HDD problems in new build

[Tagkis]

Hi. I just built my first PC. Initially installed OS (Win10) onto a Samsung evo 250gb SSD from a disk in connected optical drive. Had plans to add a new 1TB seagate internal HDD. I didn't connect the HDD initially until everything was installed and working. With the HDD connected now though the computer gets stuck at the startup screen. I'm using the same SATA cable initially connected to the optical drive (only had two cables to begin with). Reconnecting to optical drive makes it work fine. I've checked the BIOS menu. SSD is picked to boot from. Another issue is if I connect an older external drive internally, it will start up fine but see the drive as unformatted. Putting the external drive back in its enclosure and connecting via usb shows all data still there. Any idea what the problem is in either or both cases? Thanks!

Specs:
mobo: Asus Z97-AR
CPU: intel i5 4460
SSD: Samsung evo 250 gb
new HDD: Seagate barracuda 1TB
old HDD: Seagate 5TB

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the community, Tagkis!

I think that the issue with your internal HDD is a faulty connection or the hard drive itself is faulty. I'd recommend you to try troubleshooting it externally via a SATA-to-USB cable + adapter or using a docking station. Another alternative method for testing such a drive when it interferes with the booting, is to test it using a DOS version of your HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool. You should be able to find such a utility on their official website.
In order to check if the source of the issue of that internal drive is somewhere else, I'd suggest to use a different SATA cable and try connecting it to a different SATA port on the motherboard. If you have access to another computer, I'd even check how the HDD is performing there as well.

As for the external HDD and the formatting issue, it's quite common since most of the external HDDs are configured differently (using different LBAs configuration). Once you take it out of the enclosure, you expose the drive to its native SATA LBAs by plugging it internally. If you plan to use it internally, you'd need to reformat it in order for the drive to be accessible via SATA connection. You should keep in mind that taking an HDD out of its original enclosure voids the warranty on the drive!

Hope I was helpful. Best of luck & Happy Holidays!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Tagkis]

Welcome to the community, Tagkis!

I think that the issue with your internal HDD is a faulty connection or the hard drive itself is faulty. I'd recommend you to try troubleshooting it externally via a SATA-to-USB cable + adapter or using a docking station. Another alternative method for testing such a drive when it interferes with the booting, is to test it using a DOS version of your HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool. You should be able to find such a utility on their official website.
In order to check if the source of the issue of that internal drive is somewhere else, I'd suggest to use a different SATA cable and try connecting it to a different SATA port on the motherboard. If you have access to another computer, I'd even check how the HDD is performing there as well.

As for the external HDD and the formatting issue, it's quite common since most of the external HDDs are configured differently (using different LBAs configuration). Once you take it out of the enclosure, you expose the drive to its native SATA LBAs by plugging it internally. If you plan to use it internally, you'd need to reformat it in order for the drive to be accessible via SATA connection. You should keep in mind that taking an HDD out of its original enclosure voids the warranty on the drive!

Hope I was helpful. Best of luck & Happy Holidays!
SuperSoph_WD

Thanks for the welcome and reply SuperSoph. I did just what you said. Put it into an external enclosure and connected via USB. Still couldn't see it on my new system. I connected it to my laptop and was able to see it but couldn't initialize/format it. Tried using disk management and diskpart and kept getting an I/O error. I also tried to format it with Windows installation disk and it said it couldn't install to that disk. Also connected it to another computer and got the same I/O error. So... I've resolved to send it back. Thanks for the info on the external HDD. That makes sense. Happy holidays!