I was successful in configuring the RT system with a SATA drive! After finding the
article describing the requirements of a desktop PC used as a RT system, which is how we are using the Kontron CP307 PXI based computer, I discovered the little comment regarding LabVIEW 8.5 and SATA drives, which stated that it only works if the drive is configured as AHCI interface vs IDE. Other suggestions in both the pceval utility, which is part of the RT installation "stuff" that is put on a USB drive from the MAX (Measurement and Automation) to make a bootable USB drive, said to try compatibility mode, which apparently maps a SATA drive to appear as a PATA IDE drive. The "error booting hardrive boot program" also disappeared once a connection had been made to the PXI from the host and the other RT drivers, etc., were loaded. So all seems to be good once again, with my little RT programs that I had been working on before the swap seeming to be working well.
PutnamCertified LabVIEW Developer
Senior Test Engineer North Shore Technology, Inc.
Currently using LV 2012-LabVIEW 2018, RT8.5

LabVIEW Champion