AHCI PCIe SSDs disappear soon after booting BigSur

[Monyx]

Recently experiencing (MSata) SSDs disappearing around 5 mins after booting using BigSur 11.7.7 & OC 0.7.8. They are connected to an Addonics Quad mSata PCIe card (model AD4MSPX2-A). Prior to 11.7.7 had no issues. With sustained access like BlackMagic Disk Speed test it results in a hung state after short test duration that appears to start off ok, then drives disappear from Finder. Otherwise they stick around a bit longer but eventually drop off <10mins. I still see this entry in System Info so I think the PCI card is still recognised

88SE9230 PCIe SATA 6Gb/s Controller:
Name: pci1b4b,9230
Type: SATA controller
Driver Installed: Yes
MSI: No
Bus: PCI
Slot: Internal@1,0,0/0,0
Vendor ID: 0x1b4b
Device ID: 0x9230
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1b4b
Subsystem ID: 0x9230
Revision ID: 0x0011
Link Width: x2
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s

 

[Edhawk]

Have you tried installing the PCIE card in another PCIE slot?

 

[Monyx]

Have you tried installing the PCIE card in another PCIE slot?

not yet, haven't got an spare slots wld need to remove BT/WIFi card. The card & drives are stable booting into Win11 though so physical connection seems ok.

 

[Edhawk]

I have a Marvell 9215 SATA controller (PCIe card) in one of my Hack's and it works in macOS up to and including Monterey. I haven't tried it in Ventura, as the system doesn't need to run the latest release, as I use it as a Mac Server.

The only third-party kext I use for this Marvell Controller is AHCI_3rdParty_SATA.kext, so the device is identified correctly in the System Information > SATA report. I think the kext provides a purely cosmetic 'Fix'. I am not sure if it actually helps it work in macOS. The kext also contains the Device settings for your 9230 card, so should work for you too. If you are not using the kext it won't hurt to try it and see if it helps.

Copy attached below.

I have also included the DeviceProperties for the SATA card in my config.plist, setting the card as built-in. Which may help it work better in macOS.



Obviously your card will have a different Device Path and slot-name compared to the one from my HP ML10 Gen9 server Hack. These can be obtained from Hackintool's PCIe Tab, specifically the pciedevices.plist that can be Exported from the Hackintool > PCIe tab. Adding the 'built-in' property may help.

 

[Monyx]

Before I try all that with kext, can you tell me if it's revelant given that I no problems under 11.7.5 with same OC? I just spent a few hours resurrecting 11.7.5 back onto an internal SSD, booted from it now and the PCIe mSata SSDs are all as normal, speed check fine, some hours into into the boot no disappearing. Seems 11.7.7 is the culprit given nothing else has changed.

 

[Edhawk]

No idea if it is relevant, I just told you what I did with a similar PCIE SATA card to get it working and recognised correctly.

I assume you have tried the PCIE card in another PCIE connector on the motherboard, and you are seeing the same issue?

 

[Monyx]

I assume you have tried the PCIE card in another PCIE connector on the motherboard, and you are seeing the same issue?

No, after extensive testing on 11.7.5 a 2x 1TB SoftRAID and separate 500GB remained connected through-out the day and tested fine on repeated Disk Speed Test runs. Went back to 11.7.7, the Speed test stopped, with unable to access drive, the tmp file remained on the vol and shortly after both volumes disappeared from desktop. Volumes are visible to Win10 OS as well, so I conclude nothing to do with slot, PCIE though as a precaution I removed card, checked mSata drives were all seated/screwed in firm & refitted PCIE card. Thx for the kext reference, I will give it try on 11.7.7. I just bought another m.2 and will start to set up Monterey on that and move on from BigSur - likewise no need for the latest OS, just as along AdobeCC functions that's all I need.

 

[Monyx]

Further, tested the Marvell 9230 Mstata to PCIE has same problems on Monterey and Ventura. I updated the firmware on the controller via Win10, still no good, the ACHI_3rdParty.kext does report the correct Marvell chipset but didn't change anything regards to volumes disappearing. Interesting if i don't use the volumes they remain on the desktop, but any sustained use will pause/lock the app before they then disappear. Same happens if I attempt to boot from one of them.
I have 2x 1TB + 1 500Gb Msata, have bought a dual msata to sata holder, will ditch the Addonics + 500Gb and just run my 2TB Softraid using a couple internal sata ports.