[SOLVED] Motherboard does not see SSDs

[bojan_vladek]

Hello guys. I have an "old-ish" motherboard nowadays, I think I got it in 2015 or 2016. It served flawlessly over the years but lately I have been having problems whenever I move the PC case around, something inside would pop out or slightly lose connection and suddenly I can't boot anymore or another drive is not recognized. However, I was always able to fix this issue by simply unplugging the sata cables and re-plugging them. Worked every single time, for years, like a charm. Until today. Right now I am again having this issue but this time unplug-regplug doesn't seem to work.

I have two SSDs and 1 external drive (no issues with that) connected to the motherboard, these are my only drives. C drive is boot and has windows in it, E drive has programs and games. F is an external drive. My problem is E doesn't seem to be recognized at all now. I tried different ports, switching the cable, blowing out dust etc. anything that came to my mind but nothing changed. In fact, something weird seems to be happening:
C drive seems to work on any port that I plug it into. E drive seems to work in none of the ports that I plug it into (tried all 6).
Here is what's really weird. If I plug the E drive to any other port while C is also plugged in, the bios doesn't recognize any drives connected at all. Then I remove the E drive, and reset, then windows boots up without a problem with the C drive flawlessly and even faster than usual.

I don't understand, what is happening? Is this motherboard finally dying? But then why is the C drive working? I'm sure, the E drive is physically fine because it's even newer than my C drive, same brand, samsung evo 850 & 860. I have no problems with it during gaming or anything. I know the issue is not the cables because I bought the two cables together and they are the same. Simple sata cables. The only reason I am able to write this right now on my pc is because the E drive is unplugged. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance. I can give more information if you want but I don't know what I should talk about.

 

[4745454b]

Sounds like E is dead. Test in another pc.

 

[bojan_vladek]

Sounds like E is dead. Test in another pc.

But why would that cause the bios to not recognize any other drives that are connected? The external drive or the other ssd that has no problems whatsoever are also ignored. If I boot up together with E, it's like nothing is connected to any ports. Dead drives do that? As soon as I remove E, everything else is recognized and it boots up...

Also I know it's not absolutely impossible, but it's statistically impossible that there is something wrong with that drive. It's brand new and I had no problems with it whatsoever. Why would a samsung 860 suddenly decide to die like that?

I'm experimenting with different ports for the boot drive and I occasionally get a not recognition for it as well. Switching the cables between 850 & 860 seems to give the same results so it's not the cable. I'm fairly sure it's not the drives, so can it be anything else?

 

[4745454b]

Removing the drive makes things work. And your convinced its not the drive because it's new? If new things ALWAYS work, why would there be a warranty period?

Again, test in another computer. If strange things happen it's the drive. Send back.

 

[bojan_vladek]

I think The BIOS will not detect a SSD if the data cable is damaged or the connection is incorrect. please make sure to check your SATA cables are tightly connected to the SATA port connection. The easiest way to test a cable is to replace it with another cable. If the problem persists, then the cable was not the cause of the problem.

Thanks, I switched the cables between the SSDs, and the C drive will boot regardless of cable, and E will always be broken regardless of cable. I also tried different ports, C seems to be booting up in all ports.

Removing the drive makes things work. And your convinced its not the drive because it's new? If new things ALWAYS work, why would there be a warranty period?

Again, test in another computer. If strange things happen it's the drive. Send back.

That is true, I get what you're saying but wouldn't I have experienced more problems on the way before something like this happened? Like random freezes or crashes on the way? Why would this instantly die, I don't understand.

Also there is new information I can present:
- When the problematic SSD is connected, the pc gets stuck in an automatic repair loop. I looked up the ways to fix this, it involves booting in safe mode, which I cannot do because I can't get past the Windows logo and the spinning dots. Any ideas for this?
-I've read that this can be caused by corrupt disk segments on the problematic drive. I would love to diskcheck that thing but windows will simply not boot when it is plugged. Instead it gets stuck on a BSOD for Ntfs.sys failed, and gets into the automatic repair loop. PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA is my bsod code.
-I already diskchecked my boot drive (while the bad SSD is unplugged), it said it found corrupt system files and repaired them. Then I rebooted as normal (the other one still unplugged).
-Can I maybe get around of this repair loop by unplugging the corrupted drive, getting into safe mode and then connecting the drive? Does that work?

