SSD wont boot through sata3

[abc545]

when i plug in my SSD to a sata 3 port the computer freezes at splash screen.. plugged into normal sata ports it boots just fine


windows 7 is already installed on the SSD
latest firmware
bios is relatively up to date
no other drives connected
changed some settings from IDE -> ahci in bios


not really sure whats up

 

[dsk04]

has it booted with the ahci set in bios? i had some problems with my new ssd freezeing when windows got done starting up, did you try safe mode?

 

[abc545]

im not sure what your asking... ahci is set and it will boot when connected to a sata port... but when i swap the cable to a sata3 port it freezes before i can get to the bios/boot.... only thing i can think of is maybe i have a bios setting wrong??

 

[Corazon]

It should work - SATA-III is backward-compatible to SATA-II so your SSD would work, but it would still transfer data over the controller interface at SATA-II speed only.

That's assuming your SSD isn't actually a SATA-III drive, of course.

But it's possible that you're simply running into a rare incompatibility between the SSD and the controller. In any case, unless this is a very high-performance drive you won't really notice the difference by sticking with a SATA-II port instead.

It doesn't sound like anything you can really influence with the BIOS, and AHCI won't have anything to do with it anyway. What you could try is updating the SSD's firmware to the latest version, which is a good idea anyway.

 

[abc545]

The SDD is a Vertex 3 it has the latest firmware version... the controller is a Marvell which i understand is not optimal... but they should be compatible none the less...as a side note my regular HDD does not boot either when plugged into the SATA3 port...very strange

 

[badger906]

Are you using a sata3 cable?
Not sure if that matters, I know a sata3 cable can be used on a sata2 device, but unsure what would happen if a sata3 device was plugged into a sata3 port with a sata2 cable.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[1Bowtie]

The SDD is a Vertex 3 it has the latest firmware version... the controller is a Marvell which i understand is not optimal... but they should be compatible none the less...as a side note my regular HDD does not boot either when plugged into the SATA3 port...very strange

About 3 weeks ago i bought a OCZ Vertex 3 w/ Sandforce 2281 controller could not get it to work right, i jumped through all the hoop's with no success, firmware update, then there was the NVidia motherboard fix nothing helped. It shouldn't be this hard to get something to work, so i sent it back for a refund. You would think waiting to the second or third gen they would work right out of the box. Just my 2 cents.

You haven't posted your system spec's so it's kinda hard to determine your problem, but as you can see in my upper post the Vertex 3 has a Sandforce SF-2281 controller which has been problematic for people w/ NVidia motherboards.

 

[abc545]

The SDD is a Vertex 3 it has the latest firmware version... the controller is a Marvell which i understand is not optimal... but they should be compatible none the less...as a side note my regular HDD does not boot either when plugged into the SATA3 port...very strange

About 3 weeks ago i bought a OCZ Vertex 3 w/ Sandforce 2281 controller could not get it to work right, i jumped through all the hoop's with no success, firmware update, then there was the NVidia motherboard fix nothing helped. It shouldn't be this hard to get something to work, so i sent it back for a refund. You would think waiting to the second or third gen they would work right out of the box. Just my 2 cents.

You haven't posted your system spec's so it's kinda hard to determine your problem, but as you can see in my upper post the Vertex 3 has a Sandforce SF-2281 controller which has been problematic for people w/ NVidia motherboards.

pretty sure its not the SSDs fault

System specs

Athlon IIx3
Radeon 4850
4 Gb DDR3 G.skill
GA-770TA-UD3 MOBO
Vertex 3 60 GB

... has to be a bios setting or drivers ?

 

[Corazon]

Chipset:

1. 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices
2. 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_0, SATA2_1, SATA2_2, SATA2_3, SATA2_4, SATA2_5) supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices
3. Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, and JBOD

Marvell 9128 chip:

1. 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3_6, GSATA3_7) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices
2. Support for SATA RAID 0 and RAID 1

* SATA3 RAID 0 4x and SATA3 2x performance are maximum theoretical values. Actual performance may vary by system configuration.
* SATA3 SSDs are not recommended for use in RAID 0 mode on Marvell SE9128 ports.

Not sure if the warning at the end applies, but I thought I'd highlight it.

I'm actually surprised no SATA-2 ports are listed here. According to these specs, everything is SATA-3 except the eSATA ports. I'm starting to think you simply thought the chipset-internal SATA ports were SATA-2, but you really don't get any performance loss from using them instead of the Marvell SATA ports.

