Added new/old HDs and now I get 'Reboot and Select Proper Media.'

My first build.

Originally, I had 2 3tb Seagates in this machine. I had Win 7 installed on one of the drives and the other was for future storage. They both worked fine.

I had an extra SSD so I unplugged the HDs and installed the SSD. I did a clean install with W7pro on the SSD. It's been working fine for a week or so. It's just the SSD now.

I put a new PSU in tonight. I plugged the SSD back in and it booted just fine.

I shut down and plugged the 2 3tb HDs back in. I got 'Reboot and Select Proper Media.'

I rebooted and went into boot select and selected the SSD and got the same message.
I went into the BIOS to try and make sure it was booting to the SSD and it seems to be set correctly. Same message.

I figured that maybe the one HD having W7 installed on it might be causing problems so I decided to use GPARTED on DVD to delete the first partition of the HD (the one with the boot on it [hope I'm explaining this correctly]) but It won't even boot the DVD. I get the same message.

I will say this...the BIOS on this machine confuses me. Other BIOSs you select a boot device and hit +/- and the boot device moves. This BIOS is not quite like that. Not sure if I'm doing it right HOWEVER, I can hit F12 at boot and I get the option to load the DVD first. It just doesn't work.

This is also new to me. One of the boot devices in the BIOS and at start up is Windows Boot Manager

EDIT: when I plugged everything back in I used the same SATA ports. The SSD is the 0 SATA port. I have no idea if that matters or not.

It would be good to know what you are using for a motherboard.

You most likely have the newer UEFI BIOS. You would select the Windows Boot Manager as your first boot device normally.

If you have been making a lot of changes in the UEFI/BIOS then it might be a good idea to "Load Optimized Defaults" and start again. Note any necessary changes you need, but leave everything else alone until you are completely set up.

Some questions:

• In your BIOS, do you have your SATA Configuration > SATA Mode set to AHCI?
• On the 3TB spinner: Is there a small 100MB or 200MB "System" partition? (In a standard Windows installation this partition will be created and used to keep the Windows Boot Manager. If you delete C: you should delete that one at the same time.)
• Do you know if your SSD was initialized as a MBR or GPT drive?

Hello!

Probably you can change from UEFI mode to "compatible" or "legacy" or whatever is called. This should allow you setting the boot order they way you want. Make sure from the hard disks priority, that SSD is the first device. Most motherboards allow manually boot selection by pressing F8 during startup.

Really want to get to this now but I can't!

The board is a gigabyte a75M DS 2 http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4190#ov

Win 7 did not set the bios to ACHI, I noted it was set to IDE which is weird because there has never been an IDE device on this board. I am a little paranoid about changing it to ACHI.

I will have to get back to this tonight.

Windows will not set the SATA Mode. That is either UEFI/BIOS default or a user selection (in BIOS Settings).
If this is a UEFI BIOS it is highly unlikely that IDE is the default.
That SATA Mode should have been set to AHCI before you installed Windows.

If you do not want to reinstall Windows in AHCI Mode there are fixes. Just let us know which way you would rather go.

With an SSD you really want to be in AHCI Mode. And this could be the source of the problem.

It's a dual BIOS and I'm very unsure of UEFI. I know very little about it.

I think i'd like to go w/ACHI as that is better for SSD drives, correct?

I think I've seen a tutorial on this forum.

I looked at your motherboard and I would be very surprised if it were not UEFI.

Yes, use the tutorial here to change your current installation to AHCI.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61869-ahci-enable-windows-7-vista.html
Be sure to follow all the steps closely, as doing anything out of order will not produce the wanted result.

Let us know if the problem remains afterward.

Any answers to my other questions?

It has not booted since this thread. I turned it on(hesitate to say boot) and missed the bios and it booted up!
Nevertheless, I am in the bios now and what I saw as sata/ IDE is in fact 'on chip sata type -sata'. Options are sata,IDE or raid. Should I switch it to ahci?
The only other thing related to sata is On chip sata enabled (directly above sata type). And sata power which is all on?

