Which sata ports are which channels?

[Sperm_Inside]

Hello there,

So, I have GA-P67A-UD7-B3 Bios F4..

I would like to ask, how the hell do I know which sata ports are which channels aside from plugging in drivers into each of them to find out?? There is nothing about it in the manual or anything, I have 3 HDDs (2 of them are the same model) and 1 DVD, last time I connected them the order was all fked up and windows installing etc was a disaster cause all the partitions were scrambled..

So which ports are which channels so that I could write it down??


Edit: Since nobody was able to tell me what I wanted to know or get to the point, I tested each port to find their order myself..
Anyway here is the order for any1 else who ever needs this someday..
Sata3-0 is Channel 0 Master
Sata2-2 is Channel 0 Slave
Sata3-1 is Channel 1 Master
Sata2-3 is Channel 1 Slave
Sata2-4 is Channel 2 Master
Sata3-6 is Channel 2 Slave
Sata2-5 is Channel 3 Master
Sata3-7 is Channel 3 Slave

I installed my HDDs in CH0M (system), CH0S(2nd storage), CH1M(3rd storage), CH1S(dvd) in order, windows installed fine, it used the hidden 100mps partition for boot files instead of screwing over my other partitions..

 

[compulsivebuilder]

The manual should tell you which socket is which.

I downloaded the manual, and the motherboard layout diagram on page 7 (of the English version) shows which SATA ports are which.

However, even a mixup over SATA ports will not result in: "all the partitions were scrambled". What happened?

 

[Sperm_Inside]

The downloaded manual still tells me what my written manual already does! it just shows the sata port numbers, I wanna know which each of these sata ports are which channels, like for example, is the Sata2_3 port, Channel 0 slave or Channel 0 master? etc, that's what I'm asking about ..

The mixup happens cause when the system HDD isn't the 1st in the booting order, windows installation decides to put the files of the recovery hidden partition into the 1st partition of whatever HDD that is booting before the system HDD, so it hides that partition and makes it "active, system, boot blah blah" partition instead of using the 100mb partition that is already there on the system HDD, it happened to me twice and it put the recovery hidden files into my 2 other HDDs cause I didn't know which ports are which channels to get the boot order right..

For example, system HDD is on Ch2s
Another HDD is on Ch0m
Another HDD is on Ch3s

Windows installation, after selecting the right partition, turns the 1st partition of the HDD that is on Ch0m to the hidden recovery partition instead of using the 100mb hidden partition of the system HDD which is on CH2s ..

 

[Sperm_Inside]

Anyone??

 

[compulsivebuilder]

The channel numbering follows the numbering of the sockets (sockets 0 and 1 will be master/slave on the first channel, etc). That's the order they are looked at by the BIOS. The master/slave designation really isn't relevant these days.

There's a simple solution. If you want the operating system installed on a single hard drive, then plug in just that hard drive while you install the operating system. No risk of files going onto the wrong hard drive if only one is connected. Connect the other hard drives once you have the operating system and drivers/updates installed. Just make doubly sure that your install drive is designated as the boot drive in the BIOS after you install the extra hard drives (it should be, but it doesn't hurt to be certain).

On that motherboard, SATA sockets 0 and 1 are SATA 3 (6Gbps). If you have an SSD, you should connect it to one of those. If you don't have an SSD, you can use them for hard drives. Plug the drive you want to use as system drive into socket 0 or 1. I'd suggest leaving the other empty in case you want to plug in an SSD later.

On that motherboard, SATA sockets 2, 3, 4, and 5, are SATA 2 (3Gbps). These are the sockets you should use for the rest of your hard drives, and for your DVD. I'd suggest plugging the DVD drive into socket 4 or 5.

The last two SATA sockets (numbered 6 and 7 in the manual) are SATA 3, but connected to a Marvell controller, rather than to the chipset. You can use these for data drives, but I'd recommend using the chipset ports first.

BTW: unless you have data you don't want to lose, or a partition scheme you need, I would suggest using the advanced mode of the Windows 7 install to remove all the partitions from the system drive, then let Windows 7 partition it. Gives you a clean, standard, installation, which may mean fewer problems.

 

[Sperm_Inside]

I know it's not about "master and slave" anymore but it still contributes to the booting order, as the master is usually the channel that boots before slave..

Right now, I'm running that system on a test hdd, I connected it to Sata2_2 (the south port, unless that's port 3, it's not very clear from the manual) and it reads to be channel 0 slave, I will try the other port and see which channel is it later.. I guess there is no going around testing each port to find which channels they correspond to ..

Thanks..

 

[apache_lives]

its irrelevant for boot order you pick that in the bios (per device etc)

just connect all your devices and be done with it will be fine

 

[Sperm_Inside]

I came here because it wasn't "fine" when I did that..

Anyway this can be closed now, I will check each port later on and arrange the HDDs correctly next time..