Motherboard or Hard drive problem??

Discussion in 'Processors, Motherboards & Memory' started by Digger, Dec 9, 2002.

  1. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    Hi,Last night when I shutdown everything seemed fine at first, but the computer shut off and then back on then it lost the hard drive. I tried a few things but was p****d and went to bed LOL. When I got up I went into the BIOS and did the Auto-detect on the hard drive and now its working. My question is do you think the drive or motherboard is going south or did the computer have a fit of stupidity? I appreciate any comments.

    System:Gigabyte GA 7VTXE+,MSI GeForce 2 MX-400,WD 60GIG 7200RPM, Athlon XP 1700,USR 56K PCI hardware modem,Memorex 48X CD-Rom, Lite-on 24x10x40 CDRW
     
  2. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    This sort of funny things happened to me before. If you're worried about your HDD going bonkers, you should start backing up your stuff.
     
  3. PY 222

    PY 222 <b>DF King</b>

    Some questions. How long have you had your harddrive? And has this ever happened to you prior to that specific night?

    If your hardrive is old, then maybe its time to change ;)
     
  4. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    By looking at his system spec, it certainly doesn't look like more than 1 yr old.
     
  5. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    well, i had this detecting hard disk problem also. Now set to Auto and it works like a charm...

    Ken's theory on this problem:

    Hard disk did not spin up fast enough before boot sequence starts...

    Well, mine sometime does not spin up at all until a soft reset!

    I'm guessing power supply problems. But no money to get a good one now. sigh
     
  6. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hmm.. if your hard disk cannot spin up fast enough (before IDE initialization starts), you can delay IDE initialization via the BIOS option - Delay IDE Initial.

    Just increase the time from the default of 0 seconds until you hit a sweet spot where it allows enough time for your hard disk to spin up before initialization starts. Remember to test each time increase with a cold boot. Hot booting will not show you the effectiveness of the increased delay since your hard disk will still be spinning.

    Hope that helps you some! :)
     
  7. Digger

    Digger Newbie

  8. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    problem

    First, thanks for your replies. I built the system around February so everything is still under warranty and i'm putting my important file on CDR'S right now. Everytime I start now I have to go in the BIOS and do the auto detect the HDD. I'll keep trying a few things to see if I can pinpoint the exact problem. Please keep the suggestions coming. When I find out the real cause I'll let you know.
    Thanks
     
  9. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hmm... if you don't me asking, is it possible that your CMOS battery is out of juice or not connected properly? Do your other BIOS settings revert to default whenever you power off and on again?
     
  10. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    Problem

    Hi Adrian, All the other settings stay the same. The tech at the local computer store said to flash the BIOS and see if that would help. I did that last night and the flash was succsessful but I still have the problem. He also said that I try and put the drive on the secondary IDE controller to see if its a bad controller I plan on trying that sometime today.Someone also suggested a bad power supply I think that will be the last thing i try.Let me know if you have any other ideas.
    Thanks, Digger
     
  11. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hello Digger,

    I think it's best to isolate the problem first. See if you can get hold of another hard disk. Replace your hard disk with the second hard disk. If the same problem occurs, then it's NOT your hard disk.

    Your tech's method could also work although if an IDE controller goes south, it usually doesn't work again even with a lot of prodding. :)

    But if all your troubles go away with the hard disk on the secondary IDE controller, then you better keep the hard disk on the controller. There's no performance difference between the primary and secondary IDE controllers.

    It could also be due to a bad IDE cable. You could try replacing the IDE cable. Also, you can try setting your hard disk to Cable Select, instead of manually selecting Master or Slave. Although it's a very long shot (I've only seen some CD-ROMs requiring such weird steps), it's something you can try if all else fails.
     
  12. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    Problem

    Thanks Adrian, I do have a hard drive that I pulled from my sisters old computer the drive was only a couple years old and it was still working so I'll do that first then I'll go and buy a couple extra cables it won't hurt to have them sitting around anyway. Thanks again I'll let you know what happens.
    Digger
     
  13. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Good luck, Digger! Let us know how it goes! :)
     
  14. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    I think I got it now

    Well finally, I think I figured it out with all of you guy's help. First I put another drive in and a boot floppy and it found the drive and I formated it while it was in. Then I hooked up the regular drive and it didn't find it I had to go in the BIOS to redetect the drive. Then I switched the controllers
    and put the drive on the secondary controller. Well it found the CD drives on the primary controller and it didn't find the hard drive on the secondary controller. So I guess that means the drive is going south.
    Thanks again for all your help.
    Digger
     
  15. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Hey, glad you found the problem, Digger! Now, you can send the drive back and get a replacement. :)
     
  16. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    Hard drive

    Hi everyone, I sent a E-Mail to WD explaining my problem. They replied the next day wanting some more info like if I had the cables connected right and the BIOS make and date.I gave them the info they wanted and more so I hope they will have a answer for me by Monday. I will let you know what they say.
    Digger
     
  17. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Okay. Keep us informed! :)

    If it's their hard disk, can you ask them the reason for the problem? It would be interesting to find out what caused the problem.
     
  18. Digger

    Digger Newbie

    It's finally figured out

    Hi, I just found out it wasn't the drive going bad. I contacted WD and they replied with a few questions. After I answered them they sent another email with an answer. When I built this computer I jumpered this HDD as master and it was the only drive on the cable. They said to remove the jumper and that did the trick. I was impressed with their fast responce in trying to solve my problem. I also asked if they knew why the computer worked fine for 8 months before this happened. again thanks to all who replied to my post. Maybe this will help someone out with a similar problem.
    Digger
     
  19. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Glad that you fixed your problem! :)
     
  20. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    well..... have you tried swithing the power connectors with others? .....

    my drive went bonkers before.. due to the connectors......
    i'm a western digital 13.6gb which is about 2 years old.. :p .. as my primary master ..
     

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