Setup, Install—it’s all the same thing. You should have just run the installation and loaded the drivers. Doesn't matter though; if you already unpacked them, just head into the Device Manager and look for that question mark under Other Devices. It'll probably say Audio Controller. Right-click it, hit Properties, and then pick Install, Reinstall, or Update driver—whatever the menu throws at you. From there, just select "Install from a specific location" and point it to the folder where you unzipped those drivers. Windows will find them, and you're done.
Still, I'm thinking the Install process really should have handled all that automatically.
Grab the driver for Windows XP, unzip the folder, and just run Setup.exe (that's usually what they call it). The installer should handle everything automatically. Installing the audio shouldn't cause any extra headaches. Do the exact same thing for the other onboard components.
Look, just take everything inside that driver disk folder and copy it over to a formatted floppy—just leave the Makedisk.exe out of it. You also need to grab that TXTSETUP.OEM and the SISRAID file. It’s only about 800 KB, so it's easy. When you're running the Setup, try picking the 180 first; if that fails, go with the 180B
My bad, I totally messed up what I told you earlier because I was looking at the wrong driver. 😵
Once you unpack it, check if there's a folder named "Drivers" or something similar, along with a "WinXP" folder. Just grab everything from that WinXP directory and throw it onto a floppy disk—make sure you include that TXTSETUP.OEM file too. It should fit just fine; those SATA drivers are usually only about 300-500 kilobytes.
redheron12 said:Look... let me say this again. Try actually reading what's being said next time. It'll save you a lot of confusion.
So I read it. And then what? You told him how to make a SATA installation floppy. Like I didn't already point out that the guy didn't even have a working floppy drive back then.
redheron12 said:The fact that his floppy drive isn't working right now isn't really the point, is it? He asked how to install the drivers—and I'm pretty sure he didn't mean just dragging some .exe file onto a diskette.
The answer to that question was already found without needing makedisk.exe.
Look, I never said you needed to copy makedisk.exe—I have no clue where you got that idea from—and honestly, I don't see why anyone would even bother doing that in the first place. 😕 Just copy the driver from the controller onto a floppy disk and pop it in when the installation asks for it. Honestly, it’s easily the simplest way to get it done.
And obviously, the real question is whether a floppy disk actually works for the user here—because if it doesn't, how are they supposed to load the drivers during the installation?
Quote: Rain
redheron12 said:I can see two possibilities playing out here.
You don't have the original Windows XP SP2 installation CD. You've just got some random version that someone already slipstreamed drivers into.
redheron12 said:Look, just take those drivers over to a machine running Windows and plug in a floppy drive. Pop an empty diskette in there and run makedisk.exe. Done.
The program handles copying the drivers or unpacking the disk image onto the floppy itself.
The guy doesn't even have a working floppy drive to put the drivers on. 😂So much for your "solution."
And please, answer me this. A friend brought his PC over recently for a quick fix. Something went sideways with his Windows setup, so he needed a full reinstall. This was his motherboard: ASRock 775i915PL. And get this—during the Windows XP installation, it didn't ask for any SATA drivers at all. It just recognized the drives connected to the SATA ports automatically. I've seen this happen with plenty of other boards too. How is that even possible? Seriously, how? 🙂
Am I the one being confusing? That's funny, considering you're the one who suggested someone without a floppy drive try to work with a diskette. 😂
And what I said above is just a fact. All modern motherboards come with SATA support built-in, so there's no need for extra drivers or that whole F6 headache during a Windows installation.
Ah, maybe that's just some built-in protection to stop you from installing anything that isn't Vista. 🙄 If I remember right, Vista installs itself onto a hidden partition on the drive, doesn't it?
Try running the installation for Windows XP service pack 2.
Look, we need to kill this myth right now: you don't actually need SATA drivers to install Windows XP SP2. It's not a requirement. You only need them in two specific scenarios:
1) If you're working with an ancient motherboard—I'm talking first-gen boards that technically have a SATA controller but zero actual support for it.
2) If you're using a dedicated SATA controller plugged into a PCI slot.
In basically any other case, the Windows XP SP2 installer will recognize your controller and the drives attached to it just fine. 🙂 I've installed Windows on plenty of "newer" boards over the years, and in the last couple of years, I haven't had to touch a single driver. Everything just works automatically.
It’s perfectly normal that a laptop doesn't have a floppy drive. In this day and age, those things are useless and just take up space. But any modern laptop should have built-in SATA support so the installer can see the drive, just like any recent desktop motherboard. It seems weird to me that you'd even need to load a driver for a laptop.
Are you running into the same issue when you try to install Vista?
Yeah, that’s the back of the floppy drive, so you definitely have it. You need two cables for that thing. One is the power cable, and the second is the FDD cable that runs from the motherboard, just like those old IDE cables. So, to recap: you connect the floppy to the power supply and the motherboard.
Now, as for which cable goes where... I don't think I need to spell that out for you. You aren't blind. 😉
Once everything is plugged in, you should see the floppy listed in the BIOS. There’s also that "bootup floppy seek" option that makes the PC check if the floppy is properly connected during startup. Honestly, you can't plug the power cable in wrong even if you tried, but you can definitely mess up the FDD cable. I've been working on Smith machines for over 15 years and I still can't tell if I actually plugged that cable in right or not. 😳 😂
Anyway, if you turn the computer on and the floppy light stays lit constantly, you messed up. Shut the PC down and flip the cable around on the drive side. (I doubt you can plug it in backwards on the motherboard anyway). If the floppy is seated correctly when you boot up, the light should just flash for a split second and then it's done.
Yeah, once you unpack it, you’re probably going to see a bunch of extra files you don't actually need. Just look for these two: Disk1 (don't freak out if there's no extension) and TXTSETUP.OEM That *.OEM file might have a slightly different name depending on things, but that's the gist. Save those two onto a floppy, and it should work perfectly.
Then just boot from your Windows XP CD, hit F6, and when the installer starts asking for drivers, pop that floppy in.
I honestly don't see the issue here. I gave you a direct link to the drivers for your specific motherboard. If you can't manage to download them, then we've got bigger problems.
Switch over to RAID, since that’s likely what you need. Grab the driver file for your OS (Windows XP), unzip it, and load it onto a floppy. From there, just follow the steps everyone else already laid out. Boot from the Windows XP CD, and once the installer kicks in, hit F6 when it asks for the driver.
Well, look, since this board is a bit older, there's a chance it won't recognize you have a SATA drive once you start the Windows installation. Just do what Benjamin King2 suggested: grab those SATA controller drivers, put them on a floppy disk, and then boot. Once the Windows setup kicks off, it should prompt you right away to hit F6 to load the SCSI drivers. Hit F6 and wait for it to ask for the files. Pop the floppy in, and you're good to go. And yeah, it actually has to be a floppy.