Edit: I loaded optimal settings in the bios and rebooted and on chip sata stayed IDE.

I am interested to know if I need to change the on chip settings to achi but my main Q still stands. How do I plus the drives in without repeating this mess?

ChrisPbass said:

Really want to get to this now but I can't!

The board is a gigabyte a75M DS 2 http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4190#ov

Win 7 did not set the bios to ACHI, I noted it was set to IDE which is weird because there has never been an IDE device on this board. I am a little paranoid about changing it to ACHI.

I will have to get back to this tonight.

Click to expand...

SATA technology is newer than IDE technology. Most motherboards allow SATA devices operate in either "IDE mode" (using legacy I/O instructions) or "AHCI mode" (using new set of instructions that support more features). Windows XP and newer can handle both "languages" while older Windows versions and DOS (that includes bootable live CDs with recovery utilities) understand only the "legacy mode". It is common for a modern computer to be set at AHCI mode so it maximizes performance and supports more features. If such a computer has a problem and we attempt to use a live CD to diagnose, chances are that either it will have trouble loading or it will report no disk is found. To properly work we must set the disk to "IDE mode" from BIOS. So this is only about which protocol, "language" the device uses to communicate with the motherboard and the operating system. The device connection remains the same.

Warning: If you set the disk in either IDE or AHCI mode and install Windows, you will get a blue screen of death if you switch to the other mode and try loading Windows. So if you are going to make a clean install of Windows in a system you are recommended to set it to AHCI for maximum performance and support of all features and never change it again, unless you want to use a diagnostic live CD that won't see the disk otherwise. Don't forget to switch back to AHCI for Windows to work properly.

I hope that helps.

ChrisPbass said:

It has not booted since this thread. I turned it on(hesitate to say boot) and missed the bios and it booted up!
Nevertheless, I am in the bios now and what I saw as sata/ IDE is in fact 'on chip sata type -sata'. Options are sata,IDE or raid. Should I switch it to ahci?
The only other thing related to sata is On chip sata enabled (directly above sata type). And sata power which is all on?

Edit: I loaded optimal settings in the bios and rebooted and on chip sata stayed IDE.

Click to expand...

SATA / IDE / RAID translates to AHCI mode / Legacy IDE mode / RAID mode (if you have 2 identical disks and want to combine in one larger or mirror for data safety). For a single drive RAID mode is almost always the same as AHCI mode. Read my earlier reply for the difference about IDE and AHCI. I have seen that if Windows XP and newer is installed in IDE mode, you can safely change to AHCI and restart. If lucky Windows will start, replace the hard disk drivers to comply with the new mode and you are good to go. The opposite (Windows installed in AHCI mode and you switch to IDE) will most probably produce a blue screen of death and it's not recommended as you lose in performance. That's why AHCI mode is preferred for SSD disks. Not that they don't work in IDE mode, but you have maximum performance only in AHCI mode.

spapakons said:

ChrisPbass said:

It has not booted since this thread. I turned it on(hesitate to say boot) and missed the bios and it booted up!
Nevertheless, I am in the bios now and what I saw as sata/ IDE is in fact 'on chip sata type -sata'. Options are sata,IDE or raid. Should I switch it to ahci?
The only other thing related to sata is On chip sata enabled (directly above sata type). And sata power which is all on?

Edit: I loaded optimal settings in the bios and rebooted and on chip sata stayed IDE.

Click to expand...

SATA / IDE / RAID translates to AHCI mode / Legacy IDE mode / RAID mode (if you have 2 identical disks and want to combine in one larger or mirror for data safety). For a single drive RAID mode is almost always the same as AHCI mode. Read my earlier reply for the difference about IDE and AHCI. I have seen that if Windows XP and newer is installed in IDE mode, you can safely change to AHCI and restart. If lucky Windows will start, replace the hard disk drivers to comply with the new mode and you are good to go. The opposite (Windows installed in AHCI mode and you switch to IDE) will most probably produce a blue screen of death and it's not recommended as you lose in performance. That's why AHCI mode is preferred for SSD disks. Not that they don't work in IDE mode, but you have maximum performance only in AHCI mode.

