GA-880GM-USB3 and SATA HDD issue [SOLVED]

[juanm_la22]

Hi all!, I am new here. I just bought a new computer assembled by my self. This is what i bought:

Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 rev. 1.1
AMD Phenon II x4 955.
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB memory kit (2x 2GB)
Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB (I know... bad choice, i realise today about this)
DVD-RW SONY AD-7260S-ZD SATA
Case SENTEY BLACK SERIES 4237 with 650W Power supply

The fact is that i couldnt install no OS on this system. The first time that i turned on the computer i heard 3 beeps, then a pause, and another 3 beeps. Then the system starts and prompt a question about running on IDE mode wich offers to change to AHCI MODE. I leave the IDE MODE and proceed to install. The Windows installation starts fine and at the moment to create the partition and format the hard drive the issue come! I couldnt format the hard drive, and even better, the hard drive disappeared from the list of devices magically!

I rebooted and I tried again, but happens the same. So I start to try differents approachs to find a solution. This is what i tried:

- Configuring memories in dual and single channel with HyperX, changing the modules in differents sockets. When I did this, i dont heard the beeps anymore.
- Replacing the hard drive with a WD Caviar Blue 320GB. For a moment I thought that this was the solution because I could format the disc in the installation and could install windows 7 and the motherboard drivers, but some strange errors appeared when i tried to open the control panel or other apps, that happened up to a reboot, after that windows 7 didn't start anymore. This happens in less than an hour of use.
- I made some memory test with testmem86, 2 cicles and no errors appeared.
- I disconnect everything except the hdd and nothing happens.


FInally, I try with an old WD 80GB IDE HDD and surprisingly everything works fine! a little slow because the IDE transfer rate, but stable.

I am thinking to send the mobo to RMA ASAP but before that i want to ensure my suspect are right: the sata controller of the mobo is not working properly.

Maybe this was happened to somebody else and the problem is another than i think, so any idea are welcome!

Regards,
JM

[juanm_la22]

Hi all! Well, i have my computer working fine again. The issue probably was the sata controller (i think so) but the hdd was faulty too. Or perhaps the hdd has been damaged because the sata controller was faulty. I dont really know why, but the thing is that my hardware dealer has replaced my motherboard and my hdd, wich is good for me . Now I have a Samsung EcoGreen F4 1.5TB, wich it wasn't the best choice because it's a green line hdd, but it was the only choice that I had. Independently of the hdd, the computer has a great performance and stability!

Best Regards,
JM

[runn3R]

Thanks for keeping all informed