A Comment on SATA connectors...

[TBoyd]

For about the third time in a year I've had various, hard to diagnose problems that turned out to be related to SATA connectors. The slightest bit of dust or corrosion creeping into these 7-pin connectors can cause inconsistent problems that may take days to figure out.

Don't get me wrong - SATA is a great improvement over the old IDE technology - much faster. BUT the SATA connectors - compared to IDE - are cheaply made. They will still wobble somewhat - even after being completely plugged in. This was not so with the IDE connectors - they wouldn't budge once connected.

Whoever designed the SATA plug must be a computer repair tech!

Anyone else had issues with SATA connectors - or is it just me? :sarc:

 

[Maguscreed]

As of yet I have not experienced one bad sata plug/chord.

I have replaced more ide cables over the years than I can count.

 

[Damonlandsdown]

your not alone buddy!
each time i did a wire tuck, the sata cable for my hdd came out, and i had to pull out cables to get to it.
buy a few sata cables with metal clips that hold them in, you wont regret spending the 20-30 bucks mate.

 

[DocBrown]

There have been several threads here at SF that have turned out to have bad / defective SATA cables. Plus the plastic support for the 7 pins is fragile. See the bottom HD in this pic. #2

 

[Zepher]

Must be you. I have 9 drives in my machine and not one issue with SATA cables or connections on the drives, and I sometimes have to shove my hand in the tiny space between the drives to get to the connections and have fears that I may one day snap a connector or two.
old, pic with only 8 drives,

 

[GeneO]

Never a problem here. In my current build I made sure I used cables with the clip in the connectors.

 

[TBoyd]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree - the ones with the metal clips are better. I should have mentioned that. The ones that were problematic had no metal clips.

Zepher - ONLY 8 drives - is that all? :shock:

 

[Zepher]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree - the ones with the metal clips are better. I should have mentioned that. The ones that were problematic had no metal clips.

Zepher - ONLY 8 drives - is that all? :shock:

Ya, controller cards are kinda pricey.
I have all 9 onboard SATA ports used and the IDE port.

 

[boogieboy]

SATA connectors are much better as compared to the IDE tech. Always use good SATA cables which has Silver Lockable Clips on both ends they lock and wont budge unless you press the button and about the dust thing we all have to keep our PC clean once in 3 months at least.

 

[irish003]

I have been having problems with SATA drives connected to my Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard where I loose my D Drive every 2 or 3 months. At first, I thought it was because I used the cheap cables that came with the motherboard.

I installed more expensive cables and the problem still persisted. Next, I purchased the real good cables that have the Silver Lockable Clips on both ends, the problem persisted and I lost D Drive after a couple months. This time I thought the only thing that could be wrong was that I had a bad hard drive, so I purchased a new larger hard drive to replace the original. Two months later, I loose my D Drive again. At this point, I am lost and don't know why this is happening. Does anyone have a suggestion as to why this is happening and how I can fix it so it doesn't happen again? I built identical PC's for my wife and I, but my wifes PC has only had the problem once, where I have had it happen 5 times on my PC. Any help is appreciated.

Note: The BIOS settings are ok, but the hard drive is not visible on the on screen post messages.

 

[Maguscreed]

I have been having problems with SATA drives connected to my Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard where I loose my D Drive every 2 or 3 months. At first, I thought it was because I used the cheap cables that came with the motherboard.

I installed more expensive cables and the problem still persisted. Next, I purchased the real good cables that have the Silver Lockable Clips on both ends, the problem persisted and I lost D Drive after a couple months. This time I thought the only thing that could be wrong was that I had a bad hard drive, so I purchased a new larger hard drive to replace the original. Two months later, I loose my D Drive again. At this point, I am lost and don't know why this is happening. Does anyone have a suggestion as to why this is happening and how I can fix it so it doesn't happen again? I built identical PC's for my wife and I, but my wifes PC has only had the problem once, where I have had it happen 5 times on my PC. Any help is appreciated.

Note: The BIOS settings are ok, but the hard drive is not visible on the on screen post messages.

Sounds like there is a minor issue with the hard drive controller on the motherboard itself.
Have you seen if any of the bios updates address a similar issue?

