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G73JH - Is My Sata Controller Failing?

hpx909
Level 7
I picked up a new momentus 750xt after my old 500gb momentus that came with the laptop as a secondary drive to the intel x25 ssd that I have as my boot drive. I started getting slowdowns and long load times with that drive so I figured it was a dying hard drive as it was in there for 2 years.

The momentus started to click and chirp the moment I installed it. returned the first one for a new one and the new one was able to run for 2 weeks before exhibiting the same behavior. I got fed up thinking I got two defective hard drives in a row. Now I just bought a WD black 500gb hard drive and it is doing the same thing, I hear clicks and chirps when I start the laptop up and windows loads but then the drive disappears at times. Sometimes it works fine but half the time I have to reboot because it is not loading properly. The drive also shows 99% health so now I'm wondering if the sata connection is causing this. Funny though when I put the x-25 in the other slot it works and loads fine. Anyone come across a similar situation? I'd hate to RMA this and I don't think I still have warranty left from 2010. I'm wondering if I could just buy a sata controller and put that in to see if that works.
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dstrakele
Level 14
I recommend looking at the Details of Errors and Warnings in the Windows System Log to see if it can help to confirm a problem component. It may also be worthwhile to check the Application Log to see if a problem application is revealed, leading to your issue with Windows startups.
G74SX-A1 - stock hardware - BIOS 202 - 2nd Monitor VISIO VF551XVT

I had some loadperf Dword errors but don't know what that means

dstrakele
Level 14
What I typically do is enter the EventID, Source, and the exact text of the Description in the Google search box. Then I research the hits to help me troubleshoot my issue. If you post that information here, I'll try to give you a hand.

Is the LoadPerf error the only thing you'be got for warnings and errors in both the System and Application Event Logs?
G74SX-A1 - stock hardware - BIOS 202 - 2nd Monitor VISIO VF551XVT

Did you get another caddy for that drive or did you improvise? I improvised due to finding a caddy for the secondary hdd is retarded. That being said I noticed that the sata connection between the hdd and mobo (visually looking secure) was not seating correctly. Since I lug this tank of a laptop around alot it would vibrate the connection just alittle and I would have to reseat it or adjust it on rare occasions.

What tips me off to it is the noisees it makes from that side. It will chirp or "lag" or just plain disappear as a connected drive.

My the laptop was bought new with two hard drives installed so they both were in caddies. They both are secured in place, the ssd seems to work but the hard drive gives me problems. I looked around and the event viewer shows problems that are only related to me hard booting the laptop after it freezes, and things related to msse.

Three hard drives in a row have done this. it'll work for half the time but after a while the light just stays solid and i get nothing out of the second drive.

dstrakele
Level 14
Here is an interesting thread that discusses a similar issue on a desktop system: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1490577
Note the errors he reports from the System Event Log.

I believe you have a hardware error not related to your HDD. As a last attempt at a software fix, I would probably upgrade the Intel Chipset drivers by installing from the Command Line using the -overall switch.

Also, check out http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?11400-G73JH-Woes-amp-Problems&highlight=atheros+controller+...
In this thread, similar symptoms were reported, and like in your case, the problem initially appeared to be the HDD. However, the actual cause turned out to be a faulty Atheros WiFi card. Again, note how errors in the System Event Log identified this problem.
G74SX-A1 - stock hardware - BIOS 202 - 2nd Monitor VISIO VF551XVT

Here's a smattering of the most common error messages I get in the event viewer. I'm thinking hardware as well seems the sata controller is ruining causing head crashes in whatever mechanical hard drive I put in it. The hard drive works through the usb port though.

Damn, this was working good until now and I am out of warranty since I bought it new when it first came out. Looks like it's selling for parts time and buy a new one.....

Your computer was not assigned an address from the network (by the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 0x0023149FBBE9. The following error occurred: 0x79. Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server.


Custom dynamic link libraries are being loaded for every application. The system administrator should review the list of libraries to ensure they are related to trusted applications.


The SeaPort service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.


Session "Microsoft Security Client OOBE" stopped due to the following error: 0xC000000D


ACPI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to write to an illegal PCI Operation Region (0x4), Please contact your system vendor for technical assistance.


LMS Service cannot connect to Intel(R) MEI driver


The SeaPort service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

dstrakele
Level 14
The ACPI EventID 10 is interesting. It indicates Windows is blocking an action by the BIOS that could contribute to system instability.

What BIOS version are you running? System Information will tell you.
G74SX-A1 - stock hardware - BIOS 202 - 2nd Monitor VISIO VF551XVT

hpx909
Level 7
After getting my 4th replacement hdd, this one seems to be working and my system almost acts like it is back to normal. I'm running the latest bios which I forget which one I flashed but it was the last one that came out for the G73jh. I kind of narrowed some of the error messages down to MSSE which seems to be common.

The bios error message might be caused by the previous hdd having bad and weak sectors on it. Not sure what I did but the newest HDD seems to be working ok but it only has been a couple of days. I have an RMA # set up by ASUS but that is my very last resort, I'm going to monitor more but running surface tests on the drive passes whereas the other ones failed halfway through.