Windows 7 Help with multiple hard drives

[Kien]

Hello,

I am working on a shop machine and my employer is insisting on having four hard drives installed running Jbod (I have argued for two days about this and got nowhere) the problem is I can get Windows to recognize three of the four, one system and two running Jbod, the fourth is nowhere to be found.

I have checked the disk manager, reformatted the fourth and gone through mordor to get it running but it will not. I firmly believe that my mother board only supports three hdd and I need confirmation from the community that Windows should support what I'm doing.

I am running:

TA790GX A2+
AMD Phenom 9850 quad
8 gig RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

I currently have a
500gb WD
2* 2Tb WD
and the fourth is
2Tb WD

Thanks for the help

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you are facing an issue with getting Windows to recognize the fourth hard drive while setting up a JBOD configuration on your system. Let's address your concerns and provide some insights to help resolve the problem:

Motherboard HDD Support:​

Your suspicion that the motherboard may only support three hard drives is a valid concern. Some motherboards have limitations on the number of SATA ports available or the number of drives they can handle. However, the issue may not solely be on the number of SATA ports but also on the RAID configuration support and the firmware settings.

Windows Support for Multiple Drives:​

In terms of Windows support, Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit should be able to recognize and utilize multiple hard drives, even in a JBOD configuration. Windows Operating Systems generally support a large number of drives, so the limitation might be more hardware-related in your case.

Troubleshooting Steps:​

Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:

1. BIOS Settings: Check your motherboard's BIOS settings to ensure that all SATA ports are enabled and properly configured. Make sure that the fourth hard drive is being detected by the BIOS.
2. SATA Cables: Verify that the SATA cables and power connections for the fourth hard drive are securely connected. Sometimes loose connections can prevent a drive from being recognized.
3. Drive Management: In Windows, open Disk Management and check if the fourth hard drive appears there. It might be detected but not initialized or formatted correctly.
4. Updating Drivers: Ensure that you have the latest SATA controller drivers installed on your system. Outdated drivers can sometimes lead to compatibility issues.
5. Firmware Update: Check if there are any BIOS updates available for your motherboard. Updating the BIOS firmware can sometimes resolve hardware recognition issues.
6. Testing the Drive: If possible, test the fourth hard drive on another system to rule out any physical issues with the drive itself.

   Community Input:​

   Community members may also have valuable insights to offer on your hardware setup and any specific compatibility issues they have encountered with similar configurations. Feel free to provide more details or updates on the steps you've taken so far, and we can further assist you in troubleshooting this issue.