Question Maximum number of optical drives supported in Windows PC ?

[Lakesdweller]

Hi, this is my first post, so please excuse any breach of etiquette Also, I've searched the forum and couldn't see this question, but please direct me to one if it already exists.

I have just finished my second self build Windows PC. I wanted to maximise the number of internal optical drives. The ASRock mboard has 8 SATA connections, my case can hold 5 optical drives, so I was intending to connect 5 drives. Once I got the system up and running, it will only recognise upto 3 optical drives (I've tested all 5 individually and all work fine). I've tried swapping the SATA cables around and the result is that I still only get 3 working drives. I'm using W11 Pro.

Interestingly, I had the same problem with my previous build (ASUS P8Z77-V Premium / Windows 10). I'd always assumed it was a mboard issue, but now the issue has repeated on a new mboard I'm wondering if it's a Windows limit?

I know I can use external drive enclosures if necessary, but would prefer not to.

Any help / advice / guidance gratefully received, thanks.

Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D
CPU: Intel i9-13900K (stock speed)
CPU cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360
MB: ASrock Z790 Taichi
Ram: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM 96GB (2x48GB) 6400MHz CL32
Graphics: Onboard
Audio: Onboard
M.2 (boot disk): Crucial T700 4TB Gen5 NVMe
Data disk: Samsung SSD 860 PRO 1TB
Data disk: WD 18TB Gold Enterprise
PSU: Corsair AX1600i
SATA Optical drives: HP bd335 / Plextor PX-L890SA / HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH16NS40 / Plextor PX-716SA / Sony Optiarc DVD RW AD-7200S
Windows 11 Pro (22H2)

 

[helpstar]

If PCIE3 is occupied, SATA3_0~3 will be disabled.

if nothing is plugged into PCIE3, try updating the BIOS to the latest version

 

[Moonstick2]

I'm pretty sure there's no practical Windows limit. Back in the Win 7 days there were quite a few people running several optical drives and I'd be surprised if Win 11 had introduced one somehow.

If you go into BIOS, does that show all the optical drives when they're connected?

If not, I'd also be minded to try unplugging all the hard drives and seeing if the optical drives are shown then. The SATA ones initially, then the M.2 if you have no luck. If you can get all the optical drives recognised in BIOS then you can work with adding hard drives from there to try and work out what's going on.

 

[Lakesdweller]

If PCIE3 is occupied, SATA3_0~3 will be disabled.

if nothing is plugged into PCIE3, try updating the BIOS to the latest version

Hi helpstar, thanks for the reply. PCIE3 is empty (nothing in any of the PCIE ports).

I did update the BIOS before posting (sorry - should have mentioned that) and no change to recognition of optical drives.

Ben

 

[Lakesdweller]

I'm pretty sure there's no practical Windows limit. Back in the Win 7 days there were quite a few people running several optical drives and I'd be surprised if Win 11 had introduced one somehow.

If you go into BIOS, does that show all the optical drives when they're connected?

If not, I'd also be minded to try unplugging all the hard drives and seeing if the optical drives are shown then. The SATA ones initially, then the M.2 if you have no luck. If you can get all the optical drives recognised in BIOS then you can work with adding hard drives from there to try and work out what's going on.

Hi Moonstick2, thanks for the reply.

I'll investigate as per your suggestions and post a reply later. I'm going to be out most of the day, so won't be immediate.

 

[geofelt]

You should be able to buy a sata add in card like this:

https://www.newegg.com/p/17Z-00SW-00034

or, like this:

https://www.newegg.com/p/17Z-0003-00027

 

[Lakesdweller]

You should be able to buy a sata add in card like this:

https://www.newegg.com/p/17Z-00SW-00034

or, like this:

https://www.newegg.com/p/17Z-0003-00027

Hi geofelt, thanks for the reply. Those are great suggestions - I'll investigate if I can't get the mboard SATA's working properly.
Ben

 

[Lakesdweller]

I'm pretty sure there's no practical Windows limit. Back in the Win 7 days there were quite a few people running several optical drives and I'd be surprised if Win 11 had introduced one somehow.

If you go into BIOS, does that show all the optical drives when they're connected?

If not, I'd also be minded to try unplugging all the hard drives and seeing if the optical drives are shown then. The SATA ones initially, then the M.2 if you have no luck. If you can get all the optical drives recognised in BIOS then you can work with adding hard drives from there to try and work out what's going on.

Hi Moonstick2. Apologies for delay in updating. I've been busy with family stuff since my last post so haven't had a chance to try your advised tactic of unplugging drives.

...however... I have restarted my PC a few times in last few days and the last two times I've restarted, all the optical drives have been recognised! Perhaps it was the magic dust shared in this forum...? 😉

I haven't tinkered with anything, so am at a loss to explain. I can't help thinking this might be just one of those things where sometimes a restart doesn't show all the optical drives and other times it does. If it happens again, I guess I should contact ASRock and see if they can help.

Anyhow, many thanks to you and the others who posted answers to my question - I really appreciate the support