Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 - SATA ports problem!

[the_sliver]

Hi guys, looking for some help:

I just puchased the Gigabyte Z170X G1 Gaming 7 and am having some problem with the SATA drives. Here are the drives I'd like to connect:

OCZ Vertex 2 (boot drive - SSD)
Samsung EVO 840 (SSD)
M.2 Samsung 850 (m.2 SSD)
2x Seagate 3TB (HDDs)
Optical Blu-Ray drive

I plugged in all these drives and started to worry that only 3 of these drives were being detected. Long story short: I realized that only the m.2, SATA 4, and SATA 5 ports were recognizing drives! With exception of the Optical BluRay drive... it's running fine in SATA 7.

I did some research and found of course that the m.2 port I'm using disables the SATA 3 port... that's fine.

I've tried:

• 
  Updating the BIOS to the latest version
  Reseating the cables
  Downloading every driver I can find

What in the world is going on? Is the motherboard faulty?

 

[alexoiu]

Hi,
What M.2 connector are you using, D or H ?
What 850, EVO, or PRO?

 

[the_sliver]

Hi,
What M.2 connector are you using, D or H ?
What 850, EVO, or PRO?

M2D
Samsung 850 PRO http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147467&_ga=1.70317465.869262740.1461614324

 

[alexoiu]

In this case, SATA ports 0 to 3 are disabled. Check the board's manual, page 32.

 

[the_sliver]

In this case, SATA ports 0 to 3 are disabled. Check the board's manual, page 32.

You're right! My mistake was taking the review I read as gospel.

Should I plug it into the M2H connector? Is there a downside to doing this?

 

[alexoiu]

The downside would be limited cooling due to the fact that it's covered by the graphics card.
Not sure if/how it will affect it in long term.

 

[lepermessiah]

M2H will also disable your 3rd PCIe slot.

 

[taneal1]

In this case, SATA ports 0 to 3 are disabled. Check the board's manual, page 32.

Can you confirm that installing a PCIe-4 SSD into the M2H socket will allow SATA0-3 to function? That table in the manual is difficult to interpret.

I have the identical problem because I too installed my Samsung 950 Pro M.2 NVM Express card into the "D" slot. Although after re-reading the manual, I have moved this card to the "H" slot, I still cannot use SATA0-3. SATA4-5 work fine.

Any ideas to correct this issue are greatly appreciated.

Tom

 

[alexoiu]

If installing a SATA M.2 SSD in the M2H, then SATA3_0 does not work.
Using a PCIe M.2 SSD in the same slot will enable the SATA 3_0 port.

So,. with your SSD installed, the SATA 3_3 port should work. Try clearing the CMOS.

 

[taneal1]

If installing a SATA M.2 SSD in the M2H, then SATA3_0 does not work.
Using a PCIe M.2 SSD in the same slot will enable the SATA 3_0 port.

So,. with your SSD installed, the SATA 3_3 port should work. Try clearing the CMOS.

Thanks for that answer, but just to be certain:
(BTW, I do NOT have any SATA M.2 SSDs so I'm only concerned with the SSD PCIe-4 version.)
IF I'm reading that table in the manual correctly; with my SATA PCIe-4 SSD in the M2H slot and an empty M2D slot, SATA ports 0-5, i.e. all 6 SATA ports on the onboard controller should still be functional. Is this correct?

And I did clear the CMOS, removed the battery overnight, and used the default BIOS settings, etc. and my SATA ports 0-3 do not detect any HDDs. SATA ports 4-5 however, work fine so the controller is probably OK. I did uninstall and re-install the controller driver also.

IF I'm reading that table correctly, it says that with a SATA PCIe-4 in the M2D slot, SATA ports 0-3 will be unusable. It true, then the mobo is behaving as though there IS a SATA PCI-4 installed in the M2D slot, although it's empty.

As a final check, with BOTH the M2D and the M2H slots EMPTY, SATA ports 0-3 do not detect HDDs,

Tom

 

[alexoiu]

"IF I'm reading that table in the manual correctly; with my SATA PCIe-4 SSD in the M2H slot and an empty M2D slot, SATA ports 0-5, i.e. all 6 SATA ports on the onboard controller should still be functional. Is this correct?"
Yes.
If removing the SSD in M2H, do the SATA 0-3 ports work?

 

[taneal1]

If removing the SSD in M2H, do the SATA 0-3 ports work?

Thanks for the reply, Alex.

SATA ports 0-3 do not detect HDDs with M2H occupied and M2D empty, or with M2H empty and M2D occupied although SATA ports 4-5 do in either of these configurations.

And as I stated in my previous post, even with both M2D AND M2H empty, SATA ports 0-3 do NOT detect HDDs, and SATA ports 4-5 do.

Do you agree that according to the table on page 32, with slot M2D occupied by a SATA PCIe-4 SSD, SATA ports 0-3 are disabled?

Tom

 

[alexoiu]

You're welcome.
"Do you agree that according to the table on page 32, with slot M2D occupied by a SATA PCIe-4 SSD, SATA ports 0-3 are disabled?"
Yes, but the issue might not be related to the SSD, since: "... as I stated in my previous post, even with both M2D AND M2H empty, SATA ports 0-3 do NOT detect HDDs, and SATA ports 4-5 do".
It might be a board issue. I'd try updating the BIOS, if newer version available and, if still no go, RMA the board.

 

[taneal1]

...the issue might not be related to the SSD, since: "... as I stated in my previous post, even with both M2D AND M2H empty, SATA ports 0-3 do NOT detect HDDs, and SATA ports 4-5 do".
It might be a board issue.

I don't think it's the PCIe SSD itself that's causing the problem. I agree that it appears to be a mobo issue. But I suspect that the board 'thinks' there's an M.2 SSD plugged in to the M2D slot. Either that, or it's quite a coincidence that SATA0-3 are disabled, but SATA4-5 are working...

I'd try updating the BIOS, if newer version available and, if still no go, RMA the board.

It has the latest BIOS.

Here's a message I posted yesterday regarding the current condition of my new setup:
Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 MoBo
Intel i7-6700K 4.0Ghz
G. Skill DDR-4 16GB

above components one week old - was working fine until computer shut itself down

press Power Button on mobo:
fans start to spin, stop
cycle repeats several times,
the CPU and Case fans reach normal speed
no LED code activity - no beeps - no video output

using onboard video chip
disconnected all SATA and USB
single 8GB memory stick tried in all slots
repeated above with the other memory stick
PSU voltages good
cleared CMOS with power off
removed battery for 60+minutes

no improvement...

I intend to RMA the MoBo for a replacement, so I wanted to finish the original SATA issue on the chance that the new board also has this issue.

Do you think that the CPU could be causing this problem? It's pretty much the only thing I can't check...

Tom

 

[glavertue]

Hi everyone

I have the same problem as the_sliver but I can add to this issue that I have found that the graphic card is "blocking" the SATA port for drives. I think it blocks some of them if its installed on the top PCI port but I never understood how and what it affect.

This information is taken from there: http://techreport.com/review/29072/gigabyte-z170x-gaming-7-motherboard-reviewed Check at the bottom of the page and keep reading to page 2 for more info.

If someone could translate all of this because I'm quite new in the world of PC building so I'm not familiar with all the technical terms....

 

[nohackmove]

Hi, I have same mainboard and using 3 SSD drives plugged in to Sata 0 1 2 ports, If I plug in any new hdd to Sata 4-5-6 or 7 two of others are disconnecting.
Is there any way to use all sata ports at the same time?