Problem with Western Digital Green drive and Asus motherboard
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From: annily on 5 Dec 2009 20:03 Rod Speed wrote: > annily wrote >> Rod Speed wrote >>> XR8 Sprintless wrote >>>> Clocky wrote > >>>>> Rod is obsessed with SMART but the problem with SMART is that it >>>>> can show nothing wrong right up to the point of terminal failure. > >>>>> I had a similar problem once with a flakey SATA cable which would >>>>> cause the computer to stop responding for 30 seconds or more with >>>>> the HDD light on. Often the system would revocer but sometimes it >>>>> would lock up requiring a reset. Reseating the cable fixed it >>>>> temporarily until it would work loose again over time. Replacing it >>>>> with a better quality cable fixed it. SMART showed nothing wrong >>>>> but clearly there was a problem. > >>>> Very good answer. > >>> Nope. > >>> No one ever said that SMART diagnoses all problems. > >>> But it DOES provide evidence that a drive is dying when >>> it reports more than a couple of reallocated sectors and >>> pending sectors and those can produce the symptoms the >>> OP reported when the drive retrys on the bad sectors. > >>>> The major problem with SATA drives are the cables. > >>> But a bad cable does not produce the symptoms the OP reported, >>> particularly the hard drive LED on solidly when the 30 sec freeze is seen. > >>>> Good quality cables have a little metal clip on them to connect them >>>> to the device and to the motherboard. So many problems are caused by >>>> cables that do not have clips or cables that are not seated firmly >>>> on the contacts. If the cable does not feel firm when you put it on >>>> the drive, use a different cable. > >> OK, Rod. I tried again with the WD drive, and installed a fresh copy >> of Win 7 32-bit on it. For some reason, I couldn't get networking >> going and the troubleshooter just kept saying that the Ethernet cable >> wasn't plugged in or was faulty, despite trying two cables which I >> know to be OK. > > Most likely it just needs the appropriate driver for the NIC. > But it has always worked on other installs I've done of Win 7, with the same hardware. I did notice that there was an "unknown device" in Device Manager. I suppose that was the NIC. >> I didn't run it long enough to get a good idea of whether the freezing for 30 seconds or so with the disk light on >> problem was still there (although I think I did get one occurrence of it). > >> Anyhow, I was able to get hold of Everest for the SMART report > > Presumably you mean you were unable. > Yes, sorry. >> but I did have a copy of SiSoft Sandra, so here are the results from that (including SMART): > >> -------------------------------- >> SiSoftware Sandra >> >> SCSI General Properties >> Controller : 2 >> Bus : 0 >> Target ID : 0 >> Logical Unit No. : 0 >> >> General Capabilities >> Channel : Master >> Type : ATA >> Interface : SATA >> Removable : No >> Model : WDC WD10EADS-00M2B0 >> Revision : 01.00A01 >> Serial Number : WD-WCAV51782201 >> ATA/ATAPI Approved Version : 8.00 >> Cache Size : 32MB >> >> Drive Geometry >> CHS Geometry : 16383 x 16 x 63 >> CHS Total Sectors : 16514064 >> LBA Total Sectors : 1953525168 >> Number of ECC Bytes : 50 >> Capacity : 931.51GB >> >> Translation Mode Disk Geometry >> CHS Geometry : 2713229 x 60 x 12 >> Bytes Per Sector : 512bytes >> Capacity : 931.51GB >> >> Partitions Information >> Partition 1 : MBR Boot IFS-NTFS 465.66GB >> Partition 2 : MBR IFS-NTFS 465.7GB >> >> Logical Drives >> Logical Drive : C: >> Logical Drive : D: >> >> Cache Information >> Read Cache : Yes >> Write Cache : Yes >> Prefetch Buffer : No >> >> Properties >> NCQ - Native Command Queuing : Yes >> PEC - Physical Event Counters : Yes >> LBA Support : Yes >> >> Features >> S.M.A.R.T Support : Yes >> Security Support : Yes >> Power Management Support : Yes >> ACPI Power Management Support : No >> Power-up in Standby : Yes >> Packet Command Interface : No >> Removable Media : No >> Look-Ahead Buffer : Yes >> Write-Back Cache : Yes >> Host Protect Area : Yes >> Microcode Update : Yes >> Acoustic