System won't turn on with new HDD's.

[Shadow Fox]

System runs on it's own the way it is setup, no issue there.

The moment I shutdown, cut the power with the PSU kill switch in the back to deny all power, I plug in the SATA cables and the required power cable for the harddrives, the system will refuse to turn on.

I get a power signal on the power when I give it power; Green light.
Push the power switch, nadda'. Nothin' .

I remove everything I attempted to add; Power and SATA cables to disconnect the drives, and the system boots just fine, and even in it's OC configuration.

MB: Sabertooth Z97 MARK 1
CPU: Intel i7 4770 Haswell
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60
PSU: Corsair RM750
GPU: EVGA GTX 960 ACX FTW Edition
RAM: 8Gb (x2) Corsair Vengeance
SATA 1 (OS): ADATA SSD Premier Pro SP900
SATA 2 (Storage): HyperX SSD 3K
SATA 3 (Storage): WD Red NAS 1TB

Attempting to add 3 Harddrives; 2 Seagates, and a WD Blue.
Currently unable to add any of them, in any configuration.

My only thought at this point is that I'm possibly capped out on the power draw? Didn't think I was using that much power.


All I'm trying to do is check the harddrives, and pull any data from them so I can donate them. >,<

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Is the boot order still correct? Does the system post or does it just stay off 5

[Shadow Fox]

Is the boot order still correct? Does the system post or does it just stay off 5

No post. Unsure if the boot order is the same, but none of these new drives host a OS. They're just formatted as NTFS for Storage. :S
Push the power button- Nothing.
No fan turn on case fans, no fan or case LED's turn on, no GPU fans, no HDD disk "click" when they start to ramp up power for disk rotations.

Out of the 6 total drives, only the one SSD has an OS.


Just to clarify: I am posting into the thread on this system: I'm in my original configuration I normally run on, with my OC profile running active as well.

- - - Updated - - -

Note to add after just trying something:

I grabbed my external Harddrive, and switched the drive with one of the ones I want to pull data from, and it's saying:

"You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it."

Giving the options to format it to MBR or GPT.

... Except I don't want to format it.

[Vash The Stampede]

Do another test. Plug in all the drives except the SATA cables. Just plug in power. If the system starts up there's something wrong with the drives. If it still doesn't, there's something wrong with the PSU.

[Shadow Fox]

Do another test. Plug in all the drives except the SATA cables. Just plug in power. If the system starts up there's something wrong with the drives. If it still doesn't, there's something wrong with the PSU.

That black-and-white, huh? Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes with an update.

"You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it." on all 3 drives when attempting to connect them Externally via USB.

[Mormolyce]

I'd try each HDD individually, and if they all work, start adding them one by one until it stops booting. Maybe experiment with the cables too? One might be faulty.

I'm not sure how much power you need for so many drives, is 750W enough?

[cuafpr]

I'd try each HDD individually, and if they all work, start adding them one by one until it stops booting. Maybe experiment with the cables too? One might be faulty.

I'm not sure how much power you need for so many drives, is 750W enough?

750w should be enough, but yes try each drive one at a time. If they all work indvidualy add one.. then another.

[Shadow Fox]

I'd try each HDD individually, and if they all work, start adding them one by one until it stops booting. Maybe experiment with the cables too? One might be faulty.

I'm not sure how much power you need for so many drives, is 750W enough?

750w should be enough, but yes try each drive one at a time. If they all work indvidualy add one.. then another.

Spent a bit of time working on this.

I pulled the power connections and SATA connections in my system.

I have 4 power slots on my PSU for Peripheral Cables.

In a Square configuration
1 2
3 4

I have my system connected into the 2nd Peripheral slot. That is the power connection for my system main 3 drives.
What I did is try to plug an additional peripheral; Trying each individual drive, in each of the remaining peripheral slots.
Not a single drive worked in any configuration.


I than attempted to try them into the known working one-- Slot 2.
The system would still not power on, not even to POST.

I than tried my original drives into the other peripheral slots, and my system does boot into windows in each one.

The only thing I have -NOT- tried, is using the same peripheral power cable, and the same SATA cables from my current drives, for the new drives.
(I'd have to pull my system out and pretty much take it completely apart.)

[Schadow]

Yours sound like a full modular PSU. Mine is a semi-modular PSU (Zalman 600W) and I had trouble getting it working in my configuration as well at first. Problem with modular PSU''s is that the power is in a serial format.

Depending on your PSU, either the first or the last one must always be connected. Is that the same in your case? Do you have any IDE drives in your setup? My dvd-player was still on IDE and was causing the issue for me at first, as it was connected to the last one with a SATA to IDE bridge. When inserting it in the last, the system boots.

If your PSU doesn't work after setting it up, it's simply preventing itself from starting, as it's power cycle is not set up correctly. The PSU itself runs parallel, but the modular cables run serial.

