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New motherboard won't see drives

Saturday, 02 January, 2010

I've bought a new Asus M2A74-AM SE motherboard.

All is working fine until I try to boot up the system, when it says

"Please connect a proper boot device or put in boot media and press a key."

I have connected one 40G IDE disk and a DVD ROM on the IDE cable, and set the jumper right.

I've tried almost everything and nothing seems to work. Every time it can't detect my HDD or DVD.

Help me please.

Thomas , , Sweden


I could be mean and say that since you haven't tried "everything" then that''s what you have to do.

I assume that the system is put together correctly in all other respects?

Why don't you try disconnecting the HDD and setting the DVD drive to master. Then you should at least be able to see if the drive is working by putting in a Windows or Linux CD.

If that doesn't work then reset your BIOS to default settings and check the boot order of devices.

It's still possible that the IDE controller is broken, that there's a jumper setting that needs to be made on the motherboard, that the drives are faulty, that the IDE cable is faulty or that the system is set with SATA as the boot device.

Perhaps geta friend to double-check your assembly and assumptions that you've made.

If all else fails contact Asus for technical support.

Paul Zucker


Reader solutions



Perth Computer RepairsPosted: 05/08/2010

re: New motherboard won't see drives

re: New motherboard won't see drives
Thonas, I'll go with PZ...on this one,
Your M2A74-AM SE motherboard is the better board than my M2A-VM one. (It's an ASUS board, as well.)
He's correct, in saying that you have not done enough, with yours.....to correctly set it up.

With the ASUS board,you the User have a choice (in the BIOS).....to set the 'Protocols'.....to either SATA or IDE.
Which you have never changed.
You have an IDE hard-drive, and IDE DVD player (or a DVD 'burner'!), correct?
My Manual states......there is ONLY 1 IDE Controller. (I believe yours will state the very same!)
Re-read the Manual, and you will find this out, to be correct also.

SET the IDE Hard-Drive.......as MASTER.
Set the IDE DVD player.......as the SLAVE.

This is the ONLY way the IDE Controller will work...for you.

I fear that you have BOTH ....set as MASTER!
(This WON'T work, as they BOTH 'cancel out each other...set this way! The reason you are not seeing that they installed...properly!)

Have a GOOD LOOK...at the back of your DVD player......for a small collection of PINS?
There will a 'jumper' across 2 of them.
There will be either a 'configuration set-up'.....in print or stamped....above or underneath this 'jumper'.

MAST(er) (brand-new, Hard-drive/CD/DVD are always SET...to this!)

SLAVE........(the DVD player/burner HAS to be SET to this, so your motherboard does NOT get 'confused'.....in what the SET-UP should be!)

CS........(this other one you don't have to worry about.)

THEN, Set the 'Boot-up Configuration'......in the same fashion.
(AGAIN, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you READ your Manual...very carefully, then, READ through ALL the 'Options'...of your BIOS Set-up!, once you have ENTERed it!)

Hard-drive.......1st
DVD player/burner......2nd
Floppy-disk drive.......3rd (IF you have one installed!)
Removeable drive-aka: 'Memory-stick'.........4th. (This may prove to be 'optional'!)

I know, you got this new motherboard....and, you were in a hurry....to get it working, so proud of your 'handiwork'.

That's the biggest mistake....most people make, when building their own computer (or 'upgrading' an old one)!
Slow down......and, DOUBLE-CHECK your handiwork.
Then, CHECK it......AGAIN, to be absolutely CERTAIN......that everything is as it should be.
Then get SOMEONE ELSE (more knowledgeable than you!), to 'double-check'....what you have done, to make sure that you INDEED have got it RIGHT!

It's the old story...of the "Hare, and the Tortoise".
(In this case, yes, the 'Tortoise' wins here, too.)
You get it Right......your computer works!
You get it wrong.......it does not! (Worse case scenario.....you could end up, having to buy a whole new computer, think of that and you WON'T make any mistakes..at all!)

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