[SOLVED!!] HELP!!!!! PLEASE!!! Asus P8C WS giving me a HDD fault on my DVD drive!!

[Sporinator]

Hi, I just put my new build together with ONLY my Corsair Neutron GTX hooked up to my SATA 1 of my 2 SATA III ports and my NEW Asus DVD drive to to SATA 3 on the 4 SATA II ports.


I have NOT hooked any of my other HDD's to the system as this was a first boot to BIOS. The UEFI BIOS SEES and Identifies the Asus DVD drive, but the HDD FAULT LED is lit on the MB and the DVD drive tray will not open. It is getting power because the DVD LED lights up.

I then tried hooking it up to ALL the other SATA II ports 1 by 1 and still have the same problem.

I pulled the NEW Asus DVD drive and put it into one of my OLD Asus AV8-X boards and it works FINE!!!!


I took the Optiarc DVD drive from the old system and put it into this new build and still NO JOY!! ARGH!!!


The UEFI BIOS sees ALL of my 32GB of Kingston Unbuffered RAM and has it at the correct speed of 1600MHz and it sees my Xeon E3 1245 V2 CPU and has it running at 3.4 GHz. I'm STUMPED!!!


Any help would really be appreciated.


This is the first time I'm using UEFI BIOS but I'm no strager to tweaking my BIOS.

Any ideas of WHAT could be causing this?

Thanks!!

While waiting for the RAM and GPU to get here today I went and did a DRY install of my Dark Knight II CPU cooler to check the hardware earlier (Since the box looked like an OPEN Box and not NEW like Ordered.) and one of the stand offs was STRIPPED on both ends and The top cooling fin was POPPED loose from the Heat Pipes on the heat sink.

So, I set up an RMA with Newegg earlier and decided that I had best just go ahead and use the stock Intel Cooler that came with the CPU so that I could at least get an OS on the SSD and make sure everything worked while waiting on the Dark Knight exchange.

I was worried about my Sapphire Flex 7950 Dual X maybe giving me problems or the RAM.


NEVER EVER would I have thought a regular old DVD drive would put a HALT to me.

LOL ARGH!! LOL

 

[crashtech]

OK, have you tried connecting ONLY your DVD drive to every SATA port without any other device connected, including your SSD? Have you tried toggling the SATA settings between IDE and AHCI?

 

[Sporinator]

OK, have you tried connecting ONLY your DVD drive to every SATA port without any other device connected, including your SSD? Have you tried toggling the SATA settings between IDE and AHCI?

Nope.

I just went into advanced settings and it IS seeing the DVD drive and that it is the Optiarc now. And it's on P3 and the SSD is on P1.

I'll give it a shot with ONLY the DVD hooked up.

I'm assuming that the NEW UEFI BIOS kinda saves System Profiles like a Windows OS now?

I'll post back after trying JUST the DVD drive and ALL the SATA ports.

I'm going to be quite TICKED OFF if it ONLY works on a SATA III port and I have to WASTE one on it!!

Double ARGH!!

lol

Thanks for the reply and help.

TTFN

 

[Sporinator]

Ok, this is just retarded.

It just HAS to be something SIMPLE I don't know or am overlooking.

I just hooked ONLY the DVD to each of the 2 SATA III ports, and the 4 SATA III ports and the same problem. HDD fault light on but the BIOS sees the DVD and it's MFG.

I tried changing the SATA mode to IDE and had the same problem still.

Knowing full well that it should show a fault, I even had both drive unhooked and fired it up. It told me there were no bootable device and asked my permission to enter BIOS.

The only thing that I haven't done is try ONLY the SSD drive hooked up and see if the Fault LED goes out.

I'll do that now and post back up.

 

[Sporinator]

It just keeps trying to boot off it and WON't let me back into the BIOS with only the SSD hooked up but the HDD Fault LED is off now.

Double ARGH!!

This means I either have to hook up ONLY the DVD that causes the fault or both the SSD and the DVD in order to enter the BIOS.

What a PITA!!

I guess this means NO DVD drive for me on THIS Asus P8C WS. That and NOW I'll have to put my Windows OS Original Disk onto a USB DRIVE and PRAY that it'll load and then try to get WINDOWS see the DVD drive. But of course THAT means I'll have to set the Ports to Hot swappable. Which I already did and it made no difference.

 

[crashtech]

Hmm, do you happen to have a spare optical drive you could swipe out of something temporarily?

EDIT: Sorry, missed the part about trying more than one already. Hmm...

 

[crashtech]

BTW, I'm pretty sure you should be able to enter setup with the SSD hooked up, just start hitting DEL twice a second as soon as you power up. It must be self-checking really fast!

