GA-MA770-UD3 rev 2.0 - Am I in the correct SATA port for my SSD?

[Merlin]

Hello. Can anyone confirm if I've got my new Samsung 830 SSD in the correct SATA port, as it's a bit confusing in BIOS. I get 28 seconds from reboot to desktop, so I'm assuming all is connected as should be?

My motherboard is a 3 year old GA-MA770-UD3 rev 2.0 and has six yellow SATA ports labelled 0,1,2,3,4,5.

In BIOS, I switched to AHCI before installing the OS, and I set 'OnChip SATA Port 4/5' to 'As SATA Type', and the description of that is "Set SATA Port 4/5 mode as SATA Port 0-3".

In the Samsung manual it suggests having the SSD in the lowest numbered port. I'm assuming that would give the best performance.

I've put my 830 in the port actually labelled on the motherboard as port 4.  Because of the 'OnChip SATA Port 4/5' ('Set SATA Port 4/5 mode as SATA Port 0-3'), do I assume that port 4 is now port 0?  i.e, I'm already in the lowest numbered port as per the 4/5 SATA type setting?

The SSD doesn't work in my physically labelled 0 to 3 ports (it says disk failure in those), and only works in ports 4 and 5. Is that how it should be?
I have my DVD and second WD hard drive in the physically labelled ports 0 and 1.  As the PC boots, it shows this order in the POST for a couple of seconds:

0000 1TB HDD
0001 Optiarc DVD
0002 Samsung 830 SSD

It's like I can't get the SSD to be first in the order, and my OS is installed to the 830. But it does show priority to the samsung as the first hard disk when in one of the BIOS screens, so maybe it's ok? I have installed the latest chipset drivers which sped up my boot time in AHCI, these:http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/raid_windows.aspx

and reflashed the board to the latest BIOS which knocked another 8 seconds off my boot time. So I'm really just wondering if I've done all I should and am getting the best results my motherboard can give me. The SSD is SATA 3 and this motherboard is SATA 2, so I'm aware I'm not getting full performance from the SSD. Thanks for any help.

[Merlin]

Update: When I disconnected my 1TB HDD tonight but left the SSD connected, I got a disk failure message during boot. It seems windows somehow installed a 100mb system reserved partition to my 1TB HDD instead of the SSD, and that my HDD starts the boot process and then the SSD takes over. That would account for the SSD not working in the other sata ports, because I'd disconnected the HDD last night. That means I have to start all over, erasing everything, reinstalling windows, windows updates, etc.  

I'm going to delete the HDD partition then disconnect the HDD before installing windows to the SSD again. I'm guessing the SSD should work in port 0 then.

I'm still unclear however on the 'as sata type ports 4/5 as sata ports 0-3' if anyone can clarify?

[absic]

Hi there,

whenever I install an OS I make sure there is only the one drive attached to the system as Windows does seem to like to spread itself out onto other drives and cause these kind of issues.

If you connect your SSD to SATA port 0 you want to set the SATA controller to AHCI Mode.

With your motherboard there is the option to set the SATA Ports 4/5 to operate in IDE mode independently of the way the SATA Ports 0-3 operate. This is useful, especially if you have an older SATA CD/DVD drive that won't run correctly in AHCI Mode. Setting the SATA Type Ports 4/5 to as SATA Ports 0-3 means they will operate in the same mode as you have set for these ports.

Hope this helps

[Merlin]

Hi there,

whenever I install an OS I make sure there is only the one drive attached to the system as Windows does seem to like to spread itself out onto other drives and cause these kind of issues.

If you connect your SSD to SATA port 0 you want to set the SATA controller to AHCI Mode.

With your motherboard there is the option to set the SATA Ports 4/5 to operate in IDE mode independently of the way the SATA Ports 0-3 operate. This is useful, especially if you have an older SATA CD/DVD drive that won't run correctly in AHCI Mode. Setting the SATA Type Ports 4/5 to as SATA Ports 0-3 means they will operate in the same mode as you have set for these ports.

Hope this helps

Hi absic, thanks for the info. Yes, I will never install windows again without disconnecting all surplus drives first!

My BIOS settings are:

Onchip IDE Channel - Disabled
Onchip SATA Controller - Enabled
Onchip SATA Type - AHCI
Onchip SATA Port 4/5 Type - As SATA Type.

My DVD drive is a 3 year old Sony Optiarc in port 2 and works fine in AHCI. If I understand you correctly, since I don't have any IDE drives connected anymore, just a new 1TB WD Caviar Black and the SSD, shall I leave 'Onchip SATA Port 4/5 Type - As SATA Type'  as it is, and just plug the SSD into port 0? Is there any noticeable difference in performance in port 0 from any other?


The other thing is, (and I appreciate it's not really a motherboard question) someone said to me not to bother erasing and reinstalling, but to put my windows disk in and do a start up repair. Apparently it doesn't remove the partition, but  sorts out the boot record and should hide the partition. So I'm assuming it means the SSD will boot independent of the HDD, as it should have done. Do you have any opinion on this, or do you think I should erase and reinstall?

[absic]

Hi Again,

I haven't really noticed any major drop off in performance by not using the SATA 0 port but I have to say that I do try and keep the OS on the SATA 0 port.

Yes, you can safely leave the SATA Ports 4/5 as on Chip SATA Type which will be AHCI Mode.

Again, I'm not disputing what you have heard with regard to just running the Windows Repair option I have to say that it is not something that I do and for the time it takes to reformat and start again it can save a lot of headaches.

