Want to understand behavior of P9X79

My Asus P9X79 has proven to be a very stable board since I built my
current system about a year and a half ago. Other than problems with
overheating whenever I render video, I'm happy with what I have.

I tried Windows 8 back when it was released as a beta and I hated it so
much that I vowed to stick with Win7 until something better came along.
The fact is, I see no good reason ever to change from Win7 because as
best I can tell this time Microsoft finally got it right. But I know
that eventually even Win7 will go the way of WinXP and the others before
it, so I guess I have to keep up with the latest thing, whatever it may be.

But that doesn't mean I don't still hate Win8. Still, the other day I
read about Win8.1 Update 1 with all its supposed fixes and improvements
and I thought maybe it was time to try Win8 again. I had a spare 256GB
SSD just sitting around, so ... why not?

First I disconnected all the internal storage drives in my system
because I'd learned through experience with the original that Win8
tampers with all the drives it sees, requiring chkdsk or something for
data drives before they will run in Win7 again. (Something to do with
Win8's "fast-boot" capability, which can be disabled, thus eliminating
the problem.) Then I did a clean install of Windows 8.1 on the spare
SSD and used some files anybody can find on the internet to update to
Windows 8.1. And guess what? Now Win8 ain't so bad.

I still prefer Win7, I think, but at least I no longer actively hate
Win8. Win8 certainly doesn't work the "same" as Win7, but the changes
no longer make me curse, "This **** is just WRONG." I was never going
to use Win8, but I can see myself getting used to Win8.1 Update 1 if I
ever feel the need. And I gotta say I was hugely impressed with its
ability during installation to locate and install drivers for my LAN and
my WiFi-connected printer with no input from me. I mean, I've become
accustomed to a new OS automatically setting up my monitor and sound
card, but a WiFi printer? From scratch? Wow.

Now after all that, back to the P9X79's behavior. Why isn't it a simple
matter to switch out boot drives? After disabling fastboot in Win8 and
doing a little test, I discovered Win8 no longer tampered with my
storage drives. But every time I'd switch from my Win8 SSD to my Win7
SSD, the P9X79 BIOS would get confused about which drive is the boot
drive.

Picture this: I have easily installed Win8.1 with only the spare SSD
connected to the Mbo and I have applied Update 1. After turning off
Fastboot (Or do they call it Fast Startup?), I connect all my data
drives (four) and set them up to have the drive letters I'm accustomed
to seeing in Win7. I install Office and other apps and everything is
working just fine. Great. Now let's go back to Win7.

I figure I ought to be able to power down the system, leave all four
data drives connected, switch out the SSD drives, and then simply boot
into Windows 7. Well, not so fast. All I get is "NTLR error." (NTLR?
NT...something, anyway. NTSB? National Transportation Safety Board?
Nah...but it's NTsomething.)

I've seen the error before -- it's what you get when you try to boot
from a drive that isn't a boot drive. Clearly BIOS has become confused
about what to boot from. So the quick fix is to disconnect all the data
drives, leaving BIOS no choice but to boot from the correct drive.

But why has BIOS chosen to boot from some place other than the drive
connected to the Mbo's #1 SATA port, the port it's been booting from all
along? When I looked at BIOS I saw the boot order was still "P1 Pioneer
optical drive" followed by "Generic Flash Drive," which is what it calls
my Samsung 256MB SSD. (That is interesting to me too, as elsewhere in
BIOS I see the Samsung drive by name, but not on the boot order screen,
even though the Pioneer optical drive is shown there by brand name.)
When the data drives remain connected, BIOS says it's going to boot from
the correct drive, but it doesn't.

I even flashed BIOS to the latest version (without looking up the full
numbers, I can remember I went from 2xxx to 4xxx), but that didn't help.
Any time I switch the Win8 SSD for the Win7 SSD, I have to disconnect
all data drives. However...going from the Win7 to the Win8 SSD with all
data drives connected seems not to cause a problem...yet. I mean, if
I've learned anything while doing all this, it's that you just never
know what's going to happen next.

Can anybody offer any insight into what, if anything, I'm doing wrong?
Why does merely switching out boot drives cause BIOS to become confused
and ornery?

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 4/7/2014 10:46 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:
Then I did a clean install of Windows 8.1 on the spare
SSD and used some files anybody can find on the internet to update to
Windows 8.1.


