Weird SSD / Storage Drive bug or issue...

[gh0st47]

My Specs : 
Maximus XIII Hero 
10900K 
32GB Corsair Vengeance 3200mhz
MP510 M.2 ( Boot Drive ) 
2X 1TB Crucial MX500
1X 2TB Crucial MX500 
1X W.D Black 
RTX 2080 Super

Ok just built my new system the other day. Everything is working fine. 
But I've been facing this weird issue....whenever I Restart my PC ( on Desktop, click on Start > Restart ), when it rebooting, during the POST, I will always get hit by a A2 Q-Code on Mobo. 
Then it will just freeze there, I can't even enter BIOS. If I press the Reset button on my casing. All it does is reboot and the same thing happen. 
I won't get pass the A2 on POST and just stuck there. 

But If I were to just shut off the system completely and even just instantly turn the system on again. It be fine. I will boot up as if nothing happened. 
This is the same even for normal cold boot. 
My settings are all complete Stock, except XMP Profile 2 ( I tried switching to 1 it doesn't matter still same issue ) 

Another issue I notice is, one of my 1TB MX500 Drive, this happened a few times already. 
All sudden it's missing when I boot up into Windows ( from cold boot not the weird Restart )

So I immediately thought this must be the culprit that causing my the A2 code issue on Restart. But it ain't 
I tried unplugging the SATA from the drive it still happens. 

And to solve the drive being missing all I have to do is shut off PC completely, turn it on again. It be there again....
Is this some sort of Windows bug or my Mobo is defective or my SSD dying ?? I check with Crystal Mark Disk Info it says healthy. 
I even have game installed on the drive and my games ran fine, no issue. Did benchmark, speed are all fine. 

I've also updated the BIOS to the latest one. None of the description mention this weird issue., 

Any solution guys ?? Or least nail down the cause ?? 

[gh0st47]

Ok some new findings...so I was trying to recreate the problem. It can get confusing so le me write it down in steps instead. 
I suspect is one of my 1TB MX500 drive causing the issue. 

1) So I'm on the Desktop, I click Restart trying to re-create the issue.
2) PC booting up, hit with A2 error again. Shut down PC entirely. 
3) Restart PC, boot up fine. Reach Desktop. No issue. But I notice one of my 1TB MX500 drive is completely missing again. ( it's labeled as G: so let's call it G: )
4) So I click on Start > Shut Down. ( SHUT DOWN NOT RESTART )  
5) Turn on PC again, boot up fine. Reach Desktop and I check My Computer, G: shows up again.....
 

I never did anything at all either, didn't touch t he power cable connecting to the SSD or even SATA cable whatever. Just shut down and reboot like as if from a cold boot. 
WTF IS GOING ON ?? Drive going bad ?? Bug ??
It's a new drive btw not used....
 

Please...I hope it's not my Mobo...this is one expensive ass Mobo and to access the SATA on the Mobo is a pain in the ass....you physically can't reach it unless you remove the damn GPU....same goes with my Crosshair VI....

EDIT : I forgot to mention, I've already tried changing the SATA cable before. Since I originally suspected this drive causing issue. 
I doubt is my power cable from PSU loose, because it's sharing the same cable with my other drive, the 2TB MX500. That drive is running fine, never go AWOL all sudden....like this one...

[Bombastinator]

Having trouble following.  I can tell if this is a warm boot/cold boot issue or not.  If it is it may be just a setting.  If it isn’t I don’t know what is going on.

[gh0st47]

59 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Having trouble following.  I can tell if this is a warm boot/cold boot issue or not.  If it is it may be just a setting.  If it isn’t I don’t know what is going on.

Sorry for confusion because I'm getting desperate myself lol. 

It's only happening during Restart. 
On Cold Boot / Warm Boot ( basically PC completely shut down doesn't matter if it was running before or first time of the day ), it never happens. 

Ok here are some examples. 

PC already booted up and now I'm on the Desktop. 
Start > Shut Down. Turn PC on again, boot up jus t fine no issue. 
Start > Restart, PC restarts. When booting, I will get A2 code and just stuck, I can't even get into BIOS. I must turn off the PC completely, then power it on again. It will boot up no issue. 
if I just press the Reset button on my casing  it won't work, it will boot up and just get stuck with the A2 code.  

Another issue I'm facing is, one of my drive keep going missing...even if my PC booted fine on first try. 
If it happens, all I need to do is shut down the system, turn it on again it will boot up fine no issues. Then drive shows up again. 

