Topic: New Motherboard - Vista - Couple of problems!

[Moreno]

Ok it looks like there are probably at least 2 bios updates from when you got your mobo.

Can you tell me which BIOS version you are running, I expect it will be v0301 at the newest and possibly v0211 or earlier.

Download and update to v0305  released 2007/02/07  from :

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5VD2-X

I cant see anything specifically realting to your problems that it says it has fixed unless its this  from v 0304.

I dont really understand what that means but it may add an extra option to the bios as it mentions the PATA HDD.

The latest bios v0305 will incorperate all the previous bios updates so you dont need to update one by one, just download and update the latest one.

Will give this a try tonight....will see what happens when I load all the drivers i need on there first.

Cheers Sandra,

[Moreno]

Right.....Nearly there!!!!


Downloaded the SATA v PATA driver on the website, and it has allowed me to have the SATA HDD and one IDE HDD as slave working together. Wahoo!!! Finally....takes less than 40 secs to boot up!!! Can I just say thank you Sandra as it looks like we have finally got there!

But...always a but with me I know....the last IDE is a problem. I introduced the drive which is the 250gb IDE one, as soon as I reboot it slows up again. Once in the system, I try to format and it just sits there and does nothing...so I am now wondering if the drive actually has a problem.

What do you think?

[sam]

so you now have both IDE drives running at the same time or are you saying you swapped the IDE drives? If you just added them together I would just try the 250gb one on its own and see how it acts...

[Sandra]

All SATA drives run as masters on any of the motherboard connectors, no matter how many drives you have.

Usually the IDE drives would be set as a master and the other as a slave on the primary IDE channel.

Have you set the jumper on the IDE drive that does work ok with the SATA, connected as a slave on an IDE channel that has your DVD or CD set as a master ?

Did you check your bios version and try updating it to the latest version ?

[Moreno]

I don't think I updated the bios version, as the download wasn't the easiest.

At the moment I have one 400gb SATA drive running, this is where the OS is now booting from. And I have a 123gb IDE drive working next to it which the jumpers are set to slave. The one I am struggling with is the 250gb, which I am going to format today and then change the jumpers to cable select...see if this works!!!

[Sandra]

If you use cable select then the position on the cable denotes which is master and which is slave.
So dont forget to change the one thats set as slave to cable select as well.

I would still prefer to have them set as a master and as a slave, bearing in mind that some drives have a different setting for using as a single master to the setting used for a master with a slave.
If set as a master and as a slave on the same IDE channel then the master goes at the end of the IDE cable and the slave on the middle connector.

[Moreno]

If you use cable select then the position on the cable denotes which is master and which is slave.
So dont forget to change the one thats set as slave to cable select as well.

I would still prefer to have them set as a master and as a slave, bearing in mind that some drives have a different setting for using as a single master to the setting used for a master with a slave.
If set as a master and as a slave on the same IDE channel then the master goes at the end of the IDE cable and the slave on the middle connector.

Ok, will give that a try...The drive is being formatted as we speak by one of my IT guys....will let you know!!!

[Moreno]

Ok, will give that a try...The drive is being formatted as we speak by one of my IT guys....will let you know!!!

Right,

The drive was formatted successfully. I took it home and set the 250gb that I just formatted to master and put it at the end of the ide cable. Then set the smaller ide as slave. Once again it started up but took about 10 mins to start windows. It must be this 250gb drive!

[Sandra]

Or the BIOS 

[Moreno]

WHich update should I download and install for the bios?

[Sandra]

Download and update to v0305  released 2007/02/07  from :

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5VD2-X

Its the top one when you click on the BIOS link.

[Moreno]

Download and update to v0305  released 2007/02/07  from :

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5VD2-X

Its the top one when you click on the BIOS link.

Right I have downloaded this bios update and it basically is just a bin file. The file is 0305.bin   What should I do with this?

[Sandra]

There are a couple of ways to update the bios these days.
You used to have to do it from a floppy in DOS but ASUS can do it from inside windows.

Did you manage to install the ASUS Update Utility from the motherboard CD ?
If so thats the easiest way as you can run that and update the bios from in windows from the file that you downloaded.
It will also give you the option to save the current bios file to a floppy before it updates it, just in case theres a problem.

If you cant get the Update utility to install then you can use the, Use built-in EZ Flash BIOS to Refresh procedure, as described in the second part of this page :

http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/technicaldocuments.aspx?root=198&SLanguage=en-us 
open the second one down, AFUDOS BIOS Upgrade Procedure

[Moreno]

There are a couple of ways to update the bios these days.
You used to have to do it from a floppy in DOS but ASUS can do it from inside windows.

Did you manage to install the ASUS Update Utility from the motherboard CD ?
If so thats the easiest way as you can run that and update the bios from in windows from the file that you downloaded.
It will also give you the option to save the current bios file to a floppy before it updates it, just in case theres a problem.

If you cant get the Update utility to install then you can use the, Use built-in EZ Flash BIOS to Refresh procedure, as described in the second part of this page :

http://support.asus.com/technicaldocuments/technicaldocuments.aspx?root=198&SLanguage=en-us 
open the second one down, AFUDOS BIOS Upgrade Procedure

Thanks Sandra,

Have now updated the BIOS which has at least solved one of the problems....when I click shutdown in Vista it actually now turns off instead of restarts!!! Nice one ASUS!

But it still would not accept the 250gb hard drive.

[Sandra]

Have you tried running the hard drive manufacturers tools on the 250gig drive to see if it detects a fault with the drive ?