In need help/guidance - SATA port dilemma on z170x mobo

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Sadashiva

Sadashiva

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Feb 8, 2016
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Greetings - This is my first post (newbie!) and I am working on my first build and naturally need some guidance.

The issue I am trying to resolve is that the sata ports are not picking up on the optical drive or the storage hdd. I was able to install Windows 10 via USB fine to the M.2 drive. When I couldn't get the optical drive and storage hdd to come up on in bios under the Sata configuration, I updated from the Bios I started with which was the latest non-beta version (F2) to the latest beta version (F3c). I installed all the latest relevant drivers from the Gigabyte site for the motherboard. This whole time, the optical drive has power and opens and closes, but it won't show up on the system. Likewise with the WD Black. I went to the Drive manager section of control panel and tried refreshing it to check for hardware updates and still nothing. From the get go I also made sure all the connections were firmly connected.

Thus I am perplexed. If anyone can offer some guidance in this, I could really use the help at this point. If it is an issue with the motherboard, I'm going to need to RMA this in less than 2 weeks to get it in within the 30 day policy on newegg.

Here is my build and I am leaving links to the components that are involved in the issue I am trying to resolve:
CPU: i7-6700K
GPU: Radeon 39 390
Boot Drive: 256GB M.2 Boot Drive
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 6 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: 32GB 2400mhz Ram
PSU: 750 Watt EVGA Supernova G2
CPU Water Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX
Wifi Card: Asus AC1900
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
***Storage HDD: WD Black 1TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD1003FZEX
CD/DVD Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
OS: Windows 10 Home

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,
Chris
 
Solution
getochkn
What slot is your M2 drive in?

M2H_32G M.2 connector Or M2D_32G M.2 connector?

Using M2H disables a good number of the ports.

Also, try removing the M2 drive, see if the drives show up in the BIOS now.
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Sadashiva

Sadashiva

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Feb 8, 2016
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Yes, that is the odd thing. I had changed both out between all 6 different available ports to no avail. I had high hopes that updating the bios would help. Is it possible I'm missing some firmware update for the sata ports? Is there such a thing? I had pulled all the drives I could from Gigabyte product site already and installed so wasn't sure if I should be looking somewhere else.
 
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Sadashiva

Sadashiva

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Feb 8, 2016
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It's in the M2D_32G M.2 connector

I will try what you mentioned when I get a chance in just a bit as well.

How do I find out the difference between the effect of the two slots? It would be an awful bummer if using either of them really disables all my sata ports - I mean, that seems ridiculous to me but I know many ridiculous things are possible with the way things get configured :(
 
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Sadashiva

Sadashiva

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Feb 8, 2016
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I did read section 1 - 10 when troubleshooting before and I have gone through it again now. I didn't find anything that I could see that indicates that utilizing either of the M.2 drives would cause the SATA ports to not pick anything plugged into them up. Is this something that you or anyone has ever heard of before in terms of M.2 effecting SATA (forgive my ignorance as this is my first build and I am on a whopper of a learning curve)

I will also get back from the office soon and be able to test out removing the M.2 drive and boot up to confirm if that changes anything in the BIOS Sata Configuration in terms of picking up the other devices plugged in.

Thanks for helping guide me along in this getochkn - I really do appreciate it
 
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Sadashiva

Sadashiva

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Feb 8, 2016
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Great News!!!!!

Thank you so much for the suggestion getochkn! I feel dumb now for not thinking to try it in the first place :p

I switched the Samsung 950 M.2 Drive from the M2D_32G M.2 Connector to the M2H_32G M.2 Connector and it enabled (at least some of) my sata ports! I can say for certain now from this config that at least Sata port 0 and 1 work. I haven't tested the other 4 yet. But I am one happy puppy right now! :)

I love this forum. It has helped me so much with the decision making along the way to this 1st build. Now that I joined and experienced how helpful it is even when I have a unique case like this that I had trouble finding a match for, viola! The solution came! What a cool family.

Thank a million :) :) :)

 
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51tommy53

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Feb 10, 2016
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Did you have to move the m2 ssd from the top port to the bottom or from the bottom to the top. I am having the same exact issue please let me know if all the SATA ports are working for you now. I spent about 12 hours last night trying to troubleshoot this I am at work now but very excited to go home and try moving the M2 ssd.

