Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

[FlintSTL]

I've searched and don't see this posted, if it is please excuse me for repeating.

I am in the process of builiding a home server and am having a problem utilizing all of the SATA3 ports. All equipment for the build is new and has not been used in prior builds (hopefully listed in my profile). WHS2011 is up-to-date. There are no yellow "?" when I look at Device Manager.

When I plug in one of the WD-Green HDDs into port SATA A3_1, the drive is recognized in the BIOS, will show up in Device manager (however drivers won't load), but will not show up in Server Manager so I am unable to assign the drive a letter and add to Disk Management.

At first I thought it might be the drive, so I removed it and added it to a Windows 7 system where it was recognized immediately and able to be formated as a simple volume with NTFS file system. When I placed it back into the server system, the drive again did not show up in Server Manager, but was visible in the BIOS Hardware viewer.

I tried different power cables and SATA cables all utilizing SATA A3_1 port to no avail. When I moved the cable to a different SATA port the drive showed up. When I move one of the other drives to port A3_1, they dissappear.

After troubleshooting with the dealer's technical support, it was decided to replace the board. I did this but am still experiencing the same problem, resulting in the inability to use one of the SATA3 ports.

The SATA port assignments are as follows:
A2_5 Empty
A2_4 WD-Green 3Tb
A2_2 DVD Drive
A2_3 WD-Green 2Tb
A3_1 Empty
A3_0 SanDisk 128Gb SSD
A3_A1 WD -Green 2Tb
A3_A0 WD-Green 2Tb

I hate losing one of the SATA3 ports. Any suggestions on what could be happening.

[odiebugs]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

You only have two real Sata 3 ports, the other two are the asmedia and they are garbage, stick to using the two native Sata 3 and Sata 2 ports, this gives you 6.

You only have one SSD, which can be on the real Sata 3, native. It's useless to put a HDD drive on the asmedia anyway because a HDD can't break Sata 1 speed, so it does not matter, if you put a SSD on the asmedia, it's a waste of a SSD.


I don't know anything about servers, but I would think you would have went with a Xeon, EEC memory, and all 2TB drives, then run them in RAID.

Sata REV 1,,, 150MB. The WD green runs around 130MB.

[CRRacer]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

You might get on wegotserved forum and post about this there. While WHS2011 will generally use win7 drivers, it's possible that it just won't work with the ASmedia sata controller. I had a MicroCenter Sataii 60GB SSD drive that I originally wanted to installed WHS2011 on, the installed would get all the way to starting windows server for first time and just hang with the hard drive on. It was an incompatibility with that particular drive, it installed fine on an OCZ Vortex Sata II 60 GB drive.

After re-reading your post, are you saying that one port is recognized and one isn't(recognizes the drive that is), when connected to the asmedia sata III ports?

[parsec]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

I've searched and don't see this posted, if it is please excuse me for repeating.

I am in the process of builiding a home server and am having a problem utilizing all of the SATA3 ports. All equipment for the build is new and has not been used in prior builds (hopefully listed in my profile). WHS2011 is up-to-date. There are no yellow "?" when I look at Device Manager.

When I plug in one of the WD-Green HDDs into port SATA A3_1, the drive is recognized in the BIOS, will show up in Device manager (however drivers won't load), but will not show up in Server Manager so I am unable to assign the drive a letter and add to Disk Management.

At first I thought it might be the drive, so I removed it and added it to a Windows 7 system where it was recognized immediately and able to be formated as a simple volume with NTFS file system. When I placed it back into the server system, the drive again did not show up in Server Manager, but was visible in the BIOS Hardware viewer.

I tried different power cables and SATA cables all utilizing SATA A3_1 port to no avail. When I moved the cable to a different SATA port the drive showed up. When I move one of the other drives to port A3_1, they dissappear.

After troubleshooting with the dealer's technical support, it was decided to replace the board. I did this but am still experiencing the same problem, resulting in the inability to use one of the SATA3 ports.

The SATA port assignments are as follows:
A2_5 Empty
A2_4 WD-Green 3Tb
A2_2 DVD Drive
A2_3 WD-Green 2Tb
A3_1 Empty
A3_0 SanDisk 128Gb SSD
A3_A1 WD -Green 2Tb
A3_A0 WD-Green 2Tb

I hate losing one of the SATA3 ports. Any suggestions on what could be happening.

Assuming that this list of drive and SATA port connections is correct, the problem connection is related to one of the Intel SATA III ports, port A3_1. The two WD Green HDDs are on the ASMedia SATA interface.

While it is true that the fastest HDDs available (10,000 RPM Raptors, Enterprise drives) barely approach SATA II sequential speeds (even if called "SATA III"), the second Intel SATA III port should work, regardless of the drive used with it. But you will not lose any performance with the HDDs on the Intel SATA II ports.

I don't know WHS at all, so I wonder what SATA driver it uses. You mentioned "drivers won't load" when you connected the HDD, but drivers don't load for a single drive, they are installed for the SATA controller once, unless changed. Your board's two Intel and ASMedia controllers each will have a Device Manager entry either under Storage Controllers, or IDE/ATA Controllers.

