GA-P55A-UD3P rev 1 - Can't install SSD on it

[Seligman]

I am trying, since last Christmas, to install install an SSD on my GA-P55A-UD3P (BIOS version F14) with no luck.
I disconnected my HDD, so only an optical drive and the SSD are connected.
All SATA Control Modes (PCH/GSATA/eSATA) are set to AHCI.
The SSD is connected to the GSATA_6 port.
I boot from the windows 10 dvd, the windows logo is displayed, and when that 'circle of circles' stars spinning, the machine reboots itself.
I already tried to change the GSATA control mode to IDE just for a test, but the symptom is the same.
Also already tried the intel SATA_0 with same result.
Any hint?

[dmdilks]

Does it see the SSD in the bios?

[shadowsports]

Connect the SSD to the intel controller...  not GSATA

[Seligman]

Does it see the SSD in the bios?

The SSD appears quicky on the POST screen.
In the BIOS, it is not listed on the Standard CMOS screen, but when I click on the channel where it is installed, I see its properties there.

[Seligman]

Connect the SSD to the intel controller...  not GSATA

But GSATA is 6Gb/s , the Intel ones are 3Gb/s...
I have read somewhere that the Marvell controller for the GSATA port sucks, but I am keep trying it bacause of the double speed (and because my HDD - which is currently disconected - was working OK on one of the two GSATA ports).
Should I really gave up GSATA for the SSD then? It won't work?

[shadowsports]

I understand what you are hoping for. 

I don't see anything in the user guide which states you can't use the marvell for a standalone disk.  See page 99 of your manual.  GSATA Enabled, Set operate mode to AHCI.  Now tab down to GSATA RAID Config..  Press Enter

Does the single SSD appear in this utility on HBA0? (Drive connected to GSATA_6)?

What does the "Configure SATA as:" in the right-hand pane state.

You should not have to make any changes here since you only have one disk, are not marking disks as RAID members and are not choosing RAID 0 or 1, but I thought you might have a look in this utility to see if/what it detects the SSD as if present. F14 is latest available BIOS, and will have whatever Gigabyte decided to include with the last BIOS.

You also shouldn't need a controller driver for pre-install with windows 10.

[Seligman]

> Does the single SSD appear in this utility on HBA0? (Drive connected to GSATA_6)?

Yes - HBA0: Marvell 0 -> PDO: Sandisk SDSSDA1

> What does the "Configure SATA as:" in the right-hand pane state.

It says

Configure SATA as: AHCI Mode

But I can't leave this BIOS screen using Esc, only with F10. (It says Esc - Return on the bottom of the screen, but Esc does nothing).

[Seligman]

The SSD is now connected to SATA2_0 (Intel P55 port)
The results of my tests with this port so far are:

PCH Ctrl Mode = AHCI -> reboot loop
PCH Ctrl Mode = IDE -> reboot loop

Switched back PCH Ctrl Mode to AHCI then I tried to disable some BIOS features, one by one isolately:

Azalia Audio Codec -> Disabled it -> reboot loop -> re-enabled it
Onboard H/W Lan -> Disabled it -> reboot loop -> re-enabled it
No Execute Memory Protect -> Disabled it -> reboot loop -> re-enabled it
eSata Controller -> Disabled it -> reboot loop -> re-enabled it
Sata Port 0-3 Native Mode -> Disabled it -> reboot loop -> re-enabled it

Before starting those tests, I made sure (using a linux bootable tool) that the 111 Gb available on the SSD was entirely unallocated space.

In short, the SATA2_0 tests had the same results as using GSATA.

I have the impression that the reboot occurs when Windows setup tries to access the SSD.

I am unsure what to do now.
The only idea I have at the moment is to connect back my HDD, boot with it, and see if the SSD is acessible from Windows as a "D" drive.
Any better ideas?

[Seligman]

I just tried to install W8.1 with the same reboot loop.
Then tried W7 and the install proceeded to the end.
But the w7 biit from the SSD is interrupted by a reboot loop.
In safe mode with command prompt, I see that it hangs loading 'disk.sys'.
Is this a hint of something?

[shadowsports]

Looked on google, MS, and various forums.  The three things that came up most were:

UEFI / Legacy BIOS settings 
Memory DIMM compatibility
Video GPU compatibility   

The board is older so I'm not sure if its UEFI compatible or if there are any BIOS' that support it.  Windows 7 should install in legacy mode without issue either way.

The memory issue was solved by removing all but one DIMM, performing the install then re-adding the others after a successful boot.

The GPU issue.  System hung when vid.sys tried to load..  its was the next module that tried to load after disk.sys, which made it the last thing that displayed when attempting to run in safe mode.  Changing the video card resolved the issue in this case.

Pretty strange that you can see the SSD in both main and GSATA utilities but can't get a legacy OS to install.  How much more time you want to spend troubleshooting is up to you.     

[Seligman]

Looked on google, MS, and various forums.  The three things that came up most were:

UEFI / Legacy BIOS settings 
Memory DIMM compatibility
Video GPU compatibility   

The board is older so I'm not sure if its UEFI compatible or if there are any BIOS' that support it.  Windows 7 should install in legacy mode without issue either way.

The memory issue was solved by removing all but one DIMM, performing the install then re-adding the others after a successful boot.

The GPU issue.  System hung when vid.sys tried to load..  its was the next module that tried to load after disk.sys, which made it the last thing that displayed when attempting to run in safe mode.  Changing the video card resolved the issue in this case.

Pretty strange that you can see the SSD in both main and GSATA utilities but can't get a legacy OS to install.  How much more time you want to spend troubleshooting is up to you.   

First of all, thank you very much for your time and effort!

Your 3 hints are very interesting.
Here's what I can say about them:

1.This mobo is not UEFI compatible;
2.It has only 2 memory DIMMs (2 x 2Gb = 4Gb total). If windows get installed with 1 DIMM, it means that I cannot add the other one later ?!
3.GPU compatibility - from your 3 hints, this is the one that I would suspect more. It has a NVIDIA GPU (1Gb video RAM). Will do some research about this one.

Meanwhile, I did another test today. I have reconnected my HDD (it has win 7 on it) with the SSD disconnected. The HDD boots fine this way. But connecting both the HDD and the SSD (SSD as slave), the HDD does not boot. Start loading windows then reboots itself. Would this be a hint that the SSD is faulty?

[shadowsports]

Test the drive if you suspect it could be faulty:

https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15108

[Seligman]

Test the drive if you suspect it could be faulty:

https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15108

I took the SSD to my office and a coworker lent me a USB adaptor to use the SSD externally.
It can be accessed normally that way (using my notebook at work), and I was able to partition and format it with NTFS.
I installed the Sandisk SSD Dashboard on that notebook, it detected the drive normally via USB and found no errors on it.
So it is a normal D drive on my work notebook at the moment.
I am considering to buy one of these USB adaptors and use this SSD as a backup drive, as it seems to be incompatible with my home desktop computer.