Need Help. Cannot power on when SATA cables connected.

[mokurum]

Hi all, not sure if this is a MOBO/BIOS or PSU problem. Hoping to find some guidance. Maybe I am doing something totally wrong or have incompatible hardware.
Please share thoughts and guidance.
Thanks

# Context
Building a home HPI to host workstations (VMs) and home things for 3-5 ppl to use.
First ever build on a server MOBO - otherwise been building my PCs for 20+ yrs.

# Current Problem
Cannot power on when I connect any drive to SATA ports on MOBO. Power ON for a split second then power is shutdown to I assume protect something.

# Current State
HPI powers on with all the peripherals attached to power. If I try to connect one or more drives to SATA ports on MOBO, does not power on.

# Other notes
I can read voltages. Although not sure if what I am reading is good or not. Interestingly, if wait a few minutes before I get into HW Monitor then all Voltages read 0.



# Ultimate Goal
1- Being able to power up the HPI with all peripherals connected:
- 2 x 16TB HDD (to SATA0 and SATA1 on MOBO)
- 4 x 4 TB SSD (4 SATA to Oculink)
- 2 x 2 TB NVME - working fine
- 1 GPU (currently a GTX 1060 that uses 6pin PCIe power)
2 - Finish the build and move on to software part of the project.
# Hardware
- Corsair HX1200
- Rome2D16-2T & x2 EPYC 7742 (Rome2D w up to date BIOS and BMC)
- GTX 1060 (irrelevant)
- Fractal Torrent Case (has fan controller that needs power from SATA) - All 5 case fans are connected to the controller then to CPU_FAN1
- 4x 4TB SSD - For testing purposes only: daisy chain on a single PCIe 6 pin cable -> PSU (eventually 4 SSDs will connect to MOBO w/ Oculink)
- 2x 16TB HDD - daisy chain on a single PCIe 6 pin cable --> PSU
(Tried connecting single drive with single cable - both drives together etc.)
## Connections explained based on the MOBO layouts below:
Power - Only A and B connected to PSU. C is not connected.

- CPU Fans are (2 Noctuas on a Y split cable) connected to FAN1.
- All Case fans are connected to the Torrent Fan Controller - Fan Controller is connected to FAN2.
- Torrent Fan Controller is connected to a SATA power outlet by itself.

 

[zac1]

Have you tried testing with one drive?

Does the board POST when drives are connected to power but not SATA?

 

[mokurum]

Have you tried testing with one drive?

Does the board POST when drives are connected to power but not SATA?

Hi zac,

yes I tried with 1 drive / 2 drive (HDD or SSD) - I tried all 4 SSDs on SATA ports as well. This is a weird one.

Correct. Board does POST when drives are connected to power but not SATA.
Board does not Power On if I connect any of the SATA to mobo. Fans start spinning and it shuts down almost immediately.

 

[nexox]

Double check that there's nothing conductive behind those SATA ports? Does it boot with cables connected to the board but not connected on the other end?

 

[mokurum]

Double check that there's nothing conductive behind those SATA ports? Does it boot with cables connected to the board but not connected on the other end?

just testing as we speak - yes I do get POST if I have cables connected on the board and nothing on the other end.
I can not see anything conductive behind the SATA ports.

 

[piranha32]

This sounds like power supply shutting down due to overload or short. Since this is a modular PSU, did you double-check that the SATA power cables are plugged in to the right connectors? They should be keyed, but sometimes it is way too easy to plug a square peg onto a round hole.

 

[mokurum]

This sounds like power supply shutting down due to overload or short. Since this is a modular, did you double-check that the SATA power cables are plugged in to the right connectors in the PSU? They should be keyed, but sometimes it is way too easy to plug a square peg onto a round hole.

it feels exactly like that- as if PSU immediately turns the power off to protect something.

 

[piranha32]

This looks ok. If you have a multimeter, check if you have correct voltages on the contacts in the plugs. Check if there are no shorts on the drives, like @nexox mentioned. Also check if the pins inside the SATA power plugs are not mangled and don't make shorts when plugged in.
If this doesn't help, turn on power with drives disconnected from power and from the MB, and with system running connect the power plug into a drive, listening if you can hear any sparking noises. The connectors on the drives are designed for safe hot-plugging, so if you hold the plug straight, nothing bad should happen.

 

[nexox]

Are the drives grounded to the PSU via the chassis? If not, try to establish a ground path there and see what happens if you power on with the SATA data cable disconnected.

 

[mokurum]

thank you all for suggestions - attached is the back of the case with marked power cables.
Red is a daisy 7pin to PSU
Green is a daisy 7 pin to PSU
Blue is the Fan controller power connect to PSU (blue circle where female/male connects)
Purple are the 2 CPU power cables to PSU
There is also a PCIe power to GPU that is not visible (tried with / wo GPU)
Note there is no data cable connected at this point and it boots fine into bios. In the picture HDDs are not connected to power but it still bots fine if they are connected (without data cables).