 

[Sporinator]

Yes, I AM using the Optiarc out of my other Asus system that I KNOW works.

I also put the NEW Asus DVD into the old system and it works just FINE during POST and after into the OS.

And Yep....Rapid Filling the DELETE from even BEFORE I put the power back to it.


Any other ideas?

Thanks.

P.S. This is just plain STUPID!! How in the WORLD can the BIOS SEE and IDENTIFY two different DVD drives but NOT let my open the tray???

ARGLE BARGLE!!


Lulz

 

[crashtech]

I assume you've reset the CMOS...

Hey, if you are banging on the keyboard too much, it might assume an error and ignore it.

 

[Sporinator]

I assume you've reset the CMOS...

Hey, if you are banging on the keyboard too much, it might assume an error and ignore it.

Uh....I haven't PHYSICALLY used the MB Jumper to clear it. I figured since it did it's first Power On thing and had ALL the RAM & CPU settings correct that I didn't want to mess it up.

So, you're saying to PHYSICALLY rest the CMOS?

As far as banging the Keyboard, I was and DID alter the rhythm. I had successfully hit the DELETE key correctly and entered the BIOS successfully over 30 times prior to just having the SSD hooked up.

LOL

 

[crashtech]

Well, sorry I'm not being too helpful. You don't have anything in a USB port that could be mistaken for a drive, like a card reader or the like?

And yeah, at this point resetting the CMOS can't really hurt you.

 

[Sporinator]

Well, sorry I'm not being too helpful. You don't have anything in a USB port that could be mistaken for a drive, like a card reader or the like?

And yeah, at this point resetting the CMOS can't really hurt you.

Hey, you're giving me suggestions and are not here to see and know what I've done or haven't.

I'm not being Trite with you at all. I'm just frustrated AT MYSELF MOSTLY.

I've been building my computers since 1989 use to do some computer consulting a few years ago.


No, I purposefully left ALL USB ports EMPTY until I get Windows 7 64 bit installed.

The ONLY USB device is the MOUSE and it is hooked up UNDER the PS/2 plug on the back I/O. That one and the one under it are the ONLY two that the UEFI BIOS will look to for a Keyboard and Mouse. I have my Windows Natural PS/2 keyboard pluged into the PS/2 port.

 

[Sporinator]

BTW, the HDD Fault light is no longer staying lit, but it still won't let me open the DVD drive tray, even if I let it post then get the Insert Bootable Media message.

Well, when I get into the BIOS the HDD LED stays on. Don't know if that means it's accessing the drives or it is a fault.

You know, I usually just go ahead and hook EVERYTHING up, including my external USB drives to let the BIOS see it all and set the address for them. Even when I had them set for PnP Os.

I just might break down and do the CMOS rest in a bit here. It that doesn't do it then I'll go ahead and plug the two WD RE4 Hdd's in as well and see if that makes any difference.

 

[crashtech]

There is something about this problem that seems familiar in the back of my mind, but for the life of me it's just not coming to me. I hope someone else will chime in with a suggestion, I've given all I have for now, other than that CMOS reset you seem reluctant to perform.

 

[denis280]

did you try the mouse and keyboard on another system??

 

[crashtech]

....oops

 

[Sporinator]

There is something about this problem that seems familiar in the back of my mind, but for the life of me it's just not coming to me. I hope someone else will chime in with a suggestion, I've given all I have for now, other than that CMOS reset you seem reluctant to perform.

Rest assured, that will be next.

I have another question on something that I just noticed regarding my PSU FAN.

The fan is pulling air IN from the BACK of the PSU and blowing OUT through the Fan!!

Every single PSU I own, the fan PULLS the air INTO the PSU and it exhausts OUT the BACK of the PSU.

I have a SeaSonic 1000 Platinum.

Is this NORMAL? I mean, I just bought an Antec 500 a few months ago and it too pulled the air IN through the fan.

This one is blowing air OUT the PSU fan pulling the air in from the UNFILTERED BACK.

My Fractal Design Define XL R2 case a filter on the bottom so you can mount the PSU with the fan DOWN to draw IN cool Filtered air and then exhaust the HOT air that blows by the PSU components out the BACK of the PSU and away from the inside of the case.

This is working in REVERSE!!

How is that even possible?

Gremlins I tell you!!!

 

[Sporinator]

did you try the mouse and keyboard on another system??

Yes, they both work just fine in my other systems.

Thanks.

 

[crashtech]

BTW, the HDD Fault light is no longer staying lit, but it still won't let me open the DVD drive tray, even if I let it post then get the Insert Bootable Media message.

So the tray doesn't work, but the drive seems to be working now? That almost seems like some kind of power problem.

