The PC fails to recognize any SATA devices.
The PC fails to recognize any SATA devices.
In short, my grandma’s PC experienced an NVMe disk failure after only five and a half terabytes were written to it. It had been used for about three years, mainly storing Windows and some simple applications. After upgrading to a better drive, due to data loss concerns, I installed a 1TB SATA SSD for regular backups. However, now the computer doesn’t recognize any SATA devices, even after replacing the main boot drive. I’ve checked power connections, cables, ports, and BIOS settings, but everything seems fine. I’m unsure why this is happening despite my technical skills. I suspect it might be related to something beyond a bad connection or cable—maybe an issue with the SATA controller or driver installation. I’m considering replacing the SATA card or adding a HBA card, though I’m not sure what else to try. The motherboard model is ASUS Prime B450M-A rev 1.01, and there’s no dust around it. It seems the drive itself is still present but not detected.
Has it ever had sata stuff on it before? Also specs may be needed. They’ve been putting m.2 on motherboards since at least haswell. I don’t know if this is a new machine or an old one.
It originally came with a SATA optical drive. I’m not sure if it was ever used, but it probably functioned at one time. Now the setup includes an NVMe drive, a SATA SSD, another SATA optical drive, a PCIe Wi-Fi card, and just a bit of RAM and an APU—nothing else.
I attempted using ports 5 and 6, but I'm almost certain I also checked other ports. I'll verify again.
@Eigenvektor highlighted something important regarding the sata. If you only looked at a small number, others might be functioning too. I was hoping to find models to understand how old the equipment is. Having an optical drive usually indicates more than a couple of years. You can still insert 5 1/4” floppies on newer systems if you have the appropriate adapters (Haswell was released in 2014).
You were correct about a few things. Some SATA ports were turned off. I connected the drives to 5/6 and they stopped working, but 3/4 functioned okay. I think the issue might be related to the PCI-E Wi-Fi card as well. It’s possible it’s disabling other SATA connections. I was certain I used 4/5 and double-checked the BIOS, so maybe my eyes need a check or these ports aren’t working at all. Either way, I won’t waste time searching now since I know half of them are fine. Also, perhaps I should have been more careful with my choices. I’ve always built premium systems and never faced this problem before. However, my grandmother’s PC was on a tight budget and I bought a budget B450 board without realizing some SATA ports could be affected by certain PCI devices. It never happened to me before, so it wasn’t something I expected. Thanks.
It turns out the M.2 drive blocks certain SATA connections. I wasn’t aware of this because I didn’t test every port or check the manual for affected ones.
Discussing the performance aspects that might not catch your attention: bandwidth constraints exist between the chipset and the CPU, or simply cost efficiencies in chip design. Often just a few lanes are dedicated to the CPU, with the rest routed through the chipset. Typically there are around four PCIe lanes available, and additional savings can further limit capacity. For high-end options like Xenon or Threadripper, multiple lanes are usually present, but standard consumer chips often only provide twenty. When sixteen lanes go into the top slot, the remaining four lanes are shared via the chipset. The 5600G model faces even more challenges in gaming due to its split configuration—eight lanes on one side and eight on the other—limiting its ability to handle demanding graphics workloads effectively.