred for various reasons to reuse my two previous IDE
optical drives (Plextor dvd burner; Lite-On cd rom). As the new mobo has no IDE
slots, I bought a couple of cheap SATA-to-IDE powered adaptor cards.

When I boot up, however, the post routine reports the CPU and RAM as Ok, detects
my two SATA-2 HD's hard drives, but does not find the two optical drives. Thus -
since neither of the HD's contained an installed OS yet - the boot process
grinds to a halt with a message like "no bootable device found".

I can access the bios settings screens but couldn't see anything amiss. Also
tried plugging the cables in different SATA 3GB sockets etc. But the two
optical drives remain "invisible" - thus frustrating my efforts to install Win7
from its dvd.

Have I overlooked something? Any pointers? Perhaps those dinky SATA-to-IDE
adaptors are only really intended to work with HD's, not for ATAPI optical
devices?
--
Tom McCreadie

What's brown and looks good on a banker?..a Rottweiler

[Paul]

It's true, that not all SATA-IDE adapters support ATAPI, but you
detect that by reading the customer reviews. If the adapter
is a stinker, the rating will be pretty low.

If you've got a decent computer store handy, about $20 or more
will get you a new SATA burner. You can think of it as "adding
a floppy" to your new system, in terms of price.

Some of the old burners are nice, because they have good
error scanning capabilities, and shouldn't be discarded
because of their age. Newer drives may not be suited
to the best error scanning functions. I use an error scan,
to judge whether I should buy more of the same media,
the next time I go to the store.

Another solution would be a 5.25" USB IDE enclosure, but
for the price of one of those, you could probably buy a
couple new SATA burners. I have one of those that I use
for optical drives, and it works great.

The only time I find that doesn't work (USB), is for Linux "server"
installer CDs. Some of those insist the drive be connected
to a motherboard connector, rather than coming through USB.
But many other situations don't care about that. I think I've
also had the Kaspersky Offline scanning CD, do something similar,
and only work on an internally connected drive.

Paul

[Tom McCreadie]

Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:

>It's true, that not all SATA-IDE adapters support ATAPI, but you
>detect that by reading the customer reviews. If the adapter
>is a stinker, the rating will be pretty low.
>
>If you've got a decent computer store handy, about $20 or more
>will get you a new SATA burner. You can think of it as "adding
>a floppy" to your new system, in terms of price.
>
>Some of the old burners are nice, because they have good
>error scanning capabilities, and shouldn't be discarded
>because of their age. Newer drives may not be suited
>to the best error scanning functions. I use an error scan,
>to judge whether I should buy more of the same media,
>the next time I go to the store.
>
>Another solution would be a 5.25" USB IDE enclosure, but
>for the price of one of those, you could probably buy a
>couple new SATA burners. I have one of those that I use
>for optical drives, and it works great.

<snip>

Thanks for the info, Paul. I'd grabbed the adaptor from a local shop. It was a
"SATA HDD to IDE" from a no-name China manufacturer, so I couldn't really check
up on any reviews. The spec had "Compliant with Serial ATA specification;
Supports ATA 100/133", and the charming misspelling: "Converts Sevial ATA to
Paraller ATA" :-)

My sticking with my previous IDE Plextor burrner wasn't driven by the stingy
Scottish chromosomes :-), but by a wish to retain the use of the Plextor
software for extensive error checking of the drives. (I burn lots of recorded
concert cd's for musical societies and like to check the C1, C2 errors etc.)
Ironically that particular IDE Plextor was purchased only a couple of months ago
(after my previous Premium- then PX-812A models wore out) and I had to go out
of my way chase one down amid the plethora of SATA units.

Yep. guess it's time to just buy a new SATA model...and possibly look out for a
cheap or used USB enclosure for the IDE devices.


--
Tom McCreadie

Live at The London Palindrome - ABBA

[Rob]

As Paul said, some of the cheap adapters definitely don't work with
optical drives, so I would say it is worth trying another one which
states it fully supports ATAPI devices before getting a SATA drive.
One thing to check - the optical drive *must* be jumpered as master
with these adapters.
HTH
--
Rob

[Paul]

Good point. If there is no jumper on the device, it could well be
restricted to Master. Some adapters have a jumper that selects
Master or Slave, depending on jumper position. There are all sorts
of construction options, and the thing is, quality adapters
may be hard to find as IDE falls from view.

Paul

[Tom McCreadie]

Rob <no...@nowhere.nothere.com> wrote:

>As Paul said, some of the cheap adapters definitely don't work with
>optical drives, so I would say it is worth trying another one which
>states it fully supports ATAPI devices before getting a SATA drive.
>One thing to check - the optical drive *must* be jumpered as master
>with these adapters.

Good point, Rob, I'd indeed overlooked that my two IDE optical drives were still
jumpered as Cable Select, from their previous career in the older pc. My renewed
hope was alas short-lived, for after both devices were rejumpered to Master,
they still went unrecognized on boot. (And don't you just hate searching for
tiny jumpers in high-pile beige carpeting? :-))

I've since tried a different brand SATA to IDE adapter whose brief web blurb did
specifically mention 'CD ROM', but returned it as it also failed to bring in the
missing ATAPI devices. Unless I'm still overlooking something, it seems to be a
crap shoot with those adapters. Another option could be expansion to IDE via a
PCI card , but my mobo PCI slots are already spoken for :-)

Anyway, regaining a sense of proportion, I finally bought a SATA burner..and
will try off-load the orphaned IDE devices down the family/acquaintance food
chain. Thanks to Rob & Paul, for the input. Much appreciated.

[GMAN]

Make sure that the SATA ports you are trying to put those adapters on in the
BIOS are set for Compatilbe and NOT AHCI or enhanced

[Tom McCreadie]

GMAN wrote:
>Make sure that the SATA ports you are trying to put those adapters on in the
>BIOS are set for Compatilbe and NOT AHCI or enhanced

Sorry for the delay in reporting back.
At your advice, I toggled the Bios settings as follows:
SATA Mode: 'ACHI Mode' (default) => 'IDE Mode'
Serial-ATA Controller 0: 'Enhanced' (default) => 'Compatible'
Serial-ATA Controller 1: 'Enhanced' (default) unchanged

Still no joy, though. My new SATA Plextor shows up but the older IDE Plextor is
still unrecognized. Looks like a classic case of "Lost in Translation" :-)
--
Tom McCreadie