I assume you are using the standard WHS SATA drivers, or did you install anything from the board's download page? What is the name of the drivers in Device Manager for the SATA controllers?

What is the SATA mode for each controller set to in the BIOS/UEFI? The Intel SATA III ports can be configured for SSD or HDD, and Hot Plug support in AHCI mode.

I'm thinking this is a WHS problem with this board, or a driver issue. If the drive can be seen in the BIOS, then the connection is electrically active, so something else is up.

[FlintSTL]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate the help greatly.

This "sever" is in reality a simple media file server, it won't do any processing which is why I went with the Celeron as it was significantly cheaper than similar Xeon processors. It was the recommended setup from several people. I went with these hard drives primarily for their speed (5400rpm) and low power draw.

It is very interesting to find out that no HDDs truly reach SATA3 speeds - marketing I suppose.

If I am reading the other posts correctly ports 3A_0 and 3A_1 are the ASmedia ports, and ports 3_0 and 3_1 are the Intel ports.

So yes, the problem is that when I plug into 3_1 the drive won't load but it will load when plugged into another port. As I only have one SSD, I suppose it's okay to lose one port. I can always add a controller when I need to add more drives than available ports.

As for BIOS/UFEI settings, here is what the settings are:
SATA Controllers - Enabled
SATA Mode Selection - AHCI
SATA Aggressive Link Power Management - Enabled
HD S.M.A.R.T. Enabled

ASMedia SATA3 Mode AHCI

SATA 3_0 - Device Type SSD

SATA 2_3 & 2_4 External SATA Disabled, Hot Plug - Enabled

SATA 3_A0 & 3_A1 - No options appear

Device Manager
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers

ATA Channel 0 / 0 / 1/ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Drivers: Atapi.sys Ataport.sys
Microsoft 6/21/2006, 6.1.7601.17514

Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller
Drivers: atapi.sys ataport.sys msahci.sys pciidex.sys
Microsoft /21/2006 6.1.7601.17514


When I installed WHS, it didn't load any drivers for the SATA controllers, it came up with the yellow ? I was able to have it go out and search the disk provided with the board for the drivers.

As for the HDDs, what I was referring to was when I plugged in the drive, when I clicked on Device Manager, it saw the drive. listed it as WDC WD20EARX.... Under Device Status, it said no drivers loaded for this device. When I clicked on the Driver tab, it showed the Microsoft drivers as being loaded. This was on port 3_1. When moved to one of the other ports it came right up.

I agree, it might be a WHS problem. ASRock's reply was that they don't provide drivers for WHS for this board. From what I read, WIN7-64bit drivers generally work.

Thank you again for your help and insight. I truly appreciate it.

[CRRacer]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

That's really odd that WHS 2011 won't recognize a drive connected to the intel controller. Not really an issue, but would be nice to utilize all the controllers. If you didn't already know this, you can attach external USB drives to this server and access them exactly as you can the internal drives. You can claim one for the server backup drive (you know, the drive that's there, but doesn't show up as WHS claims the drive for its own backup use), or you can move files/folders from and of the internal drive to the external USB drive via the WHS dashboard.

Again, I would suggest you jump on the forum over at wegotserved, there is a dedicated WHS2011 forum, post your issues under the hardware section. I would include information from your first and second post. Those guys are the shizzle for WHS issues.

For the price (I bought a couple copies of the server for 30 bucks each, usually sells for around 50), it's an awesome OS, simple and backs up all my home PC's, works as a file and media server as well as web server(limited to web access of the server and files/photos/videos/music etc.).

Mine is running on an ASRock A55M-HV MB, A8-3870K, 4GB G-Skill, OS is installed on a OCZ vertex 60GB SSD, 4 other HDD's in the case and two external USB drives (one WD passport and one WD element).

[CRRacer]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Just so you know, there is BIOS version 2.90 out for the Z77 Extreme4 (I have this board listed in my sig)

[parsec]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate the help greatly.

This "sever" is in reality a simple media file server, it won't do any processing which is why I went with the Celeron as it was significantly cheaper than similar Xeon processors. It was the recommended setup from several people. I went with these hard drives primarily for their speed (5400rpm) and low power draw.

It is very interesting to find out that no HDDs truly reach SATA3 speeds - marketing I suppose.

If I am reading the other posts correctly ports 3A_0 and 3A_1 are the ASmedia ports, and ports 3_0 and 3_1 are the Intel ports.

So yes, the problem is that when I plug into 3_1 the drive won't load but it will load when plugged into another port. As I only have one SSD, I suppose it's okay to lose one port. I can always add a controller when I need to add more drives than available ports.