(Taken from GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-770TA-UD3 (rev. 1.0))

 

[abc545]

no offense but i think you got confused by the word play... sata3 and sata 3 gb/s is not the same thing, the MOBO has

6 SATA '3gb/s'
and
2 SATA3 '6gb/s

im not using the sata3 ports in RAID
and there not working at all even with a single HDD or SSD

 

[Corazon]

OMG. You're right, sorry, I completely misread the specs and thought all were SATA-3 ports.

I just re-read your original post and noticed you said that the boot process freezes "during the splash screen". I thought we were talking about a failure to boot from the SSD on SATA-3 at all, but obviously it does boot into Windows, it just crashes in the process.

I think I know why - since the SATA-3 ports run on the Marvell controller, my guess is you'll need a different SATA AHCI driver for Windows to use that controller. The one for the AMD chipset-based controller wouldn't work for the Marvell.

If the Marvell-specific driver is already installed on your system, then it might be necessary to add the driver to the CriticalDeviceDatabase key in the registry, so it's loaded at boot time and available for the boot process to continue to the desktop.

What can you tell us about the installed drivers for the AMD and Marvell controllers?

 

[1Bowtie]

I think your missing one small point, the OCZ Vertex 3 does NOT have a Marvell controller it has a Sandforce SF-2281 controller.

 

[Corazon]

I think your missing one small point, the OCZ Vertex 3 does NOT have a Marvell controller it has a Sandforce SF-2281 controller.

I was never talking about the controller on the SSD itself.
I've been referring to the two separate SATA controllers on the motherboard. The SSD's Sandforce controller is irrelevant here.

 

[badger906]

then its not the SSD's fault at all. Sounds to me like your marvel powered ports arent working period.
Have you got the latest bios for your mobo?

SATA3 ports are backwards compatible, so running a SATA2 device on it will be fine. My servers mobo has 4 SATA3 ports and nothing else. yet nothing i run off it is sata3

 

[abc545]

Badger906:

yea it cant be the SSDs fault as a HDD plugged into the same ports has the same problem.... the bios is version F3, f4 is the most recent(but its in a BETA) and lists no improvements to any controllers


Corazon :

i have no idea what your talking about... you lost me :shock:

 

[Corazon]

Sorry about that. Let's clarify a couple of things because I'm a bit confused about a few details.

We've established that your SSD (which contains Windows) boots fine all the way to the desktop when connected to a SATA-2 port.
Windows will start booting from the SSD when it's connected to SATA-3, but freeze up during the boot while the splash screen is visible.

Am I correct so far?

Now what exactly do you mean when you said "the HDD doesn't boot either when I connect it to the SATA-3 port"? I'm assuming here that your HDD contains another Windows installation - is that Windows the exact same one you have on the SSD now? (i.e. did you clone it to the SSD?)

Are you saying the HDD won't boot at all, or does it get to the animated splash screen and freeze there just like the SSD?

We need to be clear about this, as the difference is important.

 

[abc545]

Vertex 3

SATA : Boots all the way up, works 100%
- BUT -
has lag spikes and weird delay??

SATA3: Freezes at SPLASH (single beep for post)




SamsungSpinpoint

SATA : Boots:Works

SATA3: Freezes at SPLASH (Single beep for post)



make sure to note by Splash i mean the splash screen for the MOBO with the option to BIOS/boot/recovery/postdetails/flash (also note it freezes before i can get into bios... although i can get into post details)

 

[Corazon]

OK, you mean the POST screen then. (That's not a splash screen, strictly speaking, so I thought you meant the Windows boot logo).

BTW, POST = power-on self test, which is what the BIOS does after turning the PC on or when restarting it.

I'm not really sure what's going on here then - the mere presence of something connected to one of the SATA3 ports (which are on the Marvell controller) prevents the machine from booting. I can only assume it's a hardware failure or possibly a SATA3 cable plugged in wrong - which shouldn't really be possible, mind you, but if the cable itself is damaged maybe it's creating a short circuit somewhere.

Do you have a different SATA3 cable to try with?

The lags and freezes you're experiencing with the SSD when running on SATA2 are a completely different issue and we'll have to deal with that one separately (if you want to). I don't know anything about the Vertex 3 but have heard of problems with it...does it have the latest available firmware installed?

 

[abc545]

The firmware Version is 2.15 (Most recent)

i have tried with different cables(Same result)

it cant be a hardware failure on the HHD/SSD side as they both work just fine connected to a normal Sata port

that being said it could be the motherboard.. or a bios setting or software/controller/driver issue??


i haven't looked into the lag on the SATA2 port still have some hope of getting the sata3 to work .... that being said ill look into it

 

[dolittle]

"changed some settings from IDE -> ahci in bios"
If you changed the BIOS to AHCI after you installed the OS you will ether have to re install the OS, or do a registry hack (change), or change it back to IDE mode.