PC stops recognizing HDD's(SSD)

[csquared587]

Im running a crucial m4 with a 1tb data drive. My pc randomly started to lose sight if my 1tb data drive about two weeks ago, yesterday it started doing the with my m4. Windows will lock up and tell me to install Boot media when I restart. My ssd wont show up in the bios either unless I do a full power off. All of my connections are tight, I have tried different sata ports, and have reset my bios settings. It tends to lock up after about 30 minutes to an hour of being powered on.

Ive had this bulk of this PC since October, the 670 is relatively new and the PSU is from 2008ish. The M4 has been perfect until I woke up this morning.

asrock etreme3 gen3 mobo
crucial m4 ssd
1tb hdd
i5 2500k @3.2ghz
gtx 670
8gb ddr 3
520w corsair psu.

Any suggestions?

 

[larkspur]

By "reset my bios settings" do you mean cleared cmos using the jumper or removing the battery? Or did you do it from within the BIOS menu?

I had a similar issue with an Asus P6TD (socket 1366) board and while "restoring the defaults" from the BIOS menu saved properly, the same dropping of SATA drives and subsequent system instability remained until I used the clear cmos jumper. After that it was perfectly stable again. The system did that twice in 2.5 years. After the 2nd time I updated my BIOS since I noticed there had been a stability update and I haven't seen the problem since (fingers are still crossed).

Hope maybe that helps, also can you tell whether the instability is operating system specific? Do you have another OS you can run or boot from a CD/Flash drive with a stand-alone OS with a storage utility/benchmark? See if the stability is OS specific. If it is then maybe try updating the Intel RST driver.

 

[csquared587]

By "reset my bios settings" do you mean cleared cmos using the jumper or removing the battery? Or did you do it from within the BIOS menu?

I had a similar issue with an Asus P6TD (socket 1366) board and while "restoring the defaults" from the BIOS menu saved properly, the same dropping of SATA drives and subsequent system instability remained until I used the clear cmos jumper. After that it was perfectly stable again. The system did that twice in 2.5 years. After the 2nd time I updated my BIOS since I noticed there had been a stability update and I haven't seen the problem since (fingers are still crossed).

Hope maybe that helps, also can you tell whether the instability is operating system specific? Do you have another OS you can run or boot from a CD/Flash drive with a stand-alone OS with a storage utility/benchmark? See if the stability is OS specific. If it is then maybe try updating the Intel RST driver.

Before my post original post I only reset them in the BIOS. My motherboard had a clear cmos switch on the back that does the same thing as removing the batter(at least that is what I believe it does). Ive been running for nearly an hour now without issue, I hope is stays that way.


I could probably get a copy of linux later and see if I have similar issues? I am running Windows 7 64 bit at the moment, forgot to mention that earlier.


Thanks for the suggestions, really appreciate it.

 

[larkspur]

I could probably get a copy of linux later and see if I have similar issues? I am running Windows 7 64 bit at the moment, forgot to mention that earlier.

Well, thinking about it a little more it probably isn't OS-specific since the BIOS doesn't see the dropped drive until a full power off. Its nice to have a clear-cmos switch on the back I/O (unless you press it accidentally :lol: ). Anyway, if the system stays stable I would check and see if there's a BIOS update available.

 

[csquared587]

Well, thinking about it a little more it probably isn't OS-specific since the BIOS doesn't see the dropped drive until a full power off. Its nice to have a clear-cmos switch on the back I/O (unless you press it accidentally :lol: ). Anyway, if the system stays stable I would check and see if there's a BIOS update available.

Well, ssd crashed again. Im not sure what changed since last night, It is driving me crazy. I go to sleep, wake up with BSOD, restart and it tells me to install boot media. I just unplugged the 1tb hdd to see if the ssd still goes down.

