ASUS k50in, Windows 8, SSHD

[JoelH]

Hello,

The laptop I'm trying to upgrade is an ASUS k50in, core 2 duo processor, nVidia MCP75L chipset with a fully updated BIOS. I bought a Seagate Laptop Thin 500GB SSHD drive. This is exactly the combination advertised here:

http://www.crucial.com/store/modelpart.aspx?model=K50IN&imodule=ST500LM000

so I supposed it would work.

The drive is visible in the BIOS, but not visible to either the Windows 8.1 intaller or Windows 7 installer, even after I load the SATA controllers from a USB stick. This happens regardless of whether the IDE mode is set to compatible or enhanced.

However - I was able to install Fedora Linux to the hard drive with no fuss whatsoever, didn't even have to load additional storage drivers. So I really can't imagine why it wouldn't work for Windows - this proves the hardware is able to function together.

Any ideas to tackle this would be very much appreciated.

 

[Ketchup]

Question: you mentioned loading driver for SATA controller.
1. I don't see these listed on the Asus download page, which coincides with
2. I don't know why you would need these, considering the age of the laptop, and the fact that you are loading a newer OS.

You said it loaded Linux fine on the SSD. Did you need additional drivers for this?

So let me see if I get this straight: you can load Windows 8 on the original hard drive without issue. When you swap the SSD for the hard drive, the drive is not detected during the install.

Have you put the drive in another machine to make sure it's working at all?

 

[JoelH]

1. Yes, the drivers I loaded were for Windows 7x64. I know Windows 8.1x64 has a slightly different structure but I hoped these would be compatible but...
2. I also didn't see why I would need these.

I didn't need any additional drivers when I installed Linux.

I've not tried installing Windows 8.1 on the original hard drive as I would like to keep the data intact, but a quick google tells me it is possible, and 'ASUS recommends' it on their official page for this laptop. I guess I need to borrow an HDD and see how the 8.1 installation goes. But - I get the exact same issue when trying to install Windows 7x64 on the SSHD, and that's the operating system running on the HDD now.

I can mount/read/write/format and add/delete data from the SSHD in both Windows and OSX, and I can actually install Fedora to it when it's in the laptop, so I really don't think there's a problem with the drive.

 

[Ketchup]

Hmm, oh so strange.
1. What SATA drivers are you loading?
2. Does loading them make any bit of difference?
3. Can you clarify where the drive is "not visible" and "is visible"?

 

[JoelH]

1. The SATA drivers are the Windows 7 x64 controllers (all available loaded).
2. Loading them makes no difference for either Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
3. The drive is visible in the BIOS, visible to Fedora installer, not visible to Windows 7 or 8.1 installer.

 

[Ketchup]

So, what kind of BIOS options do you have pertaining to the hard drive/controller?

Weird issue, for sure.

 

[JoelH]

Thank you for the interest you've taken in this!

IDE Configuration may be set to Compatible or Enhanced. If 'Compatible,' the connected drives are listed as Third IDE Master and Fourth IDE Master. If 'Enhanced,' they are not listed.

Other options are just boot order and so on.

Hard Disk Security Setting (no password is set).

 

[Ketchup]

You know, since this is a Seagate drive, I would be tempted to put Seatools for DOS on a CD and #1 boot off it and see if it detects the drive, and #2 see if there are any helpful tweaks/options available for the drive.

 

[Smoove910]

would like to backup a little bit here. When you say you are 'upgrading' to the SSD, what do you mean by this?
- Replacing the normal HD and reloading OS and programs?

OR

- Adding SSD by cloning your existing HD to the SSD?

I upgraded my harddrive to an SSD by installing SSD in a USB enclosure, then using Easeus Partition Manager to clone the harddrive to the SSD. Once complete, I removed harddrive and replaced with the SSD. Booted up with no issues at all. For shits and giggles I then installed a program called SSDTweaker and ran it to apply all the special settings needed for an SSD drive.

 

[JoelH]

ketchup79: Thanks for the advice - will try it later on today.

Smoove910: I mean swapping out the drive and doing a clean install of a new OS. I will try cloning the HDD to the SSHD and update you on what happens. If successful, I'll do the same to install Windows 8.1. Might I have activation issues if I have a single use licence key?

 

[JoelH]

Just cloned the Windows 7 HDD to the SSHD - it wouldn't boot.

Thanks for all the comments so far. Incredibly more useful than Seagate's response, who told me in a nutshell that there are issues installing Windows XP on >3TB drives (I'm installing Windows 8.1 on a 500GB drive).

 

[jolancer]

there are bad reviews and installation issues online about that type of HDD. Don't know if the others noticed but i thought it strange you posted as SSHD instead of SSD, so i looked at it and you are using a different type of hybrid drive.

May want to just return it if you dont want to deal with the hastle, if its able to work with win7 at all. Not sure exactly what you should try either, but i'd start by booting with linux. perhaps the terminal on your fedora live maybe good enough. If not Gparted live maybe good enough. if not fyi i use http://www.sysresccd.org

possibly preformatting it to ntfs using gparted may allow windows to detect it? if not some linux commands to check the disk bellow. if not brick? :$

#example cmds to check the disk

#list the drives/partitions
$ fdisk -l
#or
$ sfdisk -luS
#list partition ID
$ sfdisk --print-id /dev/sda #
#ID table
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 --- 7 ---- ntfs
0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 --- 17 --- ntfs (hidden)
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 --- 83 --- native Linux
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 --- 93 --- native Linux (hidden)
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 --- 6 ---- fat16
0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 --- 16 --- fat16 (hidden)
0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 --- c ---- fat32 (LBA)
0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 --- 1c --- fat32 (LBA) (hidden)
1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 --- a5 --- BSD
1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 --- b5 --- BSD (hidden)
1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 --- bf --- Solaris
1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 --- af --- Solaris (hidden)
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 --- 5 ---- Dos extended partition
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 --- 15 --- Dos extended partition (hidden)
1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 --- 85 --- Linux extended partition
1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 --- 95 --- Linux extended partition (hidden


#S.M.A.R.T commands

#Check if drive supports SMART and if its Enabled or Disabled
$ smartctl -i /dev/sda

#TEST SMART Short Self Test, usually under 10 minutes
$ smartctl -t short /dev/sda
#TEST SMART Extended Self Test, 1.5hrs per ~100GB
$ smartctl -t long /dev/sda

#show ALL SMART Info - attributes and test history etc
$ smartctl -a /dev/sda
#All SMART and NON-SMART info
$ smartctl -x /dev/sda