Tom S wrote:
> My system w/ Gigabyte EP45T-DS3R works just fine in every respect
> however I just installed a BLU RAY burner GGW-H20L. When I plug in any
> BLU RAY disk the machine does a hard HANG. Everything completely
> frozen. Will not respond to the mouse or the keyboard (not even the
> three key salute).
>
> The MB has the latest BIOS. The SATA interface is running IDE mode
> rather than AHCI.
>
> Have already replaced the drive and upgraded the drive to the latest
> LG firmware.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Tom S.
Would a plug-in SATA card help ? Like maybe a little SIL3132 card ?
This one has four physical connectors, but only two electrical ports,
and jumpers allow either internal or external connectors to be used.
Personally, I prefer cards that don't screw with 3gbit/sec signals,
for best results. So this only illustrates a SIL3132 - I wouldn't
buy it myself. I'd buy one with only two internal connectors instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815280008
The plug-in card has an EEPROM on it, and that provides INT 0x13
BIOS capability. That is what allows the BIOS to boot from the add-in
card. So there could still be a boot issue, but the difference is,
that the BIOS crafted by the plug-in card manufacturer, deals
directly with the hardware, while the system BIOS only has to
call the extended INT 0x13 service. So if the bug is in some
hardware handling code in the Gigabyte BIOS, a card like this
might be enough to work around it.
In theory, if you erase (or unplug) the EEPROM on a plug-in
card, it should prevent it from being offered as a boot device,
but the device should still work in Windows once a driver is
installed. Silicon Image cards can be flashed, and there may be
more than one version of BIOS code for them. (Presmuably
BASE = non-RAID capable, RAID5 = RAID capable here.) Some
of their older card designs, had the EEPROM in a socket,
rather than soldered directly to the board.
http://www.siliconimage.com/support/...32&cat=15&os=0
Paul