SATA port disabled

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e156702dc

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Hi, new here!
Just built a new PC with a B450 Tomahawk Max II. Installed an HDD with win 10 to clone it to the new M2 SSD. However, all SATA ports are disabled in the BIOS and the PC doesn't boot into win 10. Both drives are correctly identified. I tried for hours to enable the SATA but no dice. What did I do wrong?
 
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What do you mean, disabled? You mean, under System Status in the BIOS, they're listed at "Not present" for the drives? Because i don't think you can disable the ports.
So you need to check if the drives are listed here:

MSI_SnapShot_00neu.png


If not, try a BIOS update to the newest version (recommended anyway), which will also reset the settings, https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-TOMAHAWK-MAX-II/support

If it's all detected there, just not booting Windows, then see here and here.
 
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What I mean is that when I look at the storage section in the BIOS I see 6 SATA Ports, the 1st one showing the correct model number of the Old HDD but all 6 show "disabled".
 
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Can you make a screenshot? You can press F12 in the BIOS to make a BMP screenshot to a FAT32 drive, then you can convert the picture to PNG for size and upload here.
 
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You don't have to boot, you make the screenshot right in the BIOS, to a FAT32 USB drive. Or take a photo with the camera of your phone.
 
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e156702dc said:
What I mean is that when I look at the storage section in the BIOS I see 6 SATA Ports, the 1st one showing the correct model number of the Old HDD but all 6 show "disabled".
Click to expand...
Well yes of course they will show Disabled you have no Drives connected to them
Now please set your BIOS to CSM save and reboot then once in Windows clone to your M.2 then do this with the M.2 Drive Convert to GPT see link for Directions
How to convert MBR to GPT drive to switch BIOS to UEFI on Windows 10 | Windows Central
Power down unplug your SATA drive then power back on and press DEL key enter BIOS and set it to UEFI save and reboot and watch it Boot to windows if you have done it correctly.


Mind you since you have an Older HArddrive it will likely be way quicker just to reinstall windows than do a Clone from the Harddrive to the M.2 will take quite a while

Where a fresh install will be done in about 15 minutes using a USB 3.0 Thumb Drive
 
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Aha, i thought so. Only HotPlug is disabled (making it behave like a removable drive in Windows, so you can safely eject it). The drive is properly detected.
There is nothing wrong with the drive detection.

What prices, you don't have to pay anything. To activate a new installation, even of Windows 11, you can use the same Win10 license key that you already have.

Now, as to why it doesn't boot from your HDD, i linked you two links above, here's again.

But seeing how your drives are different sizes, it would perhaps indeed be best to do a fresh install of Win11. As i said, no cost involved, takes the same keys, even Win7 keys.
This will not only be the fresh start that you want with a new system, it will also avoid having to do a lengthy upgrade to Win11 when Win10 support runs out in a couple years.

Before all that though, it's highly advised to update your BIOS, you are on an older version.
Over here i have already linked you how to do that, the only change is, you get the BIOS from here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-TOMAHAWK-MAX-II/support
vH7 or vH9 are the best ones.

Then you'd download the latest Media Creation Tool for Windows 11, freshly prepare a USB drive/stick with it (on another PC), and then boot from it by pressing F11 for the boot menu after turning on the PC, and selecting the USB drive there. I explained the installation procedure a bit here. In the end, once Windows is installed, install the AMD chipset drivers first.
 
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Some directions for you



FOR BIOS FLASHBACK

The following Directions are for windows based OS

Right, Click on the Downloaded Bios Zip File, and select properties if you see the message this file is blocked by windows tick the box to unblock and click OK.

When in windows File Explorer, select the View tab and Tick the box Show Hidden Files and File Name Extensions.

Extract the BIOS file from the Downloaded ZIP file Open the folder it was extracted to.

Right-click on the BIOS file, select copy and then paste it into a 32GB or smaller USB drive Formatted to FAT32.

When in Windows File Explorer, select the View Tab and Tick the box Show Hidden Files and File Name Extension.

Now rename the BIOS file to MSI.ROM

There should be no other files or folders on the USB drive, just the BIOS file you have renamed to MSI.ROM


FlashBack can be used on a fully assembled PC even if the CPU is one of the new 5xxx series.

PC must be turned off for BIOS Flashback to be started do not turn on your PC the Bios Flashback will do it for you




Plug the USB Drive into the USB port just below the Bios Button,

Do not touch any Jumpers on the Motherboard

Push the FlashBack button and then release it,

About 5 seconds later a led just above the USB port will start to flash, after 15 seconds or so the speed of the flashing light will double this is the writing to the BIOS period.

Once done writing to the BIOS it will stop flashing and PSU will turn off

For 16MB BIOS, it will take about 4 to 5 minutes, and flashing stops.

32MB BIOS will take 6 to 7 minutes, and flashing stops.

People have said that it may turn back on if so just turn it off and unplug the PSU.

And Bios should be flashed.

Failed BIOS flashback is one of three way

One- it never stops flashing
Two- Solid LED no flash and stays on till you power off the PC
Three- it flashes four of 5 times and then stops


It successfully will flash for about 15 to 20 seconds it will then will flash quicker for 4 to 6 minutes and then turn off.
 
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e156702dc said:
The VGA LED is red!
Click to expand...

Try disconnecting the HDD. If that doesn't help, try removing the SSD. Just to see if those things have any influence on it. Believe it or not, sometimes a drive can cause a VGA LED for some reason, we've had it here before. Also, what's your RAM models and PSU model?
 
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Disconnected the HDD, no change, removed the SSD, same thing.
Downloaded the latest BIOS file, extracted E7C02AMS.H90, can't be renamed.
 
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I have a feeling what might have caused the VGA LED, it could've been this well-meant advice from Alan:

Alan J T said:
Now please set your BIOS to CSM save and reboot then once in Windows clone to your M.2 then do this with the M.2 Drive Convert to GPT see link for Directions
Click to expand...

The iGPU of the 5600G might not work properly in CSM mode. Therefore, you have to do a Clear CMOS to reset the BIOS to default settings (which will mean UEFI mode again), and then i would suggest BIOS update via M-Flash in the BIOS (no need to rename the file for that one), followed by a fresh install of Windows as i've described above. For the installation, only have your new M.2 SSD connected, otherwise the installer might get confused if it sees a HDD with a Windows already on there.
 
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