can i replace pci ide bus on old pc?

[JDeRouen]

My son's pc stopped working tonight. Essentially, it isn't finding the hard drives and giving me a boot failure error. I am certain the drives aren't bad, because there are two separate drives, and the PC refused to recognize either one. I've tried swapping cables around, etc., to no avail.

I think the ide controller/bus has gone out on the motherboard. Is it possible to buy a pci ide card and bypass the one on the MB? Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Joe

[thomasjo_2093]

They do still sell PCI cards that do that. I used to use ones from Promise Technology.

John

[jimsmegos]

Good luck. I had a similar problem but found no solution that really did the trick affordably. Considering it's a motherboard issue I would suggest getting a new tower and putting the old hardrive(s) in as slaves and calling it good.

[Toy Talk]

Call me if you want additional details Joe (419-502-6217). The long and short of it the problem is yes, you can put and PCI control card in to run the IDE drives. However, the cards probably cost more than the motherboard, and your BIOS has to support it. Depending on the age of your PC you may be out of luck.
Here is a link for what you need. Try local shops to see if you get lucky on a cheaper price.
SIIG UltraATA 133 PCI - storage controller - ATA-133 - PCI and other IDE/ATA Adapters/Controller at CDW.com

[JDeRouen]

Thanks, I am going to see if I can determine if the MB supports it or not. I may just give you a call, Shane!