Click to expand...

So change it to AHCI and hope it boots. I downloaded the driver from sandisk but it's an executable. If the OS freaks and asks for the driver, how do I run the exe to get the actual driver?
I started to run the exe and it looks like it's going to actually install the driver.

sandisk sdssdp064g http://www.sandisk.com/products/ssd/sata/standard/?capacity=64GB

The driver that you mention must be for Windows XP so it enables all features (eg trim support). You probably don't need it for Windows Vista or newer. And certainly is not a SATA driver for your controller, so you cannot use it to identify the disk. Windows should see the disk automatically using build-in Microsoft drivers, assuming the disk has no problems.

TVeblen said:

It would be good to know what you are using for a motherboard.

You most likely have the newer UEFI BIOS. You would select the Windows Boot Manager as your first boot device normally.

If you have been making a lot of changes in the UEFI/BIOS then it might be a good idea to "Load Optimized Defaults" and start again. Note any necessary changes you need, but leave everything else alone until you are completely set up.

Some questions:

• In your BIOS, do you have your SATA Configuration > SATA Mode set to AHCI?
• On the 3TB spinner: Is there a small 100MB or 200MB "System" partition? (In a standard Windows installation this partition will be created and used to keep the Windows Boot Manager. If you delete C: you should delete that one at the same time.)
• Do you know if your SSD was initialized as a MBR or GPT drive?

Click to expand...

It's a dual bios but I'm using legacy.
I don't know if you missed it or if you want more information but I said the 'on-chip sata' was set to IDE. It can be set to IDE, AHCI or Raid. (not trying to be snarky just saying that is all the info in the bios) I assume I need to set it to AHCI and was told to have the sandisk driver ready but the driver is an EXE and I'm not sure how to supply that if asked by the OS. I started to run it and the exe wanted to install the drivers. (not a shock). Basically, I'm a tad nervous about switching modes. (not a HUGE deal as I could just reinstall)

It's a gigabyte a75m ds2 w/dual bios. I want nothing to do w/UEFI because, obviously, I'm new to this and I only know enough to be dangerous

Yes, the 3tb that has win 7 installed has the 100/200mb windows partition.
SSD is GPT. Windows must have formatted it that way. I do not remember doing that.

If this is a new build and it would not be a huge hassle then it is a better idea to reinstall Windows in AHCI Mode. It just avoids any problems dealing with the manual installation of drivers. It will just simplify things for you.

• Leave the SDD formatted GPT
• Disconnect all extra hard drives before installing Windows - only the SSD attached.
• Simplify your system. Only essential components installed. Install additional components after Windows Installation.
• Go into the BIOS and set the SATA Mode to AHCI before installing.
• Then install Windows as usual.

You need to delete that 100/200mb Windows Partition on the 3TB drive if you have deleted the Windows partition on it. Do not connect that drive until you have done so. Best to do that now, before you start the next project.


You motherboard either uses a UEFI BIOS or it does not. You don't get to choose yes or not after purchase.
It does not mean anything to the average user. It is the same old stuff in a new package to most folks.


Windows 7 contains an AHCI drive native. If your system is set to AHCI, Windows will install the correct driver automatically on a clean install.


Post back if you need more info.

Thank you for your help.

FYI; here's Gigabyte's spam:

Hybrid EFI Technology combines the benefits of GIGABYTE's mature BIOS platform including stability and compatibility with 3rd party products with 3TB+ HDD support from EFI technology, allowing GIGABYTE to offer the best of both worlds through a quick and easy BIOS update using GIGABYTE's @BIOS utility that is freely available from the GIGABYTE website.
GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ is a patented technology that automatically recovers BIOS data when the main BIOS has crashed or failed. Featuring 2 physical BIOS ROMs integrated onboard, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ allows quick and seamless recovery from BIOS damage or failure due to viruses or improper BIOS updating. In addition, GIGABYTE DualBIOS™ now supports 3TB+ (terabyte) hard drive booting without the need for partitioning, and enables more data storage on a single hard drive.

