HP z600 does not detect new hard drive.

[playerleon]

I have a HP Z600 reversion 2. I am trying to install some new hard drives (HGST/Hitachi Ultrastar A7K2000  2Tb). I currently have all 3 connected but none of them are detected. I've tried installing the drivers from : https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-z600-workstation/3718663 but it is still not detecting the hard drives.

The drivers I've tried are:

Hitachi Deskstar SATA Hard Drive Firmware for Workstations

1.0 Rev. A5TE

Intel Rapid Storage Technology Utility and Driver for Microsoft Windows

9.6.0.1014 Rev. A

LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-8i Driver for Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit Editions)

5.2.124.64 Rev. B

I have the latest bios v3.60.

[SDH]

1.  Do you have an operating system on that Z600, and will it boot?

2.  You may know this.... many new drives come in a "raw" state with no partitioning and no formatting done ahead of time.  Those need to be partitioned and formatted from within the operating system before the OS can show them in Windows Explorer (the OS interface, not the browser Internet Explorer).

3.  I'd partition them and format them one at a time.  Assuming your boot SSD or HDD is in the drive drawer which has "0" stamped in the metal along the side of the drawer cage area (which is the boot drive position) then I'd put the drive to be converted into the drive drawer next to the ""1" stamp.  This is with the workstation off and unplugged.

4.  Plug in, boot into OS, go to computer management, go to drive management.  If the new drive is raw you'll automatically enter the drive partition software included in the OS.  I generally choose MBR partitioning.  Once that is done then go on to formatting the drive.  Choose the "long" type; not the quick type.  It takes longer but is better.

When done then you should be able to see the new drive from within Windows Explorer.

If you know all this and have already tried the normal stuff then check under Device Security in BIOS and make sure the drive(s) have not been disabled.  If their positions have been disabled the OS cannot see them and the hardware is not perceived by the OS as existing.  My recollection is that BIOS cannot even see them.

[SDH]

Let me add some more arcane information.  The drives you have, presumed to all be the same, are SATA generation II, rather than Gen III drives.  They max out at 3 Gb/s which is fine because that workstation also is built on SATA II technology.  HP has stated that SATA III drives that are not from HP are more likely than not to have issues with SATA II HP workstations.  But, you are not in that situation with your SATA II drives.

I use a drive wiping tool, DBAN, free, that has allowed me to get drives that could not be recognized by xw and ZX00 generation workstations to be seen and then partitioned and then formatted, and then used for years to come.  Get the old free version of DBAN.

One drive DBAN saved was a large SATA II HP drive that was for a server, and it was brand new in its antistatic sealed bag, was gotten for a great price, yet could not be seen by XP (at that time) in my xw or ZX00 workstations.  I have a "utility" xw6400 that I placed that drive in the SATA 0 position, booted into the DBAN CD, and ran the low level wipe (which took about 2 days).  My theory was that however the drive had been partitioned and formatted for the server the process had created sector contents and low level partition entries that I needed to wipe off before a regular workstation could work with it.  That turned out to be the case.

After the DBAN wipe I replaced my regular boot drive, and could boot from XP with that saved drive in posiiton SATA 1, and then I could use Disk Management to set the MBR partition, and finally to do a long type format.

DBAN has proven so valuable at wiping such hidden things that I use it on any "new" or used HDD or SSD that I get off eBay.  Only then do I move on to the next steps noted above.

[playerleon]

1. Yes. I've installed Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit on a Toshiba hard drive and I can boot into the operating system.

2. I did not know this. Learned something new, thanks. However when I am in Windows 7, located drive management, and it is still not showing up there.

3. I've tried plugging in each one at a time. I've tried all 3 Hitachi drives (seperatly, one at a time).

4. I can't complete this step because none of them are detected in step 3. I hear some of them spin though.

4b. I've checked the BIOS under Device Security and all SATA ports are set to available.

[playerleon]

Thanks for the extra information about DBAN.

I've downloaded latest version from the website (https://dban.org/). How do I get an older version?

I burned the program to a disk and booted into DBAN. Again DBAN is not detecting the Hitachi drives either.

I am starting to lose hope that these drive will work.

During the BIOS boot it mention that the raid manager is Intel version 8.x.x (can't remember the exact number). Any way to upgrade that? Maybe that can be a problem.

I will try after work today to install/format these drive on another computer with SATA III just to double check that the drives are not faulty.

[SDH]

Regarding your drivers/firmware questions.... that virtually never is the cause (in my experience) for this type of an issue.  Those 3 drives likely will all be working fine with some added work.

