Problems installing BIOS, Windows 10, & Internal Hard Drive missing

February 12, 2020 8:01 AM

I just finished building my PC, and was able to install Windows 10 and get to the desktop and access the internet, but there are some problems and things missing (such as my Internal HD), probably resulting from going through BIOS the wrong way as well as perhaps connecting cables the wrong way during the build. My motherboard is a Gigabyte X570 Gaming X.

So I'll break it down by issue.

BIOS/UEFI
It's based on my X570 Gaming X motherboard. When I first turned on the computer (I had the USB 3.0 flash drive with the Windows 10 installer connected), the keyboard and mouse turned on, but nothing was reaching my screen via HDMI. So I believed I pressed F2, and if not, I may have pressed Delete. Nothing showed up still, so I turned the computer off and on again a few times. Eventually I was greeted with the "Classic" view of the UEFI (with the M.I.T. tab, as well as the System, BIOS, Peripherals, Chipset, Power, and Save & Exit tabs). I wanted to update the BIOS because I heard that was a good idea, but my manual (it's so confusing and unhelpful most of the time) didn't include instructions on how to do so. So I turned the computer off again, turned it back on, pressed Delete, and the Windows 10 installer process started.

Windows 10
Once I got to the Desktop, I was able to connect my ethernet cable and get on the internet. However, it was very odd that I wasn't greeted with the task manager that showed all the drivers and everything else that was updating. (what this guy was giong through in this video at the time stamp of 17:45 (https://youtu.be/vHS_3qi0kXg?t=1065). It just was at the desktop, almost as if I had already done all of that updating driver stuff.

Also, I couldn't register my activation key (I was greeted with error 0x87e10bcf Something prevented us from communicating with our activation servers. Wait a few minutes and then try again.) I did wait a few minutes, and I even reset the computer, before trying again, reciving the same error message.

Internal Hard Drive
When I was installing Windows 10, at the step where you direct where you want it installed, all I was able to select was Drive 0, which I believe had only 64GBs. I didn't see my 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Western Digital Purple Internal Hard Drive. And once I was able to get to the desktop and then look at the This PC folder, I didn't see it either.

I could have sworn that I set the SATA power cable up correctly. My only thought is that the SATA data cable which I also attached to the HDD may have been attached to the wrong SATA3 connector on the motherboard. The video I was watching said that it sometimes matters where I should connect it (there were 6 areas to connect on my motherboard) and that I should look at the manual to confirm where. But the manual didn't tell where to put it. All it said was "The SATA connectors support RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10. It also numbered the connector pins with definition words such as Pin #1 being GND, Pin #2 TXP, #3 TXN, #4 GND, #5 RXN, #6 RXP, and #7 GND. It also said the three on top were 4, 2, and 0, and the three on bottom were 5, 3, and 1. I'm pretty sure I connected to 2, but I can't remember for sure.

Solid State Drive
I'm not sure if the SSD was installed correctly or not. I'm using a PCIe Gen 3x4 M.2 2280 512GB SSD. I installed it under the heat sink area, but there was no place to attach any sort of SATA cable afterward. It's not showing up when I go to "This PC"

Memory
I'm pretty positive I put in the two 8GB DDR4-3200 Memory sticks correctly. But how would I know?

I know this is a lot, but I thought it best to include this in one thread rather than create multiple threads.

posted by ggp88 to Technology (16 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh, I forgot to add my PCPartPicker list:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/ggp8/saved/#view=XGk9NG
posted by ggp88 at 8:03 AM on February 12, 2020

Sounds like a cool build and I'm sure everything will get working.

I think this isn't an issue, but the classic "nothing on the display" mistake is attaching the cable to the Motherboard connector (CPU integrated graphics) rather than the video card connector. Everybody does this sometime.

As far as detecting drives, I would go into the BIOS and see what it reports. Back up a bit from what windows thinks to see what the BIOS sees. I'm pretty sure the M.2 connector for the SSD takes care of everything. As far as what ports for the other HDs, if they aren't detected in BIOS, I would try 0 and 1 first.

The BIOS should also be able to show how much memory is installed.

You probably don't need to update BIOS unless the CPU was released very recently.
posted by jclarkin at 8:20 AM on February 12, 2020

Response by poster: My manual won't even tell me how to get to the area of BIOS where I could tell if my drives were detected or not. How is this usually done?
posted by ggp88 at 8:55 AM on February 12, 2020

Firstly you need to access uefi/bios before attempting to install Windows.

Disconnect your USB drive.

If your motherboard has onboard video and your GeForce try connecting video to both to see which bios is outputting on, reboot and swap cables if it's not displaying. (Not both at the same time). If it's still not working, remove the video card and only use onboard (for now).

Once you can get into bios/uefi, there will be a selection for drive configurations, look there to verify how things are setup, and what the boot order is. You probably want the boot order to be something like USB, nvme, hard drive. Also check what it thinks you have for ram, etc.

Nvme drives get power and data through the nvme slot.

