New build with GA-97X-UD5H rev.1 m/b with F6 BIOS, flashed to F8 now. Using Intel i7 4790,
Windows 8.1 Pro OEM,
Noctua NH-U12P SE2,
Corsair Obsidian 650D,
8Gb Corsair Dominator 1600MHz LP,
WD Black 1Tb SATA3,
Corsair RM850 PSU,
ASUS R9 270X 2Gb TOP O/C Edition,
LG GH24NSBO DVD Drive.
All went well with the build until I realised the Marvell Controller was not showing in Device Manager and in the BIOS, although the Marvell Controller is listed in the BIOS and showing as being in AHCI Mode, the No. 6 and No. 7 ports allocated to this controller are showing as: "not present". There is no option to enable these ports.
I did omit to install the Pre-Driver for this controller. I only realised it looking through the drivers list on the Gigabyte website after installing the operating system. Would this be the cause of this problem?
I have installed the Marvell MSU and Marvell SATA Drivers.
The Intel Controller for ports 1 to 5 are all enabled and in AHCI mode. I installed the Pre-install driver during Win 8 install for this controller.
I am hoping someone here will know if this is a hardware problem or just a case of having to install the Pre Driver during Win 8.1 install to get the Marvell Controller to show. If this is the case is there a registry hack to save me re-installing?
On my X58 motherboard I am using the Marvell Controller shows up in Device Manager near the bottom where it says; Storage Controllers.
On this GA-X97X-UD5H m/b in Device Manager I have a "Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller" showing under Storage Controllers.
This is an extract from the m/b manual. They are saying it is normal to not see your drives (ports?) on Port 6/7, if they are in AHCI mode until you login into their Marvell Utility with the same password as you use for your operating system. That is how I understand it but isn't that something you should never do, give your Win 8.1 password to an online company?
Use the Marvell® Storage Utility in the Operating System:
With the Marvell® Storage utility, you can set up an array or view the current array status in the operating system.
To install the utility, insert the motherboard driver disk, then go to Application Software\Install Application
Software and select Marvell Storage Utility to install. Note: After the installation, you must login the utility with
the same account name and password that you use to login the operating system. If you did not set the account
password before, click Login to enter the Marvell Storage Utility directly. Please note that if you set the hard
drive(s) to IDE or AHCI mode, it is normal that you will not see the hard drive(s) in the Marvell Storage Utility.
I'm not familiar with the MB. But I would suspect a hardware fault, not a configuration issue. Pre-installing drivers is only needed to access drives connected to those chipsets BEFORE the OS is installed. After the OS is installed, all drivers should be installed, and then all hardware should be useable.
The LED display showing an alarm, would also seem to indicate a MB fault.
You aren't logging in "online". You are logging into the utility that is installed on your PC.
Thank you for your advice JimE. It's a good point you have raised about all the hardware should be usable after the Drivers are installed. I thought it odd that the Marvell Controller is not showing up in Device Manager at all and 6 and 7 port not having options on them either in BIOS..
The Marvell MSU or Tray as they call it, has a shortcut on the Desktop that links to an html so I assumed it to be their website. Do MSU's always link in html and open in a browser? I am afraid don't know enough about it.
There are posts on-line about this being malware, who knows?
I have read posts on-line too that people with this motherboard have the same "A0" on their Debug LED Displays and their computer has been running with no problems.
The more I read the more confusing it gets.
I have written to Gigabyte tech support, so awaiting their reply. I will RMA the m/b if it's hardware related.
What do you think of the extract from the m/b manual about if the Controller is set to AHCI, which it is, it is normal not to see the hard drives on those two ports, 6 and 7? It goes on to say until you use the MSU and sign in.
I dont have a gigabyte board but the same Marvel ports or on my motherboard and I had to let the firewall allow them and set them to enable in the BIOS.
You shouldn't have to log on to their online thing (unless this is a new thing) you should just have the motherboard drivers installed including the marvel yukon ones and make sure your firewall is not blocking them.
I have just logged in to the Marvell MSU out of desperation to get these two ports activated greenbrucelee. My Firewall is not blocking the MSU.
I have two Marvel ports on my ASUS X58 m/b too and no trouble with them at all.
When I signed in first time to the Marvell Utility, which is online, the Debug LED Display changed from A0 (Initialisation started) to 04, which as far as I can see is not listed in the codes for this m/b. I thought this is it, the ports are being enabled. I logged out and BIOS exactly the same, the 6 and 7 ports are not present and no Marvell Controller in the Device Manager.
I have just logged back in to the Marvell Utility and the Debug LED is stuck again on A0 since restarting the system.
According to the manual you have to login online to activate this Controller, but still no good.
Just read the Help File that is in the Marvell MSU and it states it is compatible with Windows up to Windows 7.
I am running Windows 8.1. This is a new m/b that was released in May 2014 and I have installed the latest Marvell MSU, from the Gigabyte website drivers section for this m/b.
The MSU is dated 30th April 2014.
I think nobody has looked into this compatibility issue before.
The company I bought this from has technicians that test the RMA m/b's and they have not come across this issue before either. They are willing to RMA it.
It does seem odd that Gigabyte would install hardware on a new board and not check it was compatible with Win 8, especially as it has only been released.
Gigabyte Support got back to me and told me to clear CMOS and that was all they said. It didn't work. I would have had to raise another ticket to answer them and another wait.
I reinstalled Windows 8.1 Pro but this time I installed the Pre-Driver for the Marvell Controller and for the Intel Controller, where it asks you to load drivers just before the operating system is installed. I only installed the
Intel Pre-Driver on last install.
I installed all of the latest Drivers after Windows installed from the Gigabyte website and installed all Windows updates. This part is the same as I had done on last install.
I booted into BIOS and the Marvell Controller Ports were still showing as: "not present."
I also found out that the link on my desktop to the online Marvell MSU was not needed at all. It is only if you set up your Marvell Controller in RAID mode and even then it is only for looking at the errors or for sending you an e-mail of an error. It says in the manual if you are using AHCI mode your drives will not show up in the MSU. It is only this MSU that it not compatible with Windows 8 (as far as I can see), and in my case it is not needed.
Next I decided to take my external WD Black 2Gb out of its caddy and connect it into one of the Marvell ports and rebooted into BIOS. The drive was showing on one of the ports. It seems like Marvell are using the term now "not present" for a drive not being there on those ports.
The Intel ports not being used are called "empty".
I had solved part of the problem but still no Marvell Controller in Device Manager. Only an Intel SATA AHCI Controller and a Standard SATA AHCI Controller under the heading: "IDE ATA ATAPI Controllers" and further down under: "Storage Controllers" a Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller was present.
All of these controllers are exactly in the same place in Device Manager as my last Windows install.
I had always always suspected the "Standard SATA AHCI Controller" as being the Marvell one but the drivers were Microsoft and whatever option I chose in the drop down box in Properties it gave me no clues at all.
I decided it was a driver problem so clicked on update driver on the "Standard SATA AHCI Controller" and then browsed to the CD I had made of the newest drivers and tried to load the Marvell SATA Controller Drivers but it informed me "not the right drivers".
I knew it wasn't the Marvell MSU Drivers, so I thought I wonder if the Marvell Pre-Driver I had already installed during Windows install would be the one (sounds like a crazy idea I know) and it informed me it was the right driver. It updated the driver for the Standard SATA AHCI Controller which now became the Marvell 91xx SATA 6G Controller in the Device Manager and it left the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers heading and ended up in its proper place in Storage Controllers.
I hope this helps anyone else who has a 9 series Gigabyte Ultra Durable m/b.
Its a pity Gigabyte doesn't explain this in their manual and its a pity Gigabyte Support couldn't let me know how to install the Marvell Controller.
Yes greenbrucelee. I installed operating system with Pre-Drivers first then m/b drivers, using more up to date ones than the ones on the m/b drivers disk.
The "Not Present" is simply means there is not a drive present(plugged into the port).
I've seen this from time to time across different motherboards using Award Bios and always blamed it on a language translation issue.
Gigabyte couldn't tell me that although I told them the two ports were showing as "not present".
We learn as we go along.
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