Hard Drive Not Being Recognised In Bios On Startup (But works after bios reset)

skull-wart · Mar 31, 2015

Hi there, new user so my apologies to the admins if I put this in the wrong section. Maybe you could point me in the right direction if not?

I've just built the computer I'm using but I'm having a problem with the hard drive on start-up. I've had these hard drives for a few years now so possibly a mechanical failure? Though I doubt it.

My main hard drive (Samsung 1tb) is not recognised in the bios on start up, but my second hard drive (500gb) and my disc drive are recognised. After some fiddling about I found that only one hard drive can be selected as a primary boot option and I thought I'd solved the problem and I was able to boot windows up again, but the hard drive is still not being recognised in the bios at all until I reset the bios.

I should note that before I formatted the hard drive it was recognised in the bios when I first booted the computer. This problem began after I formatted the drive and installed Windows 7 Home Premium.

What's stranger is that when I took my secondary hard-drive out to retrieve the data off it and started my computer the hard drive wasn't recognised even after resetting the bios. I received an error message saying there was no bootable devices connected.

So lastly here are my specs:

CPU: AMD FX-8350
Mobo: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
RAM: Mushkin 16gb 1600mhz
GPU: AMD Radeon R9 200
PSU: Antec 700Watt Gold+

I've tried the basic things, like swapping all of my sata cables into different slots and trying different cables on each drive. They're currently in slots 1,2 and 3.

Thanks for taking a look at my problem, hopefully this will help someone else with the same problem when it's solved. - Oscar

fzabkar · Mar 31, 2015

FYI, some Samsung models had a firmware issue that prevented them being detected by certain AMD southbridges. The problem was addressed by a firmware update. Your motherboard appears to use a different AMD southbridge (SB950), but it might still be worth a shot.

Samsung Spinpoint F3 and Spinpoint F3EG are not detected on AMD SB850:
https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Known_issues#Samsung_Spinpoint_F3_and_Spinpoint_F3EG_are_not_detected_on_AMD_SB850

SuperSoph_WD · Apr 1, 2015

Welcome to Tom's Hardware, skull-wart!

So are you saying that your main drive is the only one that doesn't get recognized?
If that's the case, then I'd recommend checking your HDD manufacturer's website for a diagnostics utility that will let you test the drive's health and check up on the S.M.A.R.T. status. Or you can use the third-party suggestions here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility
If that isn't the case, it might as well be a motherboard issue, so check for firmware updates on the mobo manufacturer's website. The BIOS might be corrupted, or the mobo utilities are conflicting, so you might as well re-install them.

Keep us posted! Hope this helps!

SuperSoph_WD

MerissaWalker · Apr 1, 2015

it might be BIOS bug. The read and write speed of SSD slows down after I updated BIOS. after I refash BIOS to the previous version, the SSD speed recovered! I still haven't found out reasons, so this might be bios bug.

skull-wart · Apr 3, 2015

Hi, thanks for the replies

I've downloaded HD Tune from the link Supersoph posted, and I'm looking at all the Bios drivers on the Asus website for my motherboard but I'm unsure which version to download, from the description it looks like each driver does something different? http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/M5A97_R20/HelpDesk_Download/

- Oscar
I have a feeling that's not the case but I figured I'd ask just to make sure. Which download do I choose from that list? Or is it not a driver I need to download at all; I found a video on the site intructing how to update the Mobo using a usb drive and thought that might be more closely related. http://www.asus.com/uk/support/FAQ/1008280/

- Oscar

SuperSoph_WD · Apr 3, 2015

skull-wart :

Hi again, Oscar!

Yes, the second option is what will actually update your BIOS, you just need to download the file to a USB drive and flash the BIOS. I guess, you can simply follow the steps in the video article of your mobo manufacturer's knowledge base.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

SuperSoph_WD

skull-wart · Apr 22, 2015

Sorry for this late reply! Just been sorting some things out going to Ireland and such to see family.

I was a bit confused at how to update the bios at first but after a scout around on the web I found that the easy boot utility is located in the advanced options in my bios and can boot directly from any usb plugged in, so the video I posted wasn't necessary in my case. But after booting the bios with the new .cap file successfully I switched my pc on this morning and still have the problem where my hard drive isn't recognised until I open and reset the bios.

In the meantime I managed to get all my data off my secondary hard drive using a 3.5 inch sata to usb adapter so that's ready to be formatted and used, but seeing as the main Samsung hard drive isn't being recognised without the secondary drive connected I haven't formatted it yet. Just in case I'm unable to boot windows at all afterwards.

Any idea what's happening here? I might try updating the bios again later just to make sure that the install was "really" successful.

- Oscar

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