That should read: to update to Windows 8.1 *Update 1*.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 4/7/2014 8:46 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:


Can anybody offer any insight into what, if anything, I'm doing wrong?
Why does merely switching out boot drives cause BIOS to become confused
and ornery?




I'm making progress in understanding this. I think.

Through trial and error I've learned that I should just expect switching
out one Samsung SSD for another will invariably cause BIOS to toss all
the SATA devices in a hat and shake it up real good and you just never
know what you're going to get. The P9X79 BIOS is like a box of chocolates.

But that doesn't mean I can't straighten things out again after
switching drives and prior to trying to boot. I just wish I understood
what I've found through trial and error.

I'm pretty confident now that I can plug in my Win7 SSD, set proper boot
order in BIOS, and start right up with all data drives connected and
recognized properly by Win7. I did it once, anyway, and I don't see why
I won't be able to do it again.

But setting up BIOS to boot the Win8 SSD has become a problem. When the
Win8 SSD is plugged in, BIOS reports an extra, third boot drive. I see
my Samsung SSD icon, my Panasonic optical drive icon, and a Windows Boot
Manager (P1: Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series) icon. This icon is labled
UEFI, while the other two have no special label. The way the P9X79's
GUI BIOS is set up, you just click and drag the three icons into the
boot order you want. This is on the EZ BIOS screen, not the Advanced
screen. BIOS for dummies.

If I move the Samsung drive to boot first, I get an NTLDR error message
upon boot.

If I move the optical drive to boot first, I get "Reboot and select
proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and
press a key." And if I put a bootable CD in the drive, the computer
will boot right up on the CD.

I have to move the UEFI drive into first place in order to boot, and
when I do, I go right into Win8.1 Update 1, just like I'm supposed to.

But I don't want that drive in first place. I want the computer to look
at the optical drive first, and if it sees nothing, then it can go to
the UEFI drive to boot. And if it does see a bootable disk in the
drive, the computer will boot from it. That's how I have things set up
in Win7 and all this works just as I want.

What do I have to do to BIOS to make things work like that in Win8? Can
I reinstall Win8.1 with instructions not to use UEFI? Is that where my
problem lies -- I didn't set up Win8.1 properly and I need to start over?

Ideas?

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 4/8/2014 11:27 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:
On 4/7/2014 8:46 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:


What do I have to do to BIOS to make things work like that in Win8? Can
I reinstall Win8.1 with instructions not to use UEFI? Is that where my
problem lies -- I didn't set up Win8.1 properly and I need to start over?

Ideas?

If anybody has been following my posts to myself (the lack of response
suggests nobody really has had anything to add), I'll end the one-sided
conversation by reporting I think I have it all figured out now.

Set up Windows 8.1 Update 1 under UEFI on spare SSD? Check.

Don't let Win8 screw up data drives for Win7 use? Check.

Set BIOS properly whenever switching out SSDs? Check.

Boot from Optical Drive in Win8.1? Well...Boot priority won't work
under UEFI in Win8 the way it does without UEFI in Win7. Under UEFI if
you want to boot from the optical drive or some other device, you have
to press F8 at boot and choose from the menu that appears. No more
automatic "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD." Oh well.

That is all, over and out. Thanks again, everyone, for all your help in
the past.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 4/9/2014 3:28 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:
On 4/8/2014 11:27 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:
On 4/7/2014 8:46 AM, Bill Anderson wrote:


What do I have to do to BIOS to make things work like that in Win8? Can
I reinstall Win8.1 with instructions not to use UEFI? Is that where my
problem lies -- I didn't set up Win8.1 properly and I need to start over?

Ideas?

If anybody has been following my posts to myself (the lack of response
suggests nobody really has had anything to add), I'll end the one-sided
conversation by reporting I think I have it all figured out now.

Set up Windows 8.1 Update 1 under UEFI on spare SSD? Check.

Don't let Win8 screw up data drives for Win7 use? Check.

Set BIOS properly whenever switching out SSDs? Check.

Boot from Optical Drive in Win8.1? Well...Boot priority won't work
under UEFI in Win8 the way it does without UEFI in Win7. Under UEFI if
you want to boot from the optical drive or some other device, you have
to press F8 at boot and choose from the menu that appears. No more
automatic "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD." Oh well.

That is all, over and out. Thanks again, everyone, for all your help in
the past.


Glad to read that you had figured it out. It is so intuitive, in the
end. IMHO, far easier with the UEFI bios setup.

GR