many times when i restart my PC.. my motherboard won’t detect or boot from my HDD

[IBRAHIM_007]

hello ladies and gentlemens

can you help me please

the problem is when i (( restart )) my pc ... many times not just sometimes its like 70% my motherboard won’t boot or detect my main hard drive .. and its very annoying

and the only way to make it boot is to force it to shut down by pressing power button ( front case )
and this is my last option after trying to restart again
because i don’t like to turn off my pc suddenly , i think it can damage hard drives on " long term"

do you think the problem in the hard drive ? or motherboard ? or what ?
and the weird thing i think this only happen when i (restart)

i appreciate any suggestions or info


specs :

Asrock FATAL1TY Z170 PROFESSIONAL GAMING I7 motherboard
WD Black 2TB Performance 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache - WD2003FZEX hard drive .. connected to (SATA3_0) which is recommended in owner manual
EVGA SuperNOVA G2 750W power supply ( more than enough for my pc )

also i have other hard drives , but they have nothing to do with boot problems i think ( they don’t have system , only for files storage )

1TB WD blue 7200 RPM - WD10EZEX connected to (SATA3_1)

and 2.5 inch hard drive connected to (SATA3_2)

if you need more info about my pc , click on (System Specs)

i have this problem for long time , but i was lazy and busy to write about it

best regards ❤

 

[Komshija]

It's hard to tell what it is. Maybe cable connectors aren't seated correctly. Try using different SATA port.

 

[basco]

sometimes disabling fast boot in bios helps

 

[Ebo]

1. update your bios to the latest

2. check your ram with memtest 1 stick at the time

3. check in bios that your ram settings are online with specs.

4. change your battery on your MB, its a CR 2032

 

[Bill_Bright]

because i don’t like to turn off my pc suddenly , i think it can damage hard drives on " long term"

It is smart to avoid suddenly turning off your computer, but not for the reason you mention. It does not "damage" the hard drives. They don't care. The problem is data corruption. When a computer suddenly looses power, it can leave many critical system files in an "open" status, or there can be incomplete saves/writes, and it can leave many orphaned files on your disk, causing it to fill up with clutter. This can certainly damage/corrupt the operating system, user files and programs on the disk, but not damage the disk itself.

I would start by swapping in a known good power supply. A BIOS does not suddenly go bad on its own, or work some time but not another. But having your computer suddenly power down while updating the BIOS can sure turn a motherboard into a brick. I would hold off on that until your system is stable.

Resetting the BIOS is probably a good idea and that will happen automatically if you replace your CMOS battery. These batteries are only a couple dollars and can be found at just about any battery, camera or watch camera at your local discount or home improvement store. Just make sure you unplug the computer from the wall and touch bare metal of the case interior BEFORE reaching in. Do NOT touch the new battery with your bare fingers as skin oils can promote corrosion and attract dust. Once the battery is back in, boot directly into the BIOS Setup Menu, set the date and time and make sure your drive boot order is correct then Save and Exit to [hopefully] boot normally.

 

[EarthDog]

What is the error? It just says cannot find boot device?
Did you install windows with UEFI boot?

I find it difficult to believe its a hardware issue outside of the HDD/cable/port/bad bios chip/battery. Memory isn't even touched/used in the bios outside of a quick test so I highly doubt memory has anything to do with boot order in the bios. PSU has nothing to do with booting either, at least in a capacity to remember/not remember boot order. Its also a Tier 1 unit. And while those most certainly can fail, I wouldn't be looking there first.

I would also look into replacing the BIOS battery, and for giggles, updating the BIOS.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Its also a Tier 1 unit. And while those most certainly can fail, I wouldn't be looking there first.

I missed where the OP said it was an EVGA SuperNOVA G2. Yes, definitely a top tier unit (and my recommended brand and model line of late too). That said, until Man can create perfection 100% of the time, even the best models from the best makers will have units that are not up to snuff.

I don't agree it with it being a bad BIOS chip only because everything does seem to work fine 30% of the time. If the chip was bad, I think it would fail every time. Plus, a bad chip would mean new motherboard time and we don't want to go there (yet).