Management : Yes >> 48-bit LBA : Yes >> Device Config Overlay : Yes >> >> Active Features >> S.M.A.R.T Enabled : Yes >> Security Enabled : No >> Power Management Enabled : Yes >> Power-up in Standby Enabled : No >> Look-Ahead Buffer Enabled : Yes >> Write-Back Cache Enabled : Yes >> Host Protect Area Enabled : Yes >> Acoustic Management Enabled : No >> >> S.M.A.R.T Information >> Version : 1.01 >> ATA Commands Support : Yes >> ATAPI Commands Support : Yes >> S.M.A.R.T Commands Support : Yes >> >> S.M.A.R.T Data >> Raw Read Error Rate (01) : 200 (51 - 200) [0000] >> Spin-up Time (03) : 112 (21 - 111) [1CBE] >> Start/Stop Count (04) : 100 (0 - 100) [005E] >> Re-Allocated Sector Count (05) : 200 (140 - 200) [0000] >> Seek Error Rate (07) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >> Power-On Time Count (09) : 99 (0 - 99) [02F3] >> Spin Retry Count (0A) : 100 (0 - 253) [0000] >> Calibration Retry Count (0B) : 100 (0 - 253) [0000] >> Power Cycle Count (0C) : 100 (0 - 100) [0058] >> Power-Off Park Count (C0) : 200 (0 - 200) [000C] >> Load/Unload Cycle Count (C1) : 195 (0 - 195) [41D8] >> Drive Temperature (C2) : 109 (0 - 103) [0026] >> Re-Allocated Data Count (C4) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >> Pending Sector Count (C5) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >> Un-Correctable Sector Count (C6) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >> CRC Error Count (C7) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >> Write Error Rate (C8) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] > > That shows that the drive itself isnt dying with reallocated or pending sectors, both counts are zero. > That's what I thought, thanks. Maybe it is just a strange incompatibility between the disk and the motherboard. >> Environment Monitor(s) >> Disk Temperature : 38.00�C > >> Transfer Modes Support >> I/O Queue Depth : 32 >> Block Size : 16 >> Maximum SATA Mode : G2 / SATA300 > >> Transfer Modes Active >> Current Block Transfer : 16 >> Current SATA Mode : G2 / SATA300 >> ------------------------- > >> Hopefully, it means more to you than it does to me. > >> Actually, now that I have a nice system running on the Samsung, I'm >> more interested in why that drive does not show up at all in Device >> Manager or Computer Management (Disk Management section). > > Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens with XP, it may well just be a bug in Win 7 > I may try that some time. Unfortunately, I didn't partition the Samsung drive for dual-boot, and I can't use Windows Disk Management to do that because the drive doesn't show up. I don't suppose there is a freeware partition manager that could do it on the fly, without interfering with my existing Win 7 setup? -- Long-time resident of Adelaide, South Australia, which may or may not influence my opinions.
From: Rod Speed on 5 Dec 2009 20:52 annily wrote: > Rod Speed wrote: >> annily wrote >>> Rod Speed wrote >>>> XR8 Sprintless wrote >>>>> Clocky wrote >> >>>>>> Rod is obsessed with SMART but the problem with SMART is that it >>>>>> can show nothing wrong right up to the point of terminal failure. >> >>>>>> I had a similar problem once with a flakey SATA cable which would >>>>>> cause the computer to stop responding for 30 seconds or more with >>>>>> the HDD light on. Often the system would revocer but sometimes it >>>>>> would lock up requiring a reset. Reseating the cable fixed it >>>>>> temporarily until it would work loose again over time. Replacing >>>>>> it with a better quality cable fixed it. SMART showed nothing >>>>>> wrong but clearly there was a problem. >> >>>>> Very good answer. >> >>>> Nope. >> >>>> No one ever said that SMART diagnoses all problems. >> >>>> But it DOES provide evidence that a drive is dying when >>>> it reports more than a couple of reallocated sectors and >>>> pending sectors and those can produce the symptoms the >>>> OP reported when the drive retrys on the bad sectors. >> >>>>> The major problem with SATA drives are the cables. >> >>>> But a bad cable does not produce the symptoms the OP reported, >>>> particularly the hard drive LED on