Motherboard problem

[petereighton]

I have a PCS desktop with an ASUS Z87-A motherboard, dating from 2014. It is equipped with a Samsung SSD (C: drive) and a Seagate hard disc (D: drive).

Recently, the PC has developed problems with starting up. It is always left switched on to mains electricity, but shut down every evening. Pressing the start button on the front brings up the PCS 'splash screen' for a few seconds as normal but then frequently displays a BIOS message indicating that no SATA devices are available. Switching on and off a few times (typically 4 times) gets Windows to start, although occasionally the machine will start without error. I am sure doing this can't be good for the discs or cooling fans. Looking at the LED on the mother board shows that the SATA self-test has failed.

Do I just have to accept that there is an intermittent fault on a (nearly) ten year old motherboard, or are there things I should be checking and possibly replacing?

(I have already checked the security of the cable connections at both ends and tried swapping the plugs around)

 

[SpyderTracks]

I have a PCS desktop with an ASUS Z87-A motherboard, dating from 2014. It is equipped with a Samsung SSD (C: drive) and a Seagate hard disc (D: drive).

Recently, the PC has developed problems with starting up. It is always left switched on to mains electricity, but shut down every evening. Pressing the start button on the front brings up the PCS 'splash screen' for a few seconds as normal but then frequently displays a BIOS message indicating that no SATA devices are available. Switching on and off a few times (typically 4 times) gets Windows to start, although occasionally the machine will start without error. I am sure doing this can't be good for the discs or cooling fans. Looking at the LED on the mother board shows that the SATA self-test has failed.

Do I just have to accept that there is an intermittent fault on a (nearly) ten year old motherboard, or are there things I should be checking and possibly replacing?

(I have already checked the security of the cable connections at both ends and tried swapping the plugs around)

Hiya, could you copy and paste the text of your specifications from the order page please so we can see what we're working with?

 

[petereighton]

Hiya, could you copy and paste the text of your specifications from the order page please so we can see what we're working with?

 

[petereighton]

Forgot to add: swapped original 500Gb disc for 250Gb SSD and 250Gb hard disc

 

[SpyderTracks]

View attachment 34432

I have the same generation processor and motherboard.

They're right at the end of their lifetime.

It sounds like the SATA controller is dying, there's nothing you can do with that other than a motherboard replacement, but makes far more sense to put that cash into a new PC. Generally most of those components are facing end of life.

 

[sck451]

I have the same generation processor and motherboard.

They're right at the end of their lifetime.

It sounds like the SATA controller is dying, there's nothing you can do with that other than a motherboard replacement, but makes far more sense to put that cash into a new PC. Generally most of those components are facing end of life.

You might manage it, I think, with a PCIe HBA that adds SATA ports. You can get those for under £20, so it might be a way to prolong the life of the PC. But I do agree: probably not worth the time and effort: probably time to start afresh.

 

[petereighton]

OK thanks for the replies. That's just what I was thinking - time's up.
Need to move on, there's some interesting technology emerging.

 

[SpyderTracks]

OK thanks for the replies. That's just what I was thinking - time's up.
Need to move on, there's some interesting technology emerging.

Yeah, the tech world is about to go boom in a big way, I'm seriously excited.

There's loads of us waiting for the upcoming releases to upgrade, it's a really good time, far better than over the last 2 years.