Question PC Won't Recognize My New SSD Drive

[laezyre]

I have a 7.5 year old PC and want to install an SSD drive to speed things up. I bought a crucial 1 tb sata SSD and installed it into my z77x-ud3h gigabyte mb with the latest drivers(non beta). I'm using windows 10, intel 3570k cpu, 16 gb RAM, WD 1 tb HD. I connected the sata data and power connector to the SSD, but my motherboard doesn't recognize that it's installed. I tried another sata data cable without luck. Maybe the MB doesn't support an SSD drive. Any thoughts?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Dead drive. But check in another system to be certain.

Edit: When you say, "not recognized", do you mean,
1) Not showing up under the SATA devices list in BIOS
2) Not showing up under the boot devices list in BIOS
3) Not showing up in "My Computer" in Windows / File Explorer,
4) Not showing up in Disk Management?

It should at least show up in Disk Management, and allow you to prep the drive for use. If it does not, it is most likely dead.

Edit: There's no reason that a SATA6G (SATA III) SSD shouldn't work in a SATA2 or SATA6G system. Your system should be new enough that an SSD is no problem.

You might just be overlooking that a brand-new SSD is fully blank, no partitions or formatting, so you have to go into Disk Management to "prepare" it, it won't automatically show up as a drive letter in Windows / File Explorer. (Like most "ready to use" USB3.x portable external drives are set up, they are designed to be plugged in and data copied to it. Internal drives are different, and must be "prepared" before usage.)

Also, if you intend to make it your OS drive, look into using cloning software to move your existing OS installation onto it, and then physically swap drives, or make a Win10 install USB using MS Media Creation Tool, and a blank USB flash drive.

 

[tracerbullet]

I actually just upgraded a Z77 board w/ a 3770k in it. I feel certain it's not an issue w/ the board.

I agree it's a matter of formatting, etc. the drive for it to do what you want.

Are you trying to move Windows over to it? That would be the best performance move. If so how are you going about it? I am thinking that this is the real question here.

 

[laezyre]

Thanks for the reply. When I use disk management I get:
1. The c drive, capacity 930.9 GB capacity with 83% free
2. disk 0 partition 3, capacity 525 mb with 100% free
3. system reserved, capacity 100 mb with 59% free

Below that I see the c drive and the cdrom drive in boxes, listed c and d drives.

When I try to start the Acronis software to clone my disk, it tells me that the software requires an SSD to proceed. I can't proceed and must cancel the window.
I didn't format the disc. I just connected it to the power and sata cables. I was following the Crucial instruction which said to just run the Acronis software after connecting the SSD.
So, is my power connection or SATA cable the problem?

 

[Steltek]

Crucial provides a link to a version of Acronis True Image for cloning here that works just fine. Crucial's SSD management software for P1, MX, and BX series SSDs for Windows can be downloaded here.

 

[laezyre]

I actually just upgraded a Z77 board w/ a 3770k in it. I feel certain it's not an issue w/ the board.

I agree it's a matter of formatting, etc. the drive for it to do what you want.

Are you trying to move Windows over to it? That would be the best performance move. If so how are you going about it? I am thinking that this is the real question here.

I was trying to save money and clone my old HD. I'm open to buying windows 10 if needed and doing a fresh install. I'm just concerned that my SSD is not installed correctly. Thanks for the reply.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks for the reply. When I use disk management I get:
1. The c drive, capacity 930.9 GB capacity with 83% free
2. disk 0 partition 3, capacity 525 mb with 100% free
3. system reserved, capacity 100 mb with 59% free

What does the bottom pane show (full-screen it)? There should be a Disk 0 and a Disk 1. One of those should be your 1TB HDD, and one should show uninitialize/unallocated space of nearly 1TB, that should be the SSD.

If you don't see both Disk 0 and Disk 1 , then something is wrong.

Edit: Are any of the SATA ports set to Disabled in BIOS?

 

[laezyre]

What does the bottom pane show (full-screen it)? There should be a Disk 0 and a Disk 1. One of those should be your 1TB HDD, and one should show uninitialize/unallocated space of nearly 1TB, that should be the SSD.

If you don't see both Disk 0 and Disk 1 , then something is wrong.

I see disk zero and cdrom zero. Something is wrong.

