[SOLVED] Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H cannot boot in AHCI mode if HDD initialized in GPT

[Tacis]

Hi.

I have Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H motherboard and I purchased a WD HC310 (0B35948 HUS726T4TALN6L4) HDD.

If I initialize disk in GPT or MBR, I cannot get through POST in AHCI mode. IDE and RAID mode let the POST pass, but not the AHCI mode.

Is there any modding I can do to resolve this?

SOLVED after 4 months by Mateusz from superuser.com and Gigabyte support, who modified the BIOS. T2:



https://dropmefiles.com/DBOiF

https://www4.zippyshare.com/v/NdOaSaGS/file.html
https://gofile.io/d/0TWG0E

[Tacis]

Solved, but needs some clarification.

DON'T TRY THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY CRITICAL DATA ON THE HDD! ALWAYS MAKE A COPY OF THE DATA!

After initialization (and any further creation of volumes, copying files etc), but BEFORE the reboot, open a hex editor, in the editor - disk and delete (fill with "00") from offset 0x1000 to 0x1060. Save, reboot.

After reboot this data is recreated, but it doesn't make the POST of Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H freeze.

DON'T TRY THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY CRITICAL DATA ON THE HDD! ALWAYS MAKE A COPY OF THE DATA!

P.S. Can anyone, please, explain, what is this at offset 0x1000-0x1060? How could it freeze POST in "BEFORE" state? What happens after I delete it and reboot? Why is it recreated differently (and doesn't freeze POST)?

   

[Tacis]

The Gigabyte techsupport is working on this issue for about 4 months now. Turns out, they don't have any 4Kn HDD in Taiwan to test, so they ordered it abroad and gave the estimations about a month from now (so, August 2020, perhaps maybe possibly).

Anyway, on the other forum a user suggested this solution:

1. Enable the "Intel Rapid Start Technology" and set "Rapid Start store search type" to "PCIE AHCI/NVME Controller".
2. Save and reboot.

That worked! So I went further:

3. Reboot, open BIOS setup again.
4. Disable the "Intel Rapid Start Technology"
5. Save and reboot.

Again, POST is passed, system boots OK!

So I think the issue is solved, but 2 questions remain for Gigabyte (which they don't answer in ESupport):
1. Why does the "Rapid Start store search type" option set to "Intel AHCI/RAID Controller" does not let the POST pass with a 4Kn HDD?
2. Why is the "Rapid Start store search type" option even read if the "Intel Rapid Start Technology" is disabled?

And the queston for this forum:
How do I mod the BIOS to change default value of "Rapid Start store search type" to "PCIE AHCI/NVME Controller"? So when I reset CMOS, it will let the POST pass.

[Tacis]

Fixed by a T2 BIOS from Gigabyte techsupport:

https://dropmefiles.com/DBOiF
https://www4.zippyshare.com/v/NdOaSaGS/file.html
https://gofile.io/d/0TWG0E