Is there an ICH6R Update Compatibile w/ a 500GB Drive?

[bonadolq]

Need a WDC RE3 SATA Driver for a DC7100 and a Win7 ICH6R Controller Compatibility Issue

Hi,

I'm trying to install a Western Digital RE3 500GB SATA Drive on to the System but the Latest Version 2.15A of the 786C1 Bios is listing the drive at 0.0 MB and Win7 doesn't see the drive at all. I'm trying to install Win7.

The WDC Site recommends that I contact my motherboard manufacturer, so I'm following their recommendation and posting my request for a DC7100 SATA Driver for a WDC RE3 Drive here.

I've been to the Intel site and there doesn't seem like there is a proper Windows 7 Update for the ICH6R Controller since the Intel® 82801 FB/FR I/O controller has been discontinued.

I want to download the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager Floppy Configuration Utility dated 7/2009 from the Intel site, but I need confirmation from HP Support that this utility will work with a DC7100 with he Latest Version 2.15A of the 786C1 Bios for a Win 7 install

Any assistance, insights, or leads in reply would be extremely helpful and appreciated.

 

[kegobeer]

If you need a response from HP, why did you come to this forum? It's not run by HP.

 

[bonadolq]

ICH6R Issue with Disks >250GB

If you need a response from HP, why did you come to this forum? It's not run by HP.

I know that I just wanted to share my issue. Below is an excerpt of my chat with HP.

Specifically, I want to see if anyone on this forum has addressed the ICH6R issue outside of Intel. Intel isn't supporting ICH6R anymore. The ICH6R contoller doesn't support SATA Drives above 250GB according to HP:

[Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:26 AM] -- Lorenzo Bonado says:
yes a WDC 80GB SATA Drive does detexct. but my Brand new 500GB WDC RE3 registers , but with a 0.0 MB Capacity. accodinng to WDC this is a SATA Controller issue. the Intel site has discontinued the Ich6R Controller support. So this has become a He saidshe said issue. Is there any way to escalate this issue?

[Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:27 AM] -- Deepak R says:
Yes, this unit supports only till 250GB of hard drive in the unit at a maximum. Not more than that.

[Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:30 AM] -- Lorenzo Bonado says:
That is unfortunate can i formally request that HP create a Patch for the 250GB SATA limit and have have HP report this on the HP ITC Windows 7 support form ASAP?

[Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:32 AM] -- Deepak R says:
Well, I shall inform the same to concern department, and will inform you as soon as possible. Is that okay?

[Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:35 AM] -- Lorenzo Bonado says:
yes with priority if possible since this has become a major issue with many users on the HP ITC form other than myself . on that note are there capacity limits for the IDE controller or is it the same 250GB limit?

[Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:36 AM] -- Deepak R says:
Well, both the limits are the same. You may go upto 250GB.

 

[kegobeer]

You could save yourself a lot of trouble and buy a different SATA controller card, then disable the onboard one. I don't see Intel or HP making a patch for a controller that isn't supported anymore. Either that, or you can buy a 250GB drive...

 

[bonadolq]

Hi,

Thanks for the insight. As a matter of fact I've started shopping around for a new controller card. Do you have a card you would recommend to accomodate >500GB?

 

[Fly135s]

BIOS or HDD problem?

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 that uses the ICH6R controller but it is the Intel 925XE Express chipset. Are you sure it's the ICH6R controller? I have 2 WD 640GB Caviar Black drives operating in a RAID 1 mirror config on Win 7 Pro 32 bit. Sounds like you need a BIOS update which HP may or may not have. If the HP tech was telling the truth then maybe they didn't update their BIOS to support drives larger than 250GB. However, that doesn't sound right. My Dell is almost 5 years old, the BIOS is probably 3 or 4 years old. I would suspect a drive problem myself. Does it work in other systems? Don't waste your money on another controller card until you figure that out.

 

[bonadolq]

The BIOS vs. HDD Issue

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 that uses the ICH6R controller but it is the Intel 925XE Express chipset. Are you sure it's the ICH6R controller? I have 2 WD 640GB Caviar Black drives operating in a RAID 1 mirror config on Win 7 Pro 32 bit. Sounds like you need a BIOS update which HP may or may not have. If the HP tech was telling the truth then maybe they didn't update their BIOS to support drives larger than 250GB. However, that doesn't sound right. My Dell is almost 5 years old, the BIOS is probably 3 or 4 years old. I would suspect a drive problem myself. Does it work in other systems? Don't waste your money on another controller card until you figure that out.

Thanks for the insight. I am suspecting the latest HP developed BIOS installed can't handle drives >250GB. Thanks for the insight on the ICH6R though. It may be a combination of the BIOS and the 915GL Chipset I have.

 

[KPT]

Drivers

I have a Dell 8400 with an ICH6r controller running 2x 250gb raid 0 and am unable to get windows 7 to upgrade although Fly 135s has succeeded. It bombs out after expanding files with the error message 'could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed' and then reboots to vista. All references suggest the raid driver from intel does not run w7. Any ideas please?

 

[Fly135s]

I have a Dell 8400 with an ICH6r controller running 2x 250gb raid 0 and am unable to get windows 7 to upgrade although Fly 135s has succeeded. It bombs out after expanding files with the error message 'could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed' and then reboots to vista. All references suggest the raid driver from intel does not run w7. Any ideas please?

Mine was a clean install, upgrade from XP if you will. I downloaded and used the Windows Easy Transfer utility from MS to go from XP to Win7. Works great. Backed up the hdd before running the upgrade DVD from within XP, reboot and install. I did not have to F6 and install the raid drivers during the install, Win7 has them. The only issue I have is that I can't find any version of Intel's Matrix Storage Manager sw that will install in Win7 for the ICH6R so I can monitor/manipulate my RAID (that part sucks). I've used this procedure on 4 computers now going from XP to Win7.

My biggest fear is the RAID is not mirroring, but the BIOS shows both drives and their status is green, and Win7 only shows one drive (as it should) not two. So, I am assuming that Win7 is operating my RAID 1 array properly. Either way, I have regular backups to my Windows Home Server.

I see you're running Vista. I would recommend downloading WET for Vista to Win7 and using it along with a clean install. My experience over the years is that there are too many problems with inplace upgrades so I always do a clean install.

With WET, make sure you run it in Win7 BEFORE you reinstall your software. I had no problems w/transfer of My Docs, Outlook settings and PSTs, desktop settings, etc. None!

As with anything, YMMV. HTH.