 

[laezyre]

Crucial provides a link to a version of Acronis True Image for cloning here that works just fine. Crucial's SSD management software for P1, MX, and BX series SSDs for Windows can be downloaded here.

Thanks Steltek. I think my problem is that the SSD is not recognized. I will try your link though.

 

[Steltek]

Thanks Steltek. I think my problem is that the SSD is not recognized. I will try your link though.

Yeah, you have a totally different issue going on - the other posts slipped in on me while I was typing.

I have a question - is your SSD drive a 2.5" drive or a m.2 SATA drive?

EDIT: Never mind, I see that you plugged a SATA cable in to it so it must be 2.5".

Have you tried to move the SSD SATA cable to another port on the motherboard? You do have both the Marvell and Intel SATA drivers installed I presume and the ports enabled in the BIOS? If you are connecting to a Marvell port, make sure it is set to AHCI and not IDE in the BIOS.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I see disk zero and cdrom zero. Something is wrong.

In that case, the next place to check, is Device Manager.

Look under Disk Drives, see if there are two items listed. They should show mfg / model, at least. They may be cryptic strings.

Also, see if there are any "Unknown" devices.

You could also do "View Devices by Connection", and then drill down into the PC's hardware device listings, until you get to the PCI-E SATA CONTROLLER, and see what is listed under that, if it lists your HDD's model string, as a device under that, AND an "Unknown Device", then the SSD may be bad.

 

[laezyre]

Yeah, you have a totally different issue going on - the other posts slipped in on me while I was typing.

I have a question - is your SSD drive a 2.5" drive or a m.2 SATA drive?

EDIT: Never mind, I see that you plugged a SATA cable in to it so it must be 2.5".

Have you tried to move the SSD SATA cable to another port on the motherboard? You do have both the Marvell and Intel SATA drivers installed I presume and the ports enabled in the BIOS? If you are connecting to a Marvell port, make sure it is set to AHCI and not IDE in the BIOS.

I'm going to try this next. I have a gut feeling it's the problem.

 

[Steltek]

Hope it works. While you are in the BIOS, you might also check to see if the onboard m.2 SATA port is enabled -- if it is, it might be disabling the motherboard SATA port 5 (which really wouldn't be a good thing if that is where you are plugging in the SSD...).

One final question in case it still doesn't work -- by chance has the BIOS ever been updated on that board since you first installed it? Gigabyte's initial UEFI BIOS releases for that particular board weren't very good (putting it nicely) and according to the support website at least one later BIOS was specifically released to resolve issues related to SATA compatibility.

 

[UsandThem]

Hope it works. While you are in the BIOS, you might also check to see if the onboard m.2 SATA port is enabled -- if it is, it might be disabling the motherboard SATA port 5 (which really wouldn't be a good thing if that is where you are plugging in the SSD...).

It's a z77 motherboard, so there wouldn't be any M.2 slots.

 

[Steltek]

It's a z77 motherboard, so there wouldn't be any M.2 slots.

Yeah, you are right -- it has a mSATA slot, not m.2.

 

[laezyre]

Hope it works. While you are in the BIOS, you might also check to see if the onboard m.2 SATA port is enabled -- if it is, it might be disabling the motherboard SATA port 5 (which really wouldn't be a good thing if that is where you are plugging in the SSD...).

One final question in case it still doesn't work -- by chance has the BIOS ever been updated on that board since you first installed it? Gigabyte's initial UEFI BIOS releases for that particular board weren't very good (putting it nicely) and according to the support website at least one later BIOS was specifically released to resolve issues related to SATA compatibility.

I updated the MB BIOS 2 weeks ago. I will check the BIOS tonight. Thanks again.

 

[laezyre]

It's a z77 motherboard, so there wouldn't be any M.2 slots.

US and Them is one of my fav tunes.

 

[laezyre]

I just wanted to thank you guys for your help. I had the SATA port disabled in the BIOS. The SSD is up and running! I was able to clone my HD drive without a problem using Acronis software. Have a good night all.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just wanted to thank you guys for your help. I had the SATA port disabled in the BIOS. The SSD is up and running! I was able to clone my HD drive without a problem using Acronis software. Have a good night all.

Whoohoo! Good Job!

 

[Steltek]

Great to hear!