 

[EarthDog]

I missed where the OP said it was an EVGA SuperNOVA G2. Yes, definitely a top tier unit (and my recommended brand and model line of late too). That said, until Man can create perfection 100% of the time, even the best models from the best makers will have units that are not up to snuff.

I don't agree it with it being a bad BIOS chip only because everything does seem to work fine 30% of the time. If the chip was bad, I think it would fail every time. Plus, a bad chip would mean new motherboard time and we don't want to go there (yet).

I appreciate your affirmation of my previous assertion!


Bad chips don't fail absolutely all the time. I have had to RMA two (ASUS) boards with a 'semi' borked bios in the past (Z97 and X79). I was able to get to access the BIOS, even boot to windows, but some settings wouldn't 'save'. After an arduous back and forth with ASUS, in the end, both had replaced BIOS chips and a fresh flash (tried the fresh flash) which resolved that specific issue. Not saying this is the case, but, its worth a flash at least. This happened with extreme overclocking, particularly, memory overclocking.

 

[eidairaman1]

Id pull every drive other than the boot drive for testing, along with a new cable

 

[redeye]

I always connect my boot drive to to the first sata port, so when i reset the bios, the boot drive is found at the default location.
Bit of a pain because the "zero" sata port is not always clearly labeled.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Bad chips don't fail absolutely all the time.

When there are only two states (1 or 0, on or off, high or low) as there are with digital electronics then yeah, they typically do fail absolutely, at least when subjected to the exact same task - such as a boot. Of course, in electronics, there are always exceptions, but they are much less common in binary systems.

My fear with attempting a BIOS flash now is a boot failure and corruption during the next boot should that be one of the 70% of boots that fail. I would go for a CMOS reset first. And in spite of the reputation of the EVGA Supernova G2 series, I would still swap in a different PSU if for no other reason than to eliminate the PSU from the equation.

Bit of a pain because the "zero" sata port is not always clearly labeled.

I've never seen them not labeled, but that does not mean my 64 year old eye can clearly see the tiny text (or determine which side is up or down). Especially true once the motherboard is mounted deep in the abyss of a dark, cavernous case. This is where RTFM is a good tactic. Beyond that, I too always put my primary drive on the first "0" SATA port.

 

[EarthDog]

You are correct Bill on both fronts. Particularly the fact there are always exceptions... indeed I had two of them.

I also agree with resetting the CMOS then trying a flash.

 

[yogurt_21]

if you had a raid card that would make sense. I have a Perc 6 (~2008-2009) raid card which boots like molasses. My 2014 mainboard boots like lightning. The two don't mix very well.

So 3 out of 4 times it will boot right past the raid card and then complain there isn't an OS.

ctrl + alt + del 2 more times and it works. A bit annoying I'll admit, but I know exactly why so it's not too terrible. Getting a newer raid card and having to reinstall everything...that sounds more terrible to me.

 

[IBRAHIM_007]

It's hard to tell what it is. Maybe cable connectors aren't seated correctly. Try using different SATA port.

indeed it’s hard
i took the graphics card off to be able to access the sata ports and sata cables.
and the sata cable was not very snug , i replaced all the sata cables with new ones .
and i hope this will fix the problem

if it didn’t fix the problem
my next step will be to change the power sata cable with another one ( power supply come with more than 1 cable . each cable can be connected to 3 hard drives , and im using 1 cable for 3 hard drives .. for better cable management and less cables )
and if this not work i will connect it to sata port number 2 in the power supply
or maybe use 2 cables instead of 1 cable to feed power to 3 hard drives

and if this didn’t work , i will try to leave and skip SATA3_0 port even though the owner manual recommend using it for faster boot
thank you very much , i appreciate

sometimes disabling fast boot in bios helps

i didn’t even enable it
thank you very much , i appreciate

1. update your bios to the latest

2. check your ram with memtest 1 stick at the time

3. check in bios that your ram settings are online with specs.

