Z77X-D3H - Can't add second hard drive in Windows 8

[andycz]

Hi,

Having a bit of trouble getting an issue fixed and not sure where i should ask!

I just built a new system (i7, 8Gb ram, Samsung SSD. Gigabyte Z77X-D3H) and i installed Windows 8 Pro onto the SSD which is plugged into SATA3_0. The Samsung SSD is the only boot priority listed in the BIOS. With this setup Windows works very nicely indeed.

My problem comes with adding my WD Raptor. It did have 2 NTFS partitions on (made in XP) with all my data. When i plugged it into the PC into SATA3_1, the Samsung stayed as boot priority, Windows got to the logo splashscreen and either hung, or entered a repair screen and promptly told me nothing could be repaired. Unplugging the second drive and everything worked normally again.

So, i unplugged the SSD, plugged the old drive into SATA3_0 and used the Windows 8 setup disk to delete all partitions and leave one raw partition (i assumed as a drive would be if you bought it new), in the hopes Windows 8 wouldn't get confused by it. Same issue. When i plugged it into the PC into SATA3_1 again, the Samsung stayed as boot priority, Windows got to the logo splashscreen and either hung, or entered a repair screen and promptly told me nothing could be repaired. Unplugging the second drive and everything worked normally again.

I also tried using Windows setup to format the drive, but it insisted on created a load of system partitions as well which again, would not boot with the SSD connected as well.

So...i got someone to format the drive as a single NTFS partition in Windows 7 (on a PC with a UEFI BIOS). Doesn't work. I got someone to reformat the drive as a single NTFS partition in XP. Doesn't work.

I've also tried the drive in each scenario in every SATA port and the same issue persists.

Does anyone know how to resolve this issue?

[joe pineapples]

Just a shot in the dark since I haven't had the pleasure(?) of adding an SSD to my existing sata HDD setup yet (Z77-D3H), but could it be related to what the sata port mode is set as in the bios. IDE or AHCI? - I would try changing it to the opposite for the HDD to what it is now and see if that helps.

[MarkJohnson]

I've had similar issues when adding drives to win 8.  I found that when repair happens it changes permission on the drive and leaves it unbootable.

Try the drive alone and see it it boots correctly.  If it doesn't boot, then it sounds like the issue I had.  I found several articles that went into great length of the issues and ended up just formatting and reinstalling as it was faster.

Short answer to the issue is win8 hates multi-boot.  I think part of it was enabling ultra fast boot which has a hybrid sleep mode and I think it reads the wrong hibernate file and chaos ensues.

Luck
-=Mark=-