SATA drives don't configure by port position. So SDA could be on any physical plug on the motherboard.

You need to watch the messages during boot, or run a dmesg, and figure out which drive is which by the model numbers or sizes.

Thanks for the quick post - I still need help though

Nothing shows up when I run dmesg or at boot except for the following:

weaknees # Vendor : Generic Model : Storage Device Rev: 9325
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd:8:0:0:0: Attached removable scsi disk sdc
sd:8:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
Vendor : Generic Model : Storage Device Rev: 9325
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd:8:0:0:1: Attached removable scsi disk sdd
sd:8:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
Vendor : Generic Model : Storage Device Rev: 9325
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd:8:0:0:2: Attached removable scsi disk sde
sd:8:0:0:2: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 0
Vendor : Generic Model : Storage Device Rev: 9325
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd:8:0:0:3: Attached removable scsi disk sdf
sd:8:0:0:3: Attached scsi generic sg6 type 0

There appears to be no identifying information for either the source or replacement drive (no model #s or sizes appear).

Any ideas on how to get the drives to appear?

Thanks again,
Schmante

You can try:

and change "sdb" to "sdc" for the next drive. I can't really remember if hdparm is on the CD, but I think it is.

Thanks again for the quick reply. I still can't get the drives to be recognized. I will try another desktop tomorrow.

This is an Abit AB9 pro mobo

The kernel on the CD is getting older, but if it boots, then it really should see the drives. But see what you find with the other motherboard.

Finally got it to work with the original motherboard. After much searching through this forum - I found the SHIFT PAGE UP FUNCTION to identify drives. This helped to identify what the drives were identified as.

The software (.iso) was showing my card reader as listed above (not sure why it came up scsi - since it's usb).

In the end it worked and I don't need to call Comcast to have them reset my cable cards thanks to your software.

I think it would be helpful to add a line to the instructions about "shift page up."

I bought my series 3 used and it came with a Seagate 7200.10 (very noisy - audible even when Tivo was off from 8 to 10 feet - my usual seat). I upgraded to a WD10EVCS - 1TB - can't hear it at all unless I'm within a foot of the box and still pretty quiet.

I don't care about hard drive noise in my desktop - with the fans going it doesn't matter. But for home theater - it's annoying. I'm thinking about adding another WD10EVCS - 1TB externally - should be much easier.

Thanks again for all the good info.

Great that you got that working.

Yes, the WD10EVCS is MUCH quieter than a standard desktop drive.

Hey Guys,

I am running into a similar problem with my Series 3. I am using a Dell Vostro Desktop 220s for my upgrade and after downloading and burning the boot CD from here (http://www.weaknees.com/weaknees_sata.iso) I boot it up okay but I don't see any designations for my attached SATA drives. I did use SHIFT-PAGE UP to scroll up to look. As a test I just ran mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/sda all the way through /dev/sdd and it comes back with the error for each device

/dev/sda: No such device or address
/dev/sd10a: Illegal seek
mfs_load_volume_header: mfsvol_read_data: Input/output error
mfsbackup: Backup failed to startup. Make sure you specified the right devices, and that the drives are not locked.

It sees both drives as an option in the BIOS moot menu. Any ideas on why the CD doesn't see the drives or will I have to try the CD and drives in another computer?

Thanks in advance.

Didn't I see you in a movie yesterday?

I'm not familiar with that Dell model. Does it have on-board SATA, or are you using an adapter?

Yep, that was me on the Enterprise. :-)

That model Dell has on-board SATA and if I recall correctly the boot CD identifies the SATA controller but not the drives.

Huh - haven't seen that. If it's a very new PC (especially if it shipped with Vista) it may just be that the CD doesn't have the right drivers on it. Otherwise, can you tell if the drives are powering up?

Yes, the drives are powering up as I can feel them spinning up and they show up in the BIOS boot option. The computer is one of Dell's newer product models that defaulted with Vista and I had them downgrade to an XP install. I think you may be right in that the boot CD I have may not have all the drivers I need. Is there any option other than trying the CD and drives in another computer with a SATA controller? Do you know how often they update the ISO file?

Thanks.