34 replies to this topic

[Denise_M1]

My Computer Components
- GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield cpu
- Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel RAM
- CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W
- ASUS EAH4650-DI-512MD2 Graphics Card
- HighPoint RocketRAID 2300 PCI Express SATA II 8-Port Controller Card
- LIAN-LI PC-201A 12-Bay Case

My case holds 12 hdds, JBOD configuration.

My OS is Windows XP Pro X64.


I'm having a terrible problem with 2 of my hdds:

- WD 2T Caviar Black SATA III/64mb cache 7200RPM 6.0Gb/s WD2002FAEX

- WD 2T Caviar Green SATA III/64mb cache WD20EARX

The hdds are no longer available through My Computer or Disk Management but they were available to me for over 2 years and one day they no longer were, both at the same time. I took the hdds to a pc repair shop and had them hook them up to one of their pc's and they worked fine. They were recognized in their My Computer and the files were available for access.



I tried:

- I traded ports, cables and power connectors with other hdds, mobo and adapter card ports, but the hdds were still unavailable.

- I disconnected all of the hdds except for the hdd that contains my OS and one or the other of the problem hdds, didn't help.

- Placed jumpers on pins 5 and 6 for backwards compatibility to 1.5Gb/s. At first, the New Hardware icon appeared in the task bar but it disappeared before Windows fully loaded.

- I went into BIOS and CMOS and hit the F3 key (I read that it will have BIOS and/or CMOS recognize the hdds but it did not).

- I Optimized Defaults while in BIOS and CMOS with no change in the recognition of the hdds.

- I contacted WD about the drives and they told me to RMA them. I did but had the same problem with the new ones.

- I tried updating drivers through Driver Genius Professional but none were available.



I'm wondering if the problem has to do with JMicron controllers. I know that JMicron is a RAID controller and I have drivers for them loaded into my pc. I don't know why I have these drivers loaded because I don't use RAID, just JBOD. Maybe that's causing a conflict?

I read: "Finally I tried changing the JMicron Controller settings from AHCI to IDE, and it started working again. This time I could detect the drive and the formatting worked just fine." Could someone tell me where this setting is located in BIOS or CMOS or wherever? http://codeblog.theg....on-jmb36x.html

BIOS settings:

SATA RAID/ACHI Mode - Disabled
SATA Port0-3 Native Mode - Disabled
HDD S.M.A.R.T Capability - Enabled


I know so much but I know so little. Please help!


Denise

[8210GUY]

The link doesn't work, but you certainly had some fun lol, but for me I would use the AHCI mode, and enable the SATA Port0-3 Native Mode option, this allows them to be used as Sata (assuming they are not going to be used as installation drives), next I would check the device manager for any conflicts, I would also click on View - Show Hidden Devices, see if any conflicts are showing up.

Assuming there are still issues at this stage, and the drives are showing up as installed in the device manager (expand the Disk Drives), right click on the problem drives, and select to Uninstall them, do not reboot if prompted, now get the drivers from Gigabyte, and install them again, especially the Sata and raid ones, installing the raid driver doesn't mean your using raid, you have to configure that before it becomes raid, at least in my limited understanding of it, but at least with the driver installed it's there if needed, and for all I know it may be required by the normal use of Sata to work properly.

Reboot if the driver install didn't require it, and see if the system resets the drives again, with luck doing this will reset the drives configuration, mind you I see no mention of any JMicron controller, not in the driver list from Gigabyte driver(s) list for your OS nor in the BIOS options, so not sure why your seeing that, but they are not good controllers, well from what I heard compared to Silicon, so if possible try not to use that, but that said, as I see no mention of it directly, I don't see how to turn it off, not without turning off Sata altogether, but whilst doing your drivers, go Here to Intel's site, and install\run their update tool, it will check you have the latest of their drivers, don't be concerned about mentions of unknown devices, just deal with any Intel drivers it need updating, as the Sata is listed as Intel from what I can see, see if that helps.

