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Dell Precision T3600/T5600: how do I add drives to the other 4 undocumented SATA ports?
Just purchased a Dell Precision T3600 Quad Core 3.6GHz with 2x10K SAS drives connected to the PERC H310 RAID controller, with 2 optical drives. Very happy with the purchase. Except... Only 2 SATA ports on the motherboard seem to work: SATA0 and SATA1, both of which are reserved for the DVD drives.
Cannot seem to get the other four SATA ports on the motherboard working; there are no options in the BIOS for them, and no documentation anywhere on what they are for. You would only know they exist of you look at Page 36 of the user manual or glean a look inside the case yourself. I mention the T5600 as well because the SATA ports on that motherboard, according to the T5600 manual, seem to be exactly the same.
Detailed tech specs on the T3600 motherboard in general seem to be impossible to find, other than a very small image on p.36 of the Owner's Manual pointing out that they are "HDD & optical drive connectors" -- gee that's helpful, not. Printed on the motherboard, these other 4 ports are marked HDD0 to HDD3 (yes, you can actually see these in the motherboard pics if you zoom).
All the manual confirms is that one SATA interface is for an optical device, and the other "supports one 5.25–inches SATA device, one media card reader." The part where it mentions "or up to two 2.5–inches SAS/SATA/HDDs/SSDs (with optional adapters)" means it's using an adapter such as the PERC H310 controller.
In my configuration, both SATA0 & SATA1 were used for optical drives, so I rerouted one to an external eSATA plug so I could connect my external hard drive enclosure, and that seems to work well: it's recognized and works fine. Problem is, when I purchased this system I was under the impression that all 6 ports would be available. I guess I shoulda read the literature more closely. And now I can't use one of my DVD drives.
It's also worth mentioning that HDD2 & HDD3 SATA ports in my system were connected to 2 internal SATA connectors respectively, but they don't go anywhere. Are they for an optional RAID HD configuration? The nearest I've been able to deduce is that these are for an onboard RAID controller, which is not being used in my configuration. Can anyone confirm this? There is no documentation whatsoever of any onboard RAID controller, or how to activate those other 4 ports.
So my long-winded question: is there any way to configure the remaining four HDD0-HDD3 SATA ports to gain access to them for RAID or preferably non-RAID devices?
Kmallick
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June 20th, 2020 12:00
If you have come to the end of this thread looking for a solution, I hope I have some good news for you. I was literally pulling my hair out, frustrated because my Windows would not boot up when the drive was connected to any of HDD0 thru HDD3.
What worked for me was this:
1. I connected my IDE drive to one of the SATA ports (SATA0 or SATA1)
2. Installed Windows 10.
3. Installed Intel C600 chipset drivers from here:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=hnrf4
4. I used the second of the two downloads for 64 bit Windows4.
Next, installed Intel IRSTe driver/application combo from here:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=9f51r
There are two downloads and I installed both.
5. Reboot and make sure both of these are listed under Storage Controllers in Device Manager
6. Power down and swap the SATA cable from SATA0/1 to any of HDD0-3
Now I can boot into Windows. I can also connect additional drives connected to HDD0-3.
Also FYI, I have the latest bios A19 installed and EFI mode turned on. The bios in my T5600 could always see a drive connected to HDD0-3, but Windows could not, even during a fresh install. Neither could the diagnostics run under bios.
Interestingly, Ubuntu 20.04 install can detect a drive connected to any of HDD0-3 and install next to Windows. But I could not dual boot into Windows when the drive was connected to HDD0-3. With the above drivers installed, I can dual boot into Windows and Ubuntu.
Nekillim
1 Message
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September 28th, 2020 00:00
Worked perfectly
Thanks
Robert
Derker
9 Posts
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October 5th, 2020 03:00
This a solution ?
Derker
9 Posts
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October 5th, 2020 03:00
Have you solved this issue if not I may have a solution.
Anvil_511
1 Message
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October 24th, 2020 17:00
This worked for the T3600 with a C600 Chipset running Windows 10. Disconnected every drive from the motherboard, and then connected my primary drive to SATA 0. After startup the Device Manager SAS Controller was not recognized. I download DRVR_AHCI_SCU_Intel_A04-HXT48_setup_ZPE.exe from https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=hxt48. After the install and reboot the SAS controller was good to go. I shutdown again, move my primary drive from SATA 0 to HDD 0 and on restart HDD 0 is working. I have not connected any drives to HDD 1, 2, or 3 but I presume they also work. Also, I’m not using a Perc H310 RAID Controller.
cinerobert
1 Message
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February 17th, 2021 21:00
This worked for me too.
The driver you linked to isn't listed for Windows 10 support, but it works in Windows 10 anyway.
philmb
14 Posts
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April 16th, 2021 03:00
LEGEND !!
Been trying to figure this out for ages.
Thanks
HanneloreXD
1 Message
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May 20th, 2021 15:00
I have a T3600, removed the H310 card and wasn't able to install additional HDDs on HDD0-4 SATA connector.
the solutions above was close but at the and a mix of them helped, Mainly the solution of Kmallick helped.
This was the way which worked for me:
- Remove H310 Card (I did this a long time ago). Add your additional HDDs (without windows) to HDD0-4.
- Enable Raid in BIOS. Somehow the steps below didn't work in my case if disabled. Make sure that your Windows HDD is connected with SATA0 or SATA1 and make it to the first boot device.
- Boot Windows 10
- Installed intel C600 Driver (https://www.dell.com/support/home/de-de/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=hnrf4)
- Install IRSTe https://www.dell.com/support/home/de-de/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=9f51r)
Maybe it will tell you that you already have a newer version installed ...install it anyway^^
After Restart it should show your HDDs connected with HDD0-4
ozstar
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June 11th, 2022 14:00
What version of Win10 are you running and are you still able to use the HDD ports for your drives?
I have a T3600 and cannot find a chipset driver to work the HDD ports. I have tried the ones you suggest here and others.
Any help is appreciated.
DELL-Cares
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August 1st, 2022 20:00
Hello, I see you are looking for technical assistance. If you need our help, you can start a private message with us and we will be happy to assist you.
thoffelder
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August 1st, 2022 20:00