Malfunction on SATA Connection

Hello guys,

Upon trying pretty much everything I know and what others have advise me without success I decided to come here getting help from you, since there is a lot of knowledge members and I usually come here looking for answers and advices everytime something bad happens with my system.

The issue is as follow - last week my system began freezing without reason and rebooting would make the following message appears "disk boot failure, insert system disc and press enter" and my motherboard (Asus A8N-SLI) wouldn't recognize the HDD. I would left it off for a few minutes and it would work fine, at least until freezing again. The issue got worse and I worked it out by slightly budge the HDD SATA cable where it connects to the motherboard.

However after a few days the issue turned up again. I connected the HDD to the other SATA slots, checked other SATA cables and other HDD but the problem persisted. Checked the power supply's cable and it was working fine and the HDD is also working fine in other computers. I thought it was the motherboard SATA connectors that are damaged since HDD IDE works fine and bought a Delock SATA II PCI Express Card but it also doesn't recognized the HDD.

Sometimes the DVD drivers' names on the BIOS are wrongly written, too. Instead of Sony it displays SYNE or POENERR instead of Pioneer or something along the lines.

I no longer have any idea nor does anyone who could help me. What do you guys think? Could it be that the motherboard SATA connecters got damage somewhat? Or the motherboard itself? A few suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

welcome to the forum.

Well youve been prity extensive with your testing
Firstly try updating your chipset drivers for your motherboard.
Then id do some memory tests, if the HDD cant write to the ram then all kinds of issues persist.

Then id start flapping as it would point towards a dying or dead board.

Thank you for the welcome and advices.

badger906 said:

Firstly try updating your chipset drivers for your motherboard.

Click to expand...

They're up-to-date.

badger906 said:

Then id do some memory tests, if the HDD cant write to the ram then all kinds of issues persist.

Click to expand...

How do I do a memory test? Is it through the Windows 7 disc?

badger906 said:

Then id start flapping as it would point towards a dying or dead board.

Click to expand...

I'm already mentally prepared for such finale.

if you can get it to boot to windows then download memtest and run it, if you cant take out all bar 1 stick of ram and try, then another ext.

badger906 said:

if you can get it to boot to windows then download memtest and run it, if you cant take out all bar 1 stick of ram and try, then another ext.

Click to expand...

I can't get it to boot so I did your second suggestion but unfortunately the issue persists.

Go to another computer and D/L memtest86+ and load it to a USB memory stick or DVD.

The link to the software is in this tutorial, which explains how to run the test.

RAM - Test with Memtest86+

Thank you but I ran it and no errors at all.

i still wouldnt rule out a HDD fault, ok it works in another computer, but if heat is an issue, the cooling of the other computer may be sufficient to stop the fault.. its a long shot, but better than splashing out on a new mobo to have the same issue.

badger906 said:

i still wouldnt rule out a HDD fault, ok it works in another computer, but if heat is an issue, the cooling of the other computer may be sufficient to stop the fault.. its a long shot, but better than splashing out on a new mobo to have the same issue.

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I don't know. I also checked other HDD and it doesn't work. If it is something on the HDD others HDD should work fine. Should I actually do what the message says and insert Windows 7 disc?

What type of SATA cables are you using? If you aren't using the latching type, then consider exchanging them for ones that latch (they have a small metal spring at the connectors which clicks into the sockets when you insert them). Due to the small size of the connectors, the non-latching types (often included with motherboards) can become loose in the sockets.

Dwarf said:

What type of SATA cables are you using? If you aren't using the latching type, then consider exchanging them for ones that latch (they have a small metal spring at the connectors which clicks into the sockets when you insert them). Due to the small size of the connectors, the non-latching types (often included with motherboards) can become loose in the sockets.

Click to expand...

Yep, those I have aren't the latching type however if were the SATA cables shouldn't the Delock SATA II PCI Express Card that I bought recognize the HDD? And I only ever used one in four slots, the other three should be like brand new and working fine as one.

I would still consider changing them for latching types to see if that resolves your issue.

Dwarf said:

I would still consider changing them for latching types to see if that resolves your issue.

Click to expand...

Okay then, I will try it. In the meantime does anyone have more ideas?

Okay, I didn't remember this until today. A few weeks ago, during a couple of days the following message would appear everytime I rebooted the system. Could the two be related at all? Thank you once again.

the eror type

The error you show in the blue screen is basically a fancy way of saying that your windows files are corrupted. we get this type of error in the shop all the time. it can be caused by a number of things.
1. faulty or incomplete install of windows
2. damaged or improperly installed cables
3. damaged hard drive usually the heads or deep surface scratches.

as with the cables it sounds like a motherboard issue. i want you to put the hard drive in the second computer with the same SATA cable. if it doesn't work invest in some SATA 2 cables with clips. also the PCI card...is this because you motherboard only has IDE cable support or not enough SATA ports? also sea-gate sea tools is a great program for finding faults with hard drives sea-gate or not. it does require you to boot it to Cd (deep Burner would do the trick).
tell me about what you find...

Thank you for that suggestion but I cannot do that because I'm not actually checking the HDD on another computer but in an external hard drive case. About the PCI card I bought it as substitute for the motherboard SATA ports because I thought maybe they're damaged.

So to clear this up the hard drive doesn't respond. It originally wasn't plugged into the motherboard. The hard drive makes a whir....stop noise and you have tested the other hard drive on the SATA ports.
Is that correct?

Hey,

I know the thread is a few months old but I never solved this issue and today I thought give it a try again. Basically the computer doesn't respond at all, besides the working fans and giving signal that both drives are plugged. So I decided to unplug the memory RAM and graphic & sound cards. Without any of these after turn the computer on a spaced beep can be heard but if I plugin the memory RAM again the beep vanishes and again it doesn't respond at all.

Any suggestions? Thank you in advance.