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7536
November 7th, 2017 06:00
Dell E521 Desktop drives "not present"
Hi Guys,
i currently have a Dell E521 (Service Tag: 7HB3L2J) project build and it's got some strange things going on and i cant figure it out.
None of my Sata componants (CD DRIVE or SATA HARD DRIVES) show as present. I have tried three different sata drives, and yet to no avail.
- I have been and purchased a new CR2032 Battery as some forums were saying that its a BIOS Battery issue, still same problem exists
- I CAN boot from bootable USB or USB CD drive and it recognizes that, however on both of these, when i get to the part of windows install where it asks you which drive you want to install your OS on, theres nothing there....blank.. I have been onto Dell's drivers web page and downloaded all the correct drivers for it but every time i try one of the drivers, it says no signed drivers can be found!!
- I've tried changing the ram/memory and it recognizes that I've done that...still same issues
- I have swapped the power supply over...still same issue.
- Had a conversation with a computer shop today who have quoted me 50.00GBP for diagnostics but assuming there will be costs on top of that to repair it
- I have tried windows 7 (via usb cd drive) same problem
- I have tried windows Vista via a bootable USB Drive...gets to the same point and cannot see drives at all.
I suspect a faulty motherboard but i just cant tell. a replacement motherboard is about 30.00GBP but is it worth putting this kind of money into such an old machine
Please help
Cheers
Chris
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chrisjudson
4 Posts
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November 7th, 2017 07:00
when trying to download those bottom two links, i get an error "Access to www.nvidia.com was denied
You don't have authorization to view this page.
HTTP ERROR 403"
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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November 7th, 2017 07:00
Dimension E521 Audio: Sigmatel 9227 NFORCE 430 CHIPSET
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_vista_win7_64bit_15.49.html
nForce 4 series:
430 / GeForce 6150SE, 430 / GeForce 6150LE, 430 / GeForce 6150, 430 / Geforce 6100, 420 / Geforce 6100, 410 / GeForce 6150LE, 410 / GeForce 6100, 405 / Geforce 6100, 400 / Geforce 6100
nForce4 AMD Edition (6.66) - Drivers from the devil
nForce4 Intel x86 - Windows Vista x64
Version: 15.01
Release Date: July 2, 2007
nForce4 Intel x86 - Windows Vista 32-Bit
Version: 15.01
Release Date: July 2, 2007
Ship date: November 21, 2006 Country: United Kingdom
Your Warranty Expired More than 10 years ago.
DELL Dimension E521 Motherboard CT103 UW457 HK980 CN-0CT103 CN-0UW457 AM2
This is an NFORCE 430 CHIPSET AMD CPU motherboard.
That means F6 mass storage drivers are NOT native to windows
The drivers that you must use MUST BE EXTRACTED AND USED via usb flash drive are NVIDIA NFORCE 430.
Creating RAID F6 install floppy
===============================
To install the Windows operating system when RAID is enabled in the BIOS you may need to use an
F6 installation disk if your board does not include a Windows CD that has the drivers built-in.
If you do not already have an F6 installation floppy with RAID driver files, you can create one.
First extract the files from the installation package. This is done by using the "-x" option to extract the package contents.
The storage tree in the extracted nForce installation package should look like this:
...\IDE\WinXP\sataraid
...\IDE\WinXP\legacy
...\IDE\WinXP\sata_ide
NOTE1: substitute Win2K or Win64 for Windows 2000 and Windows XP64 respectively Note2: some packages use 'pataraid' instead of 'legacy' for folder name
NOTE3: if package does not contain 'legacy' folder ignore legacy section
sataraid
--------
This folder contains the WHQL signed SATA RAID driver.
If RAID is enabled in the BIOS (even if installing to a non-RAID disk), you will generally use this.
You can determine if 'sataraid' is the correct folder to use for the F6 floppy by entering the RAID
setup screen in the BIOS. If you only see SATA devices listed, then this is the correct folder.
legacy (called 'pataraid' in some packages)
-------------------------------------
This folder contains a non-signed driver for use with legacy BIOS that include PATA RAID support.
You can easily determine if the BIOS is a legacy BIOS by entering BIOS RAID setup screen and
observing if PATA devices are listed. If not, then 'sataraid' folder should be used.
sata_ide
--------
This folder is NOT used for installation. This folder contains a non-RAID driver. When installing with RAID disabled in the BIOS, the Windows storage driver is used. Once OS install is complete then this driver can be installed using package setup.
F6 floppy install
-----------------
*Create the F6 install disk by copying all the files from either 'sataraid' -or- 'legacy' folder onto a floppy diskette.
*during installation you must hit F6 key when prompted by OS installer.
*insert driver diskette into the floppy drive and follow the OS prompts When OS reads the floppy it will show the following:
NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER (required)
NVIDIA nForce Storage Controller (required)
Both of these MUST be installed if RAID is enabled on the installation port.
After hitting ENTER to select one fo these, you must then hit
"S=Specify Additional Device" and then install the other.
If RAID is not enabled on installation drive port, then only
"NVIDIA nForce Storage Controller" is required.
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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November 7th, 2017 07:00
Must be your browser. I use firefox.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_vista_win7_64bit_15.49.htm
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_vista_win7_32bit_15.49.htm
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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November 7th, 2017 08:00
You are not reading the instructions.
If you do not already have an F6 installation floppy (USB FLASH DRIVE) with RAID driver files, you can create one. First extract the files from the installation package. This is done by using the "-x" option to extract the package contents.
You cannot point to an exe or cab or .zip file.
Rename the EXE to .zip and extract packages using 7-zip
https://sourceforge.net/projects/sevenzip/
chrisjudson
4 Posts
0
November 7th, 2017 08:00
So forgive my stupid-ness, so am i right in guessing that when I get to the point and it cannot see my drive(s) and it asks for the drivers or allows me to navigate to some drivers, i just point it at this .exe files for nforce and it should just go and do what it needs?