VGC a51m (Rc202) XP reinstall hdd not recognised

[robmar0se]

This desktop originally had raid0 installed.  For unknown reason the raid system failed and all data was lost (raid0 is not good for data loss I now discover).  The sata hdd's have been reformatted (on another PC) and show no errors.  I have used the raid bios utility to undo the raid and structure as standard sata drives.  The Vaio Bios sees the hdds fine.  But when I try to reload Windows XP it says there are no hdd's? 

I remember in the early days one needed a floppy utility to provide for sata drives, not sure if this is the answer, and anyway I have no drivers.

So is this a sata issue, or the problem more serious in that there is a hardware (motherboard) issue that perhaps caused the original issue, that stops Windows seeing the drives?  More likely the drives were corrupted I would have thought?

I haven't given up yet as I feel confident there must be a solution if the BIOS can see them???

Advice would be much appreciated.  Thanks

[Blencogo · Accepted solution]

Hi robmar0se.

Windows XP does not natively support SATA drives - so you are probably right to think this is the original SATA problem.  I assume you are not installing  XP from a set of Recovery Discs.

You will need to introduce a SATA driver at the start of the XP install either from a floppy disc drive and pressing F6 or by making a slipstreamed installation DVD which includes the driver using nLite.

Googling for 'Installing XP on a SATA drive' will give you your options.

Presumably you will find the SATA driver on the Support pages for your model - in the Preinstalled Drivers Package - or you can download the floppy disc files direct from the Intel Downloads website.

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/VGC-RC202/updates

You need to download the "F6 Floppy Configuration Utility" which will give you the necessary files to put on a floppy disc if you are going to use the F6 method and download drivers from the Intel website.  I think the Configuration Utility is universal - but check it is OK for your particular chipset, which I think is the Intel 945P Chipset.

http://intel.driversdown.com/Intel-drivers/Intel-945-Express-Chipset-Family-32-bit-Floppy-Configurat...

[robmar0se]

Ah ha! thats given me more confidence to go to the next stage and hassle.  Thank you sooo much.

The board has no floppy connector, so I guess my only options, and yr advice would be appreciated, is to slip steam, I hate this as it takes so longer and is so fiddly, or get a USB floppy (would a usb floppy be recognised in a re-install?).  Any other options to try?

Thanks again..........

[Blencogo]

See if you can find a cheap USB Floppy Disc  Drive.

Vaios do recognise a USB Floppy Drive OK if you use F6 during Windows installation.

You can get them for under £10 but if you want a Sony, it will cost £15: -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-USB-Floppy-Drive-MPF82EU31Y2/dp/B008598C58/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=13502...

[robmar0se]

Thnaks very much (again!).

I will see if I can get a usb floppy, I see them on ebay for about £7 (toshiba and not Hong Kong!), but of course there may be a risk here.

Will report back.

[robmar0se]

Need to check what drivers are required as some say Raid (although have disabled this), or sata, but am surprised that the intel 945 chipset needs sata drivers for XP.  I've never had to load drivers at the F6 stage before, although have seen floppies for doing this.

The BIOS does on the Boot page say that USB is enabled, but I tried to boot from a properly configured flash drive it didn't even recognise it.  So am just a little nervous at the moment.

Lastly in the main download for this PC, the original drivers nearly 50mb, does anyone know if it includes the drivers I need?