[Shadow Fox]

Yours sound like a full modular PSU. Mine is a semi-modular PSU (Zalman 600W) and I had trouble getting it working in my configuration as well at first. Problem with modular PSU''s is that the power is in a serial format.

Depending on your PSU, either the first or the last one must always be connected. Is that the same in your case? Do you have any IDE drives in your setup?

The Ribbon connectors? Nah. I have nothing on my system that would even hold that.

Like I mentioned, with my main 3 drives (My 2 SSD's and my Red NAS) I've been able to plug into any of the 4 Peripheral slots and it has worked.

Yeah, my PSU is fully modular;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-055-_-Product

[Evildeffy]

From the sounds of it you are experiencing a short-circuit.

There is likely a cable fracture inside the power cable (or even wrongly wired), on the modular PCB board or 1 of the hard drives is causing it.

Considering you've said none of the HDDs separately will work on the SATA power cable it means the latter can be crossed off.
And also considering the fact you tried all peripheral ports with the cable and nothing worked the PCB circuit can be crossed off as well since there's 1 that does work with a different cable.

Leaving only the cable...
Quickest and cheapest way would be to open your case and simply unplug your HDD power ends and stick em in the other drives 1 by 1 and test it.
The laziest way would be to buy another spare SATA power cable for your PSU model from either Corsair's website or buy a custom one.

The reason I am almost 100% sure about this is because when using a USB-to-SATA converter you get a response that is appropriate.
It detected a new disk and wants to initialize it to use it.

If the HDDs weren't brand new and were containing data then you may have just lost it all. (HDDs do not play nice with short circuits/incorrectly wired PSU cables)
If they are brand new then it is completely normal behaviour and you HAVE to initialize them to use them.

[Shadow Fox]

From the sounds of it you are experiencing a short-circuit.

There is likely a cable fracture inside the power cable (or even wrongly wired), on the modular PCB board or 1 of the hard drives is causing it.

Considering you've said none of the HDDs separately will work on the SATA power cable it means the latter can be crossed off.
And also considering the fact you tried all peripheral ports with the cable and nothing worked the PCB circuit can be crossed off as well since there's 1 that does work with a different cable.

Leaving only the cable...
Quickest and cheapest way would be to open your case and simply unplug your HDD power ends and stick em in the other drives 1 by 1 and test it.
The laziest way would be to buy another spare SATA power cable for your PSU model from either Corsair's website or buy a custom one.

The reason I am almost 100% sure about this is because when using a USB-to-SATA converter you get a response that is appropriate.
It detected a new disk and wants to initialize it to use it.

If the HDDs weren't brand new and were containing data then you may have just lost it all. (HDDs do not play nice with short circuits/incorrectly wired PSU cables)
If they are brand new then it is completely normal behaviour and you HAVE to initialize them to use them.

I wouldn't say it's "appropriate" for the HDD to be inaccessible and wanting to Format, but being readable in only a "initialization" status when it's already a NTFS harddrive, being accessed on a NTFS system, with only a change from SATA to USB. :S

I'll have to take my machine apart to test the drives on my current Power cable; Which will take a good amount of time to do. Was hoping I could avoid it.

Any reason I couldn't use a power cable from another modular PSU with the right voltage gauge, pin count and placement?

[Evildeffy]

I wouldn't say it's "appropriate" for the HDD to be inaccessible and wanting to Format, but being readable in only a "initialization" status when it's already a NTFS harddrive, being accessed on a NTFS system, with only a change from SATA to USB. :S

Hence why I asked you the question if the drives were entirely new or not.
HDDs that are internal do not come pre-formatted and need to be done by the user. (this is a fact of any internal drive, retail or OEM.)
If they were new and had data on them, as I said, there's a good chance that data is gone for the aforementioned reason.

I'll have to take my machine apart to test the drives on my current Power cable; Which will take a good amount of time to do. Was hoping I could avoid it.

This should literally take you all of 2 minutes depending upon what case you have.
For any modern case it's a simple matter of popping off the "right" side panel or the one behind the motherboard.
Pull out a single HDD power connection, connect the new HDD and see if your PC actually starts, nothing more and nothing less.
I cannot see how this would honestly take as long as you're giving the vibe of it to be, it really isn't that long.. it takes as much time as just popping in the cable into the PSU and see it not boot as you've done before.

Any reason I couldn't use a power cable from another modular PSU with the right voltage gauge, pin count and placement?

Because you have no idea how exactly they created the pin-out from the manufacturer and even if you did you'd have to make sure the right voltage points go to the right connection point on the outer ends (SATA power connectors in this case).
Connecting a similarly looking cable that fits is asking for a short circuit and damaging hardware in the process.