With luck something here will get it behaving again, not sure what else to suggest if it doesn't, hope it helps.

[terry1966]

to me it sounds like a hardware failure on the motherboard somewhere, sorry can't be more specific or of any real help. my first thoughts was one of the sata controllers has failed, especially seeing how both the drives stopped working at the same time and are now not seen in bios when known to work on other pc's. if that was the case tho then either all the 6 orange sata ports won't work or the 4 purple sata ports on the motherboard won't work (think that's the colour coding of them anyway.), but you've already tried using different sata ports for your hard drives so assume you've tried using and moving just your os drive to each of the sata ports to see if some work and some don't.

Edited by terry1966, 13 March 2013 - 08:26 AM.

[Denise_M1]

Hi . . . I very much appreciate your responses and thoughts about my problem. In response to your responses:

I don't use SATA. I use the hdds in JBOD configuration. I think the BIOS settings that I mentioned in my first post are for JBOD:

SATA RAID/ACHI Mode - Disabled
SATA Port0-3 Native Mode - Disabled
HDD S.M.A.R.T Capability - Enabled


The link again: http://codeblog.theg...ron-jmb36x.html . I hope it works this time.

I would also click on View - Show Hidden Devices, see if any conflicts are showing up.

This doesn't show up in View. Maybe it's because I use Windows XP X64?

JMicron controller . . . I don't see how to turn it off, not without turning off Sata altogether

Since I don't use RAID, is there a way to turn it off or even remove it altogether?

Assuming there are still issues at this stage, and the drives are showing up as installed in the device manager (expand the Disk Drives), right click on the problem drives, and select to Uninstall them

They aren't listed in Device Manager.

go Here to Intel's site, and install\run their update tool, it will check you have the latest of their drivers

I downloaded and installed The Intel® Driver Update Utility and the one result was Intel® 6, 5, 4, 3, 900 Series Chipsets . I then went around in circles because when I clicked on it, it gave me several options but each option led me back to the beginning, grrrr. So I know that I was doing something wrong but I don't know what. But I did download intel_chipset_8.1.1.1010.zip . (in the attachment) I don't know if this is the right file so I haven't tried to install it yet.


Any help will be greatly appreciated.


Denise

Attached Files

•  Intel_P43_P45_Express_Chipset.bmp   834.72KB   638 downloads

Edited by Denise_M1, 14 March 2013 - 11:38 AM.

[8210GUY]

Yes the link worked this time, but it is talking about an Asus board as best I can make out, now about Sata, by not using Sata your losing performance, by forcing them to be treated as ide I suspect they will be forced to run slower, that's as best I can make out, others may know better, so you should really use the settings I mentioned above for optimal use, and just because your using the settings I suggested, it does not mean you are using raid (not in my understanding anyway), for that you need to specifically set up a raid option, all my drives are listed as raid, but only 3 of them are set up in raid array, the other 2 drives are simply stand alone drives, even though they are showing in my raid menu, so I don't know why you are not using this option. The simplest way to not use raid is to simply uninstall it, but by doing so I am not sure how the ports would work, and if performance would be lost as well, so I am confused why your wanting to get rid of it, in my limited understanding of this, having raid drivers installed, does not mean you using a raid array, as I said previous, you have to specifically create a raid array before you would be using raid as such, unless you have some other specific reason in not wanting to use this ? Not quite sure what happened to get that scan result, normally it lists the controllers, then tells you if a driver for that controller is up to date, or has a newer one, if it reports there is a newer one, you just click on that link\message, and it takes you to that driver, I tried a manual search from what I could see but without being certain if it's correct, I think it's best to leave it alone, but in my search I saw mentions of that unit as being discontinued, so maybe that's a part of why that happened. I realise you have said about swapping leads etc., but it is not clear how far you went doing this, as said above (and was my next thought if the above failed), have you tried every single port ? Basically put the working OS drive into every port (disconnecting all other drives), one at a time, seeing if it boots each time, if it does then it seems the board is OK, if there are some ports that will not see and allow the OS drive to boot, then it points the finger straight at the board. One thought though, in the BIOS are the drives showing ? Some boards allow disabling of Sata ports in the BIOS, so if this has happened here, then nothing will see drives that are plugged into such ports, so if you can try these suggestions and see what happens, it may reveal where the problem lies.

