Why does my SATA port not work?

Sata DVD drive question?

• Within the last month ive noticed a few messages from intel rapid storage technology saying Sata port 4 not found or something of that nature, when that happens , my DVD drive does not read disks. It is plugged in through the 4th Sata port. Obviously. Now all ive had to do is hit refresh button in IRST (intel rapid store) and it finds it and it works, so yesterday i decided i tried a disc after just refreshing it so it recognized the drive, and it didnt work. IRST said that it was plugged in and everything. So today i decide im gonna take it apart and make sure connections are all good. and i did that, and now it doesnt recognize it at all. In Computer it shows just my harddrive not the disc drive like usual. IRST shows port 4. (it does not show 3 2 or 1 because nothing is plugged in) but it says nothing is plugged into it. So its like it knows somethings plugged in but i t cant recognize it IS MY DVD DRIVE BAD is the main question after all this. So far ive treid plugging it into another Sata port, and ive always switched out the sata cords. My HDD uses a 6gb/s port and it is right about the 3gb/s ports that my DVD drive uses. and HDD is obviously working. The dvd drive does have power as it opens and closes. Main question, what do you think is wrong? Thanks for reading all that.

• Answer:

  faulty cable - very common, dirty lens also very common