P5K Deluxe WiFi -- Connecting SATA Drives

I've built a new system and basically I'm currently happy as a clam.
But one thing really gave me a problem over the past couple of evenings,
but I have no idea what caused it, what fixed it, or what to do if it
crops up again.

Here's the new system:

Motherboard
ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX

ProcessorIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA
775 Processor

MemoryCrucial 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500

Video Card
SAPPHIRE 100210L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16

Power Supply
PC Power and Cooling ULTRA-QUIET PSU: SILENCER® 610 EPS12V

All the rest of the components are leftovers, including four 500
gigabyte hard drives -- three Western Digital and one Maxtor.

Now here's the problem:

When I first fired it all up, the BIOS didn't see any of my four 500
gigabyte SATA hard drives. None. Zero. Hmmm. They all were working
fine on the previous board (Asus P4C800-E Deluxe). Unplug drives.
Replug drives. Hey, it sees one. Unplug drives, replug drives, wiggle
connections. Hey, it sees two. Unplug, replug, etc. Now I have three.
Wiggle, unplug, replug, still three. Disconnect the final offending
drive and plug a spare in its place -- now I see four in BIOS. Remove
spare and also remove offending fourth drive from chassis and plug it
back in. Now BIOS sees it. Put it back in chassis. Now BIOS doesn't
see it. Wiggle SATA cable. Nope. Replace SATA cable. Now BIOS sees it.
Replace original cable. BIOS still sees it. Put it all together and
close the case. Everything works fine. No problems. Very robust.

What on earth was going on? The SATA cables are fine -- at least they
were working fine on the previous mbo. And they're working fine now.

Could this be some sort of BIOS flakiness? I haven't flashed BIOS on
the new board. Or is it possible that the P5K has SATA connector
issues? Maybe I should spit on the connectors before plugging them in?
Maybe? Hmm? No? Yeah, well, that was one thing I didn't try, but I
thought about it. I really believe I don't have mechanical problems
with the drives. All four of them are running just fine now. But they
weren't earlier, when I was just getting started with the new mbo.

I'll have a triple-boot system when I'm done. I have two WinXP
installations running in separate partitions now -- one for everyday use
and one bare bones version to use as a testbed. And I have an empty
partition waiting for Vista. I'll probably undertake that project tonight.

Anybody have any ideas on what might have been the problem with BIOS
seeing the drives? Thanks.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

Bill Anderson wrote:
> I've built a new system and basically I'm currently happy as a clam. But
> one thing really gave me a problem over the past couple of evenings, but
> I have no idea what caused it, what fixed it, or what to do if it crops
> up again.
>
> Here's the new system:
>
> Motherboard
> ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
>
> ProcessorIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA
> 775 Processor
>
> MemoryCrucial 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-8500
>
> Video Card
> SAPPHIRE 100210L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16
>
> Power Supply
> PC Power and Cooling ULTRA-QUIET PSU: SILENCER® 610 EPS12V
>
> All the rest of the components are leftovers, including four 500
> gigabyte hard drives -- three Western Digital and one Maxtor.
>
> Now here's the problem:
>
> When I first fired it all up, the BIOS didn't see any of my four 500
> gigabyte SATA hard drives. None. Zero. Hmmm. They all were working
> fine on the previous board (Asus P4C800-E Deluxe). Unplug drives.
> Replug drives. Hey, it sees one. Unplug drives, replug drives, wiggle
> connections. Hey, it sees two. Unplug, replug, etc. Now I have three.
> Wiggle, unplug, replug, still three. Disconnect the final offending
> drive and plug a spare in its place -- now I see four in BIOS. Remove
> spare and also remove offending fourth drive from chassis and plug it
> back in. Now BIOS sees it. Put it back in chassis. Now BIOS doesn't
> see it. Wiggle SATA cable. Nope. Replace SATA cable. Now BIOS sees it.
> Replace original cable. BIOS still sees it. Put it all together and
> close the case. Everything works fine. No problems. Very robust.
>
> What on earth was going on? The SATA cables are fine -- at least they
> were working fine on the previous mbo. And they're working fine now.
>
> Could this be some sort of BIOS flakiness? I haven't flashed BIOS on
> the new board. Or is it possible that the P5K has SATA connector
> issues? Maybe I should spit on the connectors before plugging them in?
> Maybe? Hmm? No? Yeah, well, that was one thing I didn't try, but I
> thought about it. I really believe I don't have mechanical problems
> with the drives. All four of them are running just fine now. But they
> weren't earlier, when I was just getting started with the new mbo.
>
> I'll have a triple-boot system when I'm done. I have two WinXP
> installations running in separate partitions now -- one for everyday use
> and one bare bones version to use as a testbed. And I have an empty
> partition waiting for Vista. I'll probably undertake that project tonight.
>
> Anybody have any ideas on what might have been the problem with BIOS
> seeing the drives? Thanks.
>
> --
> Bill Anderson
>
> I am the Mighty Favog
>

It could be some kind of manufacturing residue on the connectors.
Sometimes people need to insert and remove RAM a few times, to
cure RAM problems. I've had an Ethernet connector that was dirty,
and it took a lot of cycles before it finally made contact. So
any open connector could pick something up, either on the motherboard
production line, or even when the connectors themselves are being
made. Considering the quality of metallurgy used on some connectors,
it could even be tarnish or oxide of some sort.

Paul