# BIOS is Stuck in Raid Configuration? Can't Detect Drives?



## Dromgatti1982 (May 8, 2011)

*The Problem:* :4-dontkno

I build this PC about a month ago (new). Everything worked wonderfully for about a month. One day, out of the blue, my PC decided to reboot itself and now I am struggling with the following issues.


If I let the boot process attempt to boot into windows normally, it results in a “detect drives done, no any drives found” error followed by a blank screen with an unresponsive flashing cursor.
 

When I choose to enter into bios, I find its is stuck at some kind of raid configuration screen and can’t move beyond this section of the bios menu (it is completely stuck)
 *Things I have tried to do to fix this issue:*


I removed the bios battery from the mother-board, waited 30 seconds, then replaced it in an attempt to reset bios.
 

I have booted into windows safe mode in hopes of rolling back windows to a functioning state. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get a mouse or key board to work at all in safe mode. (I thought this was very strange.)
 I have scoured the internet in hopes of an answer or even a clue as to what is wrong with my PC. This investigation makes me think it has something to do with my drives being in IDE mode in bios??? I would change IDE to something else but bios is stuck in the strange raid configuration screen. I have extremely valuable information on my hard drives and would really rather not reformat unless all hope is lost. Thank you so much for your time. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Pictures are attached. I am getting really desperate (heh); I need my StarCraft II back.

[email protected]

*PC SPECS:*


*Case: *Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
*CPU:* Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core 
*GPU:* (SLI) EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 (x2)
*Mobo:* MSI Big Bang-XPower LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
*Sound*: Quantum Wave Audio Processing, THX TruStudio PRO, EAX ADVANCED HD (Sound-Card comes with Mobo)
*Memory: *CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (3 x 4GB) DDR3 2000MHz
*Storage: *Crucial RealSSD 128GB 6GB/s (Thank you for pointing this out Paythin)/ Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s (x2)
*PSU: *CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
*Display:*Samsung 40" LCD 1080x1920 DC 10000:1 (but who cares about dynamic contrast right?)/ Samsung 23" LCD 1080x1920 DC 70000:1 (2nd monitor for web browsing whilst gaming)
*Speakers: *Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Digital Speaker System
*Keyboard: *Logitech G110 Black USB Wired LED Backlighting Gaming Keyboard
*Mouse: *RAZER Naga Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming Mouse


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Did you have it set up in a raid configuration?
Which drive has the Windows install on it the SSD or the WD drive?
If you did not have a raid set disconnect the the drive that does not have the windows install, put the Win 7 disk in the dvd drive and do a startup repair, it'll leave your files in place and repair windows.
Startup Repair: frequently asked questions


----------



## Dromgatti1982 (May 8, 2011)

I took the BIOS battery out once again. This time I held the power button down for a min and successfully cleared BIOS. I started the PC up and loaded the optimized defaults setting in BIOS. After I hit the save and exit key the PC booted into a blank screen with a flashing cursor. I was forced to reset the power button and BIOS went right back to being stuck in the strange raid configuration menu. The only issue I can think of is corrupted CMOS??? Looks like ill be sending my $300 piece of poo poo mobo back to MSI. I usually always go ASUS and I will never deviate from them again. :sigh:

Does this sound like the right diagnosis to you guys? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Disconnect the drives and see if it will boot to the windows DVD. It'll hang on the jmicron screen if drive detection hangs.

Also what does the LCD poster read?


----------



## Dromgatti1982 (May 8, 2011)

It does boot to the windows DVD. But bios still defaults to the raid configuration menu. I have one shot at manipulating bios settings whenever I take the battery out and drain the residual power. I changed the hard drive settings from IDE back to ACHI so it can detect the SSD drive again. I start booting into widows then see a flash of blue screen of death before the process resets. I still get the, "detect drives done, no any drive found" error. This kind of points back to a CMOS/BIOS issue (I think). The deeper I get the more its my poooopie $300 dollar MSI mobo.


----------



## Dromgatti1982 (May 8, 2011)

I posted a YouTube video... perhaps this will help?

YouTube - PC Help! Corrupt CMOS? MSI Big Bang


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

If it properly booting to the windows DVD you'll see the installation screen, did you disconnect the the hard drives as instructed?


----------

