Bios does not always detect SSD - very inconsistent

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Nicholas Ruffing

Reputable
Jan 11, 2015
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I recently rebuilt one of my systems (build below). I am getting very inconsistent results. The SSD which is the one I am trying to boot from is not always detected by the bios. When it happens is very inconsistent. Completely removing power sometimes works.

Windows also crashes randomly when I am able to boot correctly. When windows crashes it hangs at the blue screen while trying to dump the memory so I do not have any crash dumps. It sounds like the SSD is disconnecting which is why it cant write the dump file. I am going to try to get the dump file to write to one of the other disks and see if any information can be found there.

the three hard drives were pulled out of a another working system I have so I know the SSD is okay.

Because it is very inconsistent my first instinct is a power issue. Is my supply power not supplying enough power? Short or open circuit?

Any other ideas on what is wrong would be greatly appreciated?

AMD FX 8350
Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 motherboard
Corsair H100i cpu cooler
Solid Gear Neutron 750W power supply
Kingston HyperX DDR3-1333 CL9 (4x4GB)
Corsair Vengeance C70 case
5 Cougar Vortex 120 mm fans
NZXT Sentry Mix 2 fan controller
Rosewill RDCR-11004 usb hub/card reader
PNY XLR8 240GB SSD (main)
WD Green 1TB
WD Green 3TB
WH14NS40 bluray burner
XFX AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB GDDR5
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
 




 
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Nicholas Ruffing

Reputable
Jan 11, 2015
4
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4,510
I was able to get it to recognize the SSD and boot properly. Again I didn't make any changes. It just works after enough full power cycles. Still very inconsistent.

I have changed the memory dump location to one of the other drives (1TB WD green). Once it crashes again I should be able get the dump file.

I guess my biggest concern is that my power supply is not putting out enough power. Do you think this is true?

Should I try to update the firmware for the SSD? The SSD worked fine when I used to use it with a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 motherboard with an AMD FX 4100 and the same RAM and power supply.
 
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Anphonic

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Jan 13, 2015
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10,530
This is Mostly due to power, i am having the same problem, sata cables and ports are not related... mostly it's the psu... i am using also a gigabyte motherboard... my guess is you need a higher voltage psu... note that i haven't tried it yet, but since the hard drive is not turning on or power failing, this could be the result of the problem.
 
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tsnor

Splendid
Nov 20, 2008
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I had an SSD in my laptop that was only reliably detected when I told the BIOS to do a memory test as part of boot. What was really happening: most all BIOS cheat on the time they are supposed to wait for disk and network to respond on boot. If the SSD doesn't respond in time it's not discovered. The extra memory test gave the SSD time to complete its internal power up and be ready to respond when the BIOS finally looked for drives after checking memory.

Verify that your SATA port is set to AHCI

Download manufacturers diagnostic tool for your SSD and run it.

Download the latest firmware for your SSD and install it, but first MAKE SURE you are in ACHI mode on your sata port.
 
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Nicholas Ruffing

Reputable
Jan 11, 2015
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It ended up being a power issue but not that the PSU is not strong enough overall. I had all three at drives on the same rail of the PSU. A single rail could not carry enough current. I switched the ssd to a rail with less load and I haven't had a problem since.
 
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tsnor

Splendid
Nov 20, 2008
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Glad you fixed it.

Aside: The amp draw from the 3 disks combined (which is given on the label on the disk) is TINY compared to the amps on a typical rail in a PSU, and your PSU only has a single rail. Suspect instead a loose connection that you fixed when you move it, or a faulty connector on your PSU that you are no longer using.
 
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