970 Extreme 3 wont recognise/run my new samsung 840 ssd ??

[billlyzee]

Hi to all,
My 970 extreme 3 motherboard refuses to recognise or run my samsung 840 ssd. Here's a list of what i've done:
1: Firstly new samsung 840 series 250gb ssd works 100% in an old laptop i have, which had windows vista previously installed on it. I have also used this laptop to update the firmware on the ssd and put windows 7 on there, so before we start the ssd is NOT the problem.
2: Reset CMOS
2: Motherboard bios is the current one (1.70) I have also reflashed this bios to see but it made no difference.
3: Set AHCI in windows. then set bios to AHCI.
4: Put in ide mode but still doesn't detect ssd.
Now when i put bios into AMD AHCI BIOS Rom (which is the only way i can ever get to see the ssd drive), the samsung ssd shows up but says HDD Smart Drive Error but like i stated earlier the ssd works perfectly in an old laptop i have.
I've tried plugging into various sata ports, tried it in all my drive bays but for some reason it's saying my ssd has a smart fault which clearly it hasn't. All drivers/updates etc are all up to date. I've had my ssd for a month now and i'm just completely baffled of what to do next, so i'd appreciate any help and thanks in advance.

[billlyzee]

Well that's just great, i filled in one of your support request forms, on i think the 15th jan 2013 it took asrock 1 week to send me an automated email, which read:

Dear Customer,


Please DO NOT reply to this automatic mail. It is just a confirmation that we have received your email. We will have technical support personnel to contact you soon.

For technical issue and emergency case, we suggest you to contact your dealer first.
If your dealer can’t solve your problem, ASRock web site also offers FAQ and CPU support lists (ASRock > Support). Some similar questions or solutions could be found there and our technical support engineers update the FAQ every month.
If it is regarding repair/RMA service, please kindly check with your dealer for related service. Please remember to record the model name & product serial number for future tracking.
Thanks for your email,
ASRock Technical Support Division

I received that email on the 22nd January 2013 and received nothing since and now you tell me i have to wait until the 18th February before you even return to work ? Well i just hope someone in this forum can help with my problem because your aftersales service so far as i can see is just non-existent and really needs to be sorted out.
This post isn't to try and make asrock look bad but simply to highlight the situation i find myself in. I have an Asrock 970 Extreme 3 board which is just a few months old and the bios refuses to run my new samsung 840 ssd, i have spent over a month trying to get it too work and asrock support are non existent ? would you be happy ?

[profJim]

Did you try using one or more different sata data cables?
Did you try switching around the psu sata power cables to your drives?

Try disconnecting all hardware that is NOT needed for booting in the bios.
Boot with a keyboard, one memory module, the ssd and a graphics card to see if this eliminates the SMART error.
If the error is gone, reconnect the hardware one piece at a time to see if/when the error returns.

Hopefully this will help determine what piece of hardware might be causing the error.

[parsec]

Your problem is most likely your case's hot swap bays. SATA busses like that in PC cases are infamous for issues, even if they say they are for use with SSDs. Even if it did work, it probably would work at SATA II speeds. Worth a try at least, which I highly suggest.

Since hot swap(ping) is a feature of AHCI not found in IDE, that explains why the SSD is not seen in IDE mode. You must enable hot swapping for any drives that are on those bays, if you plan on inserting or removing any of them with the PC on. Can't do that to the OS drive at any time.

There's a small chance that setting the SATA port the 840 is on to Hot Swapping enabled, will allow it to be detected

It really sounds like there is a major communication problem between that 840 and your board. The SMART error is a hint about that, the data is either corrupted or can't be read. IMO, the bay is the problem.

Do you have other drives in that case in the hot swap bays?

[billlyzee]

Thanks guys i've got the bios to see my ssd.
It was the drive bays, i've connected the ssd straight up to the motherboard and the bios sees it no problems