HP Pavilion a752n - installing XP to SATA from IDE CD-ROM

Tom,

The totally annoying part of dealing with HP Pavilion systems is the near
complete absence of good solid and thorough technical information. For example,
is there anything in a user guide to explain Onboard PATA/SATA configuration
[enhanced mode][combined mode]? There is some possibility that a comparable
Asus motherboard may have a manual that explains the BIOS setup options in some
detail.

The second most annoying thing is the sparseness of drivers. Sometimes there
are no drivers at all. Other times, there are drivers only for the
factory-installed OS, leaving people on their own for OS upgrades and
downgrades.

I would ask if HP Pres Mark Hurd is listening, but I am 100% convinced that HP
made a conscious policy decision to market, sell and support Pavilion (and
Presario) systems as home appliances, rather than computers. As far as I am
concerned, this is a perfect example of lipstick on a pig. No matter what,
computers and their software are infinitely complex devices, not appliances,
especially with Microsoft's steady guiding hand on operating system development.

.... Ben Myers

On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:26:27 -0500, Thomas Hedden
<tdhedden@MAPS_ON_comcast_NO_SPAM.net> wrote:

>Hello Ben,
>
>Thanks for your messages.
>
> > The only things that comes to mind are to revert
> > back to the original configuration, using a 4-pin
> > Molex to SATA power adapter, ...
>I think that I could try disconnecting the SATA
>power cable and connecting a legacy power cable.
>
> > ... then possibly change a configuration option.
> > Your original posting showed:
> > Onboard PATA/SATA configuration [enhanced mode]
> > If there is something called "legacy mode" or
> > "emulation mode", try it.
>If I remember correctly, the other option is
>"[combined mode]". I think I tried it once before,
>but I'll experiment with some of these BIOS
>settings again.
>
> > Otherwise, I think I would sell the system in
> > whole or in part and move on to something more
> > friendly...
>I might, but I think I'll try installing Linux
>on it before unloading it. It had Linux installed
>on it already, which worked, and I wiped it out
>to install XP. (I would have wiped it out anyway,
>since I would want a clean system.)
>
> > ... I have installed XP SP2 (Dell version) on
> > SATA drives in a large number of Dell boxes ...
> > and never with a problem even close to what
> > you've described. ...
> > Whether Asus created this mess for you or HP
> > did it, the problem does not speak well for
> > either of them.
>Agreed. I like Dells, too. I've never had any
>problems with them.
>
> > Does HP have any restore CD/DVD available for
> > this system?
>I don't have one, since I bought this system
>used. I'll have to check Ebay: maybe I can find
>one there.
>
>Thanks again for your suggestions. I'll fool
>around with it some more and let you know what
>happens.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Tom

Hello Ben,

Thanks for your messages.

> The only things that comes to mind are to revert
> back to the original configuration, using a 4-pin
> Molex to SATA power adapter, ...
I think that I could try disconnecting the SATA
power cable and connecting a legacy power cable.

> ... then possibly change a configuration option.
> Your original posting showed:
> Onboard PATA/SATA configuration [enhanced mode]
> If there is something called "legacy mode" or
> "emulation mode", try it.
If I remember correctly, the other option is
"[combined mode]". I think I tried it once before,
but I'll experiment with some of these BIOS
settings again.

> Otherwise, I think I would sell the system in
> whole or in part and move on to something more
> friendly...
I might, but I think I'll try installing Linux
on it before unloading it. It had Linux installed
on it already, which worked, and I wiped it out
to install XP. (I would have wiped it out anyway,
since I would want a clean system.)

> ... I have installed XP SP2 (Dell version) on
> SATA drives in a large number of Dell boxes ...
> and never with a problem even close to what
> you've described. ...
> Whether Asus created this mess for you or HP
> did it, the problem does not speak well for
> either of them.
Agreed. I like Dells, too. I've never had any
problems with them.

> Does HP have any restore CD/DVD available for
> this system?
I don't have one, since I bought this system
used. I'll have to check Ebay: maybe I can find
one there.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I'll fool
around with it some more and let you know what
happens.

Best regards,

Tom
--
Ben Myers wrote:
[snip]
On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:11:01 -0500, Thomas Hedden
<tdhedden@MAPS_ON_comcast_NO_SPAM.net> wrote:
[snip]

Here is the status of this problem.

I have been able to get both Windows and
the Fedora Core 9 distribution of Linux
to install on the HD. I was able to do
this using the PCI SATA controller and
a SATA power connector or the PCI SATA
controller and a legacy power connector.

The PCI SATA controller also has an
IDE connector, so I also tried
installing to an IDE drive connected
to this controller using legacy power.
In every case, the OS will install to
the HD, but when I reboot the computer,
the HD is no longer visible.

I have tried booting from the Windows
installation CD-ROM and doing a system
restore or recovery or whatever it is
called, and the Windows installation
CD-ROM can actually find the Windows
OS and give me a DOS prompt on the
C:\ drive in the Windows directory.
However, I could not get the BIOS
update program to run from the
command line, nor could I figure
out how to get the GUI to run.

The only configuration I could find
that allowed the computer to see the
HD was when a SATA HD was connected
to the onboard SATA controller and a
legacy power cable. So, after I
succeeded in installing the OS
(I tried both Windows XP and Linux),
I also tried switching around the
connectors to the one configuration
that the HW can see. That is, I
installed with the SATA HD
connected to PCI controller plus
either SATA or legacy power, and
then connected the SATA HD to the
onboard SATA controller instead
of the PCI controller and to legacy
power. When I rebooted, the computer
actually could see the HD and did
tried to boot off the HD. However,
it whined about the OS not being
where it expected it or something
like that.

I imagine that in Linux there is
probably a parameter that I could
pass to the kernel that would get
it to work, although I don't know
what that is. (If anyone has any
ideas, please let me know.)
However, I am clueless about how
to do that in Windows.

The only thing I haven't tried yet,
which I will try, is to try
plugging an IDE drive into one
of the onboard IDE controllers
and installing that way. If I can
do that, maybe I can update the
BIOS, and then reinstall onto the
SATA HD.

I am amazed that there is no
bootable disk image to update
the BIOS.

If anyone has any suggestions,
I'd be grateful.

Thank you,

Tom
--
Thomas Hedden wrote:
[snip]