Bios not detecting storage drives after PSU upgrade

zenchowdah

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Nov 13, 2014
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Hey gents. I'm a fairly experienced computer builder, but the changes from ATA to AHCI and BIOS to UEFI have got me a little stumped. I'll start off with my build:

OS - Windows 8.1
Old PSU: Rocketfish 750w (didnt fail, replaced to be able to support Crossfire on 2x R9 270x)
New PSU: Corsair 1050HX
MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Motherboard (Bios vers 1.4)
XFX R9-270X-CDFC
AMD A10-5800K
16 GB Mushkin Redline DDR3 @ 1866
Blu-Ray drive hooked up via SATA (powers up & reports in just fine)

OS is installed on 120GB Samsung 830 SSD

Hard drives in question are 2x Samsung Spinpoint 500GB drives & a 1TB Seagate, as well as a 40gb Mushkin Callisto. (i can provide model #s if that's needed, im at work right now)

Here's what happened. After upgrading my PC's psu, i rebooted my computer and found that none of my storage drives were detected by windows. Checked the disks, not even spinning. First step, i rebooted into BIOS, saw none there. After a minute's thought, i remembered when i built the rig i had to uninstall AMD SATA drivers and install the Intel SATA drivers to get everything to cooperate. As this wasn't a new install, and i didnt change any bios settings, i didnt start there. Instead, i went into BIOS settings and

changed ATA mode from AHCI -> IDE and rebooted. Because what could go wrong, right?

At this point, the PC boot looped, since the OS was installed under GPT, and it was looking for MBR. After a bit of research, i put that all together, and

switched back to AHCI. Computer boots again, but still no storage drives. I begin to consider the situation that had occurred previously, and i uninstall the AMD drivers and install the Windows Generic drivers. Reboot, no luck. After this, i went through and removed all drivers associated with AMD via Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode. Reinstalled all drivers, no luck. After this, i formatted the drive, placed the BIOS SATA mode into IDE and reinstalled windows 8.1. I ran through the driver installations and updates with absolutely no luck on any of the drives showing up in BIOS. I've checked power cables, i've checked SATA cables, SATA ports on the motherboard. I'm pretty sure someone is going to suggest it, but I am really leaning away from all of these drives failing simultaneously. If windows wouldnt acknowledge the drives, that would be one thing, but how do i force the bios to look at them?

Thanks for your time, guys.
 
Solution
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-power-up-an-ATX-Power-Supply-without-a-PC/
on the 24 pin atx plug use a paper clip and jumper the green wire to black. with the power supply off. the nuse the on/off switch of the power supply to turn the unit on and see if the drive spins up. mb bios dont use any drivers to see drives. the info comes from the drive controller and the sata controller of the mb. if the drive does not spin up or run the mb cant read the info.
with the old power supply that is known working unit. for testing take one of the drives now that are not spinning up...connect it to the old power supply with the power supply off use the green wire to black wire paper clip jumper trick to turn the power supply on. see if the drive will spin up. if the drive does spin up...then on the unit power supply check that the cable is locked in if it a modualar power supply. if the drive wont spin up any more check on the new power supply sata cable for any bent pins. if there none you need a volt meter or someone that does to check the voltage output on the sata cables. it may have been to high and cooked your drives.
 

zenchowdah

Reputable
Nov 13, 2014
2
0
4,510


I'm fairly certain the drives are fine and that this is a bios setting/windows driver issue, but i'll give it a shot. what's this paper clip jumper trick? I've got a fluke, so i can poke around just fine.

 
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-power-up-an-ATX-Power-Supply-without-a-PC/
on the 24 pin atx plug use a paper clip and jumper the green wire to black. with the power supply off. the nuse the on/off switch of the power supply to turn the unit on and see if the drive spins up. mb bios dont use any drivers to see drives. the info comes from the drive controller and the sata controller of the mb. if the drive does not spin up or run the mb cant read the info.
 
Solution