[Denise_M1]

Well, I'm trying to get this sorted out but I'm having some problems understanding technical terms. I went to Gigabyte to

find an updated driver http://www.gigabyte....amp;dl=1#driver but I don't know what to

download and install.



I went into BIOS. The settings were:

- CMOS Hard Disk Boot Priority (in BIOS)
- - IDE Channel 0 Master WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
- - IDE Channel 0 Slave WDC WD1001FALS-00E8B
- - IDE Channel 1 Master Seagate ST3750640AS
- - IDE Channel 1 Slave WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
- - IDE Channel 2 Master WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
- - IDE Channel 2 Slave WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
- - IDE Channel 3 Master WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B



I then enabled SATA RAID/ACHI Mode and rebooted but my pc wouldn't boot to Windows. Booting kept stopping:

Message: " SATA ACHI Bios Version iSRC 1.0708422006 - Controller Bus#00 Device#1F 06 Ports 06 Devices. ***This version

supports only Hard Disk and CDROM drives *** ".

It then listed:

WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0
Seagate ST3750640AS
Drive Failed
WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0
WDC WD1001FALS-00E8B0
WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0


It rebooted and at Verifying DMI Pool Data, it said "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart." I went back into

BIOS and checked the boot order. It was 1. CDROM 2. CDROM 3. Floppy. I changed the first boot device to Hard Disk but again

my pc wouldn't boot to Windows. I changed the first boot device to CDROM, second to Hard Disk but got stuck at Verify DMI Poole Data again. I went back into BIOS and changed the first boot device back to CDROM, the second boot device to CDROM.

While in BIOS, I checked CMOS and under Standard CMOS Features with ACHI enabled, all drives IDC Channels under Master and Slave were "None."

But, in another place in CMOS, it listed:

1. SCSI-0: RocketRAID 2320 SATA C
2. IDE Channel 0 Master WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
3. IDE Channel 0 Slave WDC WD1001FALS-00E8B
4. IDE Channel 1 Master Seagate ST3750640AS
5. IDE Channel 1 Slave WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
6. IDE Channel 2 Master WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
7. IDE Channel 3 Master WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B
8. Bootable Add-in cards (maybe the RocketRAID adapter card)

ACHI BIOS installed.



My computer won't boot to Windows with ACHI enabled.




I then disabled ACHI and rebooted.

It then listed:

WDC WD WD1001FALS-00J7B0
Seagate ST3750640AS
WDC WD1001FALS-00E8B0
WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0
WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0
WDC WD1001FALS-00J7B0


and my pc booted to Windows.


I have no idea what all this means.



I went back into BIOS and enabled SATA Port0-3 Native Mode and my pc booted to Windows again but another one of my hdds is no longer listed in either My Computer or Disk Management.

I realise you have said about swapping leads etc., but it is not clear how far you went doing this, as said above (and was my next thought if the above failed), have you tried every single port ?
Basically put the working OS drive into every port (disconnecting all other drives), one at a time, seeing if it boots each time, if it does then it seems the board is OK, if there are some ports that will not see and allow the OS drive to boot, then it points the finger straight at the board.

I've changed data cables and ports around to make sure each port and each data cable was working, both on the mobo and adapter card. I also disconnected all the hdds except for my C drive that holds Windows and I then added one drive back at a time. Each hdd was then showing up under My Computer and Disk Management except for the 2 problematic hdds. They aren't recognized no matter what data cable or port I use on my mobo. 2T hdds don't work on the adapter card, only when connected to the mobo.