[Merlin]

Hi Again,

I haven't really noticed any major drop off in performance by not using the SATA 0 port but I have to say that I do try and keep the OS on the SATA 0 port.

Yes, you can safely leave the SATA Ports 4/5 as on Chip SATA Type which will be AHCI Mode.

Again, I'm not disputing what you have heard with regard to just running the Windows Repair option I have to say that it is not something that I do and for the time it takes to reformat and start again it can save a lot of headaches.

Thanks for the reply absic. Here's an update: SSD is working in port 0 while the HDD is connected. Someone has now given me instructions how to delete the system reserve partition which I've successfully done,  and am now creating a new boot loader using start up repair on my windows disk. HDD is now disconnected. When all done, it should hopefully all work as it should do. I wouldn't have minded secure erasing and reinstalling everything, but so far this appears to be quite easy and quick.

[agros]

I recently replaced my ssd with a new one(Intel 330 MLC 120GB).
I made a new clean Win7-64 intallation, ahci setted in bios and no other hdd connected.
At first seemed everything ok. Then came problem,  some times disk not recognized so I cant boot  and some other times disk exists normaly and I can boot.
Is it important in which sata port I connect disk and dvd drive?

[absic]

Hi there,

my first thought would be to check that you have the latest firmware on your SSD as even new ones can ship with older version and this is often a cause of disk errors. I had same problem with my ADATA and OCZ SSD's which were cured with firmware updates.

In answer to your question it shouldn't really matter which of the SATA ports that you use but usually, you would attach the main system drive to the SATA port 0 as this is normally the one accessed first in BIOS.

[agros]

I have run the Intel Tollbox as told by the manual, latest firmware is on.

We r not talking about disk errors. I have already booted and working normally this disk for many hours.
In this thread the starter says something about bios options like sata type ports 4/5 οr 0-3. Do I have to consider about?

[absic]

In this thread the starter says something about bios options like sata type ports 4/5 οr 0-3. Do I have to consider about?

If you are having problems it is worth considering ALL things to do with your system, BIOS configuration, Hardware and software environment.

If the disk is disappearing at start up then checking that BIOS is set-up correctly is obviously a first step. As I have already stated, it is best if you can have the main HDD or SSD that contains the Operating System on SATA port 0. If you have installed the OS in AHCI Mode make sure that the SATA Controller is also set for AHCI Mode. Double check that the BOOT Priority is set for the main disk as this may be set to DVD/CD drive or even an external device if one is present.

The SATA ports 4/5 can operate independently from the SAT 0-3 ports. Usually you can safely leave these as On Chip SATA type which, if you have set as AHCI Mode will mean they also run in AHCI Mode. However you can, instead, use these two SATA ports in IDE Mode which is useful if you have an older SATA DVD/CD drive or similar as some of these seem to prefer running in IDE Mode.

If you are happy that your BIOS is set correctly, then you need to start looking in other areas for the possible cause of the problem, which is why I mentioned firmware, which you have already checked.

The next logical area would be the power source for the system as this can cause issues of this nature if it is underpowered or not working properly.

[agros]

Boot problem solved.
I connected ssd to port_0.
I had connected to port_4  

Didnt thought that the order of ports is important.
Besides, mobo's manual says (as usually) " Attach one end of the SATA signal cable to the rear of the SATA hard drive and the other end to available SATA port on the motherboard".

Here is my bios settings. Are they ok?

The SATA ports 4/5 can operate independently from the SAT 0-3 ports. Usually you can safely leave these as On Chip SATA type which, if you have set as AHCI Mode will mean they also run in AHCI Mode. However you can, instead, use these two SATA ports in IDE Mode which is useful if you have an older SATA DVD/CD drive or similar as some of these seem to prefer running in IDE Mode.

Thats the point I m trying hard to understand.
Do you suggest me to set ports 4/5 as ide? In which port should I connect my dvd drive? (its unconnected right now and waiting your suggestion).
If I have an older dvd drive then plz show me which one  should I buy. Dvd drives are so cheap today, so I d like to get the best/faster one.

[absic]

Yes, the BIOS settings look OK.

With your DVD/CD drive it is really a case of try it and see.

What I mean here is, attach it to your chosen SATA port which are all currently set in AHCI Mode and see if it works. If it does then your up and running and you don't need to worry.

But if there are problems with it running in AHCI Mode, then attach it to either SATA port 4 or 5 and change the settings in BIOS for those two SATA ports to IDE rather than  as SATA Type.

[agros]

Ok, so your answer is to connect it in any port (1-5) works with no problem.
But could this maybe cause not full performance, as our friend Merlin also consider?
I wonder why someone should choose to set as IDE a sata port. Or he can buy a better dvd drive?

Btw, what do u think about this Power Management settings, r they ok?

...SSD is working in port 0 while the HDD is connected. Someone has now given me instructions how to delete the system reserve partition which I've successfully done,  and am now creating a new boot loader using start up repair on my windows disk. HDD is now disconnected. When all done, it should hopefully all work as it should do. I wouldn't have minded secure erasing and reinstalling everything, but so far this appears to be quite easy and quick.

I dont thik that it was your new installation which created that system reserve partition of 100MB.
I recently made a new installation to a new ssd too. No any other hard disks was connected during the installation. After job finished I connected a hdd which had my files to transfer. Then I saw displayed in Start--> My Computer that strange system reserve partition of 100MB. That means this partition belongs to hdd, not to ssd. However, this partition is not displayed when hdd is in its default pc.