GA-EX58-UD3R & Optic settings.

[Tinker]

Have my MOBO running in AHCI mode now but that includes optics (DVD). Only need 2 of board SATA 2 ports
& one is for Optics the 2nd connected to spare E-SATA front connector.

I can't see anywhere in Bios to change a single port to IDE mode, have I missed something or does it
matter running Optics in AHCI mode as all appears to work.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Tinker

You cannot change a single port to AHCI or IDE. It is only the controller that you can alter in it's mode of working. So you have to change all the ports on that controller which means that you have to move certain devices to different controlled ports if you want to have different modes. I assume you want IDE mode for the optical drive and AHCI for the hard drive or SSD. If your optical drive works ok munder AHCI there is no reason to move it anyway.

[Tinker]

Hi Tinker

You cannot change a single port to AHCI or IDE. It is only the controller that you can alter in it's mode of working. So you have to change all the ports on that controller which means that you have to move certain devices to different controlled ports if you want to have different modes. I assume you want IDE mode for the optical drive and AHCI for the hard drive or SSD. If your optical drive works ok munder AHCI there is no reason to move it anyway.

Thanks for the reply DM. Where you have lost me is, if you have to change all ports to AHCI, where are the different controlled ports ? I have 2 settings
in Bios. Main one ICH SATA Control Mode, 2nd Onboard/SATA/IDE CTRL mode. 3x2 blue connectors & 1x2 white which is GByte & also controls the
onboard IDE/PATA connector.

As you say Optics appear to work OK in AHCI mode but was not sure if correct. Also am assuming that my LSI PCIe card will also be working in AHCI mode.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Right, well you have two sets of SATA ports, one set of six is controlled via the ICH10R Southbridge controller and the GSATA controlled ports of which there are two.

I would suggest setting the GSATA controller to IDE and the Southbridge to AHCI and you should be sorted.

Sorry can't say about the addon card.

From the manual:
South Bridge: 0.6 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
 0.Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
GIGABYTE SATA2 chip: 0.1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices
 0.2x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATA2_0, GSATA2_1) supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices
 

[Tinker]

Thanks for the reply DM. Did wonder if last pair of white connectors (GByte) relates to Onboard/ SATA/IDE/CTRL Mode Bios setting.
Have all Drives set to AHCI now including IDE. My main predicament is how it affects LSI card as don't need the SATA 2 ports. Using
AHCI slows boot time & reads in Device Manager 0-0 1-1 2-2 etc., as I would expect for Raid. Optics is running OK & partially up &
running in case now. Done a fair bit of testing & updating of several drives today, SSD, SATA x64-x32 & IDE/PATA. Already have
LSI extra boot time but AHCI really takes a long time to load Bios. Odd thing it boots with black screen & don't see the initial first
boot screen that shows Bios /Memory etc., only ever see that if altering Bios without drives. Have set to quick boot & display starts
with LSI then AHCI loading.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

I expect it is the Quick Boot option that is stopping you from seeing the first part of the boot sequence. It tends to speed up the memory testing etc rather than carry out the full tests. Most of us only boot once a day so a few more seconds on the boot time are not so important really.

[Tinker]

I expect it is the Quick Boot option that is stopping you from seeing the first part of the boot sequence. It tends to speed up the memory testing etc rather than carry out the full tests. Most of us only boot once a day so a few more seconds on the boot time are not so important really.

It doesn't show with the quick boot off DM unlike my other earlier GByte. It literally fumbles about in the dark. Swopped Bios to engage Graphics card
on boot, that didn't make any difference. When you start boot, monitor On lights up then off then back on again. It may be the initial memory
search as later bios if you have a memory fault it just recycles though this MOBO was factory repaired. What is so bad is when you update about
4 drives & some single drivers need a reboot it starts right from scratch. It always starts with blank screen until IRQ etc page is displayed. On quick
boot this page is not shown. I would like to go back to earlier Bios but don't want to risk any more memory problems. X58A was similiar boot up &
didn't show initial boot screen.

Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

The only thing I would suggest as a next step is to completely strip down the system and rebuild on the workbench from scratch where we can check everything as we go along. I am quite happy to help you if you would like to tackle it that way, just say the word.

[Tinker]

Thanks for the offer DM but have had it long enough mocked up on spare desktop. I did put bios back to default today
then to optimised & reset. I tried turning off AHCI on ICH ctrl but leaving onboard ctrl mode on AHCI. Odd thing is HDD
seems a bit faster on x1333 than 1600 on XMP. Don't think I can do much more to the board & SSD speeds for a single
drive seem as good as most, apart from OC which I don't want, other than CPU to 3.2 & running under 35C with
case open.

Can boot with IDE, SATA, SSD & secondry HDD. So far everything is stable & fairly sharp apart from odd boot up
which I put down to bios. Will probably put on case sides tomorrow & put it in it's resting place & hopefully make
use of it.

Will wait until next year then may take a look at later boards with proper SATA 3 once they are sorted.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Fair enough mate. It is easy to get into the mindset of keep playing with it trying to improve on this or that benchmark when the reallity is that it is working and that is what matters in the end.

[Tinker]

Thanks DM, just one little add on. Decided to check out E-SATA port on card reader as wanted one SATA 2 connection available. Had a spare
WD Caviar 500gb SATA 2 HDD partly progammed, decided to check with ATTO & found it faster than the WD SATA 3 Black 500gb !!!
LSI card was also faster with it.

Had a PM today from friend who runs ASUS & mentioned about difference in boot up times due to AHCI & he said, never heard of it. !!
Don't get any difference on boot with ShuttleX which I have just switched to AHCI mode as changed drive to SSD. So another GByte
quirk.


Regards tinker.