Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Andenno
May 1, 2009

Problem description: My server will only boot if I disconnect the data cables two of my SATA drives (see system specs below for list of drives.) The server used to boot fine with all four SATA drives connected. If I connect either data cable, boot fails.

Attempted fixes: I have tried checking the drive boot order in the BIOS. I have tried swapping data and power cables for the two effected drives. I enabled hot-plugging in the BIOS, and I can start the server with the drives disconnected, then plug them in once windows starts, and the server works fine. I have tried disconnecting both of the problem drives, then only connecting one, but either causes the problem. I suspect the PSU, since either drive causes the boot to fail, however, the boot succeeds when the drives have connected power but not data.

Recent changes: Have you made any changes to your system/configuration recently that might have caused the problem? No new software or hardware within a couple weeks of the problem beginning. It may be unrelated, but the computer was in the same room as some foundation work which may have vibrated the case excessively. This makes me suspect a piece of hardware has failed. There was a point where boot failure began, I disabled "rapid boot" in the BIOS, and the boot failures went away for a while.

--

Operating system: Windows Server 2008 64-bit

System specs: For full list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sHXrwV
CPU: Intel Core i5-3670K
Mobo: Asus Z87-A
Memory: 16 GB DDR3-1600
Storage: 4 SATA drives:
1. 120 GB SSD (System, RAID 1)
2. 120 GB SSD (System, RAID 1)
3. 2 TB HDD
4. 4 TB HDD
Power: Seasonic G 550W PSU


Location: Ohio, USA

I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes

E:Hooray shitpost tag. Ought to be newbie.

Andenno fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jan 16, 2017

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Actuarial Fables
Jul 29, 2014

Taco Defender
Could you describe how the computer fails to boot a bit more? Does it complain that there's no boot device, does it just hang after the manufacturer screen, do you get to the windows loading screen?

How long after the foundation work did the boot issue occur? First reboot?

What do the SMART values for the HDDs look like?

DOOMocrat
Oct 2, 2003

Have you tried a full CMOS reset? UEFI booting is weird. Is Legacy BIOS mode an option for you, as well?

Andenno
May 1, 2009

Sorry, I'm back. Thanks for looking at this!

Actuarial Fables posted:

Could you describe how the computer fails to boot a bit more? Does it complain that there's no boot device, does it just hang after the manufacturer screen, do you get to the windows loading screen?

How long after the foundation work did the boot issue occur? First reboot?

What do the SMART values for the HDDs look like?

There's no error screen. It just goes straight to the UEFI BIOS. I figured out that if I hold the button to select the boot drive on startup, I can select the first option and boot. The strange thing is it still fails by default, and I've double checked the BIOS boot priority.

The first boot issue was a couple of weeks after the foundation work. The server would have rebooted at least a dozen times before the issue cropped up.

I've never looked at SMART values before. I just tried Crystal Disk Info, and all of the drives health statuses are "Good." Is there something else I should check here?

DOOMocrat posted:

Have you tried a full CMOS reset? UEFI booting is weird. Is Legacy BIOS mode an option for you, as well?

I'd like to do a CMOS reset. I'm getting a backup plan in place first, then I'm going to try it. I agree UEFI booting is weird. I'm obviously out of my depth; my motherboard can be switched to legacy mode, but I'd need to reinstall the operating system to change that, right?

Zogo
Jul 29, 2003

Andenno posted:

I've never looked at SMART values before. I just tried Crystal Disk Info, and all of the drives health statuses are "Good." Is there something else I should check here?

If it looks okay in CDI it's probably okay but it's not a 100% guarantee.

I'd try those two drives in another computer if possible. That would narrow down the issue more.

  • Locked thread