Hard drives need both power and data cables.

The connectors are all keyed, so the pins will be correct if it fits, don't force it.

If the uefi isn't showing your drives remove them and start one at a time to figure out why it's not working.

Your motherboard might have third party sata ports, if so you probably want your hard drive on the and chipset ports instead.

What is the 64gb? The USB drive? You didn't install anything it doesn't seem like.

I wouldn't attempt to activate until everything is working. You should be able to use Windows unactivated for a while.

My general path to debugging builds is remove everything not strictly necessary and add one at a time.
posted by TheAdamist at 9:04 AM on February 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

If the machine will boot into windows, let it do that.

Once in windows, open settings.

Select update and security.

Select recovery.

Select restart now under advanced start on the right.

Select troubleshoot.

Selection advanced options.

Select UEFI something something.

Select restart.

The machine should now reboot into the bios.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:33 AM on February 12, 2020

Response by poster: "Firstly you need to access uefi/bios before attempting to install Windows.

Disconnect your USB drive."

I already installed Windows. Do I need to uninstall it? If so, how would I do that? Or do I just need to disconnect the USB drive, turn off the computer, and turn it back on?

Also, when I turn it on, before it goes to Windows, I'm greeted with the startup Gigabyte screen. It says:
DEL: Bios Setup \ Q-Flash
F9: System Information
F12: Boot Menu
End: Q-Flash

"If your motherboard has onboard video and your GeForce try connecting video to both to see which bios is outputting on, reboot and swap cables if it's not displaying. (Not both at the same time). If it's still not working, remove the video card and only use onboard (for now)."

I tried to look up whether my motherboard has onboard video or not, but couldn't find any mention of onboard video. I really don't know what that even is.

When you are talking about "connecting video", what does that mean? Are you talking about where I'm placing the HDMI cable? If not, can you explain?

This may not be relevent, but it says that the Initial Display Output is PCIe 1 Slot

Once you can get into bios/uefi, there will be a selection for drive configurations, look there to verify how things are setup, and what the boot order is. You probably want the boot order to be something like USB, nvme, hard drive. Also check what it thinks you have for ram, etc.

I don't know how to find where the drive configuration section is. And my manual won't help tell me how.

But maybe I did stumble upon it? I'm able to see the following:

SATA Slot Info:
P0: WDC WD800JD-75MSA3
P1 - P5: N/A

PCIE Slot Info:
PCIEx16: PCIe 3.0x16 @ 1.0 x16
PCIEx4: N/A
PCIEx1_1: N/A
PCIEX1_2: N/A
PCIEX1_3: N/A

M.2 Slot Info:
M2A: N/A
M2B: N/A

Also, as I'm typing this, I've taken out the USB with Windows 10. Under Boot Option Priorities, it says:
Boot Option #1: Windows Boot Manager (P0: WDC WD800JD-75MSA3)
Boot Option #2: P0: WDC WD800JD-75MSA3

What is nvme, and how do I check to see what I have from ram? Also, again, how do I check to see whether or not I have an internal hard drive and an SSD installed?

Your motherboard might have third party sata ports, if so you probably want your hard drive on the and chipset ports instead.

I'm looking at my oh-so-helpful motherboard manual yet again and it doesn't mention whether or not there are 3rd party SATA ports or if there is a and chipset port.

Looking at the BIOS though, I'm able to see the following:

IOMMU: Auto
PCIEX16 Bifurcation: Auto
SATA Mode: AHCI
NVMe RAID mode: Disabled
Chipset SATA Port0: WDC WD800JD-75MSA3 (80.0GB)
Chipset SATA Port 1 - 5: Not installed
posted by ggp88 at 10:01 AM on February 12, 2020

Seconding TheAdamist; the best approach is to disconnect all but the essentials for booting and then add each additional piece of hardware one at a time. Looking at your parts list, it looks like your CPU doesn't support integrated graphics (that is, you have to have a video card to see video, and you must plug your monitor into the video card).

Definitely do not activate Windows until you have all of your hardware running and detected the way you want.

Based on your follow-up, it looks like you installed Windows to your WD hard drive, not your NVMe SSD. I'd recommend disconnecting your hard drive before installing Windows; that way you're guaranteed to pick the right drive for it. It also sounds like it's not seeing your NVMe drive for some reason. I'm not able to look up your motherboard manual atm, but that's the next problem I'd attack.
posted by Aleyn at 10:34 AM on February 12, 2020

Or do I just need to disconnect the USB drive, turn off the computer, and turn it back on?

Do that.

I tried to look up whether my motherboard has onboard video or not

It does not. You must have plugged your hdmi cable into your video card, or you wouldn't see anything. This is fine.

SATA Slot Info:
P0: WDC WD800JD-75MSA3

This means the computer can see your spinny hard drive.

---BUT--- it also means that the drive isn't a 4tb drive. That hard drive is an old 80GB drive.

