[SOLVED] Sata ports don't work on Optiplex 760

[benrivera]

I have a Dell Optiplex. I was planning on using it for a dropbox server where i could just connect hard drives to it and transfer files through my network. The machine has 4 sata ports, the first one seemed to work fine but sata ports 1-3 don't work for some reason. i tried removing port 2 and hand soldering cables on to the mobo, but that didn't work. whenever i boot up the hard drive doesnt show up. I have tried connecting to the sta ports with both a Kingston 240Gb and a segeate 3.5" 7.2k rpm HD

CPU: Core 2 duo E8400
Ram: 2gb 800mhz
GPU: intel GMA 4500 HD (integrated)
MB: intel Q43 express
SSD: Kingston 240GB

 

[Ralston18]

What about the PSU? Is it known to be fully operational and able to provide the necessary wattage at all voltages?

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158

Not so sure about being able to hand solder SATA cables (?) directly to the motherboard in lieu of physical SATA ports.

Likely doing so would raise design issues and the physical process, even with skilled hand soldering, is likely to damage the board.

I would be very careful about further attempts to connect SATA drives.

There could be something else wrong that could damage the drives. Via either power or data connections.

 

[helpstar]

did you try different sata cables?

Are the drive recognized in the BIOS?

 

[benrivera]

What about the PSU? Is it known to be fully operational and able to provide the necessary wattage at all voltages?

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158

Not so sure about being able to hand solder SATA cables (?) directly to the motherboard in lieu of physical SATA ports.

Likely doing so would raise design issues and the physical process, even with skilled hand soldering, is likely to damage the board.

I would be very careful about further attempts to connect SATA drives.

There could be something else wrong that could damage the drives. Via either power or data connections.

yes, i tried manually testing the psu first, and then i tried powering the same SSD with the power connectors from the PSU. all the power connectors worked fine, when i booted up the pc, the hard drive would power on, but it would not be present in the BIOS, or windows. (I am using windows 10)

 

[benrivera]

did you try different sata cables?

Are the drive recognized in the BIOS?

yes, i tried a newer sata 3 cable that was labeled for 6gb/s and i also tried an older cable that came with the machine, neither worked. I tested both cables on my actual PC which works.
the specs of my machine are:
CPU: i3-9100f
GPU: GTX 1660 Super
Ram: ddr4 8gb 2666mhz
Psu: evga 500w 80+ bronze
SSD: adata xpg nvme 240gb
no they are not, when i go to boot options they are not recognized, only the drive i use in the sata 0 port works fine.

 

[benrivera]

Not so sure about being able to hand solder SATA cables (?) directly to the motherboard in lieu of physical SATA ports.

sorry for not being clear, there were 2 sata ports missing for some reason, sata ports 2 and 3, for some reason. so i manually soldered cables to the missing connections and connected them to a sata cable i split open to try to connect to a hard drive.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

sorry for not being clear, there were 2 sata ports missing for some reason, sata ports 2 and 3, for some reason. so i manually soldered cables to the missing connections and connected them to a sata cable i split open to try to connect to a hard drive.

They were not present for a reason. It's more than likely that Dell only implemented 2 SATA ports on that motherboard. One for a CD/DVD, and the other for a single Hard Drive. BIOS may well have been coded to only see 2 ports. Unless that Dell was sold as a server it's not a server.

 

[Ralston18]

Take a closer look at the motherboard; model number, revision, serial number information.

Google Intel accordingly.

If SATA ports 2 and 3 were missing it is very likely that the board did not/does not support having them.

Just SATA 0 and SATA 1 perhaps. So the manufacturer's do not bother installing the actual physical port.

Now they might have started doing so if there was some future plan to do so but that plan may or may not be retroactive to your motherboard.

And, even if "backwards compatible", the soldering may have may made doing so completely moot.

 

[benrivera]

They were not present for a reason. It's more than likely that Dell only implemented 2 SATA ports on that motherboard. One for a CD/DVD, and the other for a single Hard Drive. BIOS may well have been coded to only see 2 ports. Unless that Dell was sold as a server it's not a server.

thank you for replying. the second port, sata port #1 does not work for some reason, so even if dell only wanted 2 ports, why would the second one not work?

 

[benrivera]

Take a closer look at the motherboard; model number, revision, serial number information.

Google Intel accordingly.

If SATA ports 2 and 3 were missing it is very likely that the board did not/does not support having them.

Just SATA 0 and SATA 1 perhaps. So the manufacturer's do not bother installing the actual physical port.

Now they might have started doing so if there was some future plan to do so but that plan may or may not be retroactive to your motherboard.

And, even if "backwards compatible", the soldering may have may made doing so completely moot.

but is it normal for one of the ports that was included to not work? my problem is that i plan to use both ports if not all 4. but only the one meant for the boot drive works, shouldn't the other one that came with a port also work?

 

[benrivera]

Take a closer look at the motherboard; model number, revision, serial number information.

Google Intel accordingly.

If SATA ports 2 and 3 were missing it is very likely that the board did not/does not support having them.

I have another mobo of the same model of the pc that has some bent pins in the cpu socket, when i look at that motherboard, it came with sata ports # 0-2, but was missing number 3, i dont know what this means?