As for BIOS/UFEI settings, here is what the settings are:
SATA Controllers - Enabled
SATA Mode Selection - AHCI
SATA Aggressive Link Power Management - Enabled
HD S.M.A.R.T. Enabled

ASMedia SATA3 Mode AHCI

SATA 3_0 - Device Type SSD

SATA 2_3 & 2_4 External SATA Disabled, Hot Plug - Enabled

SATA 3_A0 & 3_A1 - No options appear

Device Manager
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers

ATA Channel 0 / 0 / 1/ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Drivers: Atapi.sys Ataport.sys
Microsoft 6/21/2006, 6.1.7601.17514

Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller
Drivers: atapi.sys ataport.sys msahci.sys pciidex.sys
Microsoft /21/2006 6.1.7601.17514


When I installed WHS, it didn't load any drivers for the SATA controllers, it came up with the yellow ? I was able to have it go out and search the disk provided with the board for the drivers.

As for the HDDs, what I was referring to was when I plugged in the drive, when I clicked on Device Manager, it saw the drive. listed it as WDC WD20EARX.... Under Device Status, it said no drivers loaded for this device. When I clicked on the Driver tab, it showed the Microsoft drivers as being loaded. This was on port 3_1. When moved to one of the other ports it came right up.

I agree, it might be a WHS problem. ASRock's reply was that they don't provide drivers for WHS for this board. From what I read, WIN7-64bit drivers generally work.

Thank you again for your help and insight. I truly appreciate it.

Ok, good information. The only thing that jumps out at me is the SATA Aggressive Link Power Management - Enabled, which in my experience has caused nothing but trouble, set that to Disabled, at least for a test. I can't guarantee that will fix your issue, but worth a try. You can use a Windows Power Plan to shut off HDDs that are not active after a period of time.

Looks like the standard Microsoft AHCI driver is being used, msahci, which is fine.

The drive type settings are only available on the Intel SATA III ports.

I found it mentioned that "There have been some issues using the WD Caviar Green series drives and other Advanced Format drives with WHS." Is this the WD Green HDDs you're using? Seems odd that you could use one or more fine, and then they don't work on the one Intel SATA III port. Are all the WD 2TB drives the same model?

HDDs over 2.2TB in size can have recognition and available capacity issues if not formatted as GPT. Any problems with these things?

[odiebugs]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Hey Par: If the problem slot is the native Sata 3, then maybe he could try the RST AHCI drivers, what do you think ?

[parsec]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Well, Intel does not say the IRST drivers are WHS compatible. I was thinking the same thing as you.

I'm just concerned about issues after this driver was installed. It might not make it through the installation process, and bail out. Could be worth a try, and do a rollback if it does not work correctly.

[FlintSTL]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Update from your recommendations. I turned off the Aggressive Power Link Management - it should be fine as the software I'm going to use will allow the drives to spin down if they're not needed.

After a reboot, to make sure everything was working, I tried moving the 3TB drive (setup as GPT) to Slot 3_1, rebooted and it seems to work. WHS recognized all the drives no problem.

Weird that it recognizes the 3Tb and not the 2Tb drives but at this point at least I know the port is ok. I'll just chalk it up to a board / OS issue and move along

All the 2Tb are the same model WD Green Desktop. I do not believe that they are the Caviar series but I could be wrong.

Any real benefits to updating the BIOS?

Thank you all for your time and input. It's nice to find a group that's helpful (esp after the manufacturer said that board doesn't support WHS2011 so we don't provide drivers)

Thanks Again

[odiebugs]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Any real benefits to updating the BIOS?



Thanks Again

No, the new 2.90 only updates the flash method used for updating the BIOS, if a newer BIOS is released and you need it such as a fix, upgraded ROM that you use, then you can update, but until there is a update you need, stick with the 2.80 .

The joy of quirks. Doesn't make any sense.

But I have seen things on every brand of board, it's not just rock that has weird things or problems.

[parsec]

Re: Z77 Extreme4 SATA port question

Update from your recommendations. I turned off the Aggressive Power Link Management - it should be fine as the software I'm going to use will allow the drives to spin down if they're not needed.

After a reboot, to make sure everything was working, I tried moving the 3TB drive (setup as GPT) to Slot 3_1, rebooted and it seems to work. WHS recognized all the drives no problem.

Weird that it recognizes the 3Tb and not the 2Tb drives but at this point at least I know the port is ok. I'll just chalk it up to a board / OS issue and move along

All the 2Tb are the same model WD Green Desktop. I do not believe that they are the Caviar series but I could be wrong.

Any real benefits to updating the BIOS?

Thank you all for your time and input. It's nice to find a group that's helpful (esp after the manufacturer said that board doesn't support WHS2011 so we don't provide drivers)

Thanks Again

Great, glad to hear that. You could try enabling SATA Aggressive Link Power Management again for a test and see if the issue returns. Personally, I've not had any success using that setting, compared to enabling all the power saving options that Haswell systems have, including the new Intel IRST 12 SATA power saving feature. They all work fine, no side affects, but my Z77 Ex 4 board would not even boot with SATA Aggressive Link Power Management enabled.

It's possible that those 2TB Green drives have firmware that does not get along with that setting, while the 3TB models are not affected by it.