4. change your battery on your MB, its a CR 2032

i will take all these into consideration
but for now i don’t trust my motherboard or whatever is the problem

also im confused with Asrock my MB come with P2.10 bios 06/30/2016 . and the latest bios 2.00 7/20/2016 in thier site , the release date is newer but im not sure why its not 2.20 for example
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7/?cat=Download&os=BIOS
and i can’t find my current bios ( if i want to go back to my original bios )

there is a beta bios
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7/?cat=Beta
but im worried to use it because its beta , maybe its not stable

i will keep updating bios my last option for the reason above
thank you very much , i appreciate

It is smart to avoid suddenly turning off your computer, but not for the reason you mention. It does not "damage" the hard drives. They don't care. The problem is data corruption. When a computer suddenly looses power, it can leave many critical system files in an "open" status, or there can be incomplete saves/writes, and it can leave many orphaned files on your disk, causing it to fill up with clutter. This can certainly damage/corrupt the operating system, user files and programs on the disk, but not damage the disk itself.

I would start by swapping in a known good power supply. A BIOS does not suddenly go bad on its own, or work some time but not another. But having your computer suddenly power down while updating the BIOS can sure turn a motherboard into a brick. I would hold off on that until your system is stable.

Resetting the BIOS is probably a good idea and that will happen automatically if you replace your CMOS battery. These batteries are only a couple dollars and can be found at just about any battery, camera or watch camera at your local discount or home improvement store. Just make sure you unplug the computer from the wall and touch bare metal of the case interior BEFORE reaching in. Do NOT touch the new battery with your bare fingers as skin oils can promote corrosion and attract dust. Once the battery is back in, boot directly into the BIOS Setup Menu, set the date and time and make sure your drive boot order is correct then Save and Exit to [hopefully] boot normally.

lot of helpful info , i didn’t know about that
i was thinking it will only damage the hard drive ( maybe it will scratch the platter or something lol )
i never thought about data corruption

the problem is i can’t find a good power supply to spare from someone for testing , and i don’t want to buy another one because i spend lot of money on this ( i bought this from amazon , if it have problem i will ask amazon for the best solution to solve this problem to return or refund " even though im not from USA " )

and for battery i will try to search to find a good one , because most of them here are cheap
thank you very much for taking long time to write all of this to help me , i really appreciate

i changed my sata cables with new ones , and im taking all your suggestions guys into consideration

i will start from the easiest and safest to the harder things to do .

update :

changing sata cables didn’t fix the problem

now im testing plugging the current sata power cable in the port number 2 in power supply (instead of port number 1)
if this didn’t work .. i will change the power sata cable with another one ( included in power supply box )

and if this didn’t work , i will connect the HDD to another port ( im still using port SATA 3_0 because its recommended for faster boot )
and if this fix the problem .. it mean the port is bad
and if it didn’t fix it .. i think the problem in HDD ( hard disk drive )

What is the error? It just says cannot find boot device?
Did you install windows with UEFI boot?

I find it difficult to believe its a hardware issue outside of the HDD/cable/port/bad bios chip/battery. Memory isn't even touched/used in the bios outside of a quick test so I highly doubt memory has anything to do with boot order in the bios. PSU has nothing to do with booting either, at least in a capacity to remember/not remember boot order. Its also a Tier 1 unit. And while those most certainly can fail, I wouldn't be looking there first.

I would also look into replacing the BIOS battery, and for giggles, updating the BIOS.

i changed all the sata cables with new ones - didn’t fix the problem
i will check all the things you said

after i finish testing different port in the power supply and changing sata power cable

and also i will try to skip leave the first port (sata 3_0)

note : i always avoid messing with bios settings even in boot options , when i installed windows before month or more , i think i pressed F11 to choose device to boot ( i didn’t change orders in the bios ) or entered bios

i tried before many time to use default settings but it didn't fix the problem
thank you very much , i appreciate

 

[eidairaman1]

Time to grab a new drive

 

[IBRAHIM_007]

Id pull every drive other than the boot drive for testing, along with a new cable

i changed all the sata cables and it didn’t fix the problem

why would you remove the other drives ?
thank you very much , i appreciate

I always connect my boot drive to to the first sata port, so when i reset the bios, the boot drive is found at the default location.
Bit of a pain because the "zero" sata port is not always clearly labeled.

its connected to the first sata port ( SATA3_0 )
my other drives connected to (SATA3_1) and (SATA3_2)
when i was installing my pc parts , i did read the owner manual to make sure to install everything correctly
thank you very much , i appreciate

When there are only two states (1 or 0, on or off, high or low) as there are with digital electronics then yeah, they typically do fail absolutely, at least when subjected to the exact same task - such as a boot. Of course, in electronics, there are always exceptions, but they are much less common in binary systems.

