GA-EP45-UD3P Issues with GBB36X Controller

[65Cobra]

Had no problems with my setup until this week when I connected a SIIG 3.5" SATA Trayless Mobile Rack.

Running WinXP with ICH10R set to RAID Mode. SATA drives on Ports 0, 1, 4 & 5 with 4 & 5 in RAID-0 Array. Ports 2 & 3 used for SATA DVD Burners. GSATA2 set to RAID/IDE Mode with the external SATA drives only used for backup. Everything worked perfectly.

I disconnected the external backup drives and connected the SIIG to the purple GSATA2_0 connector. Inserted one of the backup drives into the SIIG but could not get the drive recognized. The Power LED (Red) lights but the Drive Access Light (Blue) only lights for one second when power is first applied. The drive doesn't show up in Disk Management, Device Manager, nothing. Installing the SIIG didn't require any changes to BIOS, etc., so nothing else was changed.

I gave up and connected one of the backup drives to the GSATA2_0 connector to do a backup but now I can't get it to respond. Tested the drive on Port 1 and it's fine so I don't understand what the problem is... unless the SIIG burned out the GSATA2 chip. I tried a different SATA cable, power connector, the usual ideas but still nothing.

In the meantime everything else is working just as it has before. I decided to update drivers including the GSATA2 (Gigabyte GBB36X) but when I run setup, I get the error "No Gigabyte GBB36X SCSI adapter found! Setup program will terminate!" I tried newer drivers directly from JMicron for the equivalent JMB36X but get the same error.

Can anyone give me any more information that might help? For example, I don't see any reference to a GBB36X SCSI Adapter in Device Manager. The "SCSI and RAID Controllers" Section only lists the "Intel ICH10R/DO/PCH SATA RAID Controller" and a "SCSI/RAID Host Controller". Any suggestions/help?

[Reggie]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P Issues with GBB36X Controller

For a single drive on the Purple Port set BIOS to IDE , unless you have installed the AHCI driver correctly and want to use the advanced AHCI features. Setting BIOS to RAID/IDE, is for RAID with a RAID array created (Ctrl+G at boot).

Onboard SATA/IDE Device (GIGABYTE SATA2 Chip)

Enables or disables the IDE and SATA controllers integrated in the GIGABYTE SATA 2 chip.
(Default: Enabled)
Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode (GIGABYTE SATA2 Chip)
Enables or disables RAID for the SATA controller integrated in the GIGABYTE SATA 2 chip or
configures the SATA controller to AHCI mode.
IDE
Disables RAID for the SATA controller and configures the SATA controller to
PATA mode. (Default)

AHCI
Configures the SATA controller to AHCI mode. Advanced Host Controller
Interface (AHCI) is an interface specification that allows the storage driver to
enable advanced Serial ATA features such as Native Command Queuing and
hot plug.

RAID/IDE
Enables RAID for the SATA controller. (The IDE controller still operates in PATA
mode)

[65Cobra]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P Issues with GBB36X Controller

Thanks for the reply Reggie but your info is not correct. You can set the BIOS for RAID/IDE even if you don't create a RAID Array or connect more than one drive. My original post even says I had the GSATA2 set to RAID/IDE and it worked perfectly, yet I had no RAID Array. I also didn't always have both drives connected to the purple ports and it still worked.

Besides, this is all a moot point at this stage since I disconnected my main drive this morning, installed a fresh drive and reinstalled XP, only to find I still have the same problem no matter how the GSATA2 is set in the BIOS.

It's clear at this point the SIIG 3.5" Trayless Mobile Rack fried the GSATA chip on my motherboard. Whether or not the particular mobile rack I purchased was defective, or just wasn't compatable with the GSATA2 ports, I don't know, but I'm not about to even attempt to test it on another motherboard. Either way I recommend others stay far away from this product. Now I need to replace the motherboard since I need those extra connectors and I might as well do this before Windows 7 comes out.

[Acebmxer]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P Issues with GBB36X Controller

The correct way to connect drives to the Yellow Intel sata controller ports is hdds in ports 0-3 sata cd drives on ports 4-5. Or put all hdd's on the intel ports and then the your cd drives on the purple gigabyte/jmicron controller. The Gigabyte/Jmicron controller is know to have problems working with intels controller or have driver problems. If you are trying to boot windows off a raid those drives should be in the first ports on the intel controller.

I may not have answered your question/problem but this is the recommend way of attaching your devices. it may fix your problem I dont know I use raid my self but as a storage drive.

[65Cobra]

Re: GA-EP45-UD3P Issues with GBB36X Controller

Thanks Acebmxer. Like you, I use my RAID Array for the storage of critical files and not as a boot drive, but what you said makes sense and that's how I will probably address things the next time. BTW, I just tried connecting a dvd drive to the GSATA2 connector but the results are the same.

My previous motherboard had a problem between the Gigabyte/JMicron controller and Intels controller so I was never able to use the GSATA2 connectors on that board, but I never had a problem with this board. That's why I decided to go back and do a clean install on an unused drive using the same drivers I did originally, but no luck.

I'm not sure I can to trust this motherboard, so I'm trying to decide on replacing the motherboard ($114) or get a motherboard that will let me use a newer Intel CPU. Because even with this motherboard, I was planning on replacing the E6600 with a Q9550 anyway, so maybe I should just move on to the i5 or i7.