For tough cases sometimes I've needed to remove all other drives or drive interfaces of all sorts from the workstation (including disconnecting media readers and eSATA external dock even if they are not being used), and attach the target HDD or SSD to the SATA 0 position.  No conventional boot drive is in place in that case.... the boot will be from the DBAN CD you have burned from the iso.  I insert the CD, then boot in to BIOS and change SATA emulation from RAID + AHCI over to IDE Separate, save that, and run DBAN using that legacy SATA emulation setting.  This trick has worked very well if needed.  Don't forget to change back to RAID + AHCI SATA emulation (or "RAID" in some HP workstations which is equivalent to RAID + SATA to the OS in them) in BIOS after you are done.

I'm hoping you knew during OS install to set your SATA emulation to "RAID + AHCI" or "SATA".  Depending on the HP workstation the term is different, but you get all the drivers installed to enable RAID or to use AHCI this way, rather than a very old limited set of drivers if you have SATA emulation set to IDE during OS install.  HP and Intel both recommend doing this even if you'll never use RAID.  The HP workstations come installed this way.

You could PM me and get my address and send me one to work on (include a shipping method back).  I'm curious about this issue.  The chance of getting all 3 bad is very low, so I believe all are fixable.

I checked.... the DBAN I'm using is version 2.2.6.  Here's some added info, and where to get that version:

Source for various versions, including the 10.9 MB 2.2.6 iso I've been using for years:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dban/files/dban/

Couple of articles on troubleshooting DBAN.  Try the trick above before reading these:
https://sourceforge.net/p/dban/discussion/208932/thread/332bf1d2/
http://www.somelifeblog.com/2009/12/fixed-dban-finished-with-non-fatal.html

DBAN Wiki article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darik%27s_Boot_and_Nuke

Humbolt State University DBAN instructions.  I just boot into DBAN, hit Enter to use the interactive mode, and very carefully choose the correct drive if I have more than one in place, and go from there.  I use the default settings for the wipe method... it's a very thorough method as is:
https://its.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/docs/dban-disk-disposal-instructions.pdf

[playerleon]

Thanks for the post. I'll try these methods when I get home from work later today. I'll post back with any results.

[playerleon]

Just to be clear when you say "attach the target HDD or SSD to the SATA 0" you mean SATA 1 right? Because SATA 0 is the blue one which is LSI port.

Yes, I did install the OS with "RAID + AHCI" enabled.

I downloaded DBAN 2.2.6. Removed all unessary drivers. Set the SATA emulation to IDE (I didn't see the option for IDE Seperate). Started DBAN. Pressed Enter to start interactive mode. Now DBAN is giving the following errors:

"DBAN failed.

The disks have not be wiped.

Error: Disks not found. DBAN could need a driver for this computer.

Press and hold the power button to shutdown."

[playerleon]

So I've tried testing with your methods but I have similar results. The system even DBAN fail to recognize the drive.

I found out that one of the drive was making a lot of clicking noise and burns up really hot within minutes of running. One other drive is motionless. I don’t even think it is spinning. Which was not a good sign. I then proceed to test with similar process on 3 other computers. Not one of them can recognize the drive. This has pushing me to conclude that none of the drives work. I’ve even tried connecting hard drive SATA to USB. Still nothing.

I am now wondering if NewEgg even test refurbished items before selling them. I will try a RMA and hopefully I will get a better batch.

[SDH]

Well, we are a ways apart.

There are 6 SATA ports on the motherboard, termed SATA0, SATA1, SATA2, SATA3, SATA4, and SATA5.  SATA0 on the motherboard is the blue plastic one.  SATA1 through SATA5 are black.

SATA0 is meant for your SATA boot drive whether it is a single HDD or a single SSD.  For me it has nothing to do with SAS/LSI in any of our Z600s.  The "blind mate" SATA data connection running from the rear of the upper of the two drive bays goes down via a SATA cable that should be plugged into the  blue SATA0 motherboard port.  The SATA cable from the lower of the two drive bays goes down to the first black SATA1 motherboard connector just to the left of the blue motherboard connector.  The SATA cable from the optical drive plugs into the next black ("SATA2") motherboard connector.  These are building up from right to left, blue to black.  There is a 0 and a 1 stamped into the left side metal of the drive bay area to make that clear... upper is your boot drive bay, "0", and lower is your documents drive bay, "1".

Regarding DBAN.... I burned a 2.3.0 version from the .iso, tried it, but like the 2.2.6 version I have been using better.  Much faster boot times.  I wanted you to know that on the second stage of DBAN where you finally start the wipe process I just stick with the defaults at the top of that page.  Those includes the "quick" DOD method rather than some alternate long version.  The quick version it is more than enough, and it truly is not quick..... budget about a day and a half for a 2TB drive, maybe 2, going non-stop.  That is why I have my trusty xw6400 utility workstation set aside for such projects.

Newegg has been good for us....  I have not seen them send out a batch of dead drives in the past but that might be the problem.