One thought though, in the BIOS are the drives showing ?
Some boards allow disabling of Sata ports in the BIOS, so if this has happened here, then nothing will see drives that are plugged into such ports

Six of my hdds are showing in BIOS but there should be 7. The one that's not appearing is the WD 2T Caviar Black SATA III/64mb cache 7200RPM 6.0Gb/s WD2002FAEX. I don't have the WD 2T Caviar Green SATA III/64mb cache WD20EARX connected at this point because it wasn't showing up in My Computer or Disk Management and I need the port for another hdd.


I hope I answered your recommendations.



Denise

[8210GUY]

Something is certainly upset then, but I will help all I can to narrow this down, now drivers, given the age I suspect windows may already have newer drivers installed, so it may be worth uninstalling the drivers before installing the new (well not new but makers last available), so go into device manager once you have saved the downloads ready to install, find the entries\drivers your about to replace, and uninstall them, do NOT reboot if prompted, then install the fresh drivers, lets see if that makes a difference.

The drivers to get are under the SATA RAID/AHCI section, get the Intel SATA RAID/AHCI Driver 8.9.0.1023, and the GIGABYTE SATA2 Driver 1.17.50.02, I would do the GIGABYTE SATA2 Driver first, as the other one is the Intel driver as best I can figure.
While we are at it get the raid card driver as well, go Here, and cross reference the grid to get the driver, go to Driver Download on the left, then follow the RocketRAID 2322/2320 column down until the 2 meet, you should be at the v1.9 driver, get the one for your OS which is the top one (hope this makes sense), once the ports are tested with the OS drive uninstall this via right clicking in device manager, do NOT reboot, shut down and remove, then we have whats needed, as best I can figure at this stage.

Now given the vast number of drivers\connections available, lets try and reduce this to the base level, and start from the ground up, to begin with can you confirm that the OS drive on it's own boots every time to the OS in EVERY port ?
If not can you say which ports do not work, and say if they are on the board or the card.
Next lets remove the raid card for now, and leave the other drives disconnected, just have the OS drive connected, and see if the BIOS options I suggested above work this time, if they do try each board port and confirm ALL boot the OS drive, this should prove the board and ports seem to be fine.

Now if that worked, add 1 drive back to the board (no need to swap ports around now as all should have been proved, and the card removed), see if it's picked up OK, all the time this works repeat with another drive, until ALL drives are either proved, or wont work, this will help get an idea of what and where things are in need of sorting, also see what the BIOS reports during this, I am wondering if the card being removed makes a difference.
Another thing that's just come to mind, with the age and amount of kit involved, what PSU are you running ? you will need to read this from a label on the PSU most likely, if there is a power issue then it could have us chasing all sorts of ghosts.

To clarify the mass of text above, here is the order I suggest:-
1. Remove all other drives (drives only need unplugging), and confirm boot drive works in ALL ports alone, or specify where it doesn't.
2. Uninstall the SATA2 Driver, install the downloaded one, do not reboot if prompted, then Uninstall the card then shut down, and Remove it, take the usual static precautions and power safety removing from the mains while working inside the case.
3. Add a drive back at a time, and note what does\doesn't work, and if it's only 1 port playing up or all for that specific drive.
4. Install the card driver, shut down, add the card back and boot, allow the wizard to finalize install, if needed tell it search system for a driver, and if needed tell it where the downloaded driver is (it may require extracting before system can see it), and report any changes noticed.

See if any of this helps reveal anything, and don't forget the PSU info, also stupid question time, is the system time\date correct ?
That little cmos battery can cause all sorts of chaos when it needs replacing, and with the age of the system it wouldn't hurt to replace, they are cheap enough, not sure what else to suggest currently, here's hoping something shows up in all this.

