SATA 3gb/s ports not working ASUS P8Z68-V

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510
I recently bought a 3rd HDD for storage and tried to install it on a 3gb/s grey port, but it seems every single one of the four 3gb/s are not working or registering anything. I have a 1TB and a 2TB drive in the 6gb/s ports currently that are working fine.

I have already tried the following:
1)Tested cable and hard drive on a 6gb/s port and it worked there so those are fine
2)Re-installed Marvell controller driver and Jmicron Driver from asus' website.
3)Tried all 4 of the 3gb/s ports one by one, none of them register anything in disk manager and the ports show up empty in BIOS.

Anything idea what this is and what else I can try? All advice appreciated.

-edit- Should also add SATA is in AHCI mode in BIOS

-UPDATE-
I updated BIOS to latest version to no avail. It seems I am missing the marvell storage controller options for some reason as shown here http://i.imgur.com/Vlxl83y.jpg Any idea on why they are not showing up? I tried installing the marvell drivers again but I am unsure if I am even doing it correctly.
 
Solution
Something like this should do the trick: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124045

I have used similar devices to add additional HDD capacity (needed more ports) with my home server.

For the cost, it is worth a shot.

Regarding your theory, the problem is occurring before Windows begins the boot process. If the BIOS won't detect the attached devices via the blue ports, there must be a problem with those ports. See what I mean?

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510

I'm not exactly sure how. There's a selection that says "Hot Plug (Disable/Enable)" but I think that's just for swapping HDDs out without turning off the PC.

If there is something else could you provide further instructions? Thank you in advance
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510


It seems I don't have the same options for some reason. Here is what I see on the same menu http://i.imgur.com/Vlxl83y.jpg
It looks like I have JMB storage controller options instead of Marvell, I even tried installing the Marvell drivers again(from the same page you linked me). Is there a certain way to install them perhaps? I just opened the .zip and ran the Install.exe.

Otherwise, what would you recommend I do next? Is there a way to restore the BIOS to factory or anything? Also here is what I see on the HDD tab with all 3 HDDs connected http://i.imgur.com/2JEKxrj.jpg

Thanks
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510
-UPDATE-
I updated BIOS to latest version to no avail. It seems I am missing the marvell storage controller options for some reason as shown here http://i.imgur.com/Vlxl83y.jpg Any idea on why they are not showing up? I tried installing the marvell drivers again but I am unsure if I am even doing it correctly.
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510


Tried that just now, it didn't fix it :(
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510
BIOS options still look the same. JMB storage controllers all enabled. Still not detecting any drives, tried one of my other drives in a 3gb/s port and it didn't detect either so we know it's still the 3gb/s ports problem specifically and not HDD/cable related.

Now what? :(
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510


Black ports? Do you mean the 3gb/s ports? I only have grey(3gb/s) and light blue ports(6gb/s) Let me check Device manager now
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
Power the system down and disconnect all power sources (power cable, monitor, powered speakers). Then, press the power button (discharges any residual power in the system). Next, remove the motherboard battery (remember which side goes up). Wait a couple minutes and then re-install the battery.

Your BIOS will now be in its default state. Re-connect all power sources. Boot the system and check for status of connected SATA devices in the BIOS.
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator

Sorry, yes, I meant the blue ones.
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510


I am running Win7 x64. How can I do that?
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510
Do you think this could be a problem with my install of Windows? I'm hesitant to think that because it doesn't even detect the drive in the BIOS before windows even starts(and because I don't want to go through all that trouble of reinstalling) but I'd like to hear your opinion
 

insolus

Reputable
Jan 22, 2016
21
0
4,510
And just to show you, here is what it looks like when I swap my main drive and the drive I am trying to install on the 3gb/s port. Just so you can see that the drive indeed works and it's not an issue with cables or anything http://i.imgur.com/xIWfWG5.jpg The new drive detects just fine on SATA6G_1 while my main drive doesn't detect at all on SATA3G_3
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
Let's start over. Your internal SATA ports are all Intel:

Intel® Z68 Express Chipset
- 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports (gray)
- 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (blue)
- Intel® Rapid Storage Technology supports RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10

The eSATA port is the one that uses the JMicron controller. You only need this enabled if you are using an external SATA device:

JMicron® JMB362 SATA controller*
- 1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s port
* These SATA ports are for data hard drives only. ATAPI devices are not supported.

Now, other than you not having your USB 3.0 drivers installed, it looks like your drivers are all installed.

2 x ASMedia USB 3.0 controllers
- 2 x USB 3.0 ports at mid-board for front panel support
- 2 x USB 3.0 ports at back panel (blue)

So, it seems that none of your 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (blue) are operating. Nothing seems to be detected when attached to those ports. Is that correct?