Very wierd SSD issue.

flowrider99

flowrider99

flowrider99

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I have an unusual problem with an SSD boot drive throwing up an I/O error at boot up.
I have a Samsung 850 EVO 250gb which is my boot drive and a Samsung 850 EVO 500gb which is my data drive, both drives have been working with no issues since i built the PC a month or so ago however i have been using flat SATA3 cables which are tricky to route in the case so I bought a couple of round SATA3 cables. Unfortunately i started to get intermitant disk I/O error on bootup so i swapped cables with the data drive and still intermitantly got an error, reinstalling the flat cables makes the issue stop. Thinking the cables were faulty i purchased 2 more from a different source, fitted them and got the same intermitant error on the boot drive. Looks like my boot drive doesn't like round cables!! Another strange symptom is that when a round cable is used Samsung Magician shows an error telling me my boot drive is connected to an SATA2 port, it isnt though. It makes no sense to me.
 
Hey flowrider99.

It is indeed a really weird issue. On the other hand you might have had a big portion of bad luck and the second set of cables you've bought might be faulty as well. Do you have the option to test those SATA cables with a different computer, to see if the same issue occurs?
You could also try updating or resetting your BIOS/UEFI, just for the sake if and see if that changes things up.

Please keep me posted.
Boogieman_WD
 
I'l keep an eye on this thread.

I've just bought a 850 Evo and got it working fine but the flat sata cables I use are a real pain to manage and I intended to buy round ones myself.
 
Boogieman_WD said:
Hey flowrider99.

It is indeed a really weird issue. On the other hand you might have had a big portion of bad luck and the second set of cables you've bought might be faulty as well. Do you have the option to test those SATA cables with a different computer, to see if the same issue occurs?
You could also try updating or resetting your BIOS/UEFI, just for the sake if and see if that changes things up.

Please keep me posted.
Boogieman_WD
Click to expand...

I have installed both cables into another PC, one cable is on a Samsung 840 EVO 120gb boot disk and the other cable is on a WD HDD. Unfortunately the mobo only has SATA2 ports but so far no issues.
 
weyland yutani said:
I'l keep an eye on this thread.

I've just bought a 850 Evo and got it working fine but the flat sata cables I use are a real pain to manage and I intended to buy round ones myself.
Click to expand...

I have never had this issue before with round cables, I can't think why there should be an issue at all. I am sure there must be thousands of 850 EVO owners using round cables.
 
More of a randome thought here - could it be the cables aren't fully sata3, yeah sounds weird but it's possible that the round cables you've been buying aren't fully compatible hence it's ok workin on and showing as sata 2. I've seen random issues when I've stuck an older sata cable (from just before sata3) in a build.
 
lsg1r said:
More of a randome thought here - could it be the cables aren't fully sata3, yeah sounds weird but it's possible that the round cables you've been buying aren't fully compatible hence it's ok workin on and showing as sata 2. I've seen random issues when I've stuck an older sata cable (from just before sata3) in a build.
Click to expand...

I thought of that but my understanding is that all SATA cables are the same, also both cables appear to be ok on my data drive which is also an EVO and Magician reports that as connecting to an SATA3 port. At this point i would now suspect the SSD is the issue but it works fine with a flat cable.
 
flowrider99 said:
I thought of that but my understanding is that all SATA cables are the same, also both cables appear to be ok on my data drive which is also an EVO and Magician reports that as connecting to an SATA3 port. At this point i would now suspect the SSD is the issue but it works fine with a flat cable.
Click to expand...

Not strictly accurate :)
Several potential differences:
Round cables will have the internal wires placed differently. (A flat cable will almost certainly have the signal lines one after the other, whereas the round cable will have them in more of a square shape)
Internal wire quality- It's possible to use cheaper materials for the internal wire. (E.G. You can get aluminium, copper-clad aluminium and pure copper)
Termination (end) quality may vary a little.

Your cable routing may also be a problem-
Sometimes if you run the cable alongside lots of power cables, or right past something like the graphics card, electrical noise can be induced. A 'bad' cable might exacerbate this.

First thing to try is to physically swap the position/ cable of the data drive and the main drive and see if the symptoms remain the same.
My bet is on cables/ routing though.

-Leezer-
 
The cables have been installed back into the original PC but I routed them differently and so far I have had no issues. Hopefully it was just a routing issue.
 
ive had a similer problem, but it dropped from sata 2 to sata 1, and was so so on actually doing much or even doing non terrible speeds.

it was how the cable was seated in the motherboard, might not of been in all the way or at an angle, so it was that connection and not the actual cable that was the issue
 
I used to have a similar problem.

For me it was the metal cable clips that are on most of sata cables. They just would not work with my ssd. The cable was fine as it worked with a mechanical hdd, it just would not clip into the ssd and was very loose.

Ended up getting this cable and has been fine since.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £8.47
(includes shipping: £3.48)
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​
 
freddie64 said:
I used to have a similar problem.

For me it was the metal cable clips that are on most of sata cables. They just would not work with my ssd. The cable was fine as it worked with a mechanical hdd, it just would not clip into the ssd and was very loose.

Ended up getting this cable and has been fine since.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £8.47
(includes shipping: £3.48)
​


​
Click to expand...

Unfortunately i need round cables for the flexibility with routing.
 
I should have been more clear. I was pointing out the connectors with no metal clips. They are a snug fit and worked perfect for me,

Sorry for the confusion. :)
 
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