PC Hangs on first boot/doesn't detect secondary HDD

Eddzz!!

Eddzz!!

Eddzz!!

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Bangor, N.Wales
Shameful first post with nothing but tech-related woes, but here goes...

I will start things off by saying that I'm probably using a "below-recommendations" power supply for my system. It's a good quality OCZ 500W model (though I forget the model number). The system I'm running should run just fine with my current power supply though my graphics card (GTX 770) is rated for at least a 600W. I've only recently upgraded my graphics card, having previously run a AMD 6950 2GB (which was rated much lower on power usage recommendations), but the issue I am about to outline below I've had since day 1 of my build.

Basically on start-up I will either hang at the BIOS, or at the Windows logo. On some occurrences I won't hang at all and Windows will boot fine, however, the BIOS and Windows will not detect my 1TB data drive. Once the computer is 'warm' i.e. it's been on for 1-2mins, I can restart and the whole system will run fine with all hard drives detected and functioning.

Now the way I see it, this is unlikely to be a hard drive error - I can't imagine my non-OS drive would cause the system to hang at BIOS/Windows screen (though could be a dodgy SATA cable?). It COULD be the power supply, which would explain why the system works fine on restart (charged coils). The third and final possibility could be a cold-boot issue with my motherboard.

Now before I go and splash some cash on a new PSU/Motherboard, what kind of danger is my system facing at the moment? I feel that I've ignored this issue for long enough now and it needs to get sorted.

Core i7 2600K at 3.5GHz
4x4GB DDR3 RAM
64GB Intel SSD
1TB Westerd Digital HDD
3 case fans
1 CPU fan
1 HD-DVD optical drive
an abundance of USB devices

The GTX 770 is an Asus DirectCU II OC 2GB

The computer will either hang on the BIOS splash screen, or on the Windows logo. This only occurs from cold boot.

[EDIT] As I said, if it does boot from cold it will always boot without detecting the second drive.

A Power Supply calculator puts the minimum wattage at 453w and the recommended at 503w
 
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My best guess is that you're looking in the wrong area.

Update your BIOS to the latest, and see if that makes any difference to your problem.

Also, have you tried a different SATA port on the motherboard for your 1Tb hard drive? It might not fix the fault, but it'll at least eliminate it being a single faulty SATA port.
 
matt_fsr said:
My best guess is that you're looking in the wrong area.

Update your BIOS to the latest, and see if that makes any difference to your problem.

Also, have you tried a different SATA port on the motherboard for your 1Tb hard drive? It might not fix the fault, but it'll at least eliminate it being a single faulty SATA port.
Click to expand...

Tried your first suggestion already! I'm up-to-date with the BIOS. Haven't tried a different SATA port yet for the HDD. Would that cause a BIOS hang? This is looking more and more likely to be a mobo fault :(
 
Check that all your power cables into hard drives and cd drives are fully pushed into the ports. Especially the hard drive that isn't being recognised.
 
what motherboard? with 16gb of ram id be looking at ram settings/voltages and memory controller voltage (imc or vtt)

try with 1.10v cpu/vtt or imc depending what board it is

flash to latest mb bios first though
 
wazza300 said:
what motherboard? with 16gb of ram id be looking at ram settings/voltages and memory controller voltage (imc or vtt)

try with 1.10v cpu/vtt or imc depending what board it is

flash to latest mb bios first though
Click to expand...

It's a Asrock z77 Fatal1ty. BIOS is up to date!
 
wazza300 said:
tried with touch more vtt voltage? 1.10v?
Click to expand...

I haven't messed with volts at all. To be honest, I'm a novice when it comes to tinkering with settings like those - I wouldn't really know where to begin :confused: ... Is such a practice recommended considering the wattage of my PSU?
 
your psu wattage is ok imo

vtt voltage isn't for the cpu its for the memory controller,seeing as your running 16gb of ram you might need a touch more vtt voltage

it will be in the bios somewhere,
 
wazza300 said:
your psu wattage is ok imo

vtt voltage isn't for the cpu its for the memory controller,seeing as your running 16gb of ram you might need a touch more vtt voltage

it will be in the bios somewhere,
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll give this a shot this evening and report back with any changes... Let's just hope I don't blow anything up! :eek:
 
Well booted it up this morning after setting the VTT voltage a little higher in the BIOS and the system still failed to load my TB HDD first time around... End of my tether with this! There doesn't seem to be a solution anywhere!
 
Try going to start menu type "Hard Drive" in search and select "Create and format hard disk partitions". Check here to see if the other hard drive is available.

It may be that the drive hasn't been partitioned properly.

Edit: Just realised the problem isn't regarding the hard drive only.
 
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Edit, same as above. Bad reading skills!

Have you tried different power cables to the hard drive and different sata ports?
 
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you've already answered your question in the first paragraph!

can you not get hold of a more powerful PSU? disconnect all of the case fans and obvious usb devices (except mouse/keyboard) and try it again.

does the system hang with the 1tb hdd unplugged?
 
The Deuce said:
you've already answered your question in the first paragraph!

can you not get hold of a more powerful PSU? disconnect all of the case fans and obvious usb devices (except mouse/keyboard) and try it again.

does the system hang with the 1tb hdd unplugged?
Click to expand...

Oki-doki, I'll try unplugging some things next then! I can't get hold of another PSU unless I buy one unfortunately!
 
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