Print Page | Close Window

X870E and Windows 11 HDD spin down/up on reboot

Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: AMD Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock AMD motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=107831
Printed Date: 07 May 2025 at 2:56pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: X870E and Windows 11 HDD spin down/up on reboot
Posted By: Deepcuts
Subject: X870E and Windows 11 HDD spin down/up on reboot
Date Posted: 07 May 2025 at 2:19am
Seems I have stumbled upon a nasty issue and my search only came up with one result from a MSI forum ( https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/x870e-carbon-wifi-hdds-spin-down-on-restarting-win11-at-boot-post-the-a2-error-code-displays-for-an-additional-10-seconds-per-sata-hdd.408995/" rel="nofollow - https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/x870e-carbon-wifi-hdds-spin-down-on-restarting-win11-at-boot-post-the-a2-error-code-displays-for-an-additional-10-seconds-per-sata-hdd.408995/ ) proof that this affects more than just Asrock motherboards.

I am opening this topic because it seems I am unable to find any other related topic on this issue. Either very few use HDDs these days or the blame for longer boot times is placed on something else instead of HDDs+motherboard/chipset combo.

Here's my setup:

Asrock X870E Taichi 3.20 firmware (latest)
1 NVMe SSD for the OS and boot
1 NVMe SSD for gam?”I mean work
4 Seagate Exos HDDs in a stripe configuration for backups and bulk data on SATA 1,2,3,4

When rebooting from Windows 11, I can hear the distinctive sound of the HDDs spinning down. During the BIOS POST or Windows startup, each HDD initializes one at a time, which drastically increases boot time.
I've disabled all relevant settings I could find in the BIOS, but to no avail. The only change came from disabling a setting called "PCIe power management" or something?”this merely shifted the spin-up phase from Windows startup to the BIOS POST, with no other improvements.
Interestingly, when I booted into a Linux live USB and then rebooted into Windows, there was no spin-down or spin-up behavior.
Likewise, a cold boot presents no issues.
Hotplug enabled or disabled for all SATA ports makes no difference.
HDD sleep is disabled in Windows and I cannot hear the spin down or up while in Windows (in case the setting did not stick).
Latest AMD Chipset drivers installed.

I have to mention that on X570+5950X and the same HDDs, I did not have this issue.

I've opened a ticket with ASRock, but haven?™t received even a confirmation email, let alone a response.

So, does anyone else with one or more HDDs observe this behavior?



Replies:
Posted By: Deepcuts
Date Posted: 07 May 2025 at 4:17am
More info in a new reply because it seems I cannot edit the original one:

I have inserted my old Windows 10 SSD from X570 + 5950X days and the same issue. So it is not a problem with Windows 11 only.



Print Page | Close Window

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Copyright ©2001-2021 Web Wiz Ltd. - https://www.webwiz.net