BTW, the "NTLDR is missing" message is when the system can't find the bootable device, this would suggest a bad port, OR, the BIOS has not accepted that port as having a priority set, it's not uncommon for systems to have 2 sets of priority in the boot section of the BIOS, or maybe the Advanced section, boot order is self explanatory, but there can also be Drive Priority, in here you basically tell the system which of the hard drives is to be the bootable drive, and unless the correct OS drive is stipulated as the 1st drive to look to, it wont be available under Boot Priority, so your system wont boot, so if you suddenly get boot issues, just check the OS drive is still the 1st drive to go to in any priority's there are (assuming you have such an option\section).

*edit
On the RocketRAID site you will need to click the Download "Tab" to get the full grid showing to find the driver.

Edited by 8210GUY, 15 March 2013 - 10:10 AM.

[Denise_M1]

Thanks for all your help. Just a quick response to your post for now . . .

uninstalling the drivers before installing the new . . . so go into device manager once you have saved the downloads ready to install, find the entries\drivers your about to replace, and uninstall them

Deleting the drivers and downloading and instlalling them scares me . . . I never liked having to do it except when I go into Device Manager and let Windows update to newer drivers, if available. But before I delete and install new ones that I've downloaded, I'll have to ask you if they're the correct ones . . . Do they need to go on a floppy to install them? I'm asking because it seems that my pc is picky about the boot order (in case I have to change floppy to 1st in boot order).

confirm that the OS drive on it's own boots every time to the OS in EVERY port

Because my case is so big, I have to move furniture around to get into it . . . I'll do this soon.

Next lets remove the raid card for now

I've tried to removing the card in the past but I can't get it out. I'm afraid to pull too hard on it in case something on the mobo or card gets broken. Will not removing it cause problems with trying to figure out what the problem is?

is the system time\date correct ?

Yes, it updated for Daylight Savings Time

That little cmos battery can cause all sorts of chaos when it needs replacing, and with the age of the system it wouldn't hurt to replace

Can you tell me exactly which battery I will need to buy, can you give me a url?

BTW, the "NTLDR is missing" message is when the system can't find the bootable device, this would suggest a bad port, OR, the BIOS has not accepted that port as having a priority set

The OS drive is not in the recommended port. It won't boot when I have it in that port. I have another drive connected to that port and it is recognized by MY Computer and Disk Management , I don't know what the problem is though.



I ran WD Diagnostics and attached a the screenshot of the results.



I'll get back to you soon when I've made some progress.



Denise

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[8210GUY]

Right the scan looks good, but FYI there can be times it does not pick up on a fault, though luckily this is in the minority, but I take it the 2 drives with no result against them are the problem drives your keeping disconnected currently ?

The drivers are just run in windows (just have them all downloaded BEFORE you uninstall the current ones), floppy driver installs were only really used for installing Sata drivers that can become needed during a fresh install, in which case you would need the remaining driver from that download page, as that contains the driver for a new install, but newer systems haven't used such things for some years now, but there are probably some exceptions around, but the modern OS usually has enough base drivers to install without messing around, or if there are times when this is needed they can simply added to a thumb drive and be accessed by the OS at the appropriate point of the fresh install, but I hate letting windows update drivers, may not be as bad as it used to be now, but I remember many having problems using what they updated, direct to the makers is the safest IMHO.

As to correct ones, I gave the name and version number above to aid you in getting the right ones, needless to say make sure you select your OS (xp 64bit) to get the correct list, and as long as you get the correct ones (more details previous to help there), but if your still worried then let us know what you got, but TBH there is no way to get the wrong one(s) if you follow the above, there are only 3 available in that section, and you only need 2 of them, which I detailed previously, but will do what I can if your still worried, but as an insurance policy, do you have any other way to get online if your current system fails for some reason ?

The reason for it being picky in the boot order is what I mentioned previous, adding a new device\drive can often alter the drive priority's, and boot order, so it's not uncommon to have to recheck the OS drive is still the first priority drive so it appears in the boot drive options.

