Just bought a WD3200BEVT drive (store was out of the 250 GB model & 320 was only $10 more!). Following instructions using the latest 10/22/09 build. Everytime I run the software, it reports "No ATA Devices Present". FYI, I am doing this from a pure booted DOS environment.

According to the instructions, I need to hex edit HDDHckr's "PORT=MPRT" setting. Mine needs to be 0xFE 0x00 0xFE 0x20. I can't find the referenced string in the file. I think the problem is that the latest HDDHackr is an EXE file instead of a COM. Any ideas what I should try next.

I know the drive is fine as Windows Vista can "see" it. Thanks in advance!

did you power on the sata hd?

i only ask, because i tried for over an hour to get hddhackr to work, then realized i didn't have a power cable to the drive.

*edit* nevermind, if windows can "See it" you have power
*face palm*

Did some additional testing. According to the msinfo, FE00 and FE20 are the addresses of interest for my SATA. Here are some commands & their results.

hddhackr
"No ATA devices present"

hddhackr f 09f0 a0 hdss.bin undo.bin (from readme file)
"No ATA devices present"

hddhackr f fe00 a0 hdss.bin undo.bin
"Can't identify ATA device at specified port"

Hmm? That's a new error code. Maybe I'm getting somewhere.

I can think of 2 possible problems:

1 - The utility isn't programmed to recognize the larger 320 gb drive.
2 - There's a software compatibility problem with my Intel ICH8R and ICH9R chipset. I noticed in the readme document that some issues were resolved in v1.20 for ICH9 and ICH10. Maybe there's still a problem with 8R and 9R??

I'm pulling my hair trying to figure this out. Anyone have ideas?

Have you turned off Native SATA/AHCI in your BIOS? I don't think it works if your controller are in AHCI mode. Also, are you running from pure DOS mode? No hex editing or port numbers should be needed.

I have not altered any settings in the BIOS. I'll look around in there.

I am definitely running in pure DOS mode. No matter what I try (except the 1 address that msinfo reports), it comes back with "No ATA devices present". The 1 address yields "Can't identify ATA device at specified port".

I need to go get a TORX6 bit where I can take apart my default HD20. Just out of curiosity, I'm planning to see if the hddhackr software will find it to dump it's HDDSS.BIN.

One more thing. Is it better to connect the new drive BEFORE or AFTER booting to DOS? I've seen instruction lists showing it both ways. Actually tried both, too. Still no good.

UPDATE: F-Forward, you are my new best friend. I owe you a frosty beverage, dude.

I looked in the BIOS, and there was some type of RAID/ATA auto-detect setting. No idea what it does, but I turned it off as you suggested. VOILA, it worked like a champ!! Flashed the drive first time through. I had to change that setting back before my PC would boot back to normal, but it's 100% fine now.

Now to go get that TORX6 bit where I can install this beast. One more (hopefully easier) question. Can I use the SATA connection to transfer my files with Xplorer360, or will I have to have one of those specialty transfer cables? I know I'll have to use 2 different versions of Xplorer for the 2 drives. Just wondering about the cabling.

Thanks again.

~Vol

Yes, it works fine with SATA only.