bios won't detect hdd while in ahci mode.

[bennabo]

So I just bought a new 1TB hdd (WD10EZEX) to go with my 840 evo ssd. I already have windows installed on the ssd and it's working fine in ahci mode. However, when I tried to connect my hdd today, the bios wouldn't recognize it unless it was in ide mode, I could use the ide mode, but if I understand correctly the hdd will run better in ahci mode.

Any ideas how to fix this?

motherboard: Asus Z97-G45
HDD: Western digital WD10EZEX

 

[ronintexas]

Have you tried another SATA port on the mobo? That drive should work in AHCI mode.....

 

[bennabo]

Have you tried another SATA port on the mobo? That drive should work in AHCI mode.....

I probably should've mentioned that I've tried different cables, ports and motherboards, sorry about that.

 

[Paperdoc]

Important question: is this a brand new empty HDD? Or, does it already have a Partition that is Formatted, possibly containing data? The mobo certainly should be able to deal with a new empty SATA HDD as an AHCI device. However, if it was previously Partitioned as an emulated IDE device, the BIOS may have found that info on the HDD and cannot deal with it using AHCI techniques.

What you can do to overcome this depends a lot on what the unit contains.
1. If it is completely blank and new, there is something REALLY odd for the mobo to refuse to use it.

2. If it has been Partitioned and Formatted, but contains NO useful data to save, you can use Disk Management to Delete all its existing Partitions. You might have to put it into another machine and use it as an IDE-emulated device to do this, if your mobo refuses to recognize it. Once you have deleted its Partitions, shut down, reboot, and reset the BIOS to deal with it as an AHCI device, if it will.

3. If the BIOS still won't recognize it after "cleaning" per item 2, you may have to Zero Fill the drive to really wipe it clean, including the MBR. Then you can try it as an AHCI device and re-Partition it. Well, these days it's usually called Create a New Simple Volume.

4. Much more work if the HDD does contain data you need. In that case you probably will have to back up that data fully on some other device. Then you can really wipe the HDD clean (a Zero Fill is the most complete, but it does take a long time) and start fresh as if it were a brand new empty HDD unit.

 

[bennabo]

Important question: is this a brand new empty HDD? Or, does it already have a Partition that is Formatted, possibly containing data? The mobo certainly should be able to deal with a new empty SATA HDD as an AHCI device. However, if it was previously Partitioned as an emulated IDE device, the BIOS may have found that info on the HDD and cannot deal with it using AHCI techniques.

What you can do to overcome this depends a lot on what the unit contains.
1. If it is completely blank and new, there is something REALLY odd for the mobo to refuse to use it.

2. If it has been Partitioned and Formatted, but contains NO useful data to save, you can use Disk Management to Delete all its existing Partitions. You might have to put it into another machine and use it as an IDE-emulated device to do this, if your mobo refuses to recognize it. Once you have deleted its Partitions, shut down, reboot, and reset the BIOS to deal with it as an AHCI device, if it will.

3. If the BIOS still won't recognize it after "cleaning" per item 2, you may have to Zero Fill the drive to really wipe it clean, including the MBR. Then you can try it as an AHCI device and re-Partition it. Well, these days it's usually called Create a New Simple Volume.

4. Much more work if the HDD does contain data you need. In that case you probably will have to back up that data fully on some other device. Then you can really wipe the HDD clean (a Zero Fill is the most complete, but it does take a long time) and start fresh as if it were a brand new empty HDD unit.

It is a brand new drive, (recieved it 2 days ago). I had the exact same problem with the same hdd before I returned it, thinking it was something wrong with it. Now that I got a brand new one I tried it in IDE mode, and voila, the bios detected it. Still, the drive should function with AHCI and I'd really like to have native command queueing and hotplugging for transfering huge files from my laptop. It won't show up in the disk manager either, so I'm kinda clueless about the problem.

 

[Paul NZ]

Is it an ASUS or an MSI mobo?? I cant see any mention of it, in Google thats says it's an ASUS

 

[Paperdoc]

OK, brand new empty HDD, NOT going to be used to boot from. More questions, then:

1. What mobo do you have?
2. What mobo SATA port is the drive plugged into?
3. When you say you change to IDE mode or AHCI mode, where? Is this at a place in BIOS Setup where you set the SATA Port Mode? Does that setting apply only to that one port, or to all SATA ports at the same time?
4. When you say the BIOS does not recognize the HDD unless it is in IDE mode, where are you getting the info? In BIOS Setup's first screen? In Windows Disk Management? In Device Manager?
5. What OS are you using (I'm presuming some version of Windows, but exactly which version)?

 

[bennabo]

Is it an ASUS or an MSI mobo?? I cant see any mention of it, in Google thats says it's an ASUS

Whoops, msi z97-g45*, sorry about that

 

[Paul NZ]

May have something to do with the jumpers on it

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1817067/western-digital-wd10ezex-recognized-gigabyte-k8vt800-rev.html

By the looks of it it supports advanced format, so you may have to change the jumpers on it

 

[bennabo]

OK, brand new empty HDD, NOT going to be used to boot from. More questions, then:

1. What mobo do you have?
2. What mobo SATA port is the drive plugged into?
3. When you say you change to IDE mode or AHCI mode, where? Is this at a place in BIOS Setup where you set the SATA Port Mode? Does that setting apply only to that one port, or to all SATA ports at the same time?
4. When you say the BIOS does not recognize the HDD unless it is in IDE mode, where are you getting the info? In BIOS Setup's first screen? In Windows Disk Management? In Device Manager?
5. What OS are you using (I'm presuming some version of Windows, but exactly which version)?

1. msi z97-g45
2. tried all the ports, still won't work with ahci mode
3. you apply it in the bios, and it applies to all sata-ports
4. the bios says the port isn't used unless in IDE mode, so I guess in BIOS setup's first screen.
5. I regularly use windows 7 ultimate 64-bit that I boot from a ssd.

 

[Paperdoc]

The only clue I got from the mobo manual is that the SATA6 port is not available when there is a SSD in the mSATA port. But you say it does the same thing in ALL SATA ports.

I am assuming you have not added or altered any jumpers on the pins on the back edge of the HDD. On SATA units there are normally NO jumper adjustments to make - in fact, changing them can inactivate a HDD.

Can you try using the HDD in another machine? What you describe certainly looks like a faulty HDD, but this is two in a row that behave the same! This is very puzzling. I have never heard of a SATA HDD that can be detected by BIOS when the BIOS accesses it as an IDE unit, but cannot be detected by BIOS in a different access mode.

 

[Jake Toledo]

Is there a solution? I have the same set up and same problem