 

[SkyNetRising]

- When the problematic SSD is connected, the pc gets stuck in an automatic repair loop. I looked up the ways to fix this, it involves booting in safe mode, which I cannot do because I can't get past the Windows logo and the spinning dots. Any ideas for this?

Make sure boot sequence in BIOS is correct after connecting problematic drive.

-I've read that this can be caused by corrupt disk segments on the problematic drive. I would love to diskcheck that thing but windows will simply not boot when it is plugged. Instead it gets stuck on a BSOD for Ntfs.sys failed, and gets into the automatic repair loop. PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA is my bsod code.

Corrupted file system can cause this.

-I already diskchecked my boot drive (while the bad SSD is unplugged), it said it found corrupt system files and repaired them. Then I rebooted as normal (the other one still unplugged).

You have to run chkdisk on problematic drive instead.

-Can I maybe get around of this repair loop by unplugging the corrupted drive, getting into safe mode and then connecting the drive? Does that work?

For this to work, hot plug feature has to be enabled in BIOS for sata port, where problematic drive is connected. Safe mode is not necessary.

 

[bojan_vladek]

SkyNetRising thanks so much, I tried the hot plug thing but I don't think I can boot while hot plug is enabled because it requires AHCI setting on the drives and then my boot drive becomes useless. Thanks anyway, unless I'm missing a way?

I need to somehow repair the file system on that drive, I am convinced that is the only issue. How can I do that? Can I use system restore, would that fix it?

 

[SkyNetRising]

I need to somehow repair the file system on that drive, I am convinced that is the only issue. How can I do that? Can I use system restore, would that fix it?

You could connect problematic drive with usb to sata adapter.

System restore doesn't fix corrupted file systems.

 

[bojan_vladek]

So you're saying I can use a usb to sata adapter to get past the repair loop maybe? Then I can try the other usual steps (chkdsk scannow etc.) to fix the issue? Is that correct?

My main issue is that whenever I plug this drive in, the pc doesn't boot no matter what I do, I can't launch safe mode, I can't repair with command prompt or anything else. Therefore I can't use any of the traditional solutions in all of the articles. Would this adapter get me past this automatic repair loop?

I really don't want to mess with data recovery, there is a gigantic amount of unsorted crap in that drive. If it is possible to just fix the file system by commands and checks I would really love that.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Would this adapter get me past this automatic repair loop?

Well - obviously.
With USB to sata adapter you can connect the drive after system has already booted into windows.

 

[bojan_vladek]

Thanks then! I will definitely try the adapter, they seem pretty cheap. One last thing, if you have a spare time could you take a look at this other thread I've found https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/hdd-failure-page-fault-in-nonpaged-area-ntfs-sys.3356815/ They seem to have fixed the file system corruption by plugging the drive to a non-windows system, saved the files and reformatted the drive and put the files back. You think that's a viable solution for this diabolical mess?
Thanks for everything.

 

[SkyNetRising]

They seem to have fixed the file system corruption by plugging the drive to a non-windows system, saved the files and reformatted the drive and put the files back. You think that's a viable solution for this diabolical mess?

That could work too.

 

[bojan_vladek]

That could work too.

Thanks my friend, I was able to fix it by the sata to usb converter you told me. I connected the problematic disk to an old winxp laptop i keep around for no reason. I guess there was a reason after all. It didn't blue screen on me when I plugged the drive so I was able to use the disk check commands on it and fixed whatever issue was with the file system. Thanks a lot for your help, I really mean it, thank you.

Have an awesome day now.

addition: just for information's sake; i wasn't able to make use of the sata to usb converter on my actual pc, as it would still bsod as soon as i plugged the drive even with the converter. i ended up using an old pc, apparently in this case windows xp is as good as a non-windows os for some reason...