M.2 Slot Info:
M2A: N/A
M2B: N/A

This means the computer *cannot* see your ssd. You probably just didn't plug it in all the way, but there is a chance that either the drive or your motherboard are (sorry to get all technical here) busted.

What is nvme

The kind of ssd you have.

and how do I check to see what I have from ram?

In bios screen with boot options, look under memory on the right hand side.

it doesn't mention whether or not there are 3rd party SATA ports or if there is a and chipset port

All chipset. Leaving the sata data cable in sata0 is fine.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:36 AM on February 12, 2020

Response by poster: I'm currently taking things apart. I already switched the SATA cable of my 4tb hard drive to sata1.

I already installed Windows though, and from the sounds of it, on to that 80GB hard drive. How do I undo this? Would this be accomplished by disconnecting the 4tb hard drive?

And GCU Sweet and Full of Grace, are you saying that my 4tb hard drive isn't being detected, or that I was actually ripped off and paid for (and installed) a 80GB drive instead of the 4tb drive I thought I had bought and installed? If my 4tb hard drive is legit and just not connected, where did this 80GB drive come from? I didn't (knowingly) buy or install any kind of storage except the 4tb hard drive and the SSD.

I'm sorry I'm looking like such a newb. It's because I am. I am brand new to this world, this is my first computer build, and I'm unlearned in much of the things others more knowledgable and experienced would take as obvious.
posted by ggp88 at 10:44 AM on February 12, 2020

Your BIOS may only be seeing the 4TB as a 80GB for some reason. You may also have been sent something bogus. Can you look at the label on the physical hard drive and compare it to what you ordered?

Remove and reinstall the SSD card/drive/whatever we're calling it these days.

Start from the beginning. Don't worry about a BIOS update. Don't insert the USB install disk. Leave the 4TB drive disconnected. Turn on the power and hit the delete key.
If it's still not seeing the SSD card, try the other slot.
posted by notsnot at 11:25 AM on February 12, 2020

PM me.. I've built 4 rigs. Best to get through the back and forth troubleshooting and get through the main bits, and then post the solution and what the problems solved were. Will help to have photos of the various connections and equipment to see what's really going on.
posted by rich at 11:25 AM on February 12, 2020

Look at the physical label of the hard drive, there should be a serial number and model number.

Bios should be displaying the same serial number and a similar model number to the printed label.

Wd800 is a very old model number. As someone else said, and old 80gbodel or something junk.

Your drive model number is probably something similar to WD40PURX . Which you should return and buy something else anyway if possible, that's a six year old drive model. I'm surprised anyone is selling it as new.
posted by TheAdamist at 12:18 PM on February 12, 2020

I'm sorry I'm looking like such a newb. It's because I am.

As a wise man said, "For everything there is a first time."

Everyone replying to you was you once. You're doing the world a solid by asking this sort of stuff publicly where the *next* newb might be able to see your troubleshooting process happen. Sorry your first build has been a trial -- usually this sort of thing is just expensive legos and everything just works, but as you've seen usually ain't always.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:54 PM on February 12, 2020

I've put together and upgraded a bunch of PCs over the years. But there's almost always something that makes it take longer or be more difficult than expected.

AFAICT, you seem to have only 1-2 problems, SSD not seen and HDD misidentified (or you were given the wrong one). You got past a couple of issues already and even got windows installed.

So it seems to me that you have got the CPU, memory, video card, and PSU all installed and working. There's some glitches with the drives but it's still progress.

Don't be discouraged. This stuff isn't rocket surgery but it isn't tiddlywinks either.
posted by jclarkin at 5:27 PM on February 12, 2020

I was working offline with the OP, just to give an update that may be helpful for anyone experiencing similar issues;

-SSD wasn't fully seated. This has happened to folks I know before. Especially with M.2's and especially on laptops, they may seem like they're in, but just a little askew. On laptops, a little knock and they're out and it seems like a drive failure, when it's just a connection issue.

- Video from motherboard wasn't working because he has the GPU already in the PCIe slot, so video when plugged into the GPU, it was fine.

- the HDD; def a bit weird. Agree with TheAdamist that the WD40PURX is not really the drive to be using in a regular rig, let alone a gaming rig. Regardless, it is showing up as only 80GB.. though since it's a 4TB, I have a suspicion that Windows on install choked on the size and it wasn't formatted GPT originally.. but haven't gotten details yet; recommended downlaoding the WD drive tools for analysis, and trying to reformat and/or extend the volume. Plus, just return the drive and get a decent 7200 RPM/256 cache drive instead.

But he's up and running on the SSD - Windows 10 installed without issue.. so now it's just getting a large format drive for storage.
posted by rich at 5:21 AM on February 13, 2020 [5 favorites]

Just for people getting here by a search

Video from motherboard wasn't working

AMD 3600x's don't have any integrated graphics, so the hdmi out from the motherboard would never work. x570 boards only have an hdmi output jack on the off-chance someone puts an APU in them.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:12 AM on February 13, 2020 [1 favorite]