# HDD works externally, but not internally



## Frick (Nov 7, 2012)

Ok I have this weird problem. I can't for the life of me figure out what's going on. But here goes:

I have a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB (HD103SJ if you're interested in exact model), that I've had in a cheap external USB 2.0 cabinet for some time now. It works lovely. Tonight I thought I'd put it in the case instead (see system specs), but it does not work with a SATA cable connected. It just doesn't. I've tried three different cables, two of them are brand new. The cables work with other drives, but not this one. It starts to spin up, but stop before it's done. When the SATA cable is disconnected it spins up as it should (that "OOP" sound). So now it's back in the external cabinet where it actually works. Nothing strange about the SMART values too.

Any ideas anyone?


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## Fourstaff (Nov 7, 2012)

SATA power cable any good?


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## Frick (Nov 8, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> SATA power cable any good?



Yep, works fine. As soon as I unplug the SATA data cable the HDD will not spin up. Tried every SATA power cable on the PSU just to be sure. Also I unplugged everything except that HDD just to make sure it wasnt something silly like it didn't get enough power or something.


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## drdeathx (Nov 8, 2012)

Try different ports and make sure IDE is selected in the Bios.


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## Frick (Nov 8, 2012)

drdeathx said:


> Try different ports and make sure IDE is selected in the Bios.



Also done.


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## Frick (Nov 12, 2012)

Still no ideas? Bbbbbbuump.


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## Peter1986C (Nov 12, 2012)

Disconnect the optical drive and/or primary HDD, see whether it will work then (in order to see if it is PSU related just in case).


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## Frick (Nov 12, 2012)

Chevalr1c said:


> Disconnect the optical drive and/or primary HDD, see whether it will work then (in order to see if it is PSU related just in case).



Did that already.


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## temp02 (Nov 12, 2012)

Are there any jumpers on the drive? Most drives have one for SATA 1.5G compatibility, try setting it and try again.


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## Iceni (Nov 12, 2012)

AHCI mode switching?

I've had a similar problem when i ran Sata1 drives without AHCI in a newer machine. But only if AHCI was on by default, and the new drive wasn't already enabled for this mode.

There is a tweak in the registry that may help.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/271111-14-windows-booting-ahci

wiki link



> Some operating systems, notably Windows Vista and Windows 7, do not configure themselves to load the AHCI driver upon boot if the SATA-drive controller was not in IDE mode at the time of installation. This can cause failure to boot with an error message if the SATA controller is later switched to AHCI mode. For this reason, Intel recommends changing the drive controller to AHCI or RAID before installing an operating system.[1] (It may also be necessary to load chipset-specific AHCI or RAID drivers — from a USB Flash drive, for example — at installation time.)


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## Frick (Dec 14, 2012)

Iceni said:


> AHCI mode switching?
> 
> I've had a similar problem when i ran Sata1 drives without AHCI in a newer machine. But only if AHCI was on by default, and the new drive wasn't already enabled for this mode.
> 
> ...



Can't sleep, so I tried this, and no it didn't work either. Plus AHCI mode added like 15 seconds to the boot time so I set it to IDE again.

Thank you anyway.


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## hellrazor (Dec 14, 2012)

Are you sure it just isn't the SATA slot (on the mobo)?


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## Frick (Dec 14, 2012)

hellrazor said:


> Are you sure it just isn't the SATA slot (on the mobo)?



Tried all of them, and the other disks works fine in all of them. Also tried other power cables (that work with other disks), SATA cables and with as little stuff installed as possible. I really have no clue what's going on.

SMART says the disk is flawless.


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## hellrazor (Dec 14, 2012)

Well I say the disk is retarded.


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## 1freedude (Dec 14, 2012)

try using the power from the enclosure, not the PSU

edit
and vice versa...connect drive to enclosure and use PSU power


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## Frick (Dec 14, 2012)

hellrazor said:


> Well I say the disk is retarded.



Yeah I'm coming to that conclusion too.



1freedude said:


> try using the power from the enclosure, not the PSU
> 
> edit
> and vice versa...connect drive to enclosure and use PSU power



Not possible, you kinda slide it into place in the enclosure so you can't use only one connector.


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## pigulici (Dec 14, 2012)

See for firmware for this hdd, I have a Samsung hdd 500gb, and it is not seen on sata port on my 890fx chipset motherboardm, so after I did the firmware it is ok...look here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140227


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## pigulici (Dec 14, 2012)

and this:
http://www.jack-brennan.com/samsung-firmware-update-for-p67-and-sb850/
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/223631en


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## Jetster (Dec 14, 2012)

Did you format it in the enclosure? Maybe it needs an active partition


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## lyndonguitar (Dec 14, 2012)

did you try the hdd on another setup?

-

I think it doesnt get enough power


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## de.das.dude (Dec 14, 2012)

get an exorcist.


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## Frick (Dec 14, 2012)

pigulici said:


> See for firmware for this hdd, I have a Samsung hdd 500gb, and it is not seen on sata port on my 890fx chipset motherboardm, so after I did the firmware it is ok...look here:
> http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140227



Will look into it, but I can't seem to find a firmware now.. As the Samsung site doens't exist anymore and Seagate has nothing. Arrrghhh!



Jetster said:


> Did you format it in the enclosure? Maybe it needs an active partition



No.



lyndonguitar said:


> did you try the hdd on another setup?
> 
> -
> 
> I think it doesnt get enough power



I was thinking that too, but I have tried the system with a minimal amount of components installed, and my system uses very little power to begin with. And I don't see why the power should be enough for one drive but not for another. If there is a problem with the PSU I'd imagine I'd have other problems, but I don't. Everything works perfectly fine, but not this exact HDD in this system.

It works in other systems.

Just realized I have a PCI SATA controller card. Will try it there when I can be assed. If it doesn't work I think I can assume it is indeed a power problem, and if it does work I blame MSI.


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## H82LUZ73 (Dec 14, 2012)

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/223631en


info

http://www.jack-brennan.com/samsung-firmware-update-for-p67-and-sb850/


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## Frick (Dec 14, 2012)

H82LUZ73 said:


> http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/223631en
> 
> 
> info
> ...



I'm very tired. 

Thanks.


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