 

[Sporinator]

So the tray doesn't work, but the drive seems to be working now? That almost seems like some kind of power problem.

Ok, I did the PAPER test and I'm Officially INSANE now. The PSU fan IS working properly and I turned off the be SURE that the FAN was not mount upside down or the fins the wrong way.

As far as a Power Problem on the DVD drive, the LED lights up on it when I hit the button and I've even switched the SATA Power Cable I was first running it off of.

Like I said, BOTH DVD's work just FINE in my other Asus A8V-x system that I've hooked them up in over the last 2 hours.

 

[Sporinator]

The thing that is REALLY driving me NUTZ is that the BIOS Recognizes EACH Drive and displays the CORRECT Make & Model in the Boot Setup Menu.

 

[Bubbaleone]

Definitely reset the CMOS so you're at a known good configuration to start with. Also be sure that you're using one of the four SATA II cables and not one of the two SATA III cables to connect the ODD.

If clearing CMOS makes no difference, then I'd highly suggest updating the BIOS to the latest version. Check you're current version and it will probably be the first release; version 0505 dated 2012.05.15. The latest release is version 3202 dated 2013.01.29.

 

[crashtech]

The photo of that power supply that I was able to view shows the fan blades designed and oriented to suck air out of the case. So maybe yours is made wrong? How does the fan look?

Try a different power cable for your DVD drive, and/or change the spot where it is plugged into the PSU. If the drive is now being recognized, the tray should work.

 

[Sporinator]

Definitely reset the CMOS so you're at a known good configuration to start with. Also be sure that you're using one of the four SATA II cables and not one of the two SATA III cables to connect the ODD.

If clearing CMOS makes no difference, then I'd highly suggest updating the BIOS to the latest version. Check you're current version and it will probably be the first release; version 0505 dated 2012.05.15. The latest release is version 3202 dated 2013.01.29.

The BIOS is Version 3010.

About the SATA III cables, first I'm pretty CERTAIN it's been PROVEN that ANY SATA cable will give you the SATA III speeds. It's all Marketing crap and they tried to use the CAT cables as an example of SPEED difference to charge more for the same old cable we've been using for over 15 years now.

But, since I'm sort of "Superstitious" I did use the RED straight end connector for the DVD and the Black Angled cable for the SSD that came with the MB.

LOL

 

[Sporinator]

There is something about this problem that seems familiar in the back of my mind, but for the life of me it's just not coming to me. I hope someone else will chime in with a suggestion, I've given all I have for now, other than that CMOS reset you seem reluctant to perform.

So the tray doesn't work, but the drive seems to be working now? That almost seems like some kind of power problem.

DING DING DING DING!!!

We have a WINNER!!!

I knew that it was something SIMPLE.

After all my monkeying around, I changed the SATA Power Cable BACK to the one I originally had connected to the DVD drive.

When I did, VIOLA'!!! It worked all of a sudden. Then it stopped. So, I "Jiggled" the SATA Power Cable and it worked again.

So, I took the OLD Optiarc back out and put the NEW Asus back in. It worked this time.

But after installing Windows 7 the DVD drive started making a clicking and kinda grinding sound as if the DVD in the drive was not seated correctly in the tray. Or the soaund it makes if TWO dvd's are accidentally put into the tray at once. (Oops...But not the cause this time. LOL)

I tried re-seating it a few times to no avail. So, I reached behind the drive pushed the Power Connector into it again. It then worked just fine for the rest of the GPU and MB driver installs.

These SATA power connectors were TOUGH to push on and it felt like if I were to push any harder that it might break the tab on the drive. But, I guess they are just TIGHT and really need to be Muscled some.

Maybe they'll seat better in time. If they keep coming loose after having to be pushed on that hard, NO I do NOT have the connector upside down either, I guess I'll try to contact SeaSonic.

The photo of that power supply that I was able to view shows the fan blades designed and oriented to suck air out of the case. So maybe yours is made wrong? How does the fan look?

Try a different power cable for your DVD drive, and/or change the spot where it is plugged into the PSU. If the drive is now being recognized, the tray should work.

I had tried TWO different power cables & connectors while I was going INSANE.

The DVD drive was ALWAYS recognized and SEEN by the BIOS. It was NEVER not seen or recognized and the drive LED would light up during post and when I pressed the drive tray open button.

So, it SEEMED like it had power. I guess whatever tab that goes to the tray motor was not making the proper contact though.

It was just VERY odd that the Optiarc DVD had the same issue EXACTLY after swapping out the Asus DVD drive with it.

I tried to post up that it was fixed/solved last night, but the forum was doing system maintenance.


Thanks again to YOU and the others who offered their help last night.



Sincerely,

David