Hard drive wont show up!!

[Nacimroc]

I know theres been loads of these threads but none cover this.

Got a new hard drive HD502HI (500gb). I had existing HD753LJ (750gb).

Put in new hard drive, no joy! Messed for ages eventually got them working! I have no confidence in the 750gb as its been acting up and according to interweb this model is probably best just for storage.

So, eventually got it working. Used acronis to copy image onto new 500gb, did that! Used acronis to format the original 750gb and delete partitions leaving the new 500gb as my primary hdd! No probs so far! Then...

When i now plug the old 750gb into the SATA2_1 port (or something like that, basically the second port) it wont show up! i connect it with a usb external jobby thing and it shows up and works perfect! It just wont read when plugged into m/board!

I have tried all the ports on the m/board with no joy! Its not a power issue as its powered from psu when connected with USB.

They were working when connected before using same ports, but when i made new hard drive primary the old one wont read.

When i turn on PC, in the bios, nothing shows up only the new 500gb one!

This is m/board http://www.dabs.ie/products/gigabyte-s775-intel-p45-ddr2-atx-audio-lan-6sata11-54HV.html

Its Vista X86, and it doesnt show up in disk management or bios! Only when plugged in with usb lead!

[Van Nugent]

Did you set the SATA mode in the BIOS to AHCI or IDE emulation? Try updating the chipset drivers and connecting the system HDD (750GB) to SATA_0, the 500GB drive to SATA_1.

Manual (http://america.giga-byte.com/FileList/Manual/motherboard_manual_ga-ep45-ds3%28r%29_e.pdf)
Driver Download Page (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=2843&ost=windows+vista+x86+%2832-bit%29#anchor_os)

[Nacimroc]

I updated the bios aswell but that didnt help. I need the 500gb to be the primary especially now seeing as i formated the old 750gb drive. They did work when connected the other way, but I am convinced the 750gb drive is the reason for PC crashes so dont want to use it as primary drive anymore.

It doesnt show up in the bios at all when plugged into m/board. The only one that shows up is the 500gb one. Its just so strange as I know for sure the port is working (worked connected backwards), the bios isnt the problem (as that also worked backwards), power isn't the problem, hard drive isnt the problem (its working now on usb).

Its a mess of cables in there so maybe i am just not pushing it in properly. Done it about 5 times though still no joy!

[Van Nugent]

Try using different data and SATA cables. Make sure the SATA mode is set correctly (p. 52 in the manual).

[Nacimroc]

Tried the ACHI mode, but get BSOD and then it restarts! So disabled that. Also tried the samsung util to do low level format etc but it runs out of memory when using the bootable disc! Arrrggghhhh!!!!

I used acronis drive cleanser when it was plugged in with USB, and now have it showing up in computer management. Problem now is when i try and click either it gives me an error saying "the device is not ready".

I know its something stupid I did wrong causing it all as thats usually the case, but just cant figure out what. Maybe the MBR wasnt removed properly, i.e. acronis drive cleanser only formats it, not removing partitions?

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/5914/harddrive.jpg (http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image=harddrive.jpg)

[Van Nugent]

It's all because of human errors, i.e. we didn't set up the HDDs correctly. The BSOD when the SATA controller was set to AHCI was because you set it to (left it in) IDE (emulation) mode at the time you installed Windows and therefore, you can't switch it to AHCI. This mode must be set prior to installing Windows.

You need to initialize a new HDD before you can use it in Windows. Just follow the on-screen instructions to prepare the HDD in MBR then format it.

Edit: if the HDD has some data on it, that means the partition table is corrupt. Don't initialize/format the HDD or you'll lose all data on it. See this thread (http://66.197.142.137/forums/showthread.php?t=24218).

[Nacimroc]

Its empty so not bothered about whats on it! I get the same error when i try MBR aswell! It just gives me an error of "the device is not ready" whichever option I choose. I jsut want to completely reset it and start from scratch.

[Van Nugent]

Try Acronis Disk Director (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/) to remove all existing volumes/partitions on the HDD then create a new simple/basic volume and format it in NTFS. This tool is much more powerful than Windows Disk Mamagement tool. It can do many things that Windows Disk Management can't. :)

What's the make/model of the 750GB HDD that you're having problems with? You can also use the disk tools from the manufacturer to prepare the drive.

They did work when connected the other way, but I am convinced the 750gb drive is the reason for PC crashes so dont want to use it as primary drive anymore.It's a good reason to use the disk tool from the manufacturer to check the drive to correct the problems it might have.

[Nacimroc]

Right, I'm back! (BSOD probs - faulty ram - existing problem last few weeks)

Anythewho! I installed that acronis disk director! It wont work in vista (or at least i cant get it to work).

I have since reinstalled vista on the 500gb! while doing so I noticed that the 750gb wouldn't format in the windows setup as it "cannot format a hdd that is connected via USB or 1394" or something similar to that anyway. But it was connected into m/board at the time.

I'm pretty sure that disk director would fix it, but just cant get it to work with vista.

Thanks

[Van Nugent]

I'm pretty sure that disk director would fix it, but just cant get it to work with vista. ThanksWhat version do you have? It works in DOS and XP/Vista.

External enclosures have their own BIOS so unless the box you have doesn't support 750GB HDDs.

I jsut want to completely reset it and start from scratch.Yep, instead of wasting time, just start all over. Connect the 500GB drive that you want to use as the system drive to SATA_0 and the 750GB drive that will be used as storage drive to SATA_1 then reinstall Vista. Of course, you can plug the 2 drives to any SATA ports you want but doing it this way would keep things better organized.

Refer to pages 51 and 52 in the manual:

1) Page 51: I suggest you set the SATA mode to either AHCI or RAID (if your mobo is the RAID model). If you are not going to run the HDDs in RAID mode now or some time in the future, set it to AHCI. You must have the SATA Vista driver ready on a pen drive or a CD/DVD disc so when Vista setup asks for the driver, you can point it to the needed driver. Both AHCI and RAID settings will use the AHCI mode, one is non-RAID and the other is RAID.

2) Page 52: Enable AHCI mode for the Intel ICH10 SouthBridge and enable the SATA Port0-3 Native mode, depends on which your mobo you have (RAID or non-RAID).

3) After you finish the Vista installation, reformat the 750GB drive.

[Van Nugent]

Samsung Disk Tool can be downloaded from this page (http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_DiskManager.html).