VNF3-250 SATA Drivers for XP

[no u]

Would anyone have the drivers from the CD that came with this motherboard? I am unable to install windows xp on my SATA drive because it seems to be unable detect it..

I've tried grabbing drivers from places that have guides which require taking about 16-18 files and placing them on a floppy then loading them, but i don't think they seem to work even after I load them.

[uddarts]

i grabbed this from another site. see if it helps. let me know how it goes.

Originally Posted by Grooge

Ok... Wint nforce3 chipset, and nforce 4, you DON'T need to press F6 to load third party drivers. I did it so many time, mostly on Soltek board, and Gigabyte, but all works the same.

The nvidia controller that control the PATA interface is the SAME that control the SATA interface. SATA is only the interface between the controller and the drive. So, if Windows can see the controller, it will talk to any device plugged on it. UNLESS RAID is used. Then you need drivers. BECAUSE RAID is A CONTROLLER MODE, not natively supported by windows. You will need drivers installing on a SATA RAID array as well as a PATA RAID array.

That being said, if you have no plan to use RAID, then you shoud go in BIOS and disable ALL RAID mode you'll see. There is one called maybe IDE/RAID AND EACH connector for the SATA interface has to be DISABLED individually. If you have 4 SATA connector, then you have to make sure that RAID is disabled 4 times, for each one. Because you can have an array connected to 2 connectors and the 2 others set for IDE operation, without RAID.

So, how to install Windows on a SATA HDD? Simple. You remove all the other HDD and storege devices except your optical drive, and make sure the SATA drive is plugged correctly. Power and interface. Then you start the system, go in BIOS and disable RAID as needed. Then reboot. With the install CD in the drive, you let the install begin, not worrying about drivers. The installation will go just like it should, Windows should see the drive and let you partition it and format it as you want.

Having RAID enabled, and not using and array, but one drive could lead to blue screen, crash and problem. On some Gigabyte motherboard, like the K8NF-9, RAID is fully enabled by default. This is a bad mistake by manufacturer, because it could lead to many install problem and unnecessary RMA. Even with SIS and VIA chipset I've been able to install Windows on single sata drives without the need of any drivers...

ud

[no u]

lemme try. thanks.