Win8 can't see second HD

I'm having the most time consuming and frustrating experience of my computer life! Hopefully some kind soul can help.

My system:
Brand new Asus CM6870 desktop
2 TB HD
16 GB RAM
Win 8 Core (originally installed by Asus)
Motherboard; Asus P8H77-M Pro (AMI BIOS 0606)
Asus did not supply and will not supply original Win 8 media

I also purchased an OCZ SSD with the intention of moving Win 8 to the SSD. The exisiting HD is installed as a UEFI device and I wanted to install Win 8 on the SSD as an UEFI device too.

I installed the SSD on port 1 of the SATA III (AHCI). In every win install attempt I had the HD disconnected. When reconnected, it was on SATA III port 2 (AHCI).

After MANY, MANY attempts, I have Win 8 installed on the SSD and the original Win8 remains on the HD. I was unable to to a UEFI install, so I gave up and did an MBR traditional install. When I boot to the SSD, Windows works but I can't see the HD. When I boot to the HD, Windows works but I can't see the SSD.

To make a VERY long saga, less long, I attempted the following.....
Up to this point, any time that Win 8 was installed on the SSD, I could see the HD as a secondary drive. If I booted to the HD, I could see the SSD as a secondary drive.
After I did this, I could no longer see the secondary drive regardless of whether I booted to the HD or the SSD.
I looked in Device Manager and I don't see any errors but I don't see the secondary drive.

I'll attach jpgs of the Device Manager from both the SSD and the HD Win installation"

The SSD appears as unallocated on the HD Disk Manager even though Win 8 is working on that drive!
The HD does not appear on the SSD Disk Manager.

I've worked on so many alternatives over the past week that I feel like I'm going around in circles.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

I'll settle for a Win 8 MBR installation on the SSD with access to the secondard HD.

How to install Windows 64 bit on a uEFI/BIOS firmware:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-8-a.html

Thank-you theog,

Part way through my very long process, I did follow your guide but the UEFI installation didn't work. When I got to step 7, it didn't create 4 partitions. It just created 2. I attempted the process about 10 times. I suspected that there was some setting in my BIOS that was preventing success. I couldn't see any potential BIOS changes myself so I called Asus. They couldn't provide any answers either.

Ultimately I gave up and settled for a MBR installation but that left me where I am now - unable to access the secondary drive.

I just want to get the MBR installation correct so that I can access the secondary drive and get back to accomplishing work on the computer.

1) If the DVD is booted in uEFI mode, the installer will only install in GPT mode.
If the DVD is booted in non-uEFI mode, the installer will only install in MBR mode.
Take a look at the screenshot above.


2) Will the HDD drive show in uEFI/BIOS firmware?

Thanks again theog,

I've made many attempts to install.

I did format a USB drive as UEFI and moved the ESD files to that drive. It still only did a MBR installation??????

Yes the HDD is shown as UEFI in the BIOS.

Edit:
Oops! I just had another look and think that I did a "stupid". I just let the computer boot from the UEFI UBD drive rather than pressing F8 to choose a boot choice. I'll try again.

However, in my earlier MBR installations I was able to see the second hard drive but I can't now. Therefore, I suspect that a correct UEFI installation won't fix the problem. I probably screwed up something else and I'll need to fix that.

Nonetheless, while I'm hopefully awaiting an answer on that issue, I retry the UEFI installation.

Remove the SSD, & replace with HDD, will the HDD boot?

theog said:

Remove the SSD, & replace with HDD, will the HDD boot?

Click to expand...

Yes. The HDD will boot with or without the SSD connected.

While waiting an answer, I booted to the HDD, went to Disk Management and deleted the SSD volume, and created a new simple partition.

Then, I shut down, disconnected the HDD, and reinstalled Win 8 on the SSD. Windows works on the SSD but I still can't see the secondary drive.

I shut down, and booted to the HDD and - WOW! - I can see the SDD as a secondary drive!

There's still something amiss.

I just attempted another UEFI installation:

I prepared the UEFI USB (jpg attached)
I booted to the UEFI USB by pressing F8 at Windows POST
Reinstalled Win 8

However, only 2 partitions were created.

I also looked at Disk Manager to see if the USB was UEFI formatted and it didn't look as though it was. (jpg attached)

When booted to the HDD, the SSD is still shown as unallocated.

For the SSD drive, in Diskpart.

type
clean
convert GPT



Than try a uEFI install from the DVD.

Secondary drive working

My secondary drive access issue is resolved but I'm not certain how it was caused.
Here's what I think happened....

HDD can't see SSD
As originally stated, I made many attempts to install Win 8 on the SSD.To fix the problem....
SSD can't see the HDD
I'm not so sure about this one!This doesn't make sense to me but the only thing that I can rationalize is that one of the Windows updates fixed the issue.

theog said:

For the SSD drive, in Disk Managerment

type
clean
convert GPT

View attachment 15869

Than try a uEFI install from the DVD.

Click to expand...

Thanks again theog,
As you can see from my previous post, my secondary disk issue is resolved. Given that I've had over a week of frustration and it is now working, I don't want to risk screwing it up again by trying another UEFI install.

However, I do want to make this a learning experience for myself. In case I have the chance to do another UEFI installation, I want to make sure that I understand your instructions.

First....
I followed your instructions in the thread:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html
and posted a screen capture in post number 8. This looked to me as though there were four partitions created on the USB drive. (Volume 7-10). Therefore, it seemed as though the UEFI drive was successfully created. In addition on my UEFI Win installation attempt, I pressed "F8" at POST to bring up the boot menu. As in your screen shot in post 2, the USB drive was shown twice, once as UEFI and once normally. I chose the UEFI boot option. Therefore, I assumed that the UEFI drive was successfully created.

I'm not sure that I understand your instructions in post 9. You say:
However, your screenshot looks like the command is issued in DISKPART not Disk Management.

Can you confirm where the "convert GPT" command should be issued? (between "clean" and "create partition primary" in DISKPART?)

For the SSD drive, in Diskpart

type
clean
convert GPT
Than
Go to Step 6 in this tutorial:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-8-a.html

Thank-you

Thank-you theog,

I've filed your tips for future reference.

I really appreciate all the time you have dedicated to helping me. You are definitely deserving of your titles of "VIP Member", "Power User" and Microsoft Community Contributor Award".

You are a star!

Thank-you again