I cannot get Windows 8 install to see my 840 pro SSD

[Chris888]

I have been toiling, looking through BIOs, trying preinstalls with SATA drivers and searching the Internet forums for about two weeks and I am drained and lost. I can't get Windows 8 to see my SSD for the life of me.

Here is my pc parts:

Case: Prodigy Bitfenix
PSU: 660W Seasonic Plat.
Mobi: Gigabyte Z77N Wifi
CPU: i5-3570K
RAM: 8GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance
SSD: Samsung 128GB 840 Pro (data cable plugged in and is going to be my OS drive)
SSD: Samsung 512GB 840 Pro (disconnected right now to avoid confusion with windows) This will be my games, etc drive.
GPU: GeForce GTX670 power edition

Two things: I am pretty much a layman and this is a brand new self built pc. The only software I have tried to install in that pc is Windows.

I have built 3 other machines but never had this issue before. I don't know what else to do. Can anyone tell me where to go from here?

I did try doing a preinstall with sata drivers but it did not work. I am trying not to do too much random stuff bc I feel I will make one problem into many more.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Chris

 

[thecynicalmonk]

Did you enable AHCI in the BIOS? ...(souce)

 

[Chris888]

Did you enable AHCI in the BIOS? ...(souce)

Yes, I did and it is actually its default setting.

A couple of other ideas I have not tried is updating bios or switching to IDE and then changing it back after install. I know a bad bios flash can mess the mobo though and I have not even looked to see what hell I would go through setting IDE back if I decided to choose IDE before the install.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

One post per topic plz

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1665461/windows-install-840-pro-ssd.html

Tried swapping the drives ?

Have it connected on SATA 0 port ?

 

[Chris888]

One post per topic plz

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1665461/windows-install-840-pro-ssd.html

Tried swapping the drives ?

Have it connected on SATA 0 port ?

I have the smaller drive that will have the OS in SATA 0 and the other one (when I hook it up) will be in SATA 1. My CD/DVD is in the SATA 2 which is the other non-white color SATA socket.

Out of curiosity I would also like to know the proper boot priority when preparing for the Windows Installation. I believe it was supposed to be the CD/DVD first then the SSD then w/e else.

I thought that after you get everything set up and installed you can go back and switch the priority so that the SSD is the first boot. Just making sure I understand as I got a laptop last time and some things are a bit foggy and although I looked at that Mobo guide real good I still feel its not enough.

Also, I am sorry for the double post. I was trying figure out which box to reply in and I was doing it on a little iphone....a deadly combo..

 

[popatim]

1: you have to be installing 64 bit win8
2: verify that the bios is seeing the drive
3: select the uefi drive when the win8 asks you to select the boot device.
4: go thru the normal install stuff but select CUSTOM install
5: delete all existing partitions on the ssd until its show the whole drive as unallocated
6:click on NEW and then APPLY and OK to accept initializing the whole drive and uefi boot partition.
7: drive will be partitioned into 4 parts. select drive 0 partition 4 to install to
8:You might receive a "Windows can't be installed on drive 0" warning, but as long as you can click on the Next button, you're fine.
9: continue with normal win8 setup

 

[TheCompander]

1: you have to be installing 64 bit win8
2: verify that the bios is seeing the drive
3: select the uefi drive when the win8 asks you to select the boot device.
4: go thru the normal install stuff but select CUSTOM install
5: delete all existing partitions on the ssd until its show the whole drive as unallocated
6:click on NEW and then APPLY and OK to accept initializing the whole drive and uefi boot partition.
7: drive will be partitioned into 4 parts. select drive 0 partition 4 to install to
8:You might receive a "Windows can't be installed on drive 0" warning, but as long as you can click on the Next button, you're fine.
9: continue with normal win8 setup

Hi, is steps 5-7 neccessary and why?

I've got a similar problem trying to narrow down what it could be.

I might try your steps tomorrow, but what i've been doing is just selecting the 840 pro and hitting install, which goes to black screen on reboot in a clean install process.

 

[popatim]

uefi install is probably whats throwing you.
5-7 are necessary to delete the partitions the previous install attempts had created and to prep the drive for the win8 uefi install.

Uefi is the newer bios style.

 

[arnomd]

5-7 worked. Thank you popatim!