Why are my drives not being detected on an Intel® Server Board S2600WFQ?

Intel® Server System R2312WFQZS that includes a S2600WFQ motherboard isn't detecting the SATA drives.

• The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) doesn't see the drives.
• On storage configuration in the BIOS, it shows the error: The SATA controller is disabled and there is no way to enable it

This is for an Intel® Server System R2312WFQZS. The mini SAS HD ports on the backplane of the server system aren't connected to anything. The system comes with a cable connecting two mini SAS HD ports on the motherboard to two OCuLink ports on the board that are about 2 inches away from each other. This cable is removed to free up the mini SAS HD ports.Instead, a mini SAS HD (Serial Attached SCSI High Definition) cable is used to connect the backplane to the motherboard.

1. Mini SAS HD connectors are present on Intel® Server Board S2600WFQ but aren't configured as SATA.
   • The mini SAS HD cable is used only for Intel® QuickAssist Technology.
   • For the Intel Server Board S2600WF product family, only the Intel® Server Board S2600WFQ(R) SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) supports Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT).
2. To detect the SATA drives, connect the drives to the sSATA port.

In the Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) Support section in the Intel® Server Board S2600WF TPS, you can find Intel QAT support on the Intel Server Board S2600WFQ.