 
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Sadashiva

Sadashiva

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Feb 8, 2016
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The good news I have for you is that I moved the M.2 card from the top port (closest to the cpu) down to the one that is under my main graphics card. When I did that, I can tell you that I got my CD drive and HDD drive to come up in Sata port 0 and 1. I'm at work myself right now too, so cannot check the others yet. When I get the chance at home I'll switch the CD drive around to the other ports and confirm which of the other ports function as well. Let me know how it goes for you!
 
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K

Kashrulez1

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Jul 7, 2016
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THANK YOU. I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out what was wrong with my pc. You are a guru!

 
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P

Poidah

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Sep 15, 2016
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I have exactly the same problem.

No where in the sales/marketing material does it state that you lose SATA ports when using M.2 drives. This is a BIG detail to leave out.

It seems that all Z170 chipset motherboards are afflicted with this issue to some degree.

Page 17 of the gigabyte manual states that

  • you lose SATA port 3 if you use the m.2 socket next to the CPU (M2D_32G)
    you lose SATA port 0 if you use the other m.2 socket is occupied (M2A_32G)
This is wrong.

You lose all 6 SATA ports when using slot M2D_32G
You lose 4 SATA ports when using slot M2A_32G

I'm resorting to buying a PCI-e expansion card that has SATA ports on it as I have 4 SATA drives I want to connect along with the m.2 (which has windows installed on it)


If anyone finds a way of getting the BIOS to recognise more than 2 SATA ports while using a single M.2 chip, please post up how you did it! :D


-----------------------------------------
GA-Z170X-Gaming 3
rev1.1
firmware F7
 
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W

WFORich

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Oct 5, 2016
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I have the same problem on a new build. This post seems to be the only one out there that has identified the problem. Thanks!
Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-UD5 F5 Bios (mr/2016)
Intel Core i7 6700K 4.00 GHz Unlocked Quad Core Skylake
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz XMP activated
Intel 600p Series 256GB NVMe M.2 Internal SSD Boot disk in M.2 Slot1 (closest to CPU)
ASUS GeForce GTX 1060 Overclocked 3GB GDDR5 Video Card

My MB has SATA 7&8 run by a different chipset which do work, (after hours of online searching and troubleshooting). Seems like they should have a work around by now. Found nothing on Gigabyte forum???
Rich
 
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W

WFORich

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Oct 5, 2016
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I have come to a solution - basically, when using a NVMe M.2 SSD drive in M.2 slot closest to the CPU you loose the first 4 SATA ports (out of 8 on this board) and if you use the m.2 slot furthest from the CPU you loose the PCIex4 slot. The gigabyte manual states this but in the chart it calls NVMe PCIe which i ignored thinking it didn't apply to my setup as I was not using a PCIe mounted SSD.
 
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V

VARoadWarrior

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Nov 25, 2016
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WFORich, Could you elaborate a bit on how you solved your problem with your SATA 7 & 8? I am having a very similar problem on a Gigabyte Z170 Gaming 7 m/b. I have 8 total SATA 3 ports, with first 6 (0 - 5) handled by the Intel chip set, and 7 & 8 handled by an ASMEDIA 1061 chip-set. The Intel ports are all working per the info from Gigabyte for this m/b, but I cannot get Windows 10 to see the 2 SATA 3.0 HDDs that I have plugged into them. Neither HDD in 6 or 7 appear in the BIOS nor in apps such as Windows Explorer/File Explorer. The 2 HDDs do show up in the Windows DEVICE MANAGER. I have updated all drivers and BIOS to latest available, but still can't get the O/S to see these drives. From your post, it sounds like you may have solved something very similar. Would greatly appreciate anything you can tell me on this.

Thanks,
VARoadWarrior
 
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W

WFORich

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Oct 5, 2016
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My SATA 7 and 8 always worked fine. My issue with the SATA ports was that I was using an M.2 NVMe SSD which apparently to get its speed uses the bus assigned to the first four SATA ports on my Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 motherboard so it disables the SATA 1-4. SATA 5-6 always worked fine as did 7-8 on the other chip set. The MB manual calls the M.2 NVMe a "PCI-e" which confused me into thinking that disabling SATA 1-4 only applied to a drive in a PCI-e slot. Sorry - I am no expert so not much help.

 
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VARoadWarrior

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Nov 25, 2016
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Thanks Chris. Looks like I have a m/b hardware issue with the ASMEDIA chipset.

Jim
 
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