Proper Boot Device not Selected

[Benedict_2]

My friend recently got a new 1TB HDD for his computer since he only has a 256GB SSD with Windows 10 Home on it. Since installing the HDD his computer requests a proper boot device to be selected, however I have gone in the bios and disabled every boot option besides the SSD, which has his OS on it.

Components
MSI Z97 PC Mate Mobo
i5 4590 3.3GHz
8GB of 1866 RAM DDR3
550W PSU (Maybe 600W)
256GB Samsung SSD
1TB WD HDD
EVGA GTX 960

Everything was working fine before this, but now his computer states he does not have a proper boot device. Both SSD and HDD are plugged into motherboard via SATA cable, and both are plugged to the power supply. I don't know if this makes a difference, but both drives are plugged in from the same cable from the PSU, not a separate cable. (You know how one cable will have like 3 power connectors on it for Hard drives, CD drives, etc.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

P.S. A weird thing occurs with his machine as well, I'll go to the BIOS to try and make some changes, save and reboot. Then it won't work, stating a proper boot device is not selected. So I will restart and then pressing delete will not allow me to go into the BIOS; I have to unplug some hardware component in the computer and then restart and then I can get into the BIOS. I'm not sure what is causing this.

Thanks again for any help!!!

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, Benedict_2.

Does the computer boot properly when you disconnect the HDD? If "yes", I'd recommend that you check if there's a firmware update available for the SSD and install it if you find one. You could also try updating the BIOS/UEFI, to see if that fixes things up.
Generally a cable with 2 connectors shouldn't be an issue, but I've seen this causing similar problems before, so it would be nice if you could try connecting the drive to a different SATA port and different cables, just to see if the same thing happens again. You could try it with a different computer as well and download DLG (Data Lifeguard) so that you can run both tests (Quick and Extended), to make sure that everything's OK with the hard drive. Here's how to do it: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Paul NZ]

If you mean molex adapters they have a habit of coming out (the pins). Result no power

 

[Benedict_2]

Hi Boogieman_WD,

Thanks for the quick response, if I disconnect the new HDD the computer does not boot properly. When I get home I am going to try and set the Mobo to defaults and if this does not work then I will see if there are any updates for the firmware. I will also switch out cables to see if maybe those are the issue. If none of these work I will do your suggestion with the lifeguard and see if the drives are okay. Will post results later today.

Hey there, Benedict_2.

Does the computer boot properly when you disconnect the HDD? If "yes", I'd recommend that you check if there's a firmware update available for the SSD and install it if you find one. You could also try updating the BIOS/UEFI, to see if that fixes things up.
Generally a cable with 2 connectors shouldn't be an issue, but I've seen this causing similar problems before, so it would be nice if you could try connecting the drive to a different SATA port and different cables, just to see if the same thing happens again. You could try it with a different computer as well and download DLG (Data Lifeguard) so that you can run both tests (Quick and Extended), to make sure that everything's OK with the hard drive. Here's how to do it: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Benedict_2]

I waited for my friend to get home, once he got home I reset BIOS to Default. I set Boot Order as #1 UEFI Hard Disk and #2 as the Samsung (1 & 2 are essentially the same). His computer booted up and we initialized the Hard Drive, everything is working good.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

You did a good job there by fixing things up.

Cheers!