...definitely a hardware issue though.

 

[TBoyd]

Hello irish003

Are there any other spare SATA ports on your motherboard? I would try another port if possible.

If not, try swapping ports with another drive & see if the problem moves to that drive.

From the info you've given, I would be suspicious of the motherboard or that one SATA port.

Please let us know the results!

 

[DarkXeno]

I have been having problems with SATA drives connected to my Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard where I loose my D Drive every 2 or 3 months. At first, I thought it was because I used the cheap cables that came with the motherboard.

I installed more expensive cables and the problem still persisted. Next, I purchased the real good cables that have the Silver Lockable Clips on both ends, the problem persisted and I lost D Drive after a couple months. This time I thought the only thing that could be wrong was that I had a bad hard drive, so I purchased a new larger hard drive to replace the original. Two months later, I loose my D Drive again. At this point, I am lost and don't know why this is happening. Does anyone have a suggestion as to why this is happening and how I can fix it so it doesn't happen again? I built identical PC's for my wife and I, but my wifes PC has only had the problem once, where I have had it happen 5 times on my PC. Any help is appreciated.

Note: The BIOS settings are ok, but the hard drive is not visible on the on screen post messages.

Can you update your system specs for us so we know what kind of hard ware we are dealing with. Thank you,

 

[irish003]

I have an extra SATA connection, but I do use it a few times a year when prepping new hard drives. As for switching to a new SATA connector, I have never done that because once I replace the cable it works for a couple months. Also, if I just remove the SATA cable and plug the same cable back in the system the system will work and runs fine for a few weeks. That is why I think it is a connection problem.

The Asus FAQ area explains how it may me corroded connectors, and they recommend cleaning the connectors with ethanol alcohol and a flattened Qtip. I haven't tried the Qtip thing yet, but that will be my next attempt. My BIOS is updated to the latest version, so I think I am covered in that way. If you can think of anything else, please let me know.

Below is my system info:

Operating System
Windows 7 Professional (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Processor a
2.67 gigahertz Intel Core i7 920
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Hyper-threaded (8 total)
Drives
2500.40 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
1647.23 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

Optiarc DVD RW AD-7240S [Optical drive]
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7240S [Optical drive]
PIONEER BD-RW BDR-206 [Optical drive]

WDC WD2002FAEX-007BA0 [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 1, s/n WD-WMAY00913500, rev 05.01D05, SMARTStatus: Healthy
WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAT00242072, SMART Status: Healthy





Users (mouse over user name for details)
local user accounts last logon
IRISH003 4/7/2011 7:42:07 PM (admin)
local system accounts
Administrator 7/14/2009 12:08:59 AM (admin)
Guest 4/7/2011 10:04:24 PM
HomeGroupUser$ 5/16/2010 6:11:04 PM

Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account
Controllers
Intel(R) ICH10R SATA AHCI Controller
Bus Adapters
Marvell 61xx RAID Controller
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3A3A
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3A3C
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A34
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A35
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A36
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A37
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A38
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A39
Main Circuit Board b
Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6T DELUXE V2 Rev 1.xx
Serial Number: MS1C97B07102415
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 1108 09/21/2010
Memory Modules c,d
6136 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 2048 MB (serial number SerNum00)
Slot 'DIMM1' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM2' has 2048 MB (serial number SerNum02)
Slot 'DIMM3' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM4' has 2048 MB (serial number SerNum04)
Slot 'DIMM5' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 500.00 GB 387.50 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 1) 2000.40 GB 1259.73 GB free

Network Drives
None discovered
Printers
HP Photosmart C309a series on HP_192.168.1.125_MY97DG91H2058R
HP Photosmart C309a series fax on HP_192.168.1.125_MY97DG91H2058R
HP Universal Printing PCL 6 on 192.168.1.106
Microsoft Shared Fax Driver on SHRFAX:
Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:
Nitro PDF Driver on Nitro PDF Port:
Snagit 10 Printer on C:\ProgramData\TechSmith\Snagit 10\PrinterPortFile

Display
ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series [Display adapter]
Samsung SyncMaster [Monitor] (24.0"vis, s/n H9LS701173, July 2009)
Multimedia
AMD High Definition Audio Device
SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio