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Snow Leo install doesn't see SATA Hard drives


alnova1
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When I try to Install Snow Leopard it only sees my IDE hard drive and not my SATA hard drives....any ideas why?

 

I too have the same issue... I haven't found any solution yet either. My BIOS is very limited so I can't change it to use IDE either... frustrating.

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It's probably a driver issue. You often need different drivers to see SATA vs. PATA (IDE) drives. Chances are you've got a working PATA driver but the wrong (or no) SATA driver. Post details about your chipset(s). If your system dual-boots to Windows, use CPU-Z to obtain detailed information; the basic Windows hardware display tool won't produce enough detail to be helpful.

 

As warrenb hints, BIOS tweaks can also sometimes be necessary. There may be options to make SATA drives look like PATA drives or to otherwise modify how the system enables and makes drives available.

 

One other possible solution is to change how the SATA drive is plugged into the motherboard. Some boards have two SATA controllers -- typically one is built into the main motherboard chipset and the other is a third-party chip. This design lets the motherboard maker put more SATA ports on the motherboard than the chipset itself supports. By switching the hard disk from one SATA port to another, you may enable OS X to detect and use the drive. You'll need to consult your motherboard documentation to see if this might apply to you. In a worst-case scenario, adding a plug-in SATA board and using it instead of the on-board SATA may be necessary. I have no specific recommendations for SATA boards, though.

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It's probably a driver issue. You often need different drivers to see SATA vs. PATA (IDE) drives. Chances are you've got a working PATA driver but the wrong (or no) SATA driver. Post details about your chipset(s). If your system dual-boots to Windows, use CPU-Z to obtain detailed information; the basic Windows hardware display tool won't produce enough detail to be helpful.

 

As warrenb hints, BIOS tweaks can also sometimes be necessary. There may be options to make SATA drives look like PATA drives or to otherwise modify how the system enables and makes drives available.

 

One other possible solution is to change how the SATA drive is plugged into the motherboard. Some boards have two SATA controllers -- typically one is built into the main motherboard chipset and the other is a third-party chip. This design lets the motherboard maker put more SATA ports on the motherboard than the chipset itself supports. By switching the hard disk from one SATA port to another, you may enable OS X to detect and use the drive. You'll need to consult your motherboard documentation to see if this might apply to you. In a worst-case scenario, adding a plug-in SATA board and using it instead of the on-board SATA may be necessary. I have no specific recommendations for SATA boards, though.

 

I have 10.5.7 running now and it sees them fine. The chipset is an Intel ICH9

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