With this setup - the moment I connect a SATA data cable to the mobo (from any drive, single or multiple) it does not power on. power cut off immediately. Requires turning the PSU off/on (from its main switch) to try again. Otherwise, PC case power button does not do anything anymore.

More photos attached. Some screenshots of the BIOS menu that could be relevant (I have not played with these yet).
Also, don't have a multimeter (can buy one though if it will help).

 

[mokurum]

thank you all for your suggestions.

I think I had a bad batch of drives.
I just tested the board with 2 SSDs and 2HDDs borrowed from my other machines. Bios listed the drives fine.
I also took the case fan controller out of the equation. All fans are directly on board. I am also wondering this fan controller is the reason of the "bad batch".

That being said, I still have doubts about the PSU/board health/compatibility. For instance I see inconsistent V readings in HW Monitor (see previous post attachment vs attached here).

Is it time to thinker with BIOS? It's at default settings (fully updated).
Any other suggestions that I should try while this thing is still gutted?

cheers

 

[bwahaha]

Do you have a multimeter? even a cheapie from amazon will do. Check the voltages with and without anything hooked up. They're pretty easy to power up with a single jumper wire.

 

[mokurum]

Do you have a multimeter? even a cheapie from amazon will do. Check the voltages with and without anything hooked up. They're pretty easy to power up with a single jumper wire.

haha, apparently I have exactly what you described - a cheap multimeter from amazon. I need help at ELI5 level to operate though.

 

[mokurum]

If you have a multimeter, check if you have correct voltages on the contacts in the plugs.

apparently I do have one, could you be extremely more specific with how to do the checks. I do not know how to operate the thing other than reading AA/AAA battery voltage.

 

[bwahaha]

Awesome. It's basically exactly the same.

The video uses cables with standard colors, but the Corsair uses blackforsleek.

ATX - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

that should have a pinout, looking at the pin-side of the connector.

Edit: you don't need a fan, per se, but any device to put a little load. an old spinny drive works best. Sata is fine, it's just for a little load testing.

 

[mokurum]

ty kind sir! will watch and report back (tomorrow). to be continued.

 

[piranha32]

apparently I do have one, could you be extremely more specific with how to do the checks. I do not know how to operate the thing other than reading AA/AAA battery voltage.

If you can measure voltage of a battery, you have all the skills necessary to check voltages.
The multimeter has two leads: one is black, this is the negative lead. The other is red, and this is the lead which you connect to positive voltage.
Don't worry if you connect them reversed. The worst what can happen is that the readings will be negative (e.g. -5V instead of 5V).

In the first post you have an image with pin assignments in the SATA power plug: What's the voltages of SATA power cable?

The smal metallic wires which you can see in the plug when you look at the business end, are the pins.

The first 3 pins are supposed to carry 3.3V, the next 3 are ground, next 5 are 5V, then 3 with ground again, and 12V at the end.

Turn on the computer, turn on the meter, and switch it to "20 Volts DC" range. Take the black lead and touch the metal tip to the 5th pin counting from the key (the notch in the plug.). This is your reference, and you will keep it there until you finish all measurements.

Next, take red lead, and touch to any of the first 3 pins. Pay attention to not make a short to the metal tip of the black wire. 1st pin will be the safest to probe.
The meter should read 3.3v (or close), or 0 (if the pin is not connected). In case it is 0, make sure that the metal tips make contact with the pins in the connector. It can be tricky.
If you see any other reading, you have a problem.

Next, move the red lead to pin 8. The black lead should still make contact with pin 5.
The meter should read 5V

It won't hurt to test the other ground pins. Touch the red lead to pin 11, the meter should show 0 (or very close).

Last, but not least, touch the red lead to the last pin in the connector (15). The meter should show 12.

Any readings significantly different from 0, 3.3, 5 or 12 (i.e. by more than 0.3-0.4v) indicate problems. Especially if you have +12 instead of +5.

To be sure that the cable is ok, you can check other plugs too.

 

[mokurum]

You guys are amazing!
Not only the issue is resolved but I also have a new skill now.

So I plugged all my PCIe power cables to the PSU (every plug populated on the PSU).
Started checking Voltages and I found 1 that was giving me out of order Vs.
I thought the plug on the PSU was the problem.

Then I tested with another cable on the same port and readings were good ?!
Then I realized ............ see attached. Left is an EVGA PCIe power cable - Right is Corsair PCIe power cable.

This one EVGA cable got mixed into the 6 Corsair ones, and as I was trying different combos I was using this cable on and off causing all kinds of confusion.

One thing is certain, I will forever check the Voltages on SATA ends in all my future builds.


PS: I am adding this to my build log:
"Some SSDs and HDDs were hurt during the build of this machine."

 

[EasyRhino]

good job debugging. Mixing up PSU cables from different manufacturers is a classic blunder, but telling them apart after they are mixed in cable salad is almost impossible.