solidly when the 30 sec freeze >>>> is seen. >> >>>>> Good quality cables have a little metal clip on them to connect >>>>> them to the device and to the motherboard. So many problems are >>>>> caused by cables that do not have clips or cables that are not >>>>> seated firmly on the contacts. If the cable does not feel firm >>>>> when you put it on the drive, use a different cable. >> >>> OK, Rod. I tried again with the WD drive, and installed a fresh copy >>> of Win 7 32-bit on it. For some reason, I couldn't get networking >>> going and the troubleshooter just kept saying that the Ethernet >>> cable wasn't plugged in or was faulty, despite trying two cables which I >>> know to be OK. >> >> Most likely it just needs the appropriate driver for the NIC. >> > > But it has always worked on other installs I've done of Win 7, with > the same hardware. I did notice that there was an "unknown device" in > Device Manager. I suppose that was the NIC. > >>> I didn't run it long enough to get a good idea of whether the >>> freezing for 30 seconds or so with the disk light on problem was >>> still there (although I think I did get one occurrence of it). >> >>> Anyhow, I was able to get hold of Everest for the SMART report >> >> Presumably you mean you were unable. >> > > Yes, sorry. > >>> but I did have a copy of SiSoft Sandra, so here are the results >>> from that (including SMART): >> >>> -------------------------------- >>> SiSoftware Sandra >>> >>> SCSI General Properties >>> Controller : 2 >>> Bus : 0 >>> Target ID : 0 >>> Logical Unit No. : 0 >>> >>> General Capabilities >>> Channel : Master >>> Type : ATA >>> Interface : SATA >>> Removable : No >>> Model : WDC WD10EADS-00M2B0 >>> Revision : 01.00A01 >>> Serial Number : WD-WCAV51782201 >>> ATA/ATAPI Approved Version : 8.00 >>> Cache Size : 32MB >>> >>> Drive Geometry >>> CHS Geometry : 16383 x 16 x 63 >>> CHS Total Sectors : 16514064 >>> LBA Total Sectors : 1953525168 >>> Number of ECC Bytes : 50 >>> Capacity : 931.51GB >>> >>> Translation Mode Disk Geometry >>> CHS Geometry : 2713229 x 60 x 12 >>> Bytes Per Sector : 512bytes >>> Capacity : 931.51GB >>> >>> Partitions Information >>> Partition 1 : MBR Boot IFS-NTFS 465.66GB >>> Partition 2 : MBR IFS-NTFS 465.7GB >>> >>> Logical Drives >>> Logical Drive : C: >>> Logical Drive : D: >>> >>> Cache Information >>> Read Cache : Yes >>> Write Cache : Yes >>> Prefetch Buffer : No >>> >>> Properties >>> NCQ - Native Command Queuing : Yes >>> PEC - Physical Event Counters : Yes >>> LBA Support : Yes >>> >>> Features >>> S.M.A.R.T Support : Yes >>> Security Support : Yes >>> Power Management Support : Yes >>> ACPI Power Management Support : No >>> Power-up in Standby : Yes >>> Packet Command Interface : No >>> Removable Media : No >>> Look-Ahead Buffer : Yes >>> Write-Back Cache : Yes >>> Host Protect Area : Yes >>> Microcode Update : Yes >>> Acoustic Management : Yes >>> 48-bit LBA : Yes >>> Device Config Overlay : Yes >>> >>> Active Features >>> S.M.A.R.T Enabled : Yes >>> Security Enabled : No >>> Power Management Enabled : Yes >>> Power-up in Standby Enabled : No >>> Look-Ahead Buffer Enabled : Yes >>> Write-Back Cache Enabled : Yes >>> Host Protect Area Enabled : Yes >>> Acoustic Management Enabled : No >>> >>> S.M.A.R.T Information >>> Version : 1.01 >>> ATA Commands Support : Yes >>> ATAPI Commands Support : Yes >>> S.M.A.R.T Commands Support : Yes >>> >>> S.M.A.R.T Data >>> Raw Read Error Rate (01) : 200 (51 - 200) [0000] >>> Spin-up Time (03) : 112 (21 - 111) [1CBE] >>> Start/Stop Count (04) : 100 (0 - 100) [005E] >>> Re-Allocated Sector Count (05) : 200 (140 - 200) [0000] >>> Seek Error Rate (07) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>> Power-On Time Count (09) : 99 (0 - 99) [02F3] >>> Spin Retry Count (0A) : 100 (0 - 253) [0000] >>> Calibration Retry Count (0B) : 100 (0 - 253) [0000] >>> Power Cycle Count (0C) : 100 (0 - 100) [0058] >>> Power-Off Park Count (C0) : 200 (0 - 200) [000C] >>> Load/Unload Cycle Count (C1) : 195 (0 - 195) [41D8] >>> Drive Temperature (C2) : 109 (0 - 103) [0026] >>> Re-Allocated Data Count (C4) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>> Pending Sector Count (C5) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>> Un-Correctable Sector Count (C6) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>> CRC Error Count (C7) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>> Write Error Rate (C8) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >> >> That shows that the drive itself isnt dying with reallocated or >> pending sectors, both counts are zero. > > That's what I thought, thanks. Maybe it is just a strange > incompatibility between the disk and the motherboard. > >>> Environment Monitor(s) >>> Disk Temperature : 38.00�C >> >>> Transfer Modes Support >>> I/O Queue Depth : 32 >>> Block Size : 16 >>> Maximum SATA Mode : G2 / SATA300 >> >>> Transfer Modes Active >>> Current Block Transfer : 16 >>> Current SATA Mode : G2 / SATA300 >>> ------------------------- >> >>> Hopefully, it means more to you than it does to me. >> >>> Actually, now that I have a nice system running on the Samsung, I'm >>> more interested in why that drive does not show up at all in Device >>> Manager or Computer Management (Disk Management section). >> >> Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens with XP, it may >> well just be a bug in Win 7 > > I may try that some time. Unfortunately, I didn't partition the > Samsung drive for dual-boot, and I can't use Windows Disk Management > to do that because the drive doesn't show up. I don't suppose there > is a freeware partition manager that could do it on the fly, without > interfering with my existing Win 7 setup? Acronis True Image will. Its even freeware on the Seagate site with an older version, that should work fine when you do it from what it calls the rescue CD.
From: annily on 5 Dec 2009 23:24 Rod Speed wrote: > annily wrote: >> Rod Speed wrote: >>> annily wrote >>>> Rod Speed wrote >>>>> XR8 Sprintless wrote >>>>>> Clocky wrote >>>>>>> Rod is obsessed with SMART but the problem with SMART is that it >>>>>>> can show nothing wrong right up to the point of terminal failure. >>>>>>> I had a similar problem once with a flakey SATA cable which would >>>>>>> cause the computer to stop responding for 30 seconds or more with >>>>>>> the HDD light on. Often the system would revocer but sometimes it >>>>>>> would lock up requiring a reset. Reseating the cable fixed it >>>>>>> temporarily until it would work loose again over time. Replacing >>>>>>> it with a better quality cable fixed it. SMART showed nothing >>>>>>> wrong but clearly there was a problem. >>>>>> Very good answer. >>>>> Nope. >>>>> No one ever said that SMART diagnoses all problems. >>>>> But it DOES provide evidence that a drive is dying when >>>>> it reports more than a couple of reallocated sectors and >>>>> pending sectors and those can produce the symptoms the >>>>> OP reported when the drive retrys on the bad sectors. >>>>>> The major problem with SATA drives are the cables. >>>>> But a bad cable does not produce the symptoms the OP reported, >>>>> particularly the hard drive LED on solidly when the 30 sec freeze >>>>> is seen. >>>>>> Good quality cables have a little metal clip on them to connect >>>>>> them to the device and to the motherboard. So many problems are >>>>>> caused by cables that do not have clips or cables that are not >>>>>> seated firmly on the contacts. If the cable does not feel firm >>>>>> when you put it on the drive, use a different cable. >>>> OK, Rod. I tried again with the WD drive, and installed a fresh copy >>>> of Win 7 32-bit on it. For some reason, I couldn't get networking >>>> going and the troubleshooter just kept saying that the Ethernet >>>> cable wasn't plugged in or was faulty, despite trying two cables which I >>>> know to be OK. >>> Most likely it just needs the appropriate driver for the NIC. >>> >> But it has always worked on other installs I've done of Win 7, with >> the same hardware. I did notice that there was an "unknown device" in >> Device Manager. I suppose that was the NIC. >> >>>> I didn't run it long enough to get a good idea of whether the >>>> freezing for 30 seconds or so with the disk light on