Question MSI Z590 PRO WI "INCOMPATIBLE WITH WESTERN DIGITAL GOLD 18 TB DRIVE

[mdmarmd]

I submitted the following issue to MSI support:

I have been using this MSI motherboard with no problems until last month when my WD Gold™ Enterprise Class SATA HDD - 18TB drive began clicking quite loudly and then no longer showed up on Disk Manager. It also then blocked the OS from booting up as long as it was attached to the MB. Previously, I also began to have errors with the main OS drive (Hitachi HDS724040ALE640 [Hard drive] (4000.79 GB) and a WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA HDD-12 TB drive, all attached to this motherboard. When I ran HD Tune Pro, it would show "Number of interface communication errors: 61 that might be caused by damaged cable" on each of these drives. I changed all the SATA cables but the errors kept showing up. The loud clicking of the 18TB drive was quite worrisome as it indicated to me imminent failure, but I was at a distant site and needed to still use the PC and data on the drive. Then the drive failed altogether. I didn't do anything further with it, not wanting to compound the problem. I wanted to wait and see if connecting the drive through a USB docking station would permit me to see the drive again.

When I got back home, I connected the drive to another computer but this time through a StareTek USB 3.0 Drive docking station. Holding my breath, I spun up the drive and fortunately it showed up and I could see my data. I then bought a WD Gold 20TB drive to backup the data on the 18TB drive. I don't want to attach the 18TB drive directly to either PC until I have the data safely backed up. I am now suspecting that their could be some problem with the SATA ports on the MSI motherboard as the loud clicking was only heard when it was attached to the MSI PC. Once I backup the data I will connect the 18TB drive directly to the PC with a ASUS Z97-A-USB31 Rev 1.xx motherboard. If the drive reads OK but then falters on the MSI PC, it would imply, to me, that something is faulty on the MSI SATA ports.

Is there anyway to trouble shoot this problem and determine where the malfunction is coming from?[/I]

Their response was that the drive was incompatible with this motherboard and I need to choose another drive from their very restrictive list.
I read of no potential drive incompatibilities when I read over the motherboard manual before buying this board.
As ths drive cost over $500 as did the 20TB drive I just bought to back it up, I would like to know if anyone can recommend any help for this problem.
The fact that the 18TB drive worked fine for 1 year and only recently started to show extreme signs of failer (loud clicking leading to loss of registration on the OS, but works on another PC, seemes to indicate a problem with the MSI SATA controllers or something along that line.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Doug
PS: the support site for this motherboard shows three updates:
Intel Chipset Driver
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver
Bios

Any chance these might help?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

MSI Z590 PRO
What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard?

the support site for this motherboard shows three updates
Cross reference the versions you have on your platform currently and update them manually. Don't use an app to tell you that your platform is pending updates.

I also began to have errors with the main OS drive (Hitachi HDS724040ALE640 [Hard drive] (4000.79 GB)
I would invest in an SSD and reinstall the OS without any other drive hooked to the platform to prevent the OS from installing some parts onto other drives(by accident).

 

[mdmarmd]

The bios is the original one when I installed the OS in April 2022:

American Megatrends International, LLC. A.00, 5/19/2021

I actually have a WD BLACK SN750NCMe SSD for the OS drive. The 4 TB drive is actually another data drive that I rarely use.

So, I could update to the latest bios. Also, I see two other drivers that can be updated and I didn't know if they would be relevant to this problem:

Intel Chipset Drivers10.1.18836.82832022-01-12

Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver18.6.1.10162022-01-12

The MSI support guy was entirely worthless. First, he said the 18TB was not on their (very restrictive) compatibiliy list. So, buy another drive. The largest WD drive on their list is only a 6TB Blue drive. They have Seagate drives to 18TB.

I asked him if updating the bios might help and he says I can try, but didn't say if it would help. He didn't say if the other driver updates would help either.

So, I anyone with enough technical knowledge can say if these options might be helpful, I'd appreciate it.

Doug

 

[mdmarmd]

I forgot to add that it seems odd that I should start seeing error messages--(C7) Interface CRC Error Count, Data 61 attention-- on the 4TB, 12TB and 18TB drives seems unlikely to be a random occurance. They did not correct after I switch SATA cables around and finally replaced them all with new cables.

Does anyone know if installing a PCIe SATA card would bypass this problem if it's coming from the SATA controllers on the motherboard?

Thanks

 

[neojack]

if several drives connected to the same motherboard died, then the drives works when you plug them to another computer, it means that the SATA controller on your motherboard is the problem.

i had this problem once. it's very rare but it happens.

If i were you I would not trust the sata ports on the motherboard anymore. If the motherboard is out of warranty, you can buy an expension card.

 

[mdmarmd]

So you referred to the question I raised about using a SATA expansion card to bypass the SATA ports on the motherboard. So, you think this would be a viable solution to get around this problem since the motherboard was out of warranty as of last April.

Thanks

 

[mdmarmd]

I think I will try bypassing the motherboard SATA Ports as suggested.

I have been considering making an external hard drive cage for awhile. I looked at the retail ones available but saw horror stories about how some had experienced cheaply made hardware that even had destroyed some of their data drives. I want to put two 12TB, a 16TB and this 18 TB drive in it so I don't want to risk the drives. I thought about the USB3 drive docks, but worried that if the power supply to the dock failed for some reason, the dat might be at risk. So, I think I'll try making an external dock with regular SAS to SATA connectors so it will run essentially as it would inside the PC.

Since I will have to get some kind of M.2 or PCIe adaptor with either a SATA or SAS controller I considered getting a PCIe SAS/SATA controller card. Then I could use the SAS to SATA x 4 cable to connect the hard drives externally. That gets around the short length limitations on the length of the SATA cables. Then I just have to provide a daisy chain power supply to the SATA drives.

I have seen one option on Amazon that has a PCIe controller and an internal mini SAS port.

https://www.amazon.com/Leimezsty-Controller-Expansion-Accessory-PCIExpress/dp/B0CHW3DBRX

Another PCIe card has an external SAS port

Amazon.com

And, finally, I saw a M.2 PCI SAS controller that could connect to 8 SAS to SATA drives. That might be useful since I have two empty M.2 sockets.

M.2 PCIe3.0 to 8 Ports SATA 6G Controller Card B/M key with 2 Mini SAS Interface | eBay

1 x M.2(PCIe3.0) to 8 SATA 6G Adapter. Supports Native Command Queue (NCQ). 2 x MINI SAS to 4 SATA Cable. Supports 8 SATA port. Complies with SATA Specification Revision 3.2. Supports SATA link power saving mode (partial and slumber).

www.ebay.com

Not so sure about the reliability of this last one however.

Maybe it's a dumb idea . Anyway, if anyone could give me some input, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks

Doug