Need help recovering data from Optane accelerated secondary drive

[BSu4]

Hello,

I have an ASUS Maximus IX Formula (Z270) Intel i7-7700K.

Yesterday I installed a 32 GB Optane module to accelerate a secondary 4TB SATA HDD. I used Intel Optane v 16.x

The whole process worked fine. Optane was successfully enabled. I had my secondary drive accelerated. I used the PC for hours with no problems.

After that I shut the PC down but it wouldn't boot up as the motherboard shows an 'IDE Detection Error'. It gets stuck at the splash screen, I can't enter the BIOS. The motherboard shows Error Code A2 (IDE Detection). When this happens it's not possible to enter the BIOS.

Right now if I disconnect the secondary HDD then I can boot into Windows with no problem. If I leave the secondary HDD connected and pull the Optane module out, I can enter Windows. If I have both Optane and the secondary HDD connected then I get A2 and can't enter the BIOS.

Because of this, I can't deconcatenate the drive (as I can't enter the BIOS).

So how do I recover my data from the secondary drive now? Windows doesn't recognise it. It shows up in the BIOS but not in Windows Device Manager.

Can I use an external USB SATA adaptor to read the data off it?

Please help as there are very important data on the HDD.

Thanks in advance.

Brian.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello BSu4, Thank you for contacting Intel® Technical Support. As we understand, you need assistance with your Intel® Optane™ Memory. If we infer correctly we will appreciate if you can provide us with the following information: • The SSU logs. 1- Go to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26735/ and download the software. 2- When finished downloading it, open it. 3- Attach the file obtained to your reply. • A screenshot of the “Disk Management” of windows showing all your HDDs and partitions (this to have a better view on how your SSD is detected by the OS) • We will like to know if you are using the latest version of the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) User Interface and Driver that is the version: 16.8.0.1000. The issue you are reporting that you cannot access to the BIOS with the HDD or the Optane connected is not common and we advise you to contact your motherboard OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in order to check the reason why of this behavior. If you have access to a USB enclosure you can try to read the data on the HDD using this tool. Please let us know the results. We will be looking forward to your reply including this information. Best regards, Josh B. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[BSu4]

Hello Josh,

Thanks for your help.

I have some updates.

By the way, getting stuck with the A2 code on the motherboard and the power-on splash screen on the monitor and being unable to enter the BIOS is a normal feature of ASUS motherboards. One is unable to access the BIOS if there are problems with the SATA drives on these motherboards.

OK back to the topic, here are my findings.

1) When the HDD is connected to the motherboard without the Optane module, I can enter the BIOS and I have the option to convert the HDD to a Non-Optane disk. But Windows wouldn't detect the HDD.

2) When the Optane module is connected to the motherboard without the HDD, I can enter the BIOS and I have the option to convert the HDD to a Non-Optane disk. Windows wouldn't detect the Optane module.

3) If both the Optane and HDD are connected then it gets stuck at A2 and the screen that says "Press F2 or DEL to enter BIOS".

4) I left the Optane module installed and tried connecting the HDD to a different SATA port on the motherboard. This time the motherboard displayed A2, however there were texts on the screen that read the Operating System wasn't shut down correctly, rebuilding cache metadata. Once this process completed, it booted into Windows. The HDD was busy (activity light on all the time) for a few minutes. After that everything was back to normal. I could reboot the PC and boot back into Windows with no problem. Optane acceleration was enabled once again.

5) I then reconnected the HDD to the original SATA port on the motherboard and everything worked fine.

6) The problem is if I Hibernate Windows instead of Shut-Down, then when I wake the PC up from sleep it will get stuck at the A2 code again as per the original issue.

So the bottom line is, shutting down Windows works but Hibernating causes the 'IDE Detect' issue all over again.

Is this a known bug with a particular version of Intel Optane?

Thanks again.

Brian.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello BSu4, Thank you for your reply. As part of the troubleshooting and in order to discard any issue with the HDD or the OS we will like you to try the following troubleshooting: 1. Update Windows* to the latest version available. 2. Update the firmware of the HDD to the latest version available from the OEM. 3. Access to Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options click in change plan settings Click on change advanced power settings and change the turn off hard disk after to 0, apply and click on OK and test the hibernation setting one more time. • To answer your question. We do not have any known issue related to hibernation and Optane memory mostly of the time issues like this are related to the HDD, motherboard BIOS settings or OS configuration. If the issue persisted please provide us with the SSU logs requested on our previous post. We will be looking forward to your reply letting us know the results of this troubleshooting. Best regards, Josh B. Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello BSu4, Thank you for having contacted Intel Technical Support. We have not heard from you since our last communication and we would like to know if you need further assistance or if we can close this case? Important note: Should further assistance or clarification be required, we will greatly appreciate if you reply to this post instead of writing a new one unless your inquiry is completely unrelated. This way we will prevent generating a duplicate post and we will not lose the train of thought. We will be looking forward to your reply. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello BSu4, Thank you for having contacted Intel® Technical Support. I was reviewing your community post and we would like to know if you need further assistance or if we can close this case. We will be looking forward to your reply. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[BSu4]

Hello Josh,

Apologies for the late response. I have updated Intel Optane to the latest software version 16.8.0.1000 and still have the same problem, i.e. I can only shut down or sleep my PC. If I Hibernate, it will hang at 'IDE Detect' on power on and I can't get into the BIOS. The only way to get around it is to disconnect the SATA HDD that is being accelerated.

I will be upgrading this secondary HDD from a 4TB to 12TB unit soon and will try Optane again. Maybe this issue won't affect the new 12TB drive.

I'm not sure what else to try.

Thanks so much for your patience.

Brian.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello BSu4, Thank you for your reply. We will be looking forward to your reply sharing the results after replacing your HDD. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello BSu4, Thank you for contacting Intel® Memory & Storage Support. This is just a friendly reminder that your case remains open. Should you need our technical assistance please do not hesitate to contact us back. Best regards, Josh B. Intel® Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[BSu4]

Hello Josh,

Could you please close this case for now? I am not in a position to re-test this with the new HDD yet. I will re-open a case at a later time if necessary.

Thank you so much.

Brian.

[DiegoV_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hi Brian,

I was reading your issue and it looks like the one discussed in this thread: https://forums.intel.com/s/question/0D50P000049eXixSAE/why-am-i-getting-ide-detect-errors-on-boot

I recommend you to check it as it may be the same as yours. Apparently, the remapping feature was also enabled for the booting drive, but it only has to be enabled for the M.2 slot where the Intel® Optane™ Memory is connected to. 

I understand you cannot test it right now, but when you have the chance, take a look at it.

I will close the case as you mentioned, but if you ever have another issue or an update about this one, please feel free to open a new thread and point to this one in your post to continue the support.

Have a nice day.

Regards,

Diego V.

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation