# SATA hot swap doesn't work



## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

Ever since I got my new motherboard, the Gigabyte (argh I keep having to go get the box) 890FXA-UD5, Windows no longer auto detects SATA drives that are connected or disconnected. AHCI is enabled in BIOS but may not have been when I installed Windows.

This is a problem because I have a front drive bay to insert 2.5" hard drives for backups so I swap them regularly and I keep having to go in device manage and scan for new hardware twice, once to detect the old drive is no longer there, and again to detect the new drive.

I'd really like to get this fixed, I have a feeling it;s a driver issue because my old motherboard would behave the same with certain drivers.

Is it possible that it's a bug in the motherboard even though it's supposed to support hot plugging? Does anyone with this mobo have hot plugging working ok in Windows 7?

As a last resort, would getting a SATA expansion card that's independent from the motherboard for the front drive bay solve the problem?

I really need a solution to this, it's absurd scanning for hardware changes 2 times each time I change the disk.

Thank you


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi have you checked the gigabyte support page for your mother board GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-890FXA-UD5 (rev. 2.0) you will find the sata drivers there


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

Either with the default Windows drivers or the AMD drivers it behaves the same.

I'd like to know if anyone ever managed to have hot swap work on this mobo, maybe it's a bug and I'm wasting my time. In that case, would a SATA expansion card to add 2 "non buggy" ports enable me to have hot swap?

Thanks


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## The_Janitor (Sep 10, 2012)

aab1 said:


> I'd like to know if anyone ever managed to have hot swap work on this mobo, maybe it's a bug and I'm wasting my time. In that case, would a SATA expansion card to add 2 "non buggy" ports enable me to have hot swap?


1) You might owe me on this one.

AHCI Mode Setup - Windows 7 Forums



> If you do have the need for advanced SATA features, you'll need to edit the registry in Windows 7. The reason you aren't seeing any devices after you boot into Windows 7 after enabling AHCI, is because Windows 7 for some reason is not compatible out of the box to handle AHCI.


2) A cheap & easy workaround is to use a USB caddy/enclosure for swapping backup HD's.

I have one that looks very much like this one:

Newegg.com - Rosewill RX-DU101 Plastic 2.5" & 3.5" Black USB 2.0 Docking Station


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

I'll look into that later, I have to leave soon, but do they basically say it is or isn't possible?

I looked quickly and my registry value is set to 0 like they say it should.

I also cannot have any external solution, I have way too many things lying around as it is, my internal drive bay will be perfect, even if I need to buy a separate SATA controller card to get it working (in fact even with having to scan for hardware changes each time it's still not that much of a problem since I normally only swap the disk once a week).


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

If this helps, I noticed that if I reboot with no HD in the front bay slot and then insert one, Windows detects it instantly, but from that point on it's jammed there, if I remove it it will remain listed in my computer as if it was still there.


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## The_Janitor (Sep 10, 2012)

Make sure you have most-recent BIOS and most-recent motherboard drivers installed.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

joeten said:


> Hi have you checked the gigabyte support page for your mother board GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3 - GA-890FXA-UD5 (rev. 2.0) you will find the sata drivers there


posted the link earlier


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

I have the most recent drivers (installed hours ago), the BIOS updates make no mention of helping with this.

Should I still update the BIOS?

What else could it be? Does it have anything to do with formatting the hard drives in NTFS vs exFAT? I'm quite sure hot swap worked using NTFS on my old PC.


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## The_Janitor (Sep 10, 2012)

changing the format will not help. Updated BiOS may not help either, but it's worth trying.


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

The_Janitor said:


> 1) You might owe me on this one.
> 
> AHCI Mode Setup - Windows 7 Forums


That thread is about the BIOS not detecting the hard drive on POST. My issue is with hot swapping, i.e. plugging in and disconnecting SATA drives while the computer and Windows are running. If I reboot it has absolutely no problem detecting the drives, the problem is when I change the drives while the computer is running, it's supposed to auto detect like when you insert a usb flash drive, but ever since I got this motherboard this feature hasn't worked.

Any ideas? Would re-installing Windows help? What about getting a SATA expansion card for my front bay where I need hot swap?

Thanks


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## The_Janitor (Sep 10, 2012)

It says that Windows 7 does not fully utilize AHCI without a registry modification. It basically says that Win7 is not fullly compatible with AHCI, even if it's enabled in BIOS. It's an example of the kinds of post you could be looking for yourself.


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

I'm about 100% sure my previous computer where this did work also ran Windows 7, it did at one time have this problem but a different driver solved it. So far I tried the windows drivers and the motherboard drivers.

I noticed the driver title doesn't contain "AHCI" as I have seen in some screen shots, could that be why?

Thank you


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

I went back to the windows drivers and noticed it does say AHCI now, I'm not sure if it said it before.

Also, I'm not sure if this is new, but I noticed if I'm patient after ejecting a hard drive, it will eventually detect it was removed and remove it from "my computer", but it takes 1-2 minutes. I'm certain with my previous motherboard that it detected hard drive removal about instantly.

I must say my Windows install is far from clean, in fact I copied an image of the c: on my old computer onto my SSD on the new computer and hacked around until it booted lol (I like reinstalling windows and all my software like I want needles in my eyes). Would a proper install solve this problem? As much as I don't want to do it I want this problem solved, especially since I found a new better quality hot swap drive bay I want to get soon.

Thanks


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## The_Janitor (Sep 10, 2012)

Any trouble at all with an install is a deal breaker with me. A scratch on the disk and mess it up. One time, I had an optical drive that wouldn't read the data correctly. Changed the CD-drive and everything went perfect.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Starting form scratch and installing the correct drivers from the outset would be the best way forward


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## aab1 (Apr 1, 2008)

I'll test that on another hard drive to see if it solves the issue before doing a re install of my main system.

Thanks


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## The_Janitor (Sep 10, 2012)

Good thinking.


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