SATA keeps disconnecting

[dfgh11]

I have a strange problem with my system. My sata drives will keep disconnecting both whilst I'm using the computer or after I switch it on after it being off all night.I'm pretty sure it's not a driver issue, as the motherboard stops detecting them too and occasionally shows up one or both of the drives as 'BZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZ'.I have tried nearly everything I can think of, firmware upgrades,power checks,lead checks, software checks and S.M.A.R.T checks.The only way to solve the issue, seems to be switching the computer off and unplugging both drives via the sata cable,plugging it back in again and then booting up.

System:

2x 2.8 xeon
Asus PC-DL Deluxe
2GB DDR333 Memory
6800xt AGP
160Gb WD EIDE
320Gb WD EIDE
320Gb SATA WD
250Gb SATA WD
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
MCE2005

It has me stumped.

I've tried a seperate SATA controller card in this machine and I never get the problem.So I'm guessing it's a conflict with the onboard controller.But I've no idea how to resolve it.

[redwudz]

Unfortunately, that's sounding like a flaky SATA controller, judging from what you have tried so far. You could try the drives on another computer to rule them out as the cause. If your power supply is sound, I can't think of anything else but a motherboard problem. If all else fails, you might add a PCI SATA controller and see if that resolves the issues.

I've had SATA drives get lost to the OS, but that's when they are used as boot drives and the OS doesn't see them as boot. But the error is 'no boot drive'. That was caused by the boot INI getting messed up, but the BIOS has always seen the drives. I've never seen the odd 'BZ...'. you are describing.

[genki500]

My first guess is the controller.
Second guess, in mother Bios, set "Plug-n-Play" OS as [NO].
Someone just walked in the room and told me, "Don't allow you Windows to sleep, sometimes Windows doesn't wake up happily."

[dfgh11]

Thanks for the suggestions.
The strange thing is that I have two computers both with an Asus board and both with a similar setup - they boot on IDE and store on SATA. I experience this problem with both of them, except for the "BzBzBzBz" anomoly. So I'm inclined to lead towards a conflict rather than a fault with the onboard controller.

[waheed]

OP, it may be the controller on the MB.

I also have a Asus MB and experience a similar problem to yours. I have 3 hard drives (all SATA) on my PC, and one of the hard drive (always the same one) on many occasions is not detected (both under Win XP and Vista, I have a dual boot OS).

A Restart of the PC usually allows the drive to be detected.

Never had the BZBZBZ... problem you suggested.

[dfgh11]

OP, it may be the controller on the MB.

I also have a Asus MB and experience a similar problem to yours. I have 3 hard drives (all SATA) on my PC, and one of the hard drive (always the same one) on many occasions is not detected (both under Win XP and Vista, I have a dual boot OS).

A Restart of the PC usually allows the drive to be detected.

Never had the BZBZBZ... problem you suggested.

Who manufactures the hard drives that you use? Mine are mainly Western Digital, but I bought a Seagate not long ago and that has done it a few times.

[SandyB]

I have a strange problem with my system. My sata drives will keep disconnecting both whilst I'm using the computer or after I switch it on after it being off all night.I'm pretty sure it's not a driver issue, as the motherboard stops detecting them too and occasionally shows up one or both of the drives as 'BZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZBZ'.I have tried nearly everything I can think of, firmware upgrades,power checks,lead checks, software checks and S.M.A.R.T checks.The only way to solve the issue, seems to be switching the computer off and unplugging both drives via the sata cable,plugging it back in again and then booting up.

System:

2x 2.8 xeon
Asus PC-DL Deluxe
2GB DDR333 Memory
6800xt AGP
160Gb WD EIDE
320Gb WD EIDE
320Gb SATA WD
250Gb SATA WD
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum
MCE2005

It has me stumped.

I've tried a seperate SATA controller card in this machine and I never get the problem.So I'm guessing it's a conflict with the onboard controller.But I've no idea how to resolve it.

Had this problem till I found SATA cables with a metal locking clip on each end. The problem is gone, no more loose cables!

[dfgh11]

Had this problem till I found SATA cables with a metal locking clip on each end. The problem is gone, no more loose cables!

I considered this, but since the same drives and cables work when I use them with a pci sata controller card. I ruled it out.

[buttzilla]

The WD sata drive have some built in firmware to power down when not in use. This can cause the raid setup to get dropped and a reboot usually fixes it.. Check WD site they release a firmware patch tp deal with this. check the link below. This might help your problem.
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=15&swid=57

[waheed]

OP, it may be the controller on the MB.

I also have a Asus MB and experience a similar problem to yours. I have 3 hard drives (all SATA) on my PC, and one of the hard drive (always the same one) on many occasions is not detected (both under Win XP and Vista, I have a dual boot OS).

A Restart of the PC usually allows the drive to be detected.

Never had the BZBZBZ... problem you suggested.

Who manufactures the hard drives that you use? Mine are mainly Western Digital, but I bought a Seagate not long ago and that has done it a few times.

All my drives are Western Digital.

[buttzilla]

I stopped using raid years ago. If you are using a raid 0 setup It doesn't offer many advantages over a regular setup. Its a split second faster. And there is no fault tolerance. Eventually raid setups always fail and if you have anything important on them you are screwed. I only see an advantage in using a raid 1 mirrored setup to backup your drive.

[bevills1]

It seems SATA may be unstable according to post #25 at http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=217327.

[dfgh11]

I have since discovered that I had been using the cable select jumper setting, on my ATA drives. Since selecting them to the appropriate slave or master w/slave settings, I've no longer experienced the afore mentioned issue.Thanks for the help though, everyone.