PC Won't Boot Properly After Adding Additional HDD

[xThumbx]

Hey guys, I've searched around the forum, and I think my issue is similar to this one, but he was unable to resolve it in the original PC. http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3041873/windows-boot-adding-storage-hdd.html?xtor=EREC-8889

My HTPC build is below and here's the issue. I've got my OS (Windows) running off of the 120GB SSD and 2x2TB HDDs installed for media storage. I tried to add a 4TB HDD for a RAID 1 config with the 2x2TB HDDs today, and ran into a problem. Whenever the new 4TB HDD is plugged in, the system boots properly, but will not display the drive in Disk Management although it shows up in both the BIOS and Device Manager (with IDE set on the BIOS). When I try to set AHCI in the BIOS the system won't boot at all, it just gets stuck after the initial BIOS startup screen. When I completely unplug the 4TB HDD, the system runs just fine.

I've attempted to connect multiple different power lines to the HDD, but that didn't seem to fix anything either. Does anyone have any troubleshooting ideas?

CPU: AMD A6-5400K
MOBO: ASRock - FM2A75M Pro4+ Micro ATX FM2+
RAM: 10GB DDR3
PSU: Corsair CX430M
Boot Drive: Samsung 120GB SSD
Storage Drives: 1x2TB WD Green, 1x2TB WD Blue, 1x4TB WD Blue
Case: Silverstone ML03B

 

[mazboy]

What version of Windows are you running?

When you try to change from "RAID" to "AHCI" you should get a terror message that says something like "You've ruined your computer forever and it will never boot again until you reinstall the OS". That's why it won't boot when you do that. When you installed WinXX on the SSD, you should have (or BIOS may have done it by itself) set it to "AHCI". Usually (almost always) when you change this setting in BIOS, the computer will refuse to boot, then, when you change it back to the original setting, it still won't boot. I've experienced this before on several different computers.

How full is your SSD? If it's <90%, that could be your problem, as the OS tries to manage the SSD.

Have you already partitioned the new 4TB HDD? If it can be seen by Disk Manager, I'd be inclined to delete the partitions, repartition it, and then reformat it on the computer you're trying to set up the RAID on, just to see what happens. What RAID software are you using? Is it installed yet, and can it see the entire system?

I find it really interesting that the person in the article you referenced finally solved his problem by buying another HDD. There never was an explanation for the problem. Please keep posting with solutions/problems

 

[xThumbx]

What version of Windows are you running?

When you try to change from "RAID" to "AHCI" you should get a terror message that says something like "You've ruined your computer forever and it will never boot again until you reinstall the OS". That's why it won't boot when you do that. When you installed WinXX on the SSD, you should have (or BIOS may have done it by itself) set it to "AHCI". Usually (almost always) when you change this setting in BIOS, the computer will refuse to boot, then, when you change it back to the original setting, it still won't boot. I've experienced this before on several different computers.

How full is your SSD? If it's <90%, that could be your problem, as the OS tries to manage the SSD.

Have you already partitioned the new 4TB HDD? If it can be seen by Disk Manager, I'd be inclined to delete the partitions, repartition it, and then reformat it on the computer you're trying to set up the RAID on, just to see what happens. What RAID software are you using? Is it installed yet, and can it see the entire system?

I find it really interesting that the person in the article you referenced finally solved his problem by buying another HDD. There never was an explanation for the problem. Please keep posting with solutions/problems

- I'm running Windows 10
- Hahaha, well actually I never selected RAID in the BIOS. AHCI was selected by default, and when I noticed the issues, I attempted to change to IDE to see if that would help.

I know you said that after changing those settings in the BIOS (even after changing them back) the computer may have trouble rebooting. What would the solution be to that? Reinstalling the OS on the SSD?

- The SSD is only about 40% full, so I don't think that's the issue.
- I haven't been able to partition the new HDD yet. It won't show up in either Windows Explorer or in Disk Management, so I'm not sure where I could reformat it.

- I haven't decided on a RAID software yet. I was initially just going to use Windows Storage Spaces as a pseudo-RAID 1 solution, but I'm not set on it. Hence why I selected IDE originally in the BIOS

 

[mazboy]

Yeah, once you started messing with the whole BIOS "RAID/AHCI/etc" thing, it usually always comes down to having to do a reinstall. I would suggest that you remove (just disconnect the SATA data cables) all the HDDs, leaving only the SSD you want to install the OS on. Go here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 to get the very latest version of Win10. It's worth it to start with this, as it could save some problems during the install.

Immediately after the install completes, go to "settings->Update & security->Windows Update->Check for updates" and get all the latest stuff downloaded and installed. Once that’s done, install the latest driver for your discreet GPU (if you have one). Then you can start installing your applications.

BTW, Win10 has a great backup system at settings->Update & Security->Backup to set up automatic backups. Make sure "Automatically back up my files" is turned on, the click on "more options". Tell it how often you want it to back up your files (I use the default "Every Hour"), then select the drives/folders/files you want to backup. Finally, select the backup drive target. I installed a gigantic (4TB) HDD and just use it to back everything else to it. The nice thing about this particular setup is that the backups are readable: you can actually transfer the backup files to other media and open them without any hassle.

The other trick Win10 has is the ability to do image backup files of ALL your drives (I do this, and include the internal backup HDD, too). This is found at Control Panel->System and Security->File History then look down at the bottom left-hand corner and click on "System Image Backup". I use WD 4TB HDDs to do my image backup files to. Works great. Takes forever (I set it up and let it run overnight).

 

[xThumbx]

Thanks for the quick replys mazboy. I've removed the new 4TB HDD from the system completely now, and the computer is running fine. That makes me suspect that it might be the mobo or the PSUs ability to power/manage a 4th hard drive in the system. Could either of those be the issue? Is there maybe some firmware limitations on certain mobos that need updated to allow large (4TB+) drive to be run on the system?

Win10s backup is one of the reasons for adding the drive. I wanted to be able to use a full 4TB and still have a mirrored backup in case of drive fail. Thanks for the advice!

 

[mazboy]

Some motherboards use one of the SATA ports for other stuff--m.2 slot, wifi, etc, but it ends up an asterick in the specifications so you don't notice it so much. That could be your problem. It's unlikely to be your PSU, as that would affect the entire system (if you overloaded it, it would simply shut down, or force the system to restart). You might have a bad SATA port on the motherboard. The only way to test for that is to swap SATA data cables between drives (NEVER SWAP THE C:\ CABLE!!!). Win10 really hates it when you do this, so if you want to try, do it with empty drives.

 

[xThumbx]

I'll give that a shot and type an update when it's done!

 

[xThumbx]

That was it! All I needed to do was move the SATA data cable to a different port on the motherboard. I somehow overlooked the extra 2 ports that were there. Thanks mazboy!