 

[larkspur]

Ok, so after you clear the bios using the switch are you changing anything other than the date/time? Are you running the SATA mode as AHCI/RAID? Other than those two, you aren't dialing in an OC or letting your board auto-overclock or anything right?

I don't think your PSU should be a problem, but it is a little bit old. Usually lack of power would manifest in sudden restarts not in the dropping of SATA drives. Are you gaming or loading your GPU and CPU a lot when the drives drop or is it happening randomly? Since the problem has shown up near the time that the 670 was added, maybe you should try removing the 670 and running on integrated to see if the problem remains.

 

[csquared587]

Ok, so after you clear the bios using the switch are you changing anything other than the date/time? Are you running the SATA mode as AHCI/RAID? Other than those two, you aren't dialing in an OC or letting your board auto-overclock or anything right?

I don't think your PSU should be a problem, but it is a little bit old. Usually lack of power would manifest in sudden restarts not in the dropping of SATA drives. Are you gaming or loading your GPU and CPU a lot when the drives drop or is it happening randomly? Since the problem has shown up near the time that the 670 was added, maybe you should try removing the 670 and running on integrated to see if the problem remains.

Im running in ACHI mode, no overclocks on anything at all right now. I've been ready to upgrade that PSU, but I might have to hold off if I have another issue here. Do you think the motherboard could have gone bad for some reason? Im not sure why all the Sata ports would suddenly stop working, but I guess it is possible. Im really not doing anything when it freezes, reading basic forums while playing my Vita a bit. There doesn't seem to be any reall stress going on, win7 just randomly locks until it bsods or I restart. If it happens again Ill run integrated, still no crash since removing my 1tb hdd.

 

[larkspur]

Well the 670 obviously shouldn't be doing much while browsing, doesn't necessarily mean the PSU is still good but it was at least stable in games/compute for a few weeks before right?

Another thought, just speculation, I haven't used any of them myself, but on some boards there are utilities that allow you to change some BIOS settings from inside the OS. You're sure you aren't running anything like that right? Also, I suppose its worth asking, your temps are good and your case has good ventilation right? Are there spots of dust build-up anywhere on your motherboard?

Otherwise, just do like you're doing and keep peeling off components until you're as simple as you can get. I suppose it's worth trying a stand-alone anti-virus checker that boots from a CD. Try seeing if that crashes - run it several times if necessary to see if you get stability issues with that (or viruses : \ ).

If it gets down to the nitty gritty, you could pick up a PCIe SATA controller card. It's much better to go with your onboard SATA ports if you can but the PCIe SATA card could be a last resort. If you choose that route I suggest posting a new question explaining your faulty onboard SATA controller and what people would recommend for an inexpensive SATA 6.0gb/s PCIe controller to fit your needs.

 

[csquared587]

I just found this after my fresh install of windows gave me the same issues.

http://pndrw.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/crucial-m4-ssd-mandatory-firmware-update/

Too tired to do the firmware update now, but have any of you guys heard of this? He seemed to have had some of the same issues as me(freeze every hour, ssd bounces back after a power cycle). Ill update in the morning and check back.

 

[larkspur]

Updating the SSDs firmware sounds like a great idea. But doesn't explain why the 1tb HDD is dropping too. Do you have any other drives you can try in the system all by themselves? There is a small chance that nothing is wrong with the system, it's that your HDD is actually dying and your SSD just encountered the firmware bug you described.

 

[csquared587]

Updating the SSDs firmware sounds like a great idea. But doesn't explain why the 1tb HDD is dropping too. Do you have any other drives you can try in the system all by themselves? There is a small chance that nothing is wrong with the system, it's that your HDD is actually dying and your SSD just encountered the firmware bug you described.

Yea, its a bit odd. I updated the firmware at 11:00 a.m. and havent crashed since, right around 4 hours. I just hooked up my 1 tb drive again, I guess Ill see what happens with that.

Thanks for helping me troubleshoot it.

 

[csquared587]

Best answer selected by csquared587.