PC's won't boot if SATA cable connected to SSD

[VinceL]

I built 2 identical PC's which have running 24/7 with no problems for over 5 weeks. Since we were going to be away from home for a few days, I shut both of them off. Today, when I returned, I turned them back on and they would not boot. The problem (for both of them) goes away if I disconnect the SATA cable from the SSD in the PC.


Here's the configuration for both PC's
ECS Z77H2-A3 MB
Intel i3-3245 CPU
2x4Gb Corsair Vengence RAM
Corsair CX500M PSU
ASUS DVD drive
Corsair Neutron 256GB SSD
WD 1TB Blue hard disk

I have tried resetting the BIOS by moving the jumper, leaving it in the reset position for 1 minute, and then returning it to its normal position. Through process of elimination, I have found that the PC's will boot fine unless there is a SATA cable connected from the MB to the SSD. I have tried multiple SATA cables and tried 3 different SATA ports on the MB's.

These PC's have run 24/7 for weeks with no problems, all components are only a couple of months old, and the problem is identical in both PC's. It seems like an amazing coincidence that both SSD's could have failed.

Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.

[- wardog -]

Re: PC's won't boot if SATA cable connected to SSD

Is there anything else in the house/apt that is observed behaving bad since your return home?

Didn't NC have some inclement weather lately? Any chance upon return you needed to reset the clocks of the electronic devices that have them there? That would be an indication that you had some power disconnects or worse while away.

[VinceL]

Re: PC's won't boot if SATA cable connected to SSD

Is there anything else in the house/apt that is observed behaving bad since your return home?

Didn't NC have some inclement weather lately? Any chance upon return you needed to reset the clocks of the electronic devices that have them there? That would be an indication that you had some power disconnects or worse while away.

Thanks for the reply, wardog.

We left the day after the bad weather. Both PC's were running fine when I shut them down...standard Win7 shutdown. No signs of power problems when we returned today. Also, the PC's are on UPS's which I had shut off while we were gone. I have occasionally had to reboot these PC's and have shut them off for brief periods of time (a few minutes) with no problems. Being shut off for the past 3 days is the longest period of time they have been turned off since I built them.

The only information on the SSD's is Windows Pro 7 64-bit installation and standard "system" apps like Adobe Reader, AVG Anti-Virus, etc. I do not play any games on them, and they are not OC'ed. All data is on the WD hard disk....they basically function as file servers.

If I disconnect the SATA cable either at the MB or at the SSD, then the PC's will boot....since I have cleared the CMOS, I get a screen to press Del to go into the BIOS setup. SATA cables are hooked to the WD hard disk and ASUS DVD. Power cables are connected to the DVD, hard disk, and SSD. If I connect the SATA cable to the SSD, when I turn on the PC, I get the ECS logo screen for about 10 seconds (PC will not respond to any keyboard presses) and then the PC turns off. It then starts up again in about 10 seconds and loops through this reboot sequence multiple times...I have stopped it after about 5 times. Both PC's exhibit the exact same behavior.

[parsec]

Re: PC's won't boot if SATA cable connected to SSD

It sounds, as you said, incredibly coincidental that both of the SSDs have a big problem, but IMO they do.

BTW, since you don't have Windows on your HDDs, the PC are not "booting" when the SSDs are disconnected, they are going through their POST routines which will end with a failure to find a drive to really boot from.

I suggest you remove the power and data cables from the SSDs, and allow them to stay like that for several hours, overnight would be fine. Then reconnect power and data cables to the SSDs, and give them a try.

If they still fail to allow the PC to start, which is a major failure for any PC component, try contacting Corsair support to set up a return/RMA process. Probably to late to return them to the retailer.

[Kaluluka]

[VinceL]

Re: PC's won't boot if SATA cable connected to SSD

So, I woke up about 5:00 am with this problem nagging at me. I went downstairs and did the following:

With the SSD SATA disconnected and after clearing the CMOS, I started up the system and went into the setup. Obviously, the SSD didn't show up. But, I did make all the other changes to the bios that I had made when I built the system. I exited and saved and let it try to boot. When no OS was found, I shut it off. I then plugged in the SSD and turned it back on.

Well, the ECS logo cleared from the screen, I got the message Starting Windows. After it booted Windows, I shut it off, restarted, and went into setup. Sure enough, there was the SSD. I just switched the boot priority to start with it. Everything is now working fine on both systems.

I am guessing that with the systems shut off for 3 days something got corrupted in the CMOS. That would point to the battery being bad, but I bought these motherboards just a couple of months ago. And, I would be really surprised if the batteries in both motherboards are bad.

So, I have a workaround, but the problem is still a mystery.