Strange HDD behavior.

[jackbrennan2008]

Hi,

I have a strange problem after installing my system into this new case (Corsair 800D http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=784 ).

After installing both of my SATA HDD's i turn the computer on and i get the message 'Please insert boot media'. In the bios only 1 HDD is detected out of the 2. So i turn off the PC and take out the HDD without windows on it and just use 1 HDD and it works fine.

If i plug the 2nd HDD back in it will only recognise the 2nd HDD and not the first and asks the same question 'Please insert boot media'

Then after taking both drives out and plugging them back in again it works, but if i then add a 3rd older sata drive as an extra storage drive i get the problem about the boot media again. But the biggest problem of all is the BIOS wont recognise all 3 HDD so i cannot select the correct drive as the boot drive as it is not listed in the bios!

All HDD power on what is the problem =(

My setup is:

1x SATA Optical DVD burer.
2x SATA WD 640 Cavier Black

I did not put them in any special order on the sata ports,can this be a problem? There is no master or slave with sata is there?
Should maybe the HDD with windows be on sata port 0 and the one without windows on sata port 1 and the optical drive on port no. 2 ect ect?

Im a little baffled as it all worked fine before changing cases?

This is my system:

PSU: Corsair TX 750W
MOBO: Rampage Formula X48
CPU: Q9450
HDD: 2x 640gb Cavier Black SATA
OPtical: 1x DVD Burner SATA
GPU: GTX 295
Case: Corsair obsidian 800d

Thank you.

Small thing i thought of, the case uses 1 thin cable to connect all the power connectors of the HDD hub together and then i just attach one sata power cable to the end of that. Maybe its not giving enough power to the HDD?

[CMB]

I think some mobos only support boot drives on certain sata ports, so you should try any boot drives on the first pair of sata ports to see if it makes any difference.Check in the bios to see if the ports are enabled and set correctly and make sure the correct drive is selected as the boot in the boot order.

[MRFS]

Intel highly recommends that the BIOS be set to RAID
instead of "Standard IDE" or "AHCI" -- before installing Windows --
EVEN IF all drives will be JBOD starting out (Just a Bunch Of Disks).

We agree that this is very good advice.

You'll need to invoke F6 during Windows Setup, and
then you'll also need to invoke the Intel Option ROM
to initialize each connected disk. That Option ROM
will tell you which devices it detects.

And, be sure to have the device driver "iastor.sys" available,
e.g. on a floppy disk. XP expects to find it on a floppy,
and I'm told that VISTA and Windows 7 can read it
from other media e.g. USB thumb drive.

Even though this is a bit more work during Windows Setup,
it will save you lots of unnecessary frustration down the road
e.g. re-installing the OS and all application software.


MRFS

[MRFS]

> I'm a little baffled as it all worked fine before changing cases?

There may be a hardware bug in that HDD backplane.

Try "hot-wiring" your disks directly to the motherboard's
main SATA ports, and follow my suggestions above --
by way of testing this hypothesis.

By "hot-wiring" I mean specifically to BYPASS that HDD backplane e.g.
set your HDDs on the carpet, and connect your SATA power and
signal cables DIRECTLY from the motherboard and PSU, respectively.


p.s. I took some screen shots of that backplane:

http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/co...ackplane.1.jpg
http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/co...ackplane.2.jpg
http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/co...ackplane.3.jpg


MRFS

[wonkanoby]

sure there are no unwanted stand offs under sata ports

[jackbrennan2008]

Hi all,

I Hot-wired the HDD and they worked . So then i put all the HDD's back in the HDD HUB but this time i put them in like this:

HDD HUB:

Slot 1 = Emtpy
Slot 2 = HDD
Slot 3 = HDD
Slot 4 = HDD

Before i started at slot 1, i think the first slot in the case is damaged. When i turn the PC off and then start it up with a HDD in slot 1 it wont detect slot 2 and 3. Im going to head over to the corsair forums and let them know, hopefully they can help me out.

Well thank you all at least my PC runs now with all 3 HDD. YOu were correct MRFS it was the HDD hub causing the problems! Slot 1 is faulty!

[MRFS]

When all else fails: TRIAL-AND-ERROR.

It's a tedious troubleshooting method,
BUT IT DOES WORK most of the time --
if you have a lot of it, that is


You should phone Corsair's Tech Support
and at least lodge a Trouble Ticket
that gets recorded in their database
of outstanding bugs: they might want you
to return the chassis, if it's a factory defect
particularly since you succeeded in isolating
the problem.


p.s. Don't feel bad: when I worked with a
very primitive FORTRAN compiler back in 1976,
that compiler could not distinguish ZERO from OH:
thus, D0 10 I = 1,N caused this really nasty error
message: MAP MEMORY PROTECT HALT VIOLATION
AT VIRTUAL ADDRESS OCTAL OCTAL OCTAL.

I stared at that page for 3 DAYS until I finally
saw the "zero" in D0 !! The fix: DO 10 I=1,10

No more MAP MEMORY PROTECT HALT VIOLATIONS!!


MRFS

[MRFS]

I also see an error in Corsair's User Manual
for that new chassis:

Focus on the SATA cable(s) in this screen shot
from that User Manual:

http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/co...ackplane.4.jpg

... drawn as if all 4 SATA cables are bundled together.


Now, compare actual photos:

http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/co...ackplane.6.jpg
http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/co...ackplane.5.jpg

Source: LegitReviews.com:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1036/3/

Single SATA cable only attaches to a single SATA connector.

So, the User Manual is a bit misleading above.


MRFS

[jackbrennan2008]

Just a quick update, i put a threada on the Corsair forums and i got this replyt from their Ramguy.

The problem has to be one of a few things:

1. Could be the SATA data or power cable which connects to the backplane in slot 1.
2. Could be the backplane itself.
3. Could be the SATA port on the MB.
4. Could be the drive itself.

I would try a few different configurations and see if you can narrow it down, and if it looks like its the backplane or the cables we should be able to replace them for you.

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=82678

I did some more trial and error last night and didn't seem to get the top slot working so i relayed those results back to the Ramguy and i'm just awaiting his reply.

But yea your right even thogh it's a bit primative trial and error seems to be the logic of choice when finding a solution to this specific problem

[MRFS]

I also notified an Executive at Corsair,
and he wrote back to say that he
would forward your problem to the
"appropriate folks" at Corsair.

Good luck!


MRFS

[jackbrennan2008]

Really, thank you so much that is most appreciated! Most likely they will be able to send me a replacement PCB for that backplane. Either way i really appreciate yours and everyone elses help on the matter.

I might just throw in that apart from this aprticular 'Glitch' the case is top notch. Although as we have found out nothing is perfect .