Well, it was bound to happen . . . Get caught up in the moment of "must install NOW!" and completely forgot to read the step by step manual . . . So, I posted a quick ditty about my prob in a thread with a similar vein . . . and figured out my problem and deleted that post for fear of looking like a f***stick . . .

So, if I hid the evidence, why bring it up here? Cause I'm tired, I'm backing up mass tons of files and must see that part through . . . and it's really amusing, what I did (or didn't do, in this case).

Ordered a nice phat 200 gig SATA drive . . . Got it this morning, and had to wait until after work to break it open and drop it in the case . . .

First mistake? Not making sure my SATA cables were out of the bedroom . . . Reason this is a mistake? The missus is sleeping . . . Or, she was until I came in, opened the closet and got my Mobo box with the cables . . . thankfully she had to get up for a potty run (the curse of pregnancy - baby bouncing on bladders suck). So, that wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Now, I break open the case, shoot the dust out with the handy-dandy canned air ('donated' by work ), pull my cd burner and replace that with my spanky new DVD burner ( ), and hook up the SATA drive. Make sure all the connections are sound, tuck everything back into place, make sure NOT to close the case yet, and get it ready to power on.

Now, the manual for the hard drive says that if I don't see anything in the boot up about my SATA drive, I need to turn it on in the bios . . . So, I do, and reboot. The Promise Fast Track screen pops up saying it can't find an array . . . so I tell it to boot . . . Yup, that was it . . .

. . . Mistake Number TWO! Yes . . . I loaded into windows . . . the pc loaded up the Windoze drivers for that controller . . . and nothing else happens . . . So, I upgrade the bios on my board . . . upgrade the forceware drivers . . . post to the SATA Help question about this (which I have deleted, btw) and every time I reboot, I skip over setting up an array . . . Which, if I had bothered looking at my Mobo's manual, that says that's the first freaking step . . .

So, I run the array setup . . . choose auto setup . . . boot back into windows and start Maxblast to check on the drive again . . . and lo and behold it's there! 200 gigs of goodness! I'm feeling pretty damned stylin now . . . except for the fact that I now lower my head in shame and extend my hand for the massive ass bitch-slap-a-thon I deserve for the stupidity . . .



So, let this be an example to everyone out there who is running into a problem and they haven't cracked open thier trusty manuals yet . . . The answer is usually found on step one . . . Esp if the only other solution requires you spending more money . . . *laughs*

Umm, so what was the problem?

In other words, your sayin there was a nut loose behind the keyboard...

LoL we all make mistakes Don't worry we aren't going to be tough on you.

I got 2x250 gb hds in raid for a whooping total of 500Gbs, it was ruff at first(first time SATA) but after I got everything figured out it was awesome. But when all the BT sites went down I took them both back.

Two things come to mind...

1. Real men don't need instructions

and

2. If all else fails read the instructions.

At least your humble enough to admit it!

Sounds a lot like the time I was putting a PC together in the wee hours of the morning. I'll never do that again! I spent almost an hour trying to figure out why my PC wouldn't turn on (well, the drives and fans started spinning, but nothing else happened.) So I laid my head down on my desk, peered into the PC case, and noticed that the AT power connectors (yes it was a long time ago) weren't connected to the motherboard. I felt like a dumb@$$, but it was my very first build...

V-O

In struct tons? What the hell are they?

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita In struct tons? What the hell are they?

Think he's referring to that tough toilet paper that comes with consumer electronics. By the time you give up on tryin' to read the broken translations, you're done on the crapper anyways. Then like a real American you break out a 6 pack and make it work one way or the other.

*does a quick catchup read after tinkering off and on all day and nearly sprays tea all over the monitor*

Well, to answer $Solid$ - It was a severe malfunction in the keyboard/monitor interface. Once the problem was located, it was neutralized by the rapid application of a few frosty ca-hold ones.

And normally I'd agree about not needing the instructions . . . But I ignored my tinkerer's instinct by not going into that array setup proggie . .. And here I was bragging about loving to tinker the hell outta new tech . . . sheesh . . .

But it taught me a few good lessons, as is the continued tweaking and tinkering as I setup an install of XP on the new drive and figure out how I'll be using all of the drives in tandem . . . Esp the biggie about how much faster SATA really is . . . I need MORE!!!!!

Vector, that's exactly what happened with my second pc . . . bought it new from Gateway back in '96, before they REALLY went into the crapper, and needed to install the hard drive from my old pc and a network card so I could sample the new spankiness that was our campus's brand new t1 line. . . knocked the AT connector clear out of the mobo, and didn't notice it at all . . . resealed the case . . . and spent 20 minutes on the phone with GW tech support checking out everything . . . Then the tech chuckled . . "Don't mean to sound like I'm coming down on you for this one, but have you checked the power connectors?"

Ever since then, I triple check every time I open my case, even if it's to dust . . .