GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

[Ken429]

I am trying to install a GSkill Phoenix Pro 120 GB SSD in an old GA-EP45-UD3P MB with a Q9550 processor. The MB has the BIOS Version FD and has been running with zero problems for many many months as the house work horse. I am trying to replace the Raptor boot drive with an old GSkill SSD that was a boot drive on another system. For some reason as soon as I copy W7 to the SSD (using Acronis 2010 True Image Home) it causes the BIOS (AHCI mode) to hang on the SATA port that the SSD is connected to. I can put this SSD on a SATA port on a P8Z68-V Pro system and it handles it with no problem. I had minor problems in the past with the Smart Error on a similar Gigabyte MB but the SSD did not hang the BIOS. Anything I'm missing with the Gigabyte BIOS or whatever before I RMA the SSD?

[Acebmxer]

Re: GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

Do you still have the other system to try to make sure the ssd still works or not?

Does it only hang on the ep45-ud3p after you but data on it using Acronis? What happens when you install windows from the dvd to the ssd?

[Ken429]

Re: GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

No, it works ok on the P8Z68-V Pro system. I have been around the block several times with this issue. I ran Parted Magic 6.0 and reupdated the FW from 4.0 to 4.2 and got the same result - the GA-EP45-UD3P system hangs on whatever SATA port the SSD is connected to. I have used Acronis TI 2010 numerous times to copy W7 from a HD to a SSD and never had a problem. No, I have not tried a fresh install of W7 to the SSD. If I have to do that I will put it on the shelf and forget it! It would appear that the BIOS in the new P8Z68-V Pro MB (9.02) has whatever it takes to handle the wayward SSD in AHCI mode.

[rbmorse]

Re: GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

Sounds like the BIOS isn't finding a valid boot sector. I don't remember if Acronis includes the boot sector/track 0 in a partition image or not. IAC, if you have a Windows 7 distribution CD boot the machine from that, enter the repair console from the boot menu and run the "fix boot problem" wizard.

[Ken429]

Re: GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

I broke down and did a fresh install of W7. It worked ok. So... it looks like Acronis TI 2010 failed me this time. I don't understand what is going on since I have done the Acronis trick several times in the past on "old" computers and it worked just fine. Why does the Acronis created version of W7 work ok on the P8Z68-V Pro MB but not on the others is still a mystery?! Anyway, thanks for the responses I'll try getting Acronis to explain what is going on. Now that I think back I used the CD Boot version of Acronis TI 2010 to create the SSD copy and not the W7 version maybe they do something different in the CD boot version.

[Psycho101]

Re: GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

As rbmorse said, it could possibly have been something that was wrong on the SSD. Either a slightly invalid/non-standard boot sector or other low level section of the disk etc. The Z68 board would have a different AHCI BIOS implementation/version and maybe could cope with the anomoly better than the UP3P's AHCI BIOS could.

My advice would be to create a new image of the working re-install, and use that now on for your backup OS image. In all likelihood, that image will restore just fine. It's probably not a problem on Acronis' end, as if you use the "Verify Backup Archive" option, and it checks out OK, you have a 100% one-to-one copy of the info from that drive. One can have a 100% perfect copy of a drive's data, but if that data is faulty, the image will be faulty.

[Ken429]

Re: GA-P45-UD3P and SSD AHCI BIOS issue

I have been using TI for years and learned to trust TI 2010. But the OS Version of TI 2010 Build 7160 may be suspect. I used it on two different computers to set up the SSD. One I did a Clone - SATA to SATA and on the other System I did a restore going from a backup copy on a hard drive to the SSD on a USB BlackX device. Two different compuuters, two different W7 partitions with the same result an SSD that was not recognized in ACHI mode. As I have said I have used my trusted CD Boot version (build 7046) several times to set up this SSD without incident.