SSD boots fine off SATA-0, but if a HDD is added to SATA-1, no boot

[luger]

System is a Dell XPS 8300 running Win7. The HDD used to be the boot drive connected to SATA-0 on the motherboard, and it was encrypted with Truecrypt (so you get the Truecrypt bootloader on boot).

Since then I've done a fresh Win7 install on a SSD. In GParted (partition editor), I deleted all the partitions on the HDD, created a new partition table and created one large partition taking up the entire HDD.

If I have the SSD on SATA-0, nothing on SATA-1 and a couple of DVD drives on SATA-2 and SATA-3, system boots fine.

If I add the blanked HDD on SATA-1, the system doesn't boot. Just black screen and shuts down with a short press of the power button.

How do I tell the system that the SSD is the boot drive? SATA drives don't use jumpers to establish master/slave relationships like PATA do, correct?

 

[luger]

Figured it out. In the BIOS, there's a Boot Priority section, and in that there's an overall boot priority listing, which lists the SSD, DVD drive, but not the HDD, which is fine.

But then there are specific boot priority lists by device type. So in the hard drive device type, the SSD had 1st priority and the HDD had 2nd priority. I'd have thought that would be ok, since the SSD is bootable, so the system should never go to the HDD.

But for some reason, that's not how it works. I set the 2nd boot priority for the hard drive device type to 'Disabled'. Boots fine now.

A little tricky, but way more elegant to make a change in the BIOS than to have to pull a drive to attach a jumper.

 

[Matt1970]

Glad we could help

 

[VirtualLarry]

Honestly, it sounds like the HDD is bad, and not responding to the ATA/ATAPI "Identify" command properly during POST / boot.

 

[Charlie98]

Honestly, it sounds like the HDD is bad, and not responding to the ATA/ATAPI "Identify" command properly during POST / boot.

...or there is some leftover boot partition on the drive the BIOS is trying to recognize.

 

[luger]

Honestly, it sounds like the HDD is bad, and not responding to the ATA/ATAPI "Identify" command properly during POST / boot.

I checked the drive using Seagate's tools. No errors.

...or there is some leftover boot partition on the drive the BIOS is trying to recognize.

I don't think there could be since I created a new partition table in GParted. That would eliminate any tiny partitions I didn't delete prior to creating the partition table, no? And then I created one large partition that filled the entire drive.

Still, I agree it's strange the system is looking at the 2nd boot hard drive when the 1st boot 'hard drive' (the SSD) has a bootable partition. Maybe something overlooked in Dell's BIOS for this computer?

 

[Ketchup]

Was the original drive in SATA-0, before you started adding, replacing?

 

[Charlie98]

Dumb question.... do you have a jumper installed on the HDD?

 

[luger]

Was the original drive in SATA-0, before you started adding, replacing?

Yes, the HDD was on SATA-0. It's now on SATA-1, and the SSD is on SATA-0.

Dumb question.... do you have a jumper installed on the HDD?

Not a dumb question. No, there is no jumper on the HDD.

 

[Ketchup]

Thanks. Just curious, like others, as to why 0 isn't the default first choice (it's the blue one, right?) but you found the boot order menu, so I suppose there is not too much need to waste time on the quandary.

 

[luger]

Thanks. Just curious, like others, as to why 0 isn't the default first choice (it's the blue one, right?)

Blue what? The HDD is from the Dell factory build. Dell had it connected to SATA-0 with a blue cable. I moved that to SATA-1. I installed the SSD on SATA-0 and it happens to be connected with a red cable. Not sure if that answers your question.

but you found the boot order menu, so I suppose there is not too much need to waste time on the quandary.

Agreed. Just a matter of curiosity at this point. Unless someone comes along with a good explanation, I'm going to assume the BIOS manufacturer made a logic error in their design.

 

[Ketchup]

Blue what?

The pictures I see online for that Foxconn board show a blue connector for SATA_0. Sorry I wasn't more specific.

 

[luger]

The pictures I see online for that Foxconn board show a blue connector for SATA_0. Sorry I wasn't more specific.

Oh, I never even paid attention to the color of the SATA ports on the mobo; didn't realize that SATA-0 is colored blue for easy reference. But it would be hard to screw it up, since SATA-0 is at one end of the 4 SATA ports. Rather than look at the color, I squinted and read the label on the mobo.