Abit AB9 QuadGT SATA optical with RAID?

Hi, I'm trying to find out if there's a workaround for the lack of
SATA optial drive support on this mobo when "RAID" is enabled for the
Intel hd controller in the ICH8R.

Can I use a PATA optical drive to install WinXP on a SATA hard drive
using any version of the bios? I have bios versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.3, and
1.4 burned on a bootable cd, so it's the work of minutes to pick any
official bios version and flash it.

I don't actually have a PATA optical drive here but I can borrow one
if it'll get the job done.

Thanks,
Sard

p.s. Richh, does your B06R bios address this issue?

"Sard" <sardoniks DeleteThis @nospam.hotmail.com> wrote in message...
> Hi, I'm trying to find out if there's a workaround for the lack of
> SATA optial drive support on this mobo when "RAID" is
> enabled for the Intel hd controller in the ICH8R.

You don't need a workaround, this was fixed ages ago.

> I have bios versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4 burned on a bootable cd,
> so it's the work of minutes to pick any official bios version and flash
> it.

....in which case flash version 13, connect your SATA optical, select RAID
mode for the ICH8R and off you go. Simple. You should be alright using 14
too, but I've noticed that its behaviour is a little different. This might
be because Abit have refined its behaviour, but it could also be because
this issue has returned. If you want to be 100% certain, use 13.

> p.s. Richh, does your B06R bios address this issue?

No, B6R was intended primarily to address power management issues. Abit had
by that point fixed the incompatibility between the JMB363 and ICH8R RAID
mode which existed on the 10 BIOS. By the time 11 went gold, they had dealt
with the issue you're complaining about too.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
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