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help with BIOS not detecting SATA HD

F

frost47

Junior Member
I just completed my first build and bios doesnt detect 320GB western digital SATA hard drive. Ive checked MB connectors(and other SATA cables) and power connector. Im not familiar with the drive setup in BIOS, with regard to SATA since this is my first SATA hdd so it might be something as simple as configuration or it could be a problem with MB ( I dont think so, because everything else works) or problem with hard drive (although I can feel that it is slightly warm). I should add it does detect my IDE CD-ROM. Is there a way to narrow down the problem or any other suggestions. My computer info is below.

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3(rev. 3.3)
BIOS Ver : 1.07
E4300,XFX 7900GS, 2x1GB GSKILL, 320GB SATA western digital, Ultra Xfinity 600W PSU

 
Plug the drive's SATA data cable into one of the uppermost SATA jacks on the motherboard (see page 24 of the manual, item 9). Those are connected to the southbridge. Does your drive get detected by the BIOS now, or is it still not detected?
 
thanks for the quick reply. I just verified that it was plugged into SATA110 and still doesnt see it. Only one that shows up is the IDE Channel 4 Master, which Im sure is the CD-ROM. I have also tried using the connectors controlled by the gigabyte controller, with no luck. I suspect it must have something to do with the actual hard drive, but I dont have another computer with SATA motherboard connectors to test it. The hard drive is slightly warm to the touch when the computer is turned on and that has stopped me from RMA'ing it (for now).
 
Originally posted by: frost47
thanks for the quick reply. I just verified that it was plugged into SATA110 and still doesnt see it. Only one that shows up is the IDE Channel 4 Master, which Im sure is the CD-ROM. I have also tried using the connectors controlled by the gigabyte controller, with no luck. I suspect it must have something to do with the actual hard drive, but I dont have another computer with SATA motherboard connectors to test it. The hard drive is slightly warm to the touch when the computer is turned on and that has stopped me from RMA'ing it (for now).
Click to expand...
Ok, now if you plug the drive onto one of the plugs circled in item #10 on that page, does the board's add-on SATA controller at least list the drive when it's initializing? This would probably be on a screen shown after the main POST screen departs (I don't have a DS3 to play with).

Refer to the pic on page 65 to make sure that add-on controller is enabled for this test. I'm not suggesting to use that controller, this is just a fact-finding step to determine if your HDD is recognized on a different SATA controller or not.
 
no it does not. The only drive ive seen initialized was the CD-ROM and that was when I changed a BIOS setting to set SATA Port0-3 to operate at Native IDE mode rather than the default to operate at legacy mode, enabled SATA AHCI mode, and set the onboard SATA to AHCI (these are pg 38-40 in manual). Ive since returned those setting to the default values.
I have a question about the hard drive. Is it possible that it could be DOA even though it appears to power on as evidenced by the slight warming, i cant even be sure the warmth is coming from it now, it might just be from the motherboard. Since this is OEM do I have to deal with Western digital rather than Newegg if I RMA it.
 
Originally posted by: frost47
no it does not. The only drive ive seen initialized was the CD-ROM and that was when I changed a BIOS setting to set SATA Port0-3 to operate at Native IDE mode rather than the default to operate at legacy mode, enabled SATA AHCI mode, and set the onboard SATA to AHCI (these are pg 38-40 in manual). Ive since returned those setting to the default values.
I have a question about the hard drive. Is it possible that it could be DOA even though it appears to power on as evidenced by the slight warming, i cant even be sure the warmth is coming from it now, it might just be from the motherboard. Since this is OEM do I have to deal with Western digital rather than Newegg if I RMA it.
Click to expand...
It could indeed be DOA even though the motor runs, yeah. Check the product page at Newegg to see if they have a no-returns policy, otherwise you should be able to get an RMA and return it to Newegg. It may be faster to RMA it to its manufacturer, since they'll usually let you cross-ship if you have a credit card you're willing to use as collateral.
 
Originally posted by: chusteczka
It may be necessary to create a RAID array before the motherboard will recognize the SATA hard drive.
Click to expand...
There are some mobos where that is required, but the newer ones don't do that. (My P4PE does) However - it is often necessary to ENABLE the SATA ports in BIOS - that is not always a default condition.

 
well looks like it was as "simple" as replacing it with another another sata hdd I picked up. Thanks for the help.
 
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