problem was >>>> still there (although I think I did get one occurrence of it). >>>> Anyhow, I was able to get hold of Everest for the SMART report >>> Presumably you mean you were unable. >>> >> Yes, sorry. >> >>>> but I did have a copy of SiSoft Sandra, so here are the results >>>> from that (including SMART): >>>> -------------------------------- >>>> SiSoftware Sandra >>>> >>>> SCSI General Properties >>>> Controller : 2 >>>> Bus : 0 >>>> Target ID : 0 >>>> Logical Unit No. : 0 >>>> >>>> General Capabilities >>>> Channel : Master >>>> Type : ATA >>>> Interface : SATA >>>> Removable : No >>>> Model : WDC WD10EADS-00M2B0 >>>> Revision : 01.00A01 >>>> Serial Number : WD-WCAV51782201 >>>> ATA/ATAPI Approved Version : 8.00 >>>> Cache Size : 32MB >>>> >>>> Drive Geometry >>>> CHS Geometry : 16383 x 16 x 63 >>>> CHS Total Sectors : 16514064 >>>> LBA Total Sectors : 1953525168 >>>> Number of ECC Bytes : 50 >>>> Capacity : 931.51GB >>>> >>>> Translation Mode Disk Geometry >>>> CHS Geometry : 2713229 x 60 x 12 >>>> Bytes Per Sector : 512bytes >>>> Capacity : 931.51GB >>>> >>>> Partitions Information >>>> Partition 1 : MBR Boot IFS-NTFS 465.66GB >>>> Partition 2 : MBR IFS-NTFS 465.7GB >>>> >>>> Logical Drives >>>> Logical Drive : C: >>>> Logical Drive : D: >>>> >>>> Cache Information >>>> Read Cache : Yes >>>> Write Cache : Yes >>>> Prefetch Buffer : No >>>> >>>> Properties >>>> NCQ - Native Command Queuing : Yes >>>> PEC - Physical Event Counters : Yes >>>> LBA Support : Yes >>>> >>>> Features >>>> S.M.A.R.T Support : Yes >>>> Security Support : Yes >>>> Power Management Support : Yes >>>> ACPI Power Management Support : No >>>> Power-up in Standby : Yes >>>> Packet Command Interface : No >>>> Removable Media : No >>>> Look-Ahead Buffer : Yes >>>> Write-Back Cache : Yes >>>> Host Protect Area : Yes >>>> Microcode Update : Yes >>>> Acoustic Management : Yes >>>> 48-bit LBA : Yes >>>> Device Config Overlay : Yes >>>> >>>> Active Features >>>> S.M.A.R.T Enabled : Yes >>>> Security Enabled : No >>>> Power Management Enabled : Yes >>>> Power-up in Standby Enabled : No >>>> Look-Ahead Buffer Enabled : Yes >>>> Write-Back Cache Enabled : Yes >>>> Host Protect Area Enabled : Yes >>>> Acoustic Management Enabled : No >>>> >>>> S.M.A.R.T Information >>>> Version : 1.01 >>>> ATA Commands Support : Yes >>>> ATAPI Commands Support : Yes >>>> S.M.A.R.T Commands Support : Yes >>>> >>>> S.M.A.R.T Data >>>> Raw Read Error Rate (01) : 200 (51 - 200) [0000] >>>> Spin-up Time (03) : 112 (21 - 111) [1CBE] >>>> Start/Stop Count (04) : 100 (0 - 100) [005E] >>>> Re-Allocated Sector Count (05) : 200 (140 - 200) [0000] >>>> Seek Error Rate (07) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>>> Power-On Time Count (09) : 99 (0 - 99) [02F3] >>>> Spin Retry Count (0A) : 100 (0 - 253) [0000] >>>> Calibration Retry Count (0B) : 100 (0 - 253) [0000] >>>> Power Cycle Count (0C) : 100 (0 - 100) [0058] >>>> Power-Off Park Count (C0) : 200 (0 - 200) [000C] >>>> Load/Unload Cycle Count (C1) : 195 (0 - 195) [41D8] >>>> Drive Temperature (C2) : 109 (0 - 103) [0026] >>>> Re-Allocated Data Count (C4) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>>> Pending Sector Count (C5) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>>> Un-Correctable Sector Count (C6) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>>> CRC Error Count (C7) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>>> Write Error Rate (C8) : 200 (0 - 200) [0000] >>> That shows that the drive itself isnt dying with reallocated or >>> pending sectors, both counts are zero. >> That's what I thought, thanks. Maybe it is just a strange >> incompatibility between the disk and the motherboard. >> >>>> Environment Monitor(s) >>>> Disk Temperature : 38.00�C >>>> Transfer Modes Support >>>> I/O Queue Depth : 32 >>>> Block Size : 16 >>>> Maximum SATA Mode : G2 / SATA300 >>>> Transfer Modes Active >>>> Current Block Transfer : 16 >>>> Current SATA Mode : G2 / SATA300 >>>> ------------------------- >>>> Hopefully, it means more to you than it does to me. >>>> Actually, now that I have a nice system running on the Samsung, I'm >>>> more