I appreciate the size of the case, but you only need to move the one data lead each time, just unplug the other data leads from the board and card (use sticky tape to label if you need them in specific ports, just mark what each lead is for), then you only have 1 lead to move around to each port, and they are usually next to each other, but if you have done cable management to keep the excess out of the way, then just use a spare Sata lead, that way you don't have to upset the other leads if you do have a spare, I would hope there is enough space to do this without having to mess about to much.

The card does need to come out ideally, it will help figure out if that is a factor in the issues your having, and some can be very tight, but 2 points to look for, make sure the screw holding it in the back I\O slot is removed, or any kind of locking it has make sure it's removed to stop it from being held in place, and next look at the slot on the board where the card goes in, see if there is a small extra length of plastic are sticking out, it could be a lever, like you have on video card slots, if this is so that lever needs to be pressed in the right direction to release that end of the card, then it should come out, but if there is no lever, and no screw holding it, then it's just tease it out, try a small rocking motion, e.g. lift the left side, then the right, to and fro to loosen the card until it comes free, be firm, but steady, hopefully you will get it out.

The CMOS battery is a simple cell battery, it's usually a 2032 shown Here, not sure where in the world you are, so don't know where to link for you, but it's readily available, often in £ shops (UK cheapies) or supermarkets, but just to make sure this is the right one for you check the one in your system, it should have 2032 etched on it as per the link I gave has, just bare in mind this will probably reset the BIOS to it's defaults when removed, and to remove it you simply find the thin bit of metal\lip on one side, and depress that against the side of the holder, the battery should simply pop up enough to lift out easily, once replace check your BIOS is set to what you need, but if you can confirm this is the correct battery then say where you are in the world, I can give a couple of links to choose from if it's still needed.

As to the OS drive not being in the right port, TBH when it comes to Sata this does not matter which port it's in, only ide drives require such specific a detail along with correct jumper settings, but Sata should not need this as far as I know, but out of interest, which is your OS drive, and what port is said to be the suggested one for it ?

[Denise_M1]

drives with no result against them are the problem drives your keeping disconnected currently ?

No, they're drives that are connected to the adapter card. The 2 drives that I'm having a problem with, 1 is connected but shows up nowhere and the other isn't connected. But, in the top pane of the WD Diagnostic, #1 is a 2T drive. I think that's the one that isn't recognized in My Computer and Disk Management because there's no 2T drive in the bottom pane where my drives are listed by drive letter and name. Drive C and D are on 1 hdd, D is a partition on my C drive.

I'm in the U.S., eastern seaboard.


I've been working on my pc for several days and I needed a break today (blush). I'm going to get to these things tomorrow, around noon -5 GMT. I do really have to move furniture around in order to turn the case around so I can open it. Tomorrow will be a good day for it.

which is your OS drive, and what port is said to be the suggested one for it ?

Believe it or not, lol, I built this pc myself about 4 years ago. Hardware is easy, basically plug and play. It's the software that I don't understand, specifically drivers and BIOS/CMOS settings. The instructions said to connect the OS drive to one of the purple ports (GS0 thru GS3) but I don't remember which one right now and it's not stated in the mobo manual. It may have been for the Smart Backup Function for ports GS0 thru GS3, but I've never used that function. I shouldn't have said that my OS drive doesn't work in that port. It will work in that port if I have no other hdds connected. As soon as I connect another hdd, my pc won't boot up and I have to move the OS drive to another port.


I'll bb tomorrow with responses to your other recommendations. I appreciate them very much.


Denise

Edited by Denise_M1, 15 March 2013 - 08:25 PM.

[8210GUY]

Well lets worry about the problem drives once other issues seem resolved.

Here is such a battery on the US eBay site, but you may find them at your local supermarket, I don't know that seller, so please check your happy with them before ordering if you go for that, but they seem to have a good rep, and also please confirm your battery is of this type, you should be able to read it straight off the battery as per the image in the link.

