SSD disappeared from boot sequence

[KeraptisBlah]

Hey all - I was having some system instability on a GA-Z87X-UD3h, which has been resolved by switching SATA ports on my Windows drive (a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro). However, since doing this, the drive in question has disappeared from my boot sequence selector on the Home screen in the BIOS; it now shows only my optical and mechanical data drives as options (as well as any flash drives I plug in).

The only way I've been able to boot properly into my SSD-based Windows installation is by entering the BIOS each time the machine boots up, going to the Save and Exit menu, and selecting the SSD from the Boot Override menu where it does show up. That's rather cumbersome though; I'd rather it boot into it automatically. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks! System specs below just in case.

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H
Core i5-4670K (not overclocked)
G.Skill DDR3-1866 8GB
ASUS GeForce 660 GTX
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
Seagate Barracuda 2TB
Windows 7 Ultimate

[wazza300]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

does it show if your press f12 for boot menu at splash screen?

also tried a cmos clear/load optimised defaults? beware as it will reset any oc/bios settings

[profJim]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

What is the sata port name that your Samsung ssd is connected to now?
What is the sata port name that it was previously connected to?

[KeraptisBlah]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

@Wazza: It wasn't showing in the f12 screen, though it now seems to be. A bit less annoying than going into BIOS, but still not quite the full auto I was hoping for. Have not tried a clear on the BIOS yet.

@profJim: I didn't see which port it was in before, though assuming a consistent numbering scheme it would have been port 3. It's now in port 2.

[wazza300]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

you might be better off reflashing the same bios again just to see if the bios has stuck in applying settings,then see if the ssd shows up in the bios boot order/priority

[profJim]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

Page 7 in your user manual shows the sata3 port names.
It's best to connect your boot drive using the sata3_0 port.
Page 8 shows that the Marvell port setup is to use 2 sata ports OR 2 e-sata ports.
From page 11:

:

• - 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3 6/7) or 2 eSATA 6Gb/s connectors on the back panel, supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices
  * Use either the GSATA3 6, 7 connectors or the eSATA connectors at a time.
• - Support for RAID 0 and RAID 1

[KeraptisBlah]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

@wazza300: Very possible, actually - I had been having issues with instability for a couple weeks, until I had Samsung Magician try to apply a few settings to optimize for SSD operation, during which the system froze. After a hard reboot, the SSD no longer appeared anywhere until I switched it to another SATA port.

@profJim: Fair enough, I was going by the numbering scheme used in the BIOS under the Peripherals->SATA tab, which labels them simply 0-5. I shall consult the manual when I get home from work and see what I can see.

[KeraptisBlah]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

So I consulted the manual and it was indeed from SATA3 port 3 to port 2. I am not using the GSATA ports. It had run there a couple of days without any issues even through a few gaming sessions, until this morning where it BSOD'd on me during light web browsing, and then once again disappeared from all menus after the reboot, as it had in port 3 earlier. BIOS lists its port as empty now.

I shall try moving it to port 0 today, but it doesn't feel like that's the underlying issue at this point...if that doesn't work I guess the next step is flashing the BIOS to the new version? My version isn't listed at Gigabyte's site anymore (version F3, dated 4/17).

[wazza300]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

a bad crash/bsod can cause hdd's/ssd's to go missing for a while

till you clear cmos,something somewhere is causing the crashes

[boondocks]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

I'm not sure if this affects the UD3H boards the exact same, but my previous UD5H would lose the Samsung 830 SSD's on boot sometimes. In fact, it took me quite a while to install Windows because every time it would expand files and reboot it couldn't find the OS drive!
I eventually ended up moving all the SSD's to the Marvell drives.
GBT didn't seem to know what causes it but they are investigating and they have my old board.

Now, I have another board and it works fine but I'm running only Samsung 840 Pro SSD's this time, and also the Intel ports work fine except SaTA_0 which only runs at SATA II speed.....

[KeraptisBlah]

Re: SSD disappeared from boot sequence

Thanks for the info boondocks; I just switched it to port 0 and it's back up and running again for now, although still not showing up in the boot sequence. Also switched to a different SATA cable just on the off chance the cable is faulty. If it fails again I will try the Marvell port as well before I try resetting the CMOS or flashing the BIOS.