 

[Ralston18]

What it means:

Referencing @ex-bubblehead's post the missing SATA ports "were not present for a reason."

Could have been any number of reasons: Keep costs down, SATA was "new" and adoption rates unknown, adding more ports created design and footprint issues, evolving design standards/requirements, etc., etc. Who knows....?

On the other hand manufacturer's (motherboard designers) often try to think ahead. They may leave an open space on the motherboard for future use; e.g., additional SATA ports. They may even install a physical port and the necessary circuitry in anticipation of future changes and new firmware. Does not get directly used but someone does a hack such as you have been trying to do and repurposes things.

Sometimes designers' reserve pins and sockets for "testing purposes". But in reality those pins and sockets are simply placeholders that, if well thought out, can be used for a variety of possible uses. Common in electronics.

Implementing physical changes on motherboards usually takes place incrementally. Be certain that the initial modifications and changes work before going on to the next. Leaves room for future changes and recovery from mistakes.

And with any given motherboard being made in different locations there may be variations. A model number may remain the same but the version number is significant. There is a reason, in many cases, why you are often asked to provide a serial number. That serial number is likely coded in some manner to specifically identify a particular motherboard design and what features/functions are truly implemented.

The other lost aspect of all that is documentation - Configuration Management. If the paperwork is not kept up, not QA'd, spec's can quickly become confusing and contradictory. Product X may work for you but not for someone else with the same motherboard - different version. Or Product X was designed not to be backwards compatible (they want you to buy a new motherboard) but surprise it does works on some older versions.

So what it all means, unfortunately, that using the motherboard(s) for a 4 drive SATA dropbox server may simply not be viable.

It was truly worth a try and likely a positive learning experience.

However you never know: someone may come along, read this thread, point fingers at me, laugh, and post telling all of us just how he (or she) just created such a dropbox server last week.

I can live with that.

 

[benrivera]

What it means:

Referencing @ex-bubblehead's post the missing SATA ports "were not present for a reason."

Could have been any number of reasons: Keep costs down, SATA was "new" and adoption rates unknown, adding more ports created design and footprint issues, evolving design standards/requirements, etc., etc. Who knows....?

On the other hand manufacturer's (motherboard designers) often try to think ahead. They may leave an open space on the motherboard for future use; e.g., additional SATA ports. They may even install a physical port and the necessary circuitry in anticipation of future changes and new firmware. Does not get directly used but someone does a hack such as you have been trying to do and repurposes things.

Sometimes designers' reserve pins and sockets for "testing purposes". But in reality those pins and sockets are simply placeholders that, if well thought out, can be used for a variety of possible uses. Common in electronics.

Implementing physical changes on motherboards usually takes place incrementally. Be certain that the initial modifications and changes work before going on to the next. Leaves room for future changes and recovery from mistakes.

And with any given motherboard being made in different locations there may be variations. A model number may remain the same but the version number is significant. There is a reason, in many cases, why you are often asked to provide a serial number. That serial number is likely coded in some manner to specifically identify a particular motherboard design and what features/functions are truly implemented.

The other lost aspect of all that is documentation - Configuration Management. If the paperwork is not kept up, not QA'd, spec's can quickly become confusing and contradictory. Product X may work for you but not for someone else with the same motherboard - different version. Or Product X was designed not to be backwards compatible (they want you to buy a new motherboard) but surprise it does works on some older versions.

So what it all means, unfortunately, that using the motherboard(s) for a 4 drive SATA dropbox server may simply not be viable.

It was truly worth a try and likely a positive learning experience.

However you never know: someone may come along, read this thread, point fingers at me, laugh, and post telling all of us just how he (or she) just created such a dropbox server last week.

I can live with that.

Thanks for replying. i think it could just be something like you said and it may never work. i appreciate your patience. i have one last thing i would like to add. when i acquired this machine, it came with a dvd drive that was already installed, i took this out for reporpusing but didint test if the sata connection worked. this was connected through the sata #1 port. if in the end, the sata ports don't work, would it be possible for me to connect a pcie to sata card through the pcie 1.1 port on the machine to connect more hard drives? i was planning to use the sata 3gb/s ports which deliver slightly better performance than the pcie v1.1. if there is no other solution i'll make this best answer

 

[helpstar]

Some SATA ports were designed to only work with DVD drives and not HDDs.
Some HDDs offer a jumper to reduce speed to 1.5Gb/s to be compatible.
Maybe a BIOS update is available for this Optiplex to unlock HDDs on this port (very unlikely but possible).

You can install a PCIe SATA interface card

The Optiplex might have an eSATA port you could use as well

 

[benrivera]

just solved problem. was turned off in BIOS had to manually enable

 

[benrivera]

Some SATA ports were designed to only work with DVD drives and not HDDs.
Some HDDs offer a jumper to reduce speed to 1.5Gb/s to be compatible.
Maybe a BIOS update is available for this Optiplex to unlock HDDs on this port (very unlikely but possible).

You can install a PCIe SATA interface card

The Optiplex might have an eSATA port you could use as well

yes, i also managed to solder some cables to the eSata pins to use w/ a hard drive