- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
The idea behind unplugging the cable to your case just to eliminate all possibilities -likely and unlikely- of problems. That cable very likely will make no difference to remove, but running a system with JUST what is required will show where the issue is. Troubleshooting has to start somewhere, so that should be at a place where only known working components in a known working configuration are used. Thats all 
As for moving the cables around, perhaps the drive that you cannot see is in a port that doesnt work? Try plugging the unseen drive directly into the port that you know is working with the cable that you know is working and see what happens from there.
I have read many places that SATA II cables are just as good as SATA III and there is little to no difference between and brand or length/style or otherwise. That doesnt mean it is true, but new cables will eliminate the cables as the cause. Then we can move on to other possible causes.
Having said all that - since this drive isnt seen in the BIOS I feel the issue will have to be fixed there. That means making sure that you are on the most current version of your BIOS (or maybe rolling back if you are on the most current). Before that comes the CMOS reset and the procedure will be found in your motherboard manual, but most often is removing the internal batteyr on the board and jumping a particular set of pins. Unless you have particular settings in the BIOS (like an overclock that wsa difficult to achieve) there is little risk is resetting the CMOS because it is only meant to clear settings in the BIOS and shouldnt affect any of your other hardware (meaning Windows will still be just the way you left it). It is just another thing to clear off of the troubleshooting list. Maybe its just the cheapskate in me, but I usually try to do stuff that doesnt cost before I go and buy anything. It wont hurt you to have new cables and could possibly help, but what if they arent needed, right?
Good luck, and be sure to post back with what happens regardless
As for moving the cables around, perhaps the drive that you cannot see is in a port that doesnt work? Try plugging the unseen drive directly into the port that you know is working with the cable that you know is working and see what happens from there.I have read many places that SATA II cables are just as good as SATA III and there is little to no difference between and brand or length/style or otherwise. That doesnt mean it is true, but new cables will eliminate the cables as the cause. Then we can move on to other possible causes.
Having said all that - since this drive isnt seen in the BIOS I feel the issue will have to be fixed there. That means making sure that you are on the most current version of your BIOS (or maybe rolling back if you are on the most current). Before that comes the CMOS reset and the procedure will be found in your motherboard manual, but most often is removing the internal batteyr on the board and jumping a particular set of pins. Unless you have particular settings in the BIOS (like an overclock that wsa difficult to achieve) there is little risk is resetting the CMOS because it is only meant to clear settings in the BIOS and shouldnt affect any of your other hardware (meaning Windows will still be just the way you left it). It is just another thing to clear off of the troubleshooting list. Maybe its just the cheapskate in me, but I usually try to do stuff that doesnt cost before I go and buy anything. It wont hurt you to have new cables and could possibly help, but what if they arent needed, right?
Good luck, and be sure to post back with what happens regardless
