# Solved: BIOS does not detect new hard drive



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I recently got a new S-ATA hard drive; Samsung Spinpoint F1 750gb to my server. Previously the server has only had one IDE hard drive which has worked without any problems. Anyhow, the BIOS (ASUS A7V600-X) does not detect the new hard drive. 

What should I do? I appreciate all help I can get.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

This problem(Assuming the drive isn't faulty) usually involves enabling SATA in the BIOS.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I see. When looking around (not very thoroughly) in the BIOS I could not see any settings for S-ATA, only ATA. Anyhow, I'm sure the motherboard supports S-ATA drives. Do you have any thoughts about where these settings may be?


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

My ASUS MOBO manual isn't handy at the moment, but that's where you need to look
And... if you haven't formatted this disk you may need to look in disk management.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I have now formatted the drive by connecting it to another computer. Thus, the drive is neither faulty nor unformatted, so that can not be the problem.

In addition I have checked with the manual that the following setting is enabled:



Asus A7V600-X manual said:


> Onboard ATA Boot ROM [Enabled]
> These fields allow you to enable or disable the onboard Serial ATA controller boot ROM. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Enabled]


May it be the cable that is the problem? (Though it seems unlikely to me as it was completely new when it got it). It is not the same cable I used to connect to the other computer.

EDIT: The drive does spin up, it sounds like it spins up to maximum speed (7200 RPM) and holds that speed constantly.

EDIT2: I just tried the other cable; no difference in the outcome.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

What do you see in disk management?
Are you trying to boot from this drive, or is the IDE drive still in place?


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I'm running on Ubuntu Server. When I type "sudo lshw -C disk" it only shows the IDE drive and CD ROM. 

I'm not trying to boot from the S-ATA, the IDE is still in place (though I tried to make it slave instead of master; it made no difference).


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

This may be a problem with lshw:
http://ezix.org/project/ticket/411


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

It might be. Anyhow, gparted did not find the hard drive either, so I think there is something with the setup of the MOBO. Else there must be something broken.


----------



## tech.core (May 21, 2009)

Your drive Samsung Spinpoint F1 750gb is a SATA II drive but your mobo only supports SATA I drives take a look here on your mobo specs http://www.asus.com/Product.aspx?P_ID=L2XYS0rmtCjeOr4k and see its only 1.5gbps (thats SATA I) and here at your HDD specs http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-054-SA (Its 3.0 gbps which means SATA II)

You should replace that hard drive with old SATA I with your dealer whom you purchased from.

Your HDD spins thats because there are 2 cables, one for power and other for the mobo connector, mobo can't recognise the drive, your drive is spinning only cuz of your power supply cable connected to your HDD.

Regards


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I see. Thanks a lot for the help I've received. I mean I have read somewhere that it is possible to use SATA II drives on SATA I MOBOs, just that the transfer speed will only be 1.5gbps?


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

There's usually a jumper on the drive to limit the speed. I had to do that with my SATA II drive.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

After searching around a bit, I did not find any jumper settings for this for my drive. The drive also only have four jumper sticks. Anyhow, I found a firmware patch here which is supposed to downgrade from 3.0gbps to 1.5gbps, but when I tried it on the same computer, it did not recognize the drive in the downgrade software. I'll try to downgrade the drive on my other computer and then put it into the server again.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

See here for the jumper setting:
http://www.samsung.com/global/syste...5620051216154941_SATAspeedselectionjumper.jpg
"A special jumper is provided for use of connecting to legacy SATA host which has problem of accepting SATA 3.0G speed negotiation. This jumper can be used only when the SATA interface connection can not be established

The SATA 1.5Gbps Speed connector is located on the front of the device as it is shown on the below figure, the factory default is an auto negotiation mode, if auto negotiation mode failed try the force 1.5Gbps mode by installing enclosed jumper to SATA 1.5G connector."


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

Yes thanks, I saw that too. The problem is that my drive only have four jumper stickers; the one on the drawing has eight.


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Well you can set first the mother board bios to enable s-ata ports of your board.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

So, there's only two choices. Take a guess as it won't hurt anything.


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

So what's the state of the problem so far?