But take your time, we all need a bit of time to ourselves lol, speaking of which, better get to bed myself, it's near 4am here (GMT) lol.

[Denise_M1]

Hi GUY . . . sorry I haven't been here in a few days. I'm still dedicated to resolving this problem. I have a molar that started hurting me on Friday night and I had to wait until Monday to go to the dentist. Now I'm on pain pills and antibiotics. When the pain pill kicks in, I'm too sleepy to concentrate and when the effects of the pain pill start to wear off, I'm in too much pain. I'm hoping that in another day or 2, the infection will be cured and I can get back to this. Denise

[8210GUY]

I know all about pain lol, been in constant pain for 24 years due to me health lol, anyway just proceed as your ready, no point doing things when your not quite up to it, so Thanks for the update, just take your time and get better first, we can carry on when your ready.

[Denise_M1]

I was finally able to get back to my pc problems.

Now given the vast number of drivers\connections available, lets try and reduce this to the base level, and start from the ground up, to begin with can you confirm that the OS drive on it's own boots every time to the OS in EVERY port ?
If not can you say which ports do not work, and say if they are on the board or the card.

After disconnecting all the drives except for the OS drive (drive C), I went into BIOS and made the OS drive the first in boot order priority, second is CDROM, third is floppy and it works fine, so one problem cured. I connected the C drive with each port on the mobo and adapter card. All ports on the adapter card work but 4 ports on the mobo gave me an error message, "Disk Boot Failure . . ." I attached the scematic of the mobo with the 4 ports that don't work. Other hdds work in those ports tho. With only the C drive connected, the problematic hdds still don't show up under My Computer or Disk Management when I connected them (one at a time).


As far as drivers go, I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm sorry I'm so slow here.


Denise

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[8210GUY]

My head hurts lol, just been looking at the manual, and the ports you say don't work are the GS ports (coloured purple ?)
There has to be something pretty specific to these ports which is possibly the cause of the problem here, but this is from the manual:-

(Note 4) A SiI5723 chip supports two SATA 3Gb/s connectors, so the four SATA 3Gb/s connectors are
divided into to two pairs: GS0-Source and GS1 as a pair and GS2-Source and GS3 as a pair.
When installing SATA hard drive(s) to the connector(s), be sure to enter BIOS Setup to enable
the Smart Backup function. If only one SATA hard drive is to be installed, please connect it to
the GS0-Source or GS2-Source connector, or the system may not read it correctly.
If the SATA hard drive to be installed already contains data, be sure to connect it to the GS0-Source
or GS2-Source connector, or the data will be lost. After connecting the hard drive, be sure to enter
BIOS Setup to set Smart Backup Initial to Enabled. (Refer to Chapter 2, "BIOS Setup,"
"Integrated Peripherals," for more information.)

It's as though these ports act as a mirrored array when enabled, but I have never come across this kind of thing before, so I am at a loss as to what to suggest, they have to be the cause of the problem, as they are the only ports causing an issue(s), so it has to be that specific controller that is behind this, as best I can figure anyway, now whether this is down to a driver, or requiring a specific configuration and\or bios setting, I can't say for sure.

The manual goes on about using them as pairs and various other comments about settings, and I must be having a blonde moment as I can't pick out the pieces from what it means, so I will see if any of the other guys have more experience with this board, but while awaiting any new input, check your device manager for conflicts, and it may be worth installing the driver for those specific ports again regardless of any conflicts showing, go Here and get the GIGABYTE SATA2 Driver (1.17.50.02) 3.76 MB 2008/09/29, select OS for available downloads.

Glad your feeling better now, and sorry I can't figure the solution to this, but at least we have narrowed it down to a specific controller\section, and hopefully one of the other guys will know what settings\options to use to get it all working again for you, but let us know if any conflicts show, and if reinstalling the driver made a difference to this.