My fear with attempting a BIOS flash now is a boot failure and corruption during the next boot should that be one of the 70% of boots that fail. I would go for a CMOS reset first. And in spite of the reputation of the EVGA Supernova G2 series, I would still swap in a different PSU if for no other reason than to eliminate the PSU from the equation.

I've never seen them not labeled, but that does not mean my 64 year old eye can clearly see the tiny text (or determine which side is up or down). Especially true once the motherboard is mounted deep in the abyss of a dark, cavernous case. This is where RTFM is a good tactic. Beyond that, I too always put my primary drive on the first "0" SATA port.

i have the same fear
i will try to find a good new battery today

the problem is i can’t find another power supply to test
many stores here have s*** power supplies ( not good as EVGA SuperNova G2 )

and i don’t want to waste my money on another power supply , i already spend lot of money on EVGA G2 750W
thank you very much , i appreciate

if you had a raid card that would make sense. I have a Perc 6 (~2008-2009) raid card which boots like molasses. My 2014 mainboard boots like lightning. The two don't mix very well.

So 3 out of 4 times it will boot right past the raid card and then complain there isn't an OS.

ctrl + alt + del 2 more times and it works. A bit annoying I'll admit, but I know exactly why so it's not too terrible. Getting a newer raid card and having to reinstall everything...that sounds more terrible to me.

im not using raid , or raid card

im just using z170 sata port
but thank you very much , i appreciate

i think the problem in the power supply ( SATA Port number 1 ) .. but im not sure yet i will keep testing restarting every once in a while to make sure

because i took the cable off that port and connect it to port ( number 2 ) and i restarted my pc for like 10 times and it boot normally

the power supply have 3 SATA ports .. and each port have cable to connect to 3 drives

again im not sure yet .. i will let you know guys
thank you so much to all of you
i really appreciate ! and i hope this will fix the problem

if thats true , i will be shocked about EVGA but to be honest nothing in this life perfect 100%
i mean any company can have some problems in some units

 

[revin]

why would you remove the other drives ?

One reason for only having the one OS drive connected it that sometimes the BCD store can be corrupted so it eliminates other drives from the issue

 

[IBRAHIM_007]

i think the problem in the power supply ( SATA Port number 1 ) .. but im not sure yet i will keep testing restarting every once in a while to make sure

because i took the cable off that port and connect it to port ( number 2 ) and i restarted my pc for like 10 times and it boot normally

the power supply have 3 SATA ports .. and each port have cable to connect to 3 drives

again im not sure yet .. i will let you know guys
thank you so much to all of you
i really appreciate ! and i hope this will fix the problem

if thats true , i will be shocked about EVGA but to be honest nothing in this life perfect 100%
i mean any company can have some problems in some units

after testing
sadly this didn’t fix the problem

One reason for only having the one OS drive connected it that sometimes the BCD store can be corrupted so it eliminates other drives from the issue

thank you very much for explaining

 

[eidairaman1]

Chuck the drive or motherboard at this point

 

[redeye]

At this point, i would remove your boot drive, keep everything the same, get a spare/blank hdd and install windows to see if you can get a working system... (might remove the other drives )



Or if that is not possible install linux, on a blank drive just to check if the system will boot...


I am not suggesting a reinstall just a test on a blank drive, a new install of the OS.
If you can not get a new OS running, you might me SOL.

 

[Mr.Scott]

also im confused with Asrock my MB come with P2.10 bios 06/30/2016 . and the latest bios 2.00 7/20/2016 in thier site , the release date is newer but im not sure why its not 2.20 for example
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7/?cat=Download&os=BIOS
and i can’t find my current bios ( if i want to go back to my original bios )

there is a beta bios
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7/?cat=Beta
but im worried to use it because its beta , maybe its not stable

i will keep updating bios my last option for the reason above

If your current bios isn't listed on their site anymore, it was taken down for a reason. I would immediately flash the newest bios.