The K8V-MX uses the Via 8237 southbridge, which is known for not detecting SATA 3 drives, so that's to be expected. I use SATA to IDE adapters when I run into this issue.

You shouldn't need to hold the power switch - it's a momentary contact switch. Have you tried using the reset switch as the power switch to see if that makes a difference?

To eliminate variables, I would try burning a standard Windows XP optical disk and see if it installs okay that way.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-15, 00:24:

The K8V-MX uses the Via 8237 southbridge, which is known for not detecting SATA 3 drives, so that's to be expected. I use SATA to IDE adapters when I run into this issue.

Oh, well that sucks. How much do SATA to IDE adapters go for?

You shouldn't need to hold the power switch - it's a momentary contact switch. Have you tried using the reset switch as the power switch to see if that makes a difference?

There isn't a reset switch on this case, afaik.

To eliminate variables, I would try burning a standard Windows XP optical disk and see if it installs okay that way.

I'd use a disk in that regard, but I don't have an internal optical drive of any kind at the moment...

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-15, 00:24:

The K8V-MX uses the Via 8237 southbridge, which is known for not detecting SATA 3 drives, so that's to be expected. I use SATA to IDE adapters when I run into this issue.

Newer revisions of the K8V-MX have the VT8237R Plus southbridge. That version has fixed the SATA bug, so modern SSDs will be detected fine. I use two of those on my system without any issues.

It might be necessary to place the SATA controller into RAID mode for this to work, and then install the appropriate VIA RAID drivers.

P.S.

It is also advisable to use the oldest possible BIOS on that motherboard, since newer versions are affected by the VIA AGP microcode bug which severely reduces GPU performance under Win9x.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-09-15, 05:28:

Newer revisions of the K8V-MX have the VT8237R Plus southbridge. That version has fixed the SATA bug, so modern SSDs will be det […]
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Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-15, 00:24:

The K8V-MX uses the Via 8237 southbridge, which is known for not detecting SATA 3 drives, so that's to be expected. I use SATA to IDE adapters when I run into this issue.

Newer revisions of the K8V-MX have the VT8237R Plus southbridge. That version has fixed the SATA bug, so modern SSDs will be detected fine. I use two of those on my system without any issues.

It might be necessary to place the SATA controller into RAID mode for this to work, and then install the appropriate VIA RAID drivers.

P.S.

It is also advisable to use the oldest possible BIOS on that motherboard, since newer versions are affected by the VIA AGP microcode bug which severely reduces GPU performance under Win9x.

Good to know. Unfortunately for me, my K8V Deluxe has the earlier revision and doesn't detect solid state drives; based on what the OP said it seems probable that his is the same.

ChrisNonyminus wrote on 2023-09-15, 00:00:

Posting this as a new thread because it seems like an issue worth being a new thread. […]
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Posting this as a new thread because it seems like an issue worth being a new thread.

So I finally got an Athlon 64 motheboard (Asus K8V-MX), and after a bit of embarrassing confusion involving my case's power button (I have to hold the button to make the system POST it seems, and because I didn't realize that until then, I thought the system was dead), it works!
However...
I'm running into two problems:
It's not detecting any SATA drives despite there being SATA ports on the mobo and an SSD connected. I don't see anything SATA anywhere on the bios. The BIOS is dated 2003. Maybe that's why? Anyways, I'm using IDE drives now and they're detected.
Also, I used WinSetupFromUSB to flash an image file of the installer for Windows XP Home SP2 to a USB flash drive, and... whenever I run the setup, the Windows setup BSODs.
Fun!

The most up to date BIOS is from 2006. Depending on which version of the southbridge chip your motherboard has, a newer BIOS might help with hard drive detection, but the earlier revision won't work regardless of the BIOS. As Joseph mentioned if you want to run Win98 you'll want to stay with the earlier BIOS.

With the issues you're having, if it were me I'd have the motherboard out of the case and set up on a bench. This clip shows how you can use a screwdriver to close the circuit and power on an ATX motherboard - just this momentary touch should be all that's necessary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPZlliGqBw

It sounds as though you don't have much in the way of spare parts; this can probably be worked around, but it makes things more difficult.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-15, 11:03:

Good to know. Unfortunately for me, my K8V Deluxe has the earlier revision and doesn't detect solid state drives; based on what the OP said it seems probable that his is the same.

You can buy an SSD based on SandForce controller and force it work in SATA I mode. OCZ Vertex 3, Intel 520, etc.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-15, 12:01:

With the issues you're having, if it were me I'd have the motherboard out of the case and set up on a bench. This clip shows how you can use a screwdriver to close the circuit and power on an ATX motherboard - just this momentary touch should be all that's necessary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPZlliGqBw

While I can see this method being useful in a pinch, I prefer to spend 5 EUR on a proper switch assembly. You get power and reset switches, as well as power and HDD LEDs with that. Having one of those can be useful for troubleshooting while the motherboard sits on a test bench.

For regular users, I don't see having a switch assembly as a necessity. But for someone who frequently examines old hardware on a test bench, it can be very nice.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-09-15, 12:45:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-09-15, 12:01:

With the issues you're having, if it were me I'd have the motherboard out of the case and set up on a bench. This clip shows how you can use a screwdriver to close the circuit and power on an ATX motherboard - just this momentary touch should be all that's necessary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPZlliGqBw

While I can see this method being useful in a pinch, I prefer to spend 5 EUR on a proper switch assembly. You get power and reset switches, as well as power and HDD LEDs with that. Having one of those can be useful for troubleshooting while the motherboard sits on a test bench.

For regular users, I don't see having a switch assembly as a necessity. But for someone who frequently examines old hardware on a test bench, it can be very nice.

My default response will always be the lowest cost option to try and troubleshoot/diagnose with things people already have on hand. Having said that, yes those test setups (like the one Phil uses in most of his videos) look like a great way to go to me, and as much as I like to fool around with things like this I'll eventually have to get one myself.