Don't you just love marketing?

So here is the translation:
You have a modern BIOS based on EFI Technology. UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. It is the industry standard combining a couple of different EFI schemes into one standard everyone could use.
Gigabyte makes it sound like they invented it just for their motherboards.
Good for them!

Dual BIOS is a great feature. Like the ad copy says, it will help recover you from dumb mistakes and (theoretical) boot sector virus. (virii?).

For clean install set the disk to AHCI mode, connect only the SSD to avoid accidentally deleting data from the other disks. Also if you have more than one disks installed and you mess with the priority, there are chances that Windows is not the first disk C: but D: or whatever else. This is very confusing and annoying and could give you compatibility issues with applications that assume they are always installed in C: drive. So disconnect all the other disks including card readers etc and leave only the DVD-RW and the SSD to avoid such issues. In the old good MBR (Master Boot Record) partition system (compatible with older version of Windows) you can use up to 2TB single partitions. Inevitably you have to split a 3TB or 4TB hard disk into two partitions. In the new GPT (GUID Partition Table) system (Vista and newer only) you can have a single partition up to 16TB (I think?) So use AHCI mode and GPT partirtioning for the newest and best configuration. As long as you have finished installing Windows on SSD, you can reconnect the other disks (make sure you set the priority in BIOS so SSD is the first). Since D: is the DVD-RW they will take drive letters as E:, F: etc. If you, like me, prefer all disks first and then DVD-RW, you can change drive letters from Disk Management. Ask if you are interested in more details. And to help you avoid common mistakes that could lead to problems, when installing drivers you must first of all install the chipset drivers and then graphics etc. This is because other drivers could make modifications to the system devices configuration and if you install chipset after them you cancel all these modifications and ask for trouble... This is not too common in Vista and newer, but in XP and especially earlier Windows this could screw all the system and make you do a format! So beware!

One other thought:

Whenever I do this kind of chore (reinstalling Windows on a hard drive already containing Windows) I like to do a true "Clean" Installation. Again, it just eliminates any of the annoying problems that might happen otherwise.

What you will want to do (immediately before installing windows, preparing as listed above) is boot from your installation disk, get to a Command Prompt, Run DISKPART utility, and clean (delete) the SSD of everything installed previously. To be very thorough, you could Wipe the drive using the "Clean All" command, but in your case (new install, not a lot of stuff) you would be just fine using the "Clean" command.

Instructions Here:

To boot from your Installation DVD:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/682-command-prompt-startup.html

To Run the DISKPART Commands:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html

To Install Win 7 Clean (for Upgrade, but it's all the same):
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

One thing: I think you can install clean over the old copy from the installation window at the point where it asks "Where do You Want To Install Windows?". Here you can go advanced and then format the Drive.
For some reason (OCD) I like the other method better.

TVeblen said:

Don't you just love marketing?

So here is the translation:
You have a modern BIOS based on EFI Technology. UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. It is the industry standard combining a couple of different EFI schemes into one standard everyone could use.
Gigabyte makes it sound like they invented it just for their motherboards.
Good for them!

Dual BIOS is a great feature. Like the ad copy says, it will help recover you from dumb mistakes and (theoretical) boot sector virus. (virii?).

Click to expand...

Speaking of dumb mistakes. I unplugged everything but the sSD and a DVD and it won't LOAD THE DVD (I'm trying hard not to smash my keyboard here....). giving me the REBOOT and select proper media!!!!


I cannot get around this BIOS> It's not my first BIOS but I can't figure out how to move the boot devices. Manual/internet says select the device and hit +/- but nothing happens. I'm baffled.
I'm posting on the gigabyte board but no one is giving any help.