Windows 7 Installer Doesn't See SATA HDD

[tabak]

I am trying to install Windows 7 64bit on a new computer I assembled myself.

When prompted for a location to install Windows, the installer does not show either of my SATA internal hard drives as a possible location to install.
The HDD I would like to install Windows on (74gb WD Raptor) is recognized in the BIOS as the IDE Channel 0 Master (when the drive was in IDE mode).
I've tried different BIOS settings, such as IDE and AHCI for the drives, but Windows does not recognize them.
I've tried pointing to the Windows installer to SATA drivers during this step, both ones on my motherboard driver CD as well as some I downloaded and put on an external HD (Windows installer recognizes the USB external just fine), with no luck in either case.

The SATA ports on my motherboard are controlled by ICH9R and the GSATA ports are controlled by GIGABYTE SATA2. I've tried both and neither works.

Later today I am going to try to find a boot disc for a different OS and see if this problem is unique to Windows 7, but if anybody has suggestions please let me know, thanks.

Here are my system specs:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS5 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel
RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI
Video Card: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB
CPU: Intel Quad Core [email protected]
Hard Drive 1 (For OS): WD Raptor 74gb 10K RPM
Hard Drive 2 (Storage): WD 1TB

 

[sapam]

Try Connecting your SATA to ICH9R
And if it is already then try Connecting to GSATA
i.e. swap the SATA Controller.

Hope this helps.

Also set your SATA to ACHI mode in BIOS

 

[jumpingbird]

Hi.

I have had the same problem on two machines in the past week:
one with a Windows XP install and another with a Windows 7 install, both using new hard disks on old motherboards.

You must make sure SATA is enabled in your BIOS.

You may need to force the Hard Disk to be seen as SATA-I (one), not as SATA-II (two). If the motherboard is old enough to require you to use a SATA-RAID floppy driver disk when installing the operating system, it is likely that it will not recognise SATA-II.

Check the Hard Disk manufacturer's web-site for the exact jumpering position for your hard disk.

I hope this helps,

Jumpingbird