Problems with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

[Punya]

Hi guys, I recently changed my SSD (old Samsung SSD 830 had unrecoverable clusters, now I'm wondering if this was the cause) and updated to Win8, and now I have some serious problems with my system.

Problems:
- DVD-ROM disappears after Windows boot (I see it on BIOS and during the beginning of Windows loading, but disappears when booting is done)
- HDD activity led always on (it's properly connected to system panel header, I've used it for years)
- After installing all drivers (latest versions available), I still have two unknown devices: "Controller PCI Simple Communications" and "Unknown device"
- Windows keeps freezing on some actions (for now, I've found those: insert USB drives, running Samsung Magician, installing Broadcom LAN drivers...), and requires 4 secs of power button to reboot

Configuration:
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 (UEFI 2.70, latest available)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.40GHz
HDD: Samsung SSD 840 250GB (plugged to Intel SATA3 slot)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Red 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz
Video: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB GDDR5
Audio: Asus Xonar Essence ST
OS: Windows 8 64-bit

I really have no idea on how to proceed... Any help would be much appreciated. ; )

[jaggerwild]

Re: Problems with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

Hey Punya,
When you had windows 7 on it did it work OK? I would suggest contacting them directly, I don't like this UEFI bios junk. Have you tried reverting back to an older bios? Try different memory, try different video card. What about power supply? I'd use the minimal approach to see if you can corner it down, one stick of memory, video card and unplug everything else....

[Punya]

Re: Problems with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

Tnx jagger, I'll try unplugging and replugging different devices, but unfortunately I don't have different memories or video cards to test. I had the same problems with the previous UEFI bios I had until yesterday (can't remember the version), and updating didn't help.

PSU is Enermax MODU82+ 625W, I've been using it for years without any problem.
With Windows 7 I didn't get those problems I'm experiencing now, but the OS got corrupted when my Samsung SSD 830 got damaged and unrecoverable clusters. I thought it was the hdd's fault and changed it, now I'm starting to wonder if the problem was something else...

What do you mean "contact them"? Who?

[Punya]

Re: Problems with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

It seems I just resolved the disappearing DVD-ROM and USB freezing problems uninstalling ASRock XFast USB Utility, but I still have the other freezes and HDD activity led issues.
I'm wondering if the problem is driver-related with Win8 and not hardware-related, after all... <.<

[jaggerwild]

Re: Problems with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

It seems I just resolved the disappearing DVD-ROM and USB freezing problems uninstalling ASRock XFast USB Utility, but I still have the other freezes and HDD activity led issues.
I'm wondering if the problem is driver-related with Win8 and not hardware-related, after all... <.<

When the computer isnt busy, it will use this time to page file items. I'm not certain as I never had 8 but seven does this, I meant contact AsRock directly. Well if you've had the PSU for a while, it could be starting to die off. How many hours a day you use it? Have you hit Control>Alt>delete to see what is running in the back ground? How did you install the drivers? Is the memory on the list for the motherboard? Can you try another kit on it?

[parsec]

Re: Problems with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

Hi guys, I recently changed my SSD (old Samsung SSD 830 had unrecoverable clusters, now I'm wondering if this was the cause) and updated to Win8, and now I have some serious problems with my system.

Problems:
- DVD-ROM disappears after Windows boot (I see it on BIOS and during the beginning of Windows loading, but disappears when booting is done)
- HDD activity led always on (it's properly connected to system panel header, I've used it for years)
- After installing all drivers (latest versions available), I still have two unknown devices: "Controller PCI Simple Communications" and "Unknown device"
- Windows keeps freezing on some actions (for now, I've found those: insert USB drives, running Samsung Magician, installing Broadcom LAN drivers...), and requires 4 secs of power button to reboot

Configuration:
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 (UEFI 2.70, latest available)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.40GHz
HDD: Samsung SSD 840 250GB (plugged to Intel SATA3 slot)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Red 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz
Video: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB GDDR5
Audio: Asus Xonar Essence ST
OS: Windows 8 64-bit

I really have no idea on how to proceed... Any help would be much appreciated. ; )

That error indicates that the Intel Management Engine (IME) software is not installed. Did you download the latest version for Windows 8 (seems to be the same version used for Windows 7, but may be different than what is on the boards disk)?

Testing your 830 with HDD software may not give you a correct result. SSDs do not have "clusters", but I suppose other problems with a SSD might cause that error.