interested in why that drive does not show up at all in Device >>>> Manager or Computer Management (Disk Management section). >>> Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens with XP, it may >>> well just be a bug in Win 7 >> I may try that some time. Unfortunately, I didn't partition the >> Samsung drive for dual-boot, and I can't use Windows Disk Management >> to do that because the drive doesn't show up. I don't suppose there >> is a freeware partition manager that could do it on the fly, without >> interfering with my existing Win 7 setup? > > Acronis True Image will. Its even freeware on the Seagate site with an older > version, that should work fine when you do it from what it calls the rescue CD. > > I actually use version 11 of that for backup (I even paid for it some time ago) but haven't done any restores with it. I didn't realize it could re-partition a drive without affecting an existing OS. I must have a closer look. Thanks. -- Long-time resident of Adelaide, South Australia, which may or may not influence my opinions.
From: XR8 Sprintless on 6 Dec 2009 01:29 annily wrote: >> >>> Actually, now that I have a nice system running on the Samsung, I'm >>> more interested in why that drive does not show up at all in Device >>> Manager or Computer Management (Disk Management section). >> >> Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens with XP, it may well >> just be a bug in Win 7 >> > > I may try that some time. Unfortunately, I didn't partition the Samsung > drive for dual-boot, and I can't use Windows Disk Management to do that > because the drive doesn't show up. I don't suppose there is a freeware > partition manager that could do it on the fly, without interfering with > my existing Win 7 setup? > Have you checked the asus website for an updated bios for the motherboard. Could be an update that resolves the issue. Some boards do not cope well with the drives and you can jumper the drive to improve reduce it's speed to improve compatability. From memory it is 5 & 6 jumpered that reduces it to sata mode 1 compatability. The drive is sata II and depending on the Asus chipset it may not properly support it. Pins are from the back power connector, sata connector, pins :::: jumper the second set of pins to the right of the sata connector and see how it goes.
From: annily on 6 Dec 2009 04:05
XR8 Sprintless wrote: > annily wrote: >>> >>>> Actually, now that I have a nice system running on the Samsung, I'm >>>> more interested in why that drive does not show up at all in Device >>>> Manager or Computer Management (Disk Management section). >>> >>> Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens with XP, it may >>> well just be a bug in Win 7 >>> >> >> I may try that some time. Unfortunately, I didn't partition the >> Samsung drive for dual-boot, and I can't use Windows Disk Management >> to do that because the drive doesn't show up. I don't suppose there is >> a freeware partition manager that could do it on the fly, without >> interfering with my existing Win 7 setup? >> > Have you checked the asus website for an updated bios for the > motherboard. Could be an update that resolves the issue. I actually updated to the latest BIOS only a couple of days ago, so I haven't yet done much testing with that BIOS and the WD drive. > Some boards do > not cope well with the drives and you can jumper the drive to improve > reduce it's speed to improve compatability. From memory it is 5 & 6 > jumpered that reduces it to sata mode 1 compatability. The drive is sata > II and depending on the Asus chipset it may not properly support it. > > Pins are from the back power connector, sata connector, pins :::: > jumper the second set of pins to the right of the sata connector and see > how it goes. Thanks for the info, but I don't really want to go to that length. It's only of academic interest to me now, since I'm happy with the Samsung drive for my OS. I may try the WD drive again some time, just to see whether the BIOS update had any effect. -- Long-time resident of Adelaide, South Australia, which may or may not influence my opinions. |