WD 6Gb/s 1TB on Marvell 9128 using Sata II cable smart fails

[anupam_luv]

My Config
Intel i7 930
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R rev 2
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 6GB


As my thread title says it all. I just bought WD Caviar Black 6Gb/s 1TB (WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0) drive that without any sata cable.

so, I used my mobo's sata cable (it may be meant for sata 3Gb/s) and connected it to the Marvell, Sata 6Gb/s connector (GSATA3_6 or GSATA3_7)...

After installing Windows 7 64bit n all drivers incl marvell driver on gigabyte dvd I checked the smart status of drive using Speedfan, and I shocked to see that it failed ...

I then checked using "Data Lifeguard Diagnostics" and it failed....... but to my surpprise there was no prob booting and installing softwares etc... I changed the Marvell Sata port but no luck, it again failed.

Then I changed the port to normal sata i.e. SATA2_0 and to my surprise everything went fine... speedfan and lifeguard passed the smart check...

Now Im using only normal Sata II port but couldnt figure out why Marvel ports are failing on smart.

Is it bec of the Normal sata cable I'm using which support 3Gb/s or my Marvell port is faulty Or is it a driver problem?

 

[MrLinux]

Get a good quality SATA cable, the garbage ones that come free with a MoBo are no where near good enough for 6Gig; also use the shortest cable you can and don't run it near any fans or power cables.

 

[anupam_luv]

Im now using another old sata II cable (3gb/s) for the same sata 6gb/s drive...

To test my marvell controller again I tested it by enabling it and booted frm it.
and to my surprise it passed every test etc.... even the data lifeguard smart test passed .... Im confused whether it was ICH10 or Marvell controller that failed?

These tests ensures tht the WD 6gb/s disk is perfectly fine...

 

[cjl]

Get a good quality SATA cable, the garbage ones that come free with a MoBo are no where near good enough for 6Gig; also use the shortest cable you can and don't run it near any fans or power cables.

That really shouldn't be the case - pretty much any SATA cable should be perfectly able to run 6Gb/s.

 

[fire_storm]

I have the exact same issue
Intel i7 930
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R rev 2
SMART fails on WD 1TB black SATA3
I decided to return the Drive for another one and see for my self, it should arrive tomorrow

 

[anupam_luv]

Now, Im on same marvell port with a new sata cable, even though its again sata II cable but its passing every test and HDD Tune surface test also passed.... but thank god I didnt return the drive for rma , but Im eagerly waitin for my 6Gb/s cable to arrive, to check the actual performance gain, if any.

 

[Guest]

I have exactly the same issue...

Gigabyte P55A-UD5 board and S.M.A.R.T. is failing with the same WD 6GB drive.

The drive seems to work fine but the SMART fails. If I put it on to a SATA 2 port the SMART passes without fault. I got a replacement drive and it's exactly the same, so it does not appear to be an issue with the drive.

I contacted Gigabyte and they just said it was a limitation of the Marvell Controller.

I would love to get the SATA 3 drive working on the Marvell controller in SATA 3 mode. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

For the record, I just updated my Marvell drivers to V1.0.0.1036, which I actually got from the ASUS website as someone mentioned earlier in this thread. I can now get the SMART info successfully.

The WD Data Lifeguard Tools now shows a pass on the SMART Status which it did not before. I would recommend updating the drivers if anyone has this issue. The Gigabyte website has out of date drivers. Pretty bad really :-(

Go to ASUS Downloads (under Service) and from the drop-down list, choose:-

Motherboards
LGA 1366
Rampage III Extreme

And under SATA you'll see the latest Marvell drivers.

 

[anupam_luv]

I forgot mention one more important change (apart frm changing cable) I made in bios (Gigabyte ud3r)

After changing the cable ....
I changed value of
"GSATA 6_7 IDE Firmware Selection" from "On Chip" to "Auto"

then Saved and it rebooted and did some firmware updations on after reboot (don't know which firmware was updated, is it hdd firmware or marvel port. Confused! )
After it did everythng it rebooted again and I checked bios setting again , I found the value of "GSATA 6_7 IDE Firmware Selection" was again "On Chip" ....

I booted my PC to windows 7 and checked smart status and it passed every test on data lifeguard, although speedfan kept freezing my pc on load (may be some other reason)...

Can smbdy tell whether changing my sata 3Gb/s cable to sata 6Gb/s cable will make any difference in perfomance?

 

[cmaki2008]

For the record, I just updated my Marvell drivers to V1.0.0.1036, which I actually got from the ASUS website as someone mentioned earlier in this thread. I can now get the SMART info successfully.

The WD Data Lifeguard Tools now shows a pass on the SMART Status which it did not before. I would recommend updating the drivers if anyone has this issue. The Gigabyte website has out of date drivers. Pretty bad really :-(

Go to ASUS Downloads (under Service) and from the drop-down list, choose:-

Motherboards
LGA 1366
Rampage III Extreme

And under SATA you'll see the latest Marvell drivers.

I wouldn't post after such a long time since anyone has said anything but I've recently had this problem and have rma'd two drives wondering whats going on. Here's help if you were in the same boat I was in 30 minutes ago.


Rampage III Extreme uses the same drivers.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1366/Rampage_III_Extreme/

Click> Download > Choose your Operating System> Sata> Choose "Marvell 9128 Controller Driver V1.0.0.1034 for 32/64bit Windows XP & Windows Vista & Windows 7.(WHQL)
Marvell 9128 Controller Driver Disk for 32/64bit Windows XP & Windows Vista & Windows 7." This is the one that worked for me. We have the Marvel 9128.

I used the same 6.0 sata cables that came with the motherboard. Apparently nothing is wrong with these. Bios settings were not changed. You will reboot twice and it will pass smart test. Anyways WD said nothing about this they just looked at it as a smart failure and rma, rma. I hope I saved sometime time, I was thinking about trying the two different ways people got i to work but the newest drivers work fine.

In summary goto their site and download the latest Marvell 9128 Controller Driver for your os, sata 6.0 ports work. No bios to mess with etc. I'm running a v2.0 board, with windows 64bit.