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GA-H87N-WIFI and PCIe SATA Card ASMedia 1061PCIe SATA Card

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Apr 27, 2013
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Motherboard
GA-H87N-WIFI v1.1
CPU
i3-4340
Graphics
HD 4600
Mac
  1. Mac Pro
Classic Mac
  1. iBook
  2. Portable
  3. SE
I needed to add a PCIe SATA card, so I went on eBay and got a generic SATA/eSATA 2 port PCIe card, and it works.
Kinda. :(

The Build:
GA-H87N-WiFi v1.1 (F9 BIOS)
El Capitan 10.11.6
Clover v2.3 rev 3899
&
ASMedia 1061PCIe SATA/eSATA Card.
(The card has 4 ports. 2 SATA / 2 eSATA, although only 2 ports can be used.
To switch between the SATA & eSATA ports, requires moving jumpers on the card, so I've got them jumpered for the internal ports.)
In System Profiler, this is what I get in SATA/SATA Express>
Generic AHCI Controller:
Vendor: Generic
Product: AHCI Controller
Physical Interconnect: PCI
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

I've connected 2 HDDs to it, and that's where the problem begins.
One of the HDDs mounts just fine, and the System (touch wood) has been stable, but when I connect the second HDD, I get System freezes usually within 10 minutes of booting up.

I've tried different SATA cables, I've tried connecting the "problem" HDD to the other SATA port, but to no avail.
The problem HDD is a WD Green 1TB WD10EARS
The HDD that seems to be perfectly happy is a Seagate 1TB ST1000DM010-2EP102

I've currently got an old WD 250GB HDD (WDC WD2500JS-41MVB1) connected as the second drive and thus far (fingers crossed, touch wood) it's behaving, and I haven't had a System Freeze (yet).

Is it possible for a SATA Card and a HDD to just not get along ?

Originally, I had the "problem" HDD connected to one to the MoBo SATA ports, and had no issues at all (It's my Time Machine HDD) but I wanted to add another HDD & an optical drive so I needed a PCIe SATA solution.
(I discovered the optical drive needs to be on the the MoBo SATA bus or else it doesn't "play nice")

And I thought, because the PCIe SATA card is only a 1X PCIe card, put the HDDs I need the least speed out of, on the SATA Card.


Back when I ran the MultiBeast v8.2.3, I didn't specifically select 3rd Party SATA in the Drivers/Disk section,
and I'm wondering if I should go back and install it ?

UPDATE: With the old WD drive attached, the System eventually froze, so I tried a 1TB WD Blue, and the System froze too.
Is it likely I've got a dodgy PCIe SATA Card ?


tia

furbies
 
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Sort of bumping, but with more (new) info.

Thinking the first PCIe SATA3 card was dodgy, I got a replacement (different make / model). It still has the ASmedia 1061 chipset, but no eSATA ports. (Didn't want or need them anyway)

Plugged the card in, and connected two SATA3 HDDs, and fired up Hack2, and within a couple of minutes, Hack2 froze. Just like before with the first Card.
So, I unplugged one of the HDDs, and restarted, and again, it froze a couple of minutes after booting.

The new card still shows in:
In System Profiler, this is what I get in SATA/SATA Express>
Generic AHCI Controller:
Vendor: Generic
Product: AHCI Controller
Physical Interconnect: PCI
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

The Console>System Log doesn't seem to be catching whatever the issue is.

Being at my wits end I booted into the BIOS, and in BIOS Features>Other PCI Device ROM Priority, I switched from UEFI OpROM to Legacy OpRom. Saved the BIOS and booted. Thus far, (TOUCH WOOD)(After 17 minutes) Hack2 is still running.

Am I getting ahead of myself in hoping the BIOS edit has fixed the freezing issue ?

Does anyone have any other ideas, in case I haven't really fixed the problem ?
 

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Well, it managed to work for about 30 minutes and then crashed/froze.

According to the Console, about the last thing that "happened" was an app I've got installed called SMART Reporter doing a "I/O-Error check" for the internal HDDs and GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent checking for any updates (most likely for Google Chrome)

Could a I/O-Error check" cause the freeze ?

edit: (for update)

I used MultiBeast v8.2.3 and added the (Drivers>Disk>)AHCI 3rd Party SATA kext, but after I restarted, I looked in System Information>Software>Extensions but AHCI_3rdParty_SATA v0.5 is not being loaded.

(On hand and bended knee here) Does someone here have any ideas / suggestions ?
I'm getting desperate :banghead:
 
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Ok, so this gets weirder & weirder !

I thought I'd try reinstalling the AHCI_3rdParty_SATA kext using Kext Beast, and after I rebooted, I looked in System Information>Software>Extensions, and AHCI_3rdParty_SATA is still not loaded, but in System Information>SATA/SATA Express, the SATA card is now showing as:
Vendor: ASMedia
Product: ASM1061
Physical Interconnect: PCI
Link Width: x1
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Description: AHCI Version 1.20 Supported

Anyone have any ideas just what in the dickens is going on ?

UPDATE:
It's nearly 24 hours later, and thus far (fingers crossed) since the PCIe SATA Card started showing up as an ASMedia card, Hack2 hasn't frozen / crashed. It's been running continually for nearly 24 hours without sleeping. I have "Sleep" turned off.

Is it just possible that now the Card is being correctly identified, the Hackintosh is behaving ?
(Also, AHCI_3rdParty_SATA kext is still showing as "not loaded") And I have no idea why the Card is now being correctly identified.
 
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