Now I think of it, it feels like it could be my SATA port on my Mobo ? Because as I said, check the Health it shows 100% and I didn't face any issue either when playing games on the drive that keep going missing. 
Already tried changing the SATA cable, issue still persist...
 

[Bombastinator]

Restart is warm boot.  Warm/cold boot doesn’t have anything to do with heat, it has to do with how things load.  A restart follows a different path than “cold” boot.  (Perhaps full boot would be a better term in this case?). This is the second issue like this I’ve seen here just recently.  I vaguely recall that instance a solution was found involving hard drives? I don’t remember.  Might be a useful thread to look up.

[gh0st47]

5 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Restart is warm boot.  Warm/cold boot doesn’t have anything to do with heat, it has to do with how things load.  A restart follows a different path than “cold” boot.  (Perhaps full boot would be a better term in this case?). This is the second issue like this I’ve seen here just recently.  I vaguely recall that instance a solution was found involving hard drives? I don’t remember.  Might be a useful thread to look up.

Hmm Hard Drive. I do have one installed. 

I would try searching the forums and maybe removing it as well to see if it's the issue. 

 

But that be weird if it is, because the drive that kept going missing randomly is one of my SSD not my HDD. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by gh0st47

[Bombastinator]

19 minutes ago, gh0st47 said:

Hmm Hard Drive. I do have one installed. 

I would try searching the forums and maybe removing it as well to see if it's the issue. 

 

But that be weird if it is, because the drive that kept going missing randomly is one of my SSD not my HDD. 

People seem to have more trouble with SSDs than HDDs here.  It’s mostly about getting them initially recognized by BIOS though.  

[gh0st47]

I tried searching the forums. Their issues are mainly on cold boot only. 

Not warm boot.

 

It is only happening to me on warm. 

But the first few days, there wasn't such an issue. 

Or least when I'm updating Windows it will have to restart itself, I wasn't hit with this issue. 

 

But the very first time when I did a warm boot with this new system that's when it started. 

 

The issues other people are facing have weird solutions which I've tried. 

Some are even affected by the monitor / display cable..

 

I was wondering is there any software that requires you to do a restart after installation or uninstall ? 

I wanna see if I can recreate the problem if the software who Is doing the restart instead of me. 

 

I know GPU driver requires a restart. But I would wish to try with other software something more convenient than a driver uninstallation / installation. 

 

[gh0st47]

Well I found someone with somewhat similar issue. But I barely understood what he did and what's the cause. 

 

Not to mention I think he is using Linux ? 

 

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?114302-Problems-on-warm-boot-with-Maximux-XI-Code

[gh0st47]

New findings, as I was uninstalling Armory Crate yesterday. When it done it requires a restart.

So I did, by clicking on the restart button shown by the uninstaller itself. 

 

To my surprise, it restarted like normal. No issue no drama. 

So I thought I try restarting the PC again manually myself but no luck. Was hit by the A2 error code again while booting. 

 

I thought I just leave it and wait, but no dice, 30 mins passed and nothing happen. 

I've set my FlexKey to reset PC and instant boot into BIOS. 

Tried clicking that nothing happens, can't get into BIOS either. Stuck at A2. 

 

Have to turn power off to PC like usual to fix it. 

[gh0st47]

Talking to myself at this point....
So I nailed down the issue...It's my W.D 2TB drive causing the issue...
I unplug all my SATA drives, except for my M.2 boot drive...it issue never happen. 

So I started plugging my SATA back in one by one, the first one I tried was the W.D 2TB Black and tested, I was instantly hit with A2 error code on Restart...
So I disconnect my W.D 2TB Black and connect my other drive, Crucial MX500 1TB. Did the test, no issue...Restarted my PC like a champ.

I thought maybe it's a SATA port issue and cable ? Basically I use the SATA cable and port that I've just tried with my MX500 drive and connect it to the W.D Black 2TB drive. 
Restart PC, bam...A2 error code....

At this point I was so confident, disconnected my W.DB Black 2TB drive, connect back all 3 of my SATA SSD. Did the test, no issue.....
So it's a guarantee the W.D Black 2TB is causing issue. 

So I ran W.D Data Lifeguard Extended Test, no issue. It Passes....
I tried moving files within the drive, no issues either...the drive works like normal ! 

So what the hell is going on here ?!? Is it a Windows issue ?? Mobo ?? Drive ??