Drive G: intermittently disappears

jumanji said:

OK. Now do this:

In the current positions, determine from Windows Disk Management which drive disappears when the Samsung USB 3 external drive is connected to the add-on card port. Is it 2TBWD2 or WD 1Gig SAT? (both are 2TB non-active drives)

Interchange 2TBWD2 and WD 1Gig SAT. Connect your Samsung External to USB3 port on the add-on card as before. Now determine from Windows Disk Management which drive disappears. Is it 2TBWD2 or WD 1Gig SAT?

If it is the same drive label that disappears, back it up ASAP.

I am retiring for the day.

First off I guess reading emails sent to my phone when someone replies has caused me to miss multiple posts to the thread. I apologize to everyone who is posting here.

1) I removed the active flag on Drive I: (old drive U: before reordering drive letters), I didn't realize that there was another drive other than the old Win 7 (used to be L:) that had an active flag which I removed from the computer.
2) Bios has been in AHCI mode all along
3) The drive in question has been G: WD1GIGSAT now on disk 2
4) I have not had a problem with G: disappearing since unplugging my Samsung ext HDD on PCI USB 3.0 card
5) The reason the my SSD Boot drive is not on SATA_0 is because it's on GSATA3_6/7 (SATA 6Gb/s Connectors, Controlled by Marvell 9128). The other SATA controllers are 3Gb/s connectors. I don't know if it matters.
6) Drive G: is already backed up.
7) Should I just let the system run with the ext drives connected to see if any drives disappear as maybe removing the active flag from drive I: fixed the problem?

I would say yes. Pay close attention to cause and effect - I do this and then that happens (or doesn't happen). And keep copious notes.

"I have not had a problem with G: disappearing since unplugging my Samsung ext HDD on PCI USB 3.0 card"
I suspect that the problem may lie with this add on card. But you will need to pay close attention to whether the problem occurs before you access this card again.

"The reason the my SSD Boot drive is not on SATA_0 is because it's on GSATA3_6/7 (SATA 6Gb/s Connectors, Controlled by Marvell 9128). The other SATA controllers are 3Gb/s connectors. I don't know if it matters."
Yes it does. It explains why the drive will not show up as Disk 0. The native SATA ports will always be Disks 0-5, the add on Marvel controller will always be Disks 6 & 7.

Will I have a speed decrease if I switch it to a SATA 3Gb/s connector? If you think I should switch it to SATA_0 could you explain why. Thanks

Yes, your transfer speed for the SSD will decrease on SATA 3Gb from SATA 6Gb.
No, I don't think it is important what port the SSD is on. I would keep it on the 6Gb port unless some problem came up with booting. Since it boots fine - no problem.

The SATA specification requires that all SATA ports are recognized equally by the system. The system scans all ports looking for an Active partition and will execute the boot files it finds there.
This is unlike the old IDE system where the location of the drive on the interface was paramount.

A case can be made that a drive connected to port 0 will boot faster than a drive connected to port 5, and faster still than being connected to a secondary SATA controller, because the system scans the ports in order, but we are talking milliseconds of difference here. Technically correct but practically insignificant.

According to the SATA specification it should make no difference which port the boot drive is connected to.

Sxcd1,

You are in good knowledgeable hands. I shall stay on the sidelines now and learn something from TV. :)

Well it is always possible that I have misinterpreted the articles that I have read and would welcome any technical (non-anecdotal) info to correct any misinformation.

I still hold that every SATA port operates at the same (design standard) speed - 3Gb/sec-6Gb/sec. The difference and possible problem would only be in the speed of recognition or in being recognized at all.

As always when dealing with PC systems is that many of the problems we see are system dependent. Not all motherboards are created equal. So there is always a risk in applying general rules to specific systems.

The OP's question is if it is better to run the SSD on the 6Gb Marvel controller or on the 3Gb Intel controller.

I say that he will get better performance (speed) from the SSD on the 6Gb controller.
If the system does not have any problems booting the SSD from the Marvel controller then that is the best configuration for this system. This may not be true for someone else's system.

Of course if Drive G is disappearing whenever the SSD is on the Marvel controller then that is an "any problem" and changes everything.

One note for y'all: I did read once that the Marvel controller "does not pass on the TRIM commands".
Now this was an anecdote stated by one person in a forum. I tried to find confirmation of this from any reputable source but was unsuccessful. So that was mentally filed under possible but not probable. But that would be an important issue if anyone has any proof.

Some info on the subject of Windows and SATA drive order for anyone interested:
Disk drive numbers may not correspond to the SATA channel numbers when you install Windows on a computer that has multiple SATA or RAID disks

Yes TV, in one of the earlier posts I had mentioned that I had seen the issue being raised by Britton30 in an old thread and this is that thread. OS disk not disk 0

When I went through that thread, may be a fortnight ago, I had also gone through the Microsoft Support thread which was referenced therein and brought out here again by you.

However, my memory being what it is I did not want to deal with it. I always forget what does not interest me.