GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard - Computer has stopped booting

[wbtczn]

My computer was built over a year ago and has worked just fine...until today.  I added an additional hard drive today.  When I started the system up, I got a message that the new hardware wasn't recognized because I was missing a driver.  That is a bit weird to me, because the new hard drive is a Western Digital Caviar Black drive, and I already have 2 of them installed on the computer.

The message suggested I go into Windows Update to see if I had any new updates.  I did have some new updates so I went ahead and installed them.  I rebooted, and there is no recognition of the new hard drive.  I tried many reboots, including totally shutting down and unplugging the computer. 

My 'consultant' suggested going into the BIOS to see if the drive was being recognized.  So I rebooted again and didn't see any of the DOS messages to hold down the F key to get into the BIOS.  Part of not being able to see that may have been because my Samsung monitors rolls between HDMI, Analog, and Digital to find a signal...and it wasn't finding the signal.

So...I tried rebooting again and held down the F10.  The computer never displayed anything on the monitor.  I finally shut down and tried rebooting again while holding the F6.  Same thing.

I'm sure I shot myself in the foot -- I just don't know what it was, though.  I know the monitor is fine because I'm using it right now hooked up to a laptop.

I thought about pushing the 'Clear CMOS' button on the back of my computer and my 'consultant' said, "Nooooooooooo!!!!"

Outside of waiting until next week to take it into a shop...anybody have any other suggestions?

[Fatman]

Just try rbooting without holding anything down. If you get into windows try this,
If you right click on computer then go to manage, and then disk management. Do you see the drive there? It might need to be initiallized first.

[wbtczn]

Can't do it Fatman -- when I power the computer on, I get nothing on the screen.  No DOS messages, no Gigabyte splash screen, no Windows. 

[Fatman]

Reset the cmos.

[wbtczn]

Is there any risk in reseting it?  I'm wondering why my consultant was so set against it.  If I do reset it, is there anything I have to do after the fact (such as getting latest copies of anything)? 

Sorry for the basic questions.  I know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to be confident.

[Fatman]

Resetting the CMOS just takes the Mobo back to it's default settings. Maybe your 'consultant' is just being wary as there might be some settings other than stock that might need to be applied eg Ram voltage and timings. But it seems to me you have not much option.

[wbtczn]

So, it's a good news, bad news thing.  The good news is I got the CMOS reset and am now seeing stuff.  The bad news is I can't get Windows to load.  Right now it's trying to do a "Startup Repair".  The first time I tried it from my SSD boot and it said it couldn't do the repair.  I rebooted from my OEM Windows disc and the repair process has been running about 10 minutes now....

Do I need to do anything to update the BIOS?  Or does it automatically take care of it since I had the updates on there already?

[Fatman]

You now may need to set your IDE mode to ACHI in bios

Also you might need to set first boot to HDD and second boot to CD and 3rb boot to FDD or disable if you dont have a floppy

[wbtczn]

What does setting the IDE mode to ACHI do?

As I recall, the boot order was fine: SSD, CD, floppy (even though I don't have a floppy)

It's been trying to do a repair for 40 minutes.  Now I'm thinking it's just not finding it's brains.

[Fatman]

As your OS is on the SSD its better to run in ACHI mode

Actually first off go back into Bios and set to load optimised default and save reboot then set ACHI in the bios

You gto into intergrated peripherals and change ICH Sata Control Mode from IDE to ACHI

[wbtczn]

And the weird gets weirder.  After waiting over an hour, I rebooted.  I told it to start Windows normally and just about everthing came up.  It was still acting freaky so I rebooted again.  Here's a couple of weird things I see:

• I have 2 default tabs in Internet Explorer.  A weather tab and a facebook tab.  The weather tab comes up fine, but the facebook tab redirects to some site entitled "www.somoto.com"
• Windows Update can't run -- give me a WindowsUpdate_80072F8F error

I know the internet connection is working because my Outlook is updating.

[wbtczn]

Windows also isn't recognizing the new drive.  I rebooted and went into the CMOS Setup Utility.  It shows this information on my drives:

IDE Channel 1 Master my SSD
IDE Channel 5 Master WDC...
IDE Channel 5 Slave WDC....
IDE Channel 6 Master WDC....

Is this ok?  When I get into Windows, it does not recognize the drive in Windows Explorer

[Fatman]

Ok in the start button down the bottom click on it then right click computer then click manage and then click disc management. Can you see your new drive there? It may have a black line instead of blue and may say it's a 'RAW' drive?

[Fatman]

And the weird gets weirder.  After waiting over an hour, I rebooted.  I told it to start Windows normally and just about everthing came up.  It was still acting freaky so I rebooted again.  Here's a couple of weird things I see:

Ok you may have in intergrated peripherals (in Bios) the ICH controller set to IDE you may need to set that to Achi as the windows might have been installed in that mode.

[wbtczn]

I did change it to AHCI.

In disk management: I have 4 drives listed.  Disk 0 has a black bar.  It says it's online and unallocated.  Disk 1, 2, and 3 all are blue and online.