HDD no longer reported as connected after switch to other SATA connector...

[Caveman]

Asus Laptop: ROG G751JT-WH71(WX)

Issue: Win 10 no longer "sees" the Primary HDD after it was moved from Drive Bay 1 (SATA 3) to Drive Bay 2 (SATA 2). Device Manager reports it is there but Explorer and Dis Management show nothing at all for that connector.

Series of events to get here:

Laptop comes with a 1 1TB HDD with Win 10 installed in Drive Bay 1 with a SATA 3 interface. Drive Bay 2 has an empty SATA 2 slot.

I bought a 512 GB SSD (Samsung 850 Pro) to make as a new primary boot disk in Drive Bay1, and move the "slow" 1TB HDD that comes with the machine to the Drive Bay 2.

Here's the series of steps I went through to get to the issue:

1) Removed HDD from the laptop and set it aside.

2) Installed new 512 GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD into Drive Bay 1 via SATA 3 connection.

3) Boot machine and verify the new SSD is see in the bios. Check.

4) Format disk and install Win 10 from a USB Drive onto the new SSD. No drivers installed at this point.

5) Fire up Laptop and Win 10 boots fine into the SSD.

6) Power down Laptop and reinstall the original Win 10 HDD that came with the Laptop in Drive Bay 1 (SATA 3) into Drive Bay 2 (SATA 2).

7) Laptop boots fine again into Win 10 SSD.

8) Check to see if drives are reported by Win 10 SSD. Win 10 explorer sees new SSD only. Win 10 Disk Manager sees new SSD only. BUT... Device Manager shows the HDD as installed.

How can I get the original HDD that's now moved to a slower slot to register in Explorer and Disk Manager? It's like it's not even there...

 

[Elixer]

If you have both installed, and the BIOS seems them both, then it points to either driver issue, or some kind of corruption.
If the BIOS only sees one drive, then make sure the other port is enabled.
If Disk Manager shows them both, then just assign a letter to the drive in question.

I guess it is possible you have a flaky controller port on the one that isn't shown as well.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Is the original drive still formatted with windows on it or did you format it to remove windows and its files? I would go into computer management - disk management and reformat it and assign a new drive letter.

 

[Bubbaleone]

I don't believe the problem is BIOS settings or drivers. The original Win 10 installation (on the HDD) contains it's own boot sector, BCD store, and unique PID. The new Win 10 installation (on the SSD) contains it's own boot sector, BCD store, and unique PID. What you have are two independent Windows 10 installations and neither one has a BCD that points the boot manager and boot loader to the other. You just need to edit the BCD store on the SSD system so that the boot manager displays a dual boot menu when you start the PC.

.

 

[Caveman]

If you have both installed, and the BIOS seems them both, then it points to either driver issue, or some kind of corruption.
If the BIOS only sees one drive, then make sure the other port is enabled.
If Disk Manager shows them both, then just assign a letter to the drive in question.

I guess it is possible you have a flaky controller port on the one that isn't shown as well.

Bios and disk manager show both. I thought I could only assign a drive letter through "Disk Management"...? Disk Management does not see the HDD.

Is the original drive still formatted with windows on it or did you format it to remove windows and its files? I would go into computer management - disk management and reformat it and assign a new drive letter.

Yes, the original HDD that was in BAY 1(SATA 3) and is now in Bay 2 (SATA 2) and unrecognized in the OS (aside from device manager) has the original partitioning for Win 10 and a backup partition. I'd like to leave that as is if at all possible...

 

[Elixer]

Bios and disk manager show both. I thought I could only assign a drive letter through "Disk Management"...? Disk Management does not see the HDD.

So, you can see it in Device manager, but can't see it in Disk Management usually means missing drivers.
Perhaps look on the OEM's website for drivers?

 

[tweakboy]

Go to BIOS that might be of help. gl