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I have now tried to "downgrade" the firmware from 3.0gbps to 1.5gbps and also different jumper settings. So far there is no change in the outcome; I can neither see the hard drive in BIOS nor in lshw in Ubuntu. Is the MOBO failing?

EDIT: Based on this blog post, it seems like the issue lies on the speed (1.5gbps instead of 3.0gbps). The problem is how to reduce the speed to 1.5gbps as the firmware patch from Samsung did not work.

EDIT2: After another hour with googling, I came over a forum post (at a Norwegian forum) which said that the A7V600-X MOBO requires some S-ATA drivers to be installed. The same post also said that these drivers could be installed by pressing F6 in the beginning of Windows XP installation. Will these drivers be installed on the motherboard or to the hard drive (if so, how would that work, since the BIOS can't see the HDD in the first place)?


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

I don't think you need those drivers unless you're installing XP as a boot drive.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

So the solution is to get a new MOBO?


----------



## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Some motherboards have a jumper to enable SATA.
Might check to see if yours has one.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

I don't think so. Contact Samsung, RMA the drive or just get an IDE .


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Hm.. is it possible that a S-ata cable is not working? see if you can replace them.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

That thought has struck me too, but I tried another cable without any better outcome. It is possible though, that I tried the other cable meanwhile the setup was faullty.I will try the other cable a little later today.

EDIT: I just tried it and it didn't help. Can it be other components in the computer that is failing? Elseway it seems like I have to buy a new motherboard.


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

But have you already reset the mother board's bios by doing the battery jumper method?


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I have not, how do I do that?


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Well first just let the new hard drive. Remove the mother board's battery then turn on the computer. After the boot up appears it's ask for the proper bios configuration. Don't configure it yet then turn it of again the ninstall the mother board battery again. Then start the computer then go to the Bios set and see if the new drive is now been recognized.

Remember: that when you are going to remove or install the battery the computer is must not be plug to the out let.


----------



## Hughv (Jul 22, 2006)

That won't help any, but if you really want to reset the BIOS, click the" Defaults" icon in Setup.


----------



## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

OK, a few questions;

Are you sure your sata controller is installed in windows? Do you have any yellow marks in device manager?

Post a screenshot of device manager.

When you enter the bios, does the bios detect the drive? 

That board has a via chipset. Are you getting any message about key combos to enter the raid bios. It should be the TAB key however it has been a long time since I have worked on a via board.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I'm using Ubuntu Server, but I'm not sure if it has sata-controllers installed (though I think it does).

When I'm typing 'sudo lshw -C disk' in terminal, it lists the CD-ROM and the IDE disk; not the sata.

If you'd like I can post a screenshot of the action above.

The bios does not detect my drive at all.

I do not get any message about key combos to enter the raid bios.


Thank you to everyone who help me with this, I really appreciate it.


----------



## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

If you are not getting any msg about entering the raid bios, then it most likely is not enabled. I downloaded your manual and it really does not have much info in it at all regarding sata [which was pretty new tech at the time your board was built]

Look around in the bios and see if you find anything else regarding sata. Usually you have more than one setting for the sata ie what mode is used; raid or non-raid, etc.

If you are not finding the drive in the bios, you are wasting your time with trying to find in in linux. It is not going to be there until the bios "Sees" the drive.


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

did you install the UBUNTU to your computer or you are using the CD as a os source?


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

I'm sorry, I have not got to play around in the bios yet (I will today) due to some recent exams (which now are finished). 

Ubuntu is installed to the IDE hard drive.


----------



## m00cka (Mar 22, 2009)

After playing around in BIOS I only found one other possible setting regarding S-ATA;

Under "PCI Configuration":

Onboard ATA device first [No]

EDIT:

I have decided to get a new motherboard, cpu and ram; I am simply tired of this problem and I know that I will install more hard drives in the future. I'd like to thank all of you who have answered this thread and tried to help me. Thank you for all your great contributions!

If you wan't, you can see my new setup and consider if it is optimal or not in this thread. I would appreciate that a lot.


----------



## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Hm.. I know it's kind a stupid to ask but in the bios does it detect that there are Sata slots on the board?


----------

