Asus boards and AHCI mode

[Mercutio]

I guess it might just be me, but seemingly every Asus motherboard I've picked up that was manufactured in the last three or four years will auto-select the disk controller to IDE mode after a power loss. I have this problem with workstation boards and budget desktop products. I don't have THAT many Asus-based systems out there, but since Asus motherboards tend to get used in nicer machines I build, having to walk six or seven people through changing firmware settings every time there's a strong breeze is fairly unacceptable.
BIOS updates don't seem to correct these problems and I've observed issues with X58, H61, H77, Z77 and H81-based boards.

Since I can't really see much other complaint about the matter, is there a firmware setting someplace on these boards that I'm missing to make AHCI mode stick? Or does no one else on Earth install Windows using AHCI mode on Asus motherboards?

 

[Stereodude]

Doesn't that break any RAID array too? I seem to recall that switching from RAID/AHCI to IDE would cause the RAID arrays to be lost when you switched it back to RAID/AHCI.

I stopped buying Asus boards some time back. I haven't seen that with the Gigabyte or Asrock boards I've bought.

 

[Mercutio]

Changing the disk controller mode back and forth causes Windows to bluescreen until it's in the state that was used for Windows installation. It's straightforward to fix. DEL to enter firmware. F7 to enter Advanced Mode. Go to Integrated Peripherals, set it to AHCI again, F10 to save. It's also not something anyone would really want to have to talk an end user through, especially not if it's the second or third time they've had to do it.

Of course, every machine I set up is going to be set up in AHCI mode.
And every Asus board I run across - even brand new ones - seems to default back to IDE if the power gets switched off.

These boards can't ALL be unfit for purpose. It's not like they're Western Digital hard drives. So there must be a something I'm missing.

 

[Clocker]

I have an Asus P8-Z77V I can try for you. Do I just unplug it and see what happens when it boots up after power is restored?

 

[Mercutio]

Yeah. Or flip the power switch on the PSU. What seems to happen is that he BIOS reverts to "Safe Defaults" including IDE mode SATA.

 

[Clocker]

Good news and bad news. The BIOS stayed in the AHCI mode but now my boot SSD is no longer detected at all.

 

[Clocker]

Good news and bad news. The BIOS stayed in the AHCI mode but now my boot SSD is no longer detected at all. 

Disconnecting the SATA cable to the SSD, powering the system on then off then plugging the SSD back in & then powering on again seemed to fix the problem.

 

[Stereodude]

That's good, otherwise you'd have to borrow one of those new Corvette Z06's from the test fleet and pay Merc a visit pronto!

 

[Mercutio]

Maybe the Asus characteristic is now "Don't behave properly after a power outage?"

 

[Tea]

Why is it so? Because Asus boards are carp. I hate the bloody things. There are only three things you can always be sure of with an Asus board. (1) It will be overpriced. (2) It will be carp. (3) The warranty service won't be carp because there isn't any warranty service. Next question please.

 

[Clocker]

Based on my experience about a year ago, my RMA with Asus on my P8-Z77V went pretty smoothly and easily. Just FYI. YMMV outside the USA!

 

[Mercutio]

I've never in my life as a tech managed to complete an Asus RMA. Usually, I'll submit a ticket and just never get a response. If I send something in, I've never gotten it back. To put that in perspective, I've sent RMAs to ECS and Shuttle and gotten product back.

I will say that I haven't had to reset an H67 or Z77 board since the last time I updated firmware on the most common offenders, but my area doesn't really have power outages until high winds start happening in late spring.

 

[Tea]

I've had boards back from ASUS, Merc, albeit seldom and with difficulty. In my life I've had two ... no, three boards back from ASUS after RMA. Not one of them worked properly. One still had the same fault - I sent it back again and they lost it for three months, which was long enough to let them claim that the warranty period had now expired - one had a completely different and worse fault, and the most recent one - a very expensive top of the range product - would not even power on. I'd rather take my chances with ECS, and you know how much respect I don't have for ECS.