Unable to install Windows 8 crashes while formatting SSD

Hi All,

I'm trying to install Windows 8 on my sister's desktop which has a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H. I bought a new Samsung 830 SSD and it is being detected but with SATA I 1.5. When I try to format the drive it crashes and reboots.


I tried running the installer on an OCZ solid 3 which is what is running Windows 7 and the installer also crashes. Is there a way I can get the error before it reboots the installer?

Thanks

Nick

Do not try to manually format an SSD during the installation process unless you understand how to deal with the offset requirements. Follow the "Clean Install - Windows 8" Tutorial (available here) and make sure you delete all existing partitions as part of the installation process.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2299-clean-install-windows-8-a.html

Also, I looked up you mobo specs and you apparently have SATAII capabilities so I am not sure why your SSD is being detected at SATAI speeds. Good luck.

Thanks for the response. The issue from what I was reading is that the drive may be too new for the chipset. With that said I am going to try to see if the Windows 7 installer will work on the Samsung. Is there a way to not make the installer reboot when trying to format the drive so I can see the error?

Did you try my suggestion? If so, at what point during the installation did it fail this time? Also, I cannot make any association between the your statement regarding "the installer reboot when trying to reformat the drive" so I can't even guess as to whether using the Win 7 installer would help. Good luck.

I can't get past the point to format the drive. It only has one partition.

Windows 7 works on the Samsung so the issue is with the Windows 8 installer.

npolite said:

I can't get past the point to format the drive. It only has one partition.

Windows 7 works on the Samsung so the issue is with the Windows 8 installer.

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If you delete all partitons during the install (as I suggested), the Windows 8 installer will create two partitions as part of the install process. One partition will be a 350MB System Reserved partition and the second will be allocated to your C drive. Now, if you are trying to install Windows 8 on a partiton that you created yourself (before installation), there are two possible complications, the first being the partition offset for correct alignment and the second being the partition structure (you manually created). Now, I cannot account for why Win 7 installed but I do know that it does not specifically care about partition alignment and offsets because it does not recognize the drive as a Solid State Device after installation; however, I do know that Win 8 cares about SSD offsets and alignments on SSDs because it does recognize it as an SSD after installation. Good luck again.

I tried to install it on one partition (I've had issues in the past with the split partitions). I have other machines with one partition and it works ok with no issues.

I was able to use a standard HDD and it began installing so the issue is with the SSD, Windows 8 with this chipset. I think I can get to the bottom of this but I need to figure out how to get the installer from throwing an error message and rebooting before I can write it down. If anyone can help me out on that, I would appreciate it.

I really don't know what to say at this point. Your very first sentence in your response clearly indicates that you are intent on making it work your way. Good luck and I hope someone else will come along to assist you.

JustATest said:

I really don't know what to say at this point. Your very first sentence in your response clearly indicates that you are intent on making it work your way. Good luck and I hope someone else will come along to assist you.

Click to expand...

I appreciate your help, but that partition isn't needed. I have been installing it on hundreds of machines since Windows 7 with no issues. That isn't the issue here. I can almost guarantee it. I just need the installer to halt to get the stop error code instead of rebooting. I know how to do this once in the O/S, but never needed to do it in the installer.

Ok so I have pinpointed the issue. It has to do with the Raid controller. I removed my extra 2 HDDs that are in a raid 1, changed the controller to AHCI and was able to install Windows 8 on the SSD. Next I removed the two drives and switched back to raid on the controller. I get inaccessible_boot_device. Are there any additional drivers I need to install to get the Raid controller to play nice with Windows 8?

I checked and haven't come across anything from Gigabyte for Windows 8.

I have it working now. It's not the greatest but it works. I have placed the SSD in the 5 SATA port and set it to IDE so it doesn't use the raid controller. There is some incapability with Windows 8, any SSD and the raid setup on this motherboard. A HDD would work fine but not what I am looking for.