Confounded by Sandy Bridge build - help!

[src1425]

Upgrading my system with the components listed in my sig, and everything started well. Booted to BIOS successfully on first attempt, set SATA to ACHI, set the SSD as the boot drive, reinstalled Win 7 Pro 64 on the SSD with the other drives disconnected. Shut down, connected the other drives, rebooted, and things came grinding to a halt.

I can boot to BIOS but Win 7 won't load, all I get is a black screen with a flashing cursor. Also the DVD drive now doesn't work. BIOS recognizes it, but it doesn't respond to the eject button. I'm not sure if it simply crapped out (it was brand new as the new board doesn't have IDE) or if it's related to everything else. Flashed the BIOS to the latest version but it hasn't helped.


Any ideas what I should do next, other than replace the DVD drive? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Does it boot with the other drives removed?

 

[src1425]

Does it boot with the other drives removed?

Nope.

 

[src1425]

As an update, I replaced the optical drive, and the new one will at least open and close, but the system won't boot from either the SSD or the Windows disk and eventually hangs after the post screen. I tried plugging the SSD into a different SATA port, using 3Gb instead of 6Gb, and only the SSD and optical drive are connected. No matter what boot order I have or what's plugged in, I get the same result - BIOS screen followed by a dark screen with a cursor. Oddly, whatever drives I have plugged in I can see in BIOS, they just don't seem to do anything.

Again, any ideas will be much appreciated!

Update: after moving the SATA cables around to different ports, now it doesn't recognize any drives. Also, from the beginning when I do a cold boot it starts up for 3 seconds, powers down for 3 seconds, and then restarts.

 

[oynaz]

Try booting to a live image, for instance Ubuntu. Just to narrow things down.

 

[mlc]

rule out memory related issues first...
1) try booting with only 1 stick of ram
2) did you make sure the bios settings for the memory are correct.?
3) try moving the ram to a different slot

Then check to see if you have the latest bios for the board... if that fails....

Did you change any bios settings... or r u simply running with the optimal defaults? Either way, I would try clearing/resetting the bios, to see if that gets you past the problem.....

 

[src1425]

rule out memory related issues first...

At this stage I'll try anything, although I figured if it boots to BIOS without any problems and all 8GB of memory are recognized, then memory probably wouldn't be the problem. Yes, I flashed to the latest BIOS, and reset to optimal defaults.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with reinstalling Win 7 on a used drive and not installing chipset drivers before rebooting. I've tried SATA on both AHCI and IDE, and still can't see any drives.

 

[mlc]

i doubt its chipset drivers.. as you just said the BIOS is not recognizing the drive.. which has nothing to do with windows....

There may be a bios setting to enable the sata ports in your bios.. that's set to disabled or to RAID as a default ?

Also.. when you installed windows.. you may need to load up the SATA drivers (F6 ??)at install time..

 

[src1425]

There may be a bios setting to enable the sata ports in your bios.. that's set to disabled or to RAID as a default ?

Also.. when you installed windows.. you may need to load up the SATA drivers (F6 ??)at install time..

The SATA default was AHCI, and for a while I was able to see any drives that were connected (although for the Windows install only the SSD and optical drive were connected). After I lost the drives I also tried setting SATA to IDE, but that hasn't helped either.

I didn't get as far as installing any drivers. It might have been a mistake, but I rebooted after the initial Windows install and that's when the problems started. Will try clearing CMOS.

 

[src1425]

Well, clearing CMOS didn't help. I still have the cold boot problem and still can't see any drives. Exchanged a couple of emails with ASUS tech support - they promptly suggested I call them, which will have to wait until Friday night. If that doesn't work the board is doing back. Not sure if I'll exchange it or look at something else. Unfortunately, MicroCenter's selection isn't that great.