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New Motherboards Disallowing IDE Booting?

Posted by Cliff on from the brain-dead-moves dept.

wattsup asks: "It seems that bootable IDE ports are disappearing on newer motherboards. I recently purchased an MSI G965M-FI motherboard for a system upgrade. Overall the board is pretty good with lots of features, but it had one unexpected 'feature' that I didn't know about when I bought it. The PATA100 IDE port won't allow you to install an operating system from an attached CD-ROM. Does anybody know if this is an issue that can be fixed by upgrading the BIOS, or is this hard-wired into the IDE controller?" "While its on their website, MSI doesn't tell you this on the retail packaging, until you break the seal on the static wrap and look at the motherboard. There, with a tiny label placed over the IDE connector, they inform you 'This IDE does not support OS installation in hard drive'.

This made my out-of-box experience rather maddening, as I had to get a USB based CD-ROM to install a fresh copy of XP. This seems like a pretty lame way to save money, disabling functionality on an IDE port that's included. Some research shows me that other manufacturers are doing the same thing. Why?"

6 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Re:duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your mom selected my cable just last night and it was definitely enabled.

  2. Why won't my MFD drive work!? by RingDev · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean, I've had this 20 meg MFD drive for like 15 years now, why can't modern computers keep up with something so simple!?

    Honestly here, IDE(PATA) is a dieing format. It has a competitor that is just as cheap and even better performing. A new 250GB SATA hard drive and SATA CD/DVD burner can be yours for just over $100.

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
    1. Re:Why won't my MFD drive work!? by BRTB · · Score: 2, Funny

      MFM? Why not RLL it, you might be able to get 30MB out of that thing...

    2. Re:Why won't my MFD drive work!? by TheLink · · Score: 3, Funny

      quote: 'And as long as English is commonly spoken, it is not dead either. That's why I said it is a "Dieing" standard, as in it is depricated, being fazed out...'

      English may not be dead yet, but you and those infamous "loosers" are making a good attempt at killing it :).

      --
  3. Re:You know what else doesn't work? The B drive! by 6Yankee · · Score: 2, Funny

    You've got back-ups on audio cassette, right? Try those.

    Just, not in the floppy drive.

  4. Re:Why? by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Seriously, this is stupid! Welcome to Management.
    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?