Whilst the power supply specifications are ISO standardized in terms of power in from the wall socket and power out to the end connectors (SATA etc.) it is NOT standardized and NOT universal from a modular PoV on the PSU itself.
Any manufacturer can use whatever the hell they want however they want at whatever position they deem fit.

Example: (this will be very rudimentary but it's meant to drive the point across)

You have a Corsair PSU and Zalman PSU.
Both fully modular and the cables look identical.

Now you think that they are the same cable and you try to use the Zalman cable on the Corsair PSU thinking it'd work.
But when you even connect it the PSU just shuts down and doesn't do a damn thing period.
Now when you look up the pin-out config on the Corsair you see that (just making up stuff here btw) the first pin on the top left is ground and beneath that is 5V.
But the wires for the Zalman cable those connection points are meant for 12V and 3,3V.
What you just created is a massive short circuit by driving 12V with a certain amperage (PSU cannot control that) going over the entire PSU's body making contact with everything and basically the resistors and possible sensors freaking out entirely with values they should never be getting.
Barring the fact you just put 5V over a 3,3V connector.

This is all fed to the device you're connecting it to and it returns it (remember.. it always remains an electrical circuit) and if the PSU is a cheaper PoS it would likely burn out the hardware you attached it to and possibly even itself.

This is why you cannot use a power cable from another modular PSU that "looks the same", only if it's from the same model line or standardized across the same brand is it properly compatible.

[Deleted]

Well he should have at least 4 sata/molex cables with his unit. I doupt you use them all already or in any case just try on of the others and in a different psu socket each time.

[Evildeffy]

Well he should have at least 4 sata/molex cables with his unit. I doupt you use them all already or in any case just try on of the others and in a different psu socket each time.

He has only gotten 2 cables with SATA power connectors with the PSU.
He can try molex connectors if he has a converter to use em but his last statement kinda made me think that he used a cable that isn't inherent to the RM750 but from another power supply.

[Shadow Fox]

He has only gotten 2 cables with SATA power connectors with the PSU.
He can try molex connectors if he has a converter to use em but his last statement kinda made me think that he used a cable that isn't inherent to the RM750 but from another power supply.

I do not have a converter from Molex to SATA. Or even SATA to Molex.


But you're on the side and belief that because of all the stuff I've done involving power, that the drives are going to be corrupt and I'll have to reformat them anyway?

[Evildeffy]

I do not have a converter from Molex to SATA. Or even SATA to Molex.

But you're on the side and belief that because of all the stuff I've done involving power, that the drives are going to be corrupt and I'll have to reformat them anyway?

That's why you need to read the bigger post I made above the one you quoted.
I need to know circumstances for me to give you any sort of help/information.

Chances are it might require it yes.. you could possibly recover it if you use the partition recovery software located on f.ex. Hiren's BootCD.
I personally use Paragon Hard Disk Manager but I actually paid for that.

If you're lucky and it did contain data you *MAY* recover it using such tools if f.ex. only your partition info is jumbled..
But do keep in mind that it is a disclaimer I cannot guarantee you anything on.

It's also perfectly possible that when you do as suggested it may work without issues and see the data properly...
Not all USB controllers can identify pre-established data by the SATA controller that is written on the HDD.
This may be proprietary design or part of a security feature f.ex.

Zalman uses it in their 2,5" encrypted external HDDs which require a password to be unlocked and if you try to access it via any other means it will only read as an uninitialized disk and no way to decrypt it.

[Shadow Fox]

I don't have another set of cabling to do that, sadly, so I'll have to order a new one for this PSU.
May be quicker if I where to just remove one of my current storage drives, and plug in the ones I want to pull data from and just go one at a time and test it for faults. :S
(Which will require me to pull almost every single panel off of my case to do that, and bring it out into the open.)

Almost everything I order from Amazon takes 4-5 days... 2-day Shipping doesn't seem to be any different from standard shipping from them. (Probably because of routes.)

But Newegg I've had much more success with over Amazon almost everytime.

[Evildeffy]

I don't have another set of cabling to do that, sadly, so I'll have to order a new one for this PSU.
May be quicker if I where to just remove one of my current storage drives, and plug in the ones I want to pull data from and just go one at a time and test it for faults. :S
(Which will require me to pull almost every single panel off of my case to do that, and bring it out into the open.)

I did mention to do exactly this in post #13 you know

Almost everything I order from Amazon takes 4-5 days... 2-day Shipping doesn't seem to be any different from standard shipping from them. (Probably because of routes.)

But Newegg I've had much more success with over Amazon almost everytime.

Pick whichever works... my belief in any case is that the cable you're using is either busted or not from that specific PSU type.

But to be sure as I stated you just need to test it out with the current cable that does work.

[Shadow Fox]

I did mention to do exactly this in post #13 you know

No-no-no-no! I get that! Was hoping for other solutions! But it seems that is really the only option I'm down to!

Sorry if it seemed that I wasn't reading your posts!