For ages, I had a Foxconn board that worked well except it often wouldn't pass the BIOS stage when looking for the HD.
Ages ago, I cleaned the contacts of the SATA cables with a diamond file and it worked perfectly for more than two years. Then I decided to put the side panel back on.
I know, it's one of my trademarks.
Having dusted it out and boxed it properly, the @#$%2 fault came back. Exactly the same. Footled with the leads and it worked again. Cleaned the contacts. Fine. Boxed it, it failed.
No, the panel is not pressing on the leads. However, while venting my spleen, I pulled the DVD connector from the MB. It immediately found the drive and booted. Repeated the experiment.
A bit of history. When I first got the used home-build from an IT student, the DVD didn't work. I concluded it had failed as the BIOS could see it, and indeed, replacing it made everything okay. I wonder now if I purchased that drive for nowt.
Yes, I've tried other Plugs on the MB. It seems to make no difference.
Any idea if there is a kind of BIOS conflict that could be causing such a fault?
I am a bit concerned